12.24.2009

Let's have more stuff like this

[At the northern end of U.S. Route 1] Where the sparse, rolling landscape of northern Maine can get a bit monotonous, some relief is provided by the Maine Solar System Model. The MSSM, constructed in 2000 by the University of Maine at Presque Isle, is the fourth-largest solar system model in the world. The scale is 1 to 93 million, which means that one Astronomical Unit equals one mile. All of our system's planets are located along US Route 1, in order to present drivers with the opportunity to get a feeling of the scale of our solar system. Its original length was about 40 miles, all the way to Pluto, at the Tourist Information Centre in Houlton. . .

link: The Coastal Packet: MAPPING THE SOLAR SYSTEM IN NORTHERN MAINE

Cool! And there's a map at the link.

Also, JIC you're interested, here's the NORAD Santa tracker for this Christmas Eve.


1 comment:

lynn said...

I've been tracking Santa all morning and looking at all the pictures from around the world. Oh what fun!