Has anybody ever created a scale model (non-computer) of the solar system?
Yes, there is one in Sweden with the Stockholm Globe Arena as centre. Read about it here!
Such models are known as orreries (sing. orrery).
The first known example was made by George Graham circa 1700 who sent his model to a Mr. Rowley, an instrument maker, to make one for Prince Eugene. Rowley made a copy for Charles Boyle, third Earl of Orrery, in whose honour the device was named.
There’s also one at the Observatory in… dangit, go memory… Mars Hill, Arizona?
There is a sort of scale model in Vancouver, BC as well. I can’t recall if it is just the distance of the planets to scale or if there was scale models of the actual planets as well. This was about 6 or 7 years ago when I saw it driving from UBC.
Anyhow, as you’d drive down the road there was a sign that said “SUN”, and then a 1/2 a block away there was “Mercury”, then another block Venus, and so on… you were many, many blocks away before you eventually drove by the Pluto sign.
I have no idea how accurate it was, but it was pretty neat.
There’s one in Boston:
starting downtown and radiating outward.
I remember being in a mall in Boston and being surprised to find Mars on the second floor.
I recall seeing one on the Discovery Channel that was set up in the Chicago region. Pluto was 40 miles from the Sun.
When I was at U. of Arizona @ Tucson it was part of the standard education for every astronomy major due to one teacher who’d do it.
We’d go out to the mall and put down a small sun in front of the bookstore and left a kid there. Walked a little bit and put down a really really small mercury (some dust on the head of the pin) and left a kid. And did it all the way out to Saturn. He spared us from having to walk all the way out to Neptune (the furthest planet at the time) and just pointed out buildings and trees which were that far.
I remember seeing a huge one on Bill Nye the Science Guy. I believe he ended up driving several hundred miles through Oregon to get to the last planet. It may have been set up for only that episode as this place claims to have the world’s largest model.
A large list of model solar systems
You an reach it through my previously given link but I figured this was useful enough to get its own link.
Not everything is bigger in America. The Lakeview Solar System is 64 km from the Sun to Pluto. The Swedish one mentioned in my first posting is 300 km from Sun to Pluto.
That’s odd. I think what’s happened is the Swedish one has yet to claim the title with “The Guiness Book of World Records.” I imagine it’s just a matter of time. Unless it’s that fact that for a small fee planetariums around the world can register to with Lakeview and receive a small model comet and be declared an as of yet unnamed comet. So while their scale is 6 times smaller then Sweden’s it still covers a larger geographical region. It’s a technicality and a little cheap but I guess it’s good enough for Guiness.
Where’s Texas when you need it?
Any working model, that shows the orbits of all the planets, some of the planets, any of the planets?
Maybe I’m thinking of the IL one, but I thought there was one in Millwaukee (A water tower is the sun, Pluto is in car dealership somewhere). I think I read it in Discover magazine.
Brian
Minor nitpick: The planets in orreries need not be made to spatial scale. Indeed, most of the time they are not as that would make the planets nigh on impossible to see.
The Carl Sagan Planet Walk right here in Ithaca. You start in the Commons in the center of town. The inner planets are all a few feet away. Jupiter is about a block away. Fittingly, you’ll have to cross a major street to get to it. You’ll have to walk blocks to get to Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune. By the time you get to Pluto, you’ll have walked almost a mile.