A walking trail with a scale model of the solar system helps us envision how far away each planet in the solar system is from the other planets. The trail is designed to give you an accurate perception of how large our solar system is. The distances between the planets are represented in light-seconds. Every inch between the planets along the trail equals one light-second or 186,000 miles. The solar system is the Sun and all the planets and their moons, dwarf planets like Pluto, asteroids, comets, and other space objects that orbit around the ~ Sun. Our solar system has eight planets that orbit the Sun. The Sun is the central star, with the gravity of the Sun keeping everything else in orbit around it. In order of distance from the Sun, the planets are: Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune.
The color of a planet depends on its elements. Mercury has a gray rocky surface covered in a thick layer of dust, so it is rusty. Mercury is the smallest planet in our solar system and zips around the sun in 88 days. The sunlight is seven times brighter on Mercury than on Earth, so the temperature ranges from 800 to negative 290 degrees.
Venus is covered in a thick carbon dioxide atmosphere and sulphuric acid, which gives it a yellowish appearance. The thick atmosphere of Venus traps the heat, making Venus the hottest planet in the solar system.
Earth shows its blue oceans and white clouds as well as its green and brownish land. The oceans cover 70 % of the earth’s surface and have an average depth of 2.5 miles. Earth’s atmosphere is 78 % nitrogen, 21 % oxygen, and 1 % other ingredients. Earth has one moon which is the brightest object in the night sky.
Mars is covered with a fine dust which contains iron oxide which gives the reddish color. Mars is covered in a cold, dusty desert with a thin atmosphere. Mars has seasons, polar ice caps, extinct volcanoes, canyons and weather. Mars has two moons, Phobos and Deimos.
Jupiter is a giant gas planet with an outer atmosphere of hydrogen and helium with small amounts of water droplets, ice crystals, ammonia crystals, and other elements. Clouds of these elements create stripes and swirls in shades of orange, brown, white, and red. Jupiter is the largest planet in our solar system. Jupiter has four large moons and 91 smaller moons and is surrounded by rings.
Saturn is a giant gas planet with an atmosphere of hydrogen and helium, creating a yellowish brown color. Saturn is surrounded by rings that orbit the planet at different speeds. Saturn has an atmosphere of extremely strong winds and pressure, and has 146 moons in its orbit.
Uranus is a gas planet made of hydrogen, helium, and methane gas, which creates a greenish blue color. Uranus is a cold, windy world with 13 faint rings and 28 small moons. Uranus’s equator is nearly at a right angle to its orbit, which causes Uranus to have the most extreme seasons of any planet.
Neptune has methane gas in its hydrogen and helium atmosphere, giving it a bluish color. Neptune is dark, cold, and whipped by strong winds. It is the only planet in our solar system not visible to the naked eye. Neptune has 10 known moons, 5 main rings, and 4 prominent ring arcs.
Alpha-Centauri, the closest star system to our solar system, is approximately 3 light years away. On this scale the distance would be to the west coast, approximately Spokane, Washington, 1493 miles away. There are 293 moons in the solar system including one moon for Earth; two moons for Mars; 95 moons for Jupiter; 146 moons for Saturn; 28 moons for Uranus, 10 moons for Neptune; and 5 moons for the dwarf planet, Pluto. There are 1.3 million asteroids and 3,800 comets in the solar system. The solar system trail was created by Jon Harbaugh in 1989 as an Eagle Scout Project. Jon’s love of the solar system inspired him to build a scale model of the solar system on ,the ground for hikers along the trail to enjoy. Jon installed a plaque for each planet to educate hikers on the unique qualities of each planet.
