Michael Kondro Running or walking from the sun to Pluto is quite the feat. These statues are pretty rewarding and the walk along the beach is beautiful.
5 /5
Sean Nairn Congratulations- you’ve made it to the end of the solar system, assuming you started at the Sun back in St Kilda. This scale model of the planets is an excellent educational resource and gives you a feel for the scale of the universe and the respective size of the planets, all while walking along the bay foreshore. Highly recommended.
5 /5
Adam G This is one of the sculptures in the Melbourne Solar System Trail. Its a scale model of Pluto, the 8th planet from the Sun.
The starting point of Solar System Trail is the Sun located 5.9 km south-east along the foreshore from here, adjacent to the Skate Park at 29P Marine Parade, St Kilda. Designed and constructed in 2008 by artists and scientists, the Solar System Trail is a very clever and interesting educational 5.9km trail along the City of Port Phillip’s foreshore in which you follow a scale model of the Solar System starting with the Sun and ending at the dwarf planet Pluto at Sandridge Beach, in Port Melbourne, with stops in between at each planet in the Solar System.
The Solar System Trail is accurately scaled to size and distance (the scale used is one to one billion). In this way, every millimetre you walk equals 1000 kilometres in the Solar System. Every metre you walk (one and a half steps) is 1 million kilometres and when you walk the 5.9 kilometres trail from the Sun (Marina Reserve) to Pluto (Port Melbourne), you have walked 5.9 billion kilometres!!!
As well as the distances being to scale, so is the size of the Sun and each planet. For example, while the actual diameter of the Sun is 1,392,000 km, the earth is 12,756 km, Mars is 6,792 km, and Pluto is 2,340 km, in the scale model in the Solar System Trail, the diameter of the Sun is 139 cm, earth is 1.28 cm, Mars is 0.67 cm, and Pluto, seen at this location, is about 0.24 cm.
The Melbourne Solar System Trail is fun and educational while exercising in a beautiful scenic part of Melbourne. The path is well maintained and marked for both cyclists and walkers and there are a number of cafes and shops along the way.
Pluto is the last planet in our Solar System as it in the Melbourne Solar System trail. Pluto was discovered by Clyde Tombaugh in 1930 and was originally considered to be the 9th planet from the Sun but after a redefinition of the term "planet" in 2006 by the International Astronomical Union, Pluto was reclassified as a dwarf planet. Pluto is tiny, in fact, its two-thirds smaller than the earths moon. The New Horizons spacecraft reached Pluto in July 2015, after a nine year voyage.
5 /5
Patrick Fogarty Great way to get some steps up. Space is big - real big!
5 /5
Anthony Hollingsworth A gem hidden in plain sight. Did this walk with our scout troop. Learnt about the solar system, got a practical feel for distance in our solar system and a really beautiful walk. Dont have your morning coffee beforehand, forget a pub crawl, this is a true opportunity for a cafe coffee crawl.
5 /5