Step by step

Step 1

Draw and cut out a 30cm-diameter circle from the sturdy card. This is the base plane of the Solar System and where the star skewers will be added later. Next, paint it black – we used spray paint, but you can use any water-based paint.

Step 3

Place the graph paper over the cardboard circle. Using a small awl or push-pin, poke a hole through the paper and into the card at the centre point and everywhere you plotted a point on the graph. Label the holes 1 to 20 with a pencil.

Step 5

Poke the numbered skewers through the corresponding numbered hole, remembering that a negative z value should be pointing downwards and a positive value points up. Add the correctly coloured bead to each skewer, securing it with glue.

Step 2

Make a duplicate circle from graph paper; from the centre point, draw x (horizontal) and y (vertical) axes in a cross shape, extending 15cm each way. Using the values in our downloadable table, mark the x and y values for each star and label them.

Step 4

Using the z values from the table, cut the star skewers to length to represent the distance above or below the plane of the Solar System, labelling them 1 to 20 as you go. Use a hot glue gun and a black glue stick to glue a button onto the cut end of each skewer.

Step 6

Cut the larger skewer to 26cm; push the pointed end into the centre hole and attach the final yellow bead to the top for the Sun. Make a small hole in the base box and poke the skewer into it. A blob of Blu Tak inside will help to hold it more securely.