Maine Solar System
Model
On a recent trip to Maine, New Brunswick and Quebec. We
stopped at a rest area in Houlton, Maine and stumbled upon
a model of the solar system built by the students and
faculty of the University Of Maine at Presque Isle, along
with the assistance and support of local residents and
businesses.
Always one for an adventure, and needing to drive north
anyway, we followed the model from then planet Pluto to the
model of the Sun in a building on Campus. Each planet is
sized appropriately to fit the scale where the Sun is a 15
meter globe. On that scale the Earth is approximately 1
mile from the Sun with Pluto, and its companion Charon, 40
miles from the Sun.
Here's a photo of Rose visiting Saturn.
After spending a few hours visiting the various planets, we
both felt that the model was highly instructive. You are
left with a real appreciation of the size of the solar
system and its planets and on how much "empty" space there
is in our solar system. At the University they also
explained that at the scale of the model, the speed of
light is about 7 miles and hour or 640 feet per minute.
With that fact, I was given an even greater appreciation
for how far Pluto is from the Sun, it takes light almost 6
hours to get to its surface. I was also struck by how small
the Sun would appear from Pluto. In the scale of the model
they are 40 miles apart and the Sun is only a disk 50 feet
in diameter. It wouldn't be visible to the naked eye except
for the light that it emits.
If you are ever in this part of Maine, pay a visit to the
Maine Solar System Model.
And thanks to veryone who made it possible.
Here is a link to the official website of the Maine Solar
System Model.
http://www.umpi.maine.edu/info/nmms/solar/