Solar System Walk: SPC Seminole Campus

Walk Orientation & Scale

Map of the Solar System Walk

Mercury, Venus, Earth, and Mars are found along the path to the west of the Sun patio, with Jupiter around the corner. Continue straight past the pavilion to find Saturn and its rings, then around the pond to the north for Uranus and Neptune.

The Solar System to Scale: Each planet on the solar system walk is represented by a concrete marker on the ground. The sizes of the planet markers are all on the same scale as the Sun (the patio). However, because space is so vast, the distance scale is 100 times smaller than the size scale. Walking 1 foot on this path represents about 1.5 million miles!

Sun

Our sun is about 865,370 miles (or 1,392,678 km) in diameter. If we reduced its size by a factor of about 15,000 times, it would be 60 feet across – the same diameter across as the Sun patio you are standing on. It would also extend 30 feet into the ground and 30 feet into the air – about the height of the library.

The Sun See in Augmented Reality Your device does not support AR

Mercury

Stand at the west edge of the Sun patio and look for a small round concrete marker along the path about 25 feet away. This is Mercury. If we shrink Mercury by the same factor that we did for the Sun, it would be about 2.5 inches in size.

Mercury See in Augmented Reality Your device does not support AR

Venus

The average distance of Venus from the Sun is about twice that of Mercury. Our reduced distance scale puts the Venus model at about 47 feet from the Sun patio.

Venus See in Augmented Reality Your device does not support AR

Earth

Planet Earth orbits the Sun on average about 93,000,000 miles away. Our Earth model is 64 feet from the Sun patio but should be 6,400 feet away.

Earth See in Augmented Reality Your device does not support AR

Mars

In our scale model of the solar system, Mars is 98 feet from the Sun. Mars should really be almost 2 miles away in Boca Ciega Millennium Park.

Mars See in Augmented Reality Your device does not support AR

Jupiter

Jupiter: Near a bench by the athletic field is a 6-foot-wide model of Jupiter. This is the largest planet in the solar system.

Jupiter See in Augmented Reality Your device does not support AR

Saturn

Saturn is about 615 feet away from the Sun patio. The planet of Saturn is slightly smaller than Jupiter, but its ring system is quite large.

Saturn See in Augmented Reality Your device does not support AR

Uranus

Uranus is 1230 feet away from the Sun patio. It is the first of the ice giants.

Uranus See in Augmented Reality Your device does not support AR

Neptune

Neptune is 1937 feet away from the Sun patio, located at the northern edge of the campus.

Neptune See in Augmented Reality Your device does not support AR

More information

Our Galactic Backyard

Solar System Exploration

Thank you for exploring!

Astronaut See in Augmented Reality Your device does not support AR