Solar System Road Trip!
My kids just can’t get enough of the solar system! From watching some of his favorite astronomy videos on the Internet (in particular this one), Nico decided he really wanted to explore the scale model of the solar system in Peoria, Illinois. Sure we’d already visited the one in Zürich, but the one in Peoria claims to be the world’s largest complete scale model of the solar system! This one is too big to explore on foot, so you get an idea of how truly awesome the solar system is.
The sun is so big that the wall of the building can’t even contain it!
They love dirty space snowballs! (see here)
We walked from the sun to Mercury (a few blocks), but for the other planets we had to get back in the car.
We found Earth at a gas station.
We only got around to visiting the inner planets since we had to continue on our way (from Minnesota to New Jersey), but Nico insists we stop by to see the rest on our return trip!
Julie Said,
September 5, 2009 @ 5:02 am
I love that your kids are so into astronomy. And oh yeah, they’re cute, too.
J Paul Daigle Said,
September 8, 2009 @ 12:54 pm
Hi Laurie,
Don’t forget, there’s a solar system model in Boston and another in Maine… the Maine solar system is 40 miles from Sun to Pluto!
There’s a planet walk in Ithaca, New York, and instructions on making a planet walk here. You’ll need a kilometer to built it in, though!
Jason B Said,
September 14, 2009 @ 11:24 am
What was the total length of the Solar System on this scale? and how big was the earth?
chanson Said,
September 14, 2009 @ 3:24 pm
Thanks!
To be honest, I’m not sure how big it is. I think it’s explained in the video linked above.
If you’re wondering about the claim of being the largest complete solar system, it’s probably because it has all the dwarf planets, plus comets all over the world.
Deiter Said,
September 15, 2009 @ 10:21 am
There’s also a great model at the Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico, if anyone ever has an occasion to make it out that way. (It’s all contained within the walk from your car to the public galleries, (And rather than painted planets they’ve fabricated shiny metal scale spheres.)
I’d love to see someone add another solar system with possible inhabitable planets just so people could get an idea just how far that would be!
Another Day, Another Scale Model of the Solar System Said,
October 10, 2009 @ 5:56 am
[...] model of the solar system east of Peoria, Illinois.” Of course we’ve already visited the one in Peoria. Not to mention the one in Zürich. Maybe we’ll eventually visit them [...]
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