Sun, Moon, Planets, and Stars

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One of the “fun things to do” ideas that our friend Delia mentioned to us was the Solar System Trail.  Along the beach, there are models of the sun, moon, and planets. Although we walked past “the sun” at least once before, we weren’t looking for it, so we made a point to find it one day last week, BUT we didn’t have our camera/phones in hand. 🙁

The next day, we decided to check it out again on our way to the beach…this time with a camera!  The installation was done in 2008 by artists and scientists and basically provides a model of the solar system using a 1 to 1 billion scale!  It starts at the sun (at St. Kilda Beach) and goes for 5.9 km (representing 5.9 billion km) to Pluto (at Sandridge Beach)!

Our journey started at the St. Kilda Marina looking at some fancy boats!

The first stop was at Proxima Centauri, the star closest to the sun.

And then the sun! Da da daaaaaa!

Whew!  That was a lot of work…time for a quick break and some playground time! 🙂

 

Back to work…a little further down, we spotted Mercury. Look at how little it looks!

Next stop…Earth!  G is pointing to the moon, and L is pointing to Earth. (Just in case you’re wondering, G is holding rubber gloves that the kids were using as beach balls and then used for digging at the beach!  Makes them look more scientist-y, don’t you think?)

By this time, we’d reached the beach and our planet search came to a halt. We’ll have to find the rest of the planets another day…

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2 Replies to “Sun, Moon, Planets, and Stars

  1. You know you need to budget time and money upon your return for the therapy sessions you’ll all need for the “return to reality.” I daresay, it may not be worth re-entry! I just learned about the “quokka” today. Let me know if you see one–tiny Australian marsupial. Probably not your thing, Jody, since it’s kind of rodent-y, but they call it “the happiest animal on earth.” It looks like it’s perpetually smiling–and not in a creepy way.

    1. I think “reality” is overrated and should be rejected. Planning places, renting cars, travel logistics, etc. are a lot of work but still so much better than actually working and stuff. If only I could get paid for this lifestyle…

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