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The Lethbridge Solar System Model
About This Project Our Solar System is vast, with huge distances between the planets. Light from the Sun (traveling at 300,000 km per second) takes more than eight minutes to reach the Earth, and more than four hours to reach Neptune. Such large numbers and enormous distances are difficult to imagine, and hard to relate to our day-to-day lives. This project brings our Solar System “down to Earth”, and centers it on the city of Lethbridge. It gives us a sense of the Solar System’s enormity and highlights some special features of each planet. |
Imagine shrinking the Sun to fit inside the dome of the Lethbridge Post building...
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The Sun is represented by the 5.5-meter diameter dome atop the clock tower of Lethbridge’s Post building. Each planet model is sized true-to-scale in relation to the 5.5-meter “Sun”, and placed somewhere along its pathway around the Sun. Each pedestal carries a descriptive plaque with basic facts about the planet, and a QR code that links to our website for more information.
The scale ratio is 1:254,000,000. If we scale the speed of light by the same ratio, it would travel about 1.2 meters per second. So, within our Solar System Model, light would travel at about walking speed- something to think about as you stroll from one exhibit to the next. |
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Enjoy your journey through our Solar System! We hope you learn new things, and that these installations will encourage you to learn more about our Solar System and our Universe. As you visit each planet, don’t forget to look around you! The installations are near local points of interest- the Cenotaph at City Hall, the Galt Museum and Archives, and the University of Lethbridge to name just a few.
Acknowledgments:
True community collaboration brought this project to life. We owe thanks to many supporters:
True community collaboration brought this project to life. We owe thanks to many supporters:
Funding & Installation Community Foundation of Lethbridge and Southwestern Alberta TELUS Richardson Oilseed University of Lethbridge Lethbridge School Division Ward Bros. Construction |
Operational Support Lethbridge Astronomy Society Klaus Jericho (project designer) Tom Anderson Perry Sabey Bob Orth City of Lethbridge Lori Harasem |
Site Support City of Lethbridge University of Lethbridge Lethbridge School Division Daniel Heaton, Dan Chronik (Saturn design) Alberta Parks (Park Lake site) Broxburn Vegetables & Café Sumus Property Group |
Construction and Fabrication AMS Industries Charlton & Hill Outlaw Metal Polishing Draggin' Design MPE Engineering Ward Bros. Construction Ltd. |
Plaques & Website Content Keaton Bosch (plaque design) Perry Sabey (content supervisor) Tom Anderson (web content) M2 Designs (pre-print consultation) Outdoor Museum (plaque fabrication) Mattias Malmer (Venus image) Perry Sabey (Moon image) NASA & its affiliates |