Whitby NZ Scale Solar System

About

A miniature Solar System in Whitby NZ to explore. Find the sun and all 8 planets, plus some extra bonus astronomical points of interest.

Story

The Solar System is big. Not just big, but really really big, and almost completely empty. Often pictures and descriptions don't really do justice to the scales involved in the distances between our local planets, and the relative sizes of them, and the only way to really do this, is to have them as real objects, to scale.

The Whitby NZ Solar System is a perfect scale replica of our Solar System. Starting with the sun (represented by a 300mm globe situated at the Milky Way Library at the end of Mercury Way, the planets are all represented at the correct scale and distance from it, extending along the Walkway down from Spinnaker Hill and running more or less parallel with Discovery Drive (see the 'photos' folder for a map).

The planets have been made with a variety of items, some recycled. The markers that they sit on have been designed in CAD, and 3D printed in a natural, biodegradable recycled plastic.

If you would like any more information about the Whitby NZ Scale Solar System, please don't hesitate to browse our photo albums, or just send us a message :)