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solaryellow
member
Reged: 09/28/09
Posts: 53
Loc: New Milford CT
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The McCarthy Observatory, IAU932 is constructing a scale model of the solar system, with beautiful bronze sculptures going on SS pyramid piers in various places in town.
This scale model was precisely calculated by our Observatory founder and many members, and utilizes the school's locations and public areas in our town for proper placement.
Most areas are calculated to be pretty accurate, and from what I heard might be in the top 5 of all such projects in terms of accuracy.
It is a remarkable feat to arrange for not only the planets, but also satellites and other non planetary sculptures, and coordinating among the many schools and town places for the placement of them.
We are thankful the town is very welcoming of this project,
The project is due to be finished in November, and I will have some images showing this project.
The McCarthy Observatory is a volunteer based group, from the initial construction of the observatory to the continuing involvement with the schools in education, and community outreach.
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16" Meade Starfinder,GEM AC version. home
16" Meade SCT McCarthy Observatory (JJMO)
Tak FSQ106 JJMO
5" Meade refractor/ Coronado filters.
60mm Bushnell refractor, my first since early 80's
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ArizonaScott
Postmaster
Reged: 04/29/04
Posts: 5649
Loc: Scottsdale, AZ
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Wow, that facility is beautiful, kudos to the group and the town for their efforts and co-operation on the project. Hopefully it'll inspire others to take on similar projects.
Hope you don't mind me posting this link to the website McCarthy Observatory
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Scott
10" LX200 Classic, Konus 200, Orion ST80, ETX90 OTA, 60mm Celestron alt-az, Obie 20x80's, Meade 10x50's
Edited by ArizonaScott (10/19/09 02:30 PM)
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GregAlt
member
Reged: 06/23/09
Posts: 32
Loc: Seattle, WA, USA
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Very cool. A while back I did a much smaller, less accurate, low-key model for my kids at a park in Seattle:
http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?hl=en&gl=us&ptab=2&ie=UTF8&oe=UTF8&msa=0&msid=106060669482944659056.00046063921178ced6202
I picked a small scale so the planets would all fit in the park, but I also included a bunch of other solar system boundaries like the Oort cloud and the extent of the Sun's gravity. Though the farther points were chosen more for familiar cities for my kids, at roughly the right order of magnitude, than precise distances.
We had some fun placing the planets with little flags and then "blasting off" (running) from Earth to the Sun and then slingshotting out to Neptune.
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Orion XT8i - 8" f/5.9
Nikon Action 10x50 Binoculars
Galileoscope 50mm f/10 (20mm ep + 2x barlow)
25mm, 10mm Sirius Plossl eyepieces (1.25")
12.5mm Black Knight OWL Super Plossl
2x Knight OWL Barlow
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solaryellow
member
Reged: 09/28/09
Posts: 53
Loc: New Milford CT
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No problem.
Wasn't sure if the links were allowed to sites.
We're going on 10 years now.
I remember getting a phone call from a local amatuer astronomer in my town, who had a permanent outdoor setup for his 8" SCT.
I shared some info on my roll off holding a 16" Newtonian.
Him and I were probably the only people in New Milford with home observatories at the time.
Since I saw the call for a local public observatory, I met up with him and as well a couple other members who all seemed to gel quite nicely together.
It was a unique group, probably one in a million chance of people like this.
in 1999, we had to design, build, and raise money all from donations, no taxpayer dollars.
Almost seems like yesterday, but we came a long way.
And we aren't stopping..
Dennis Cartolano
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16" Meade Starfinder,GEM AC version. home
16" Meade SCT McCarthy Observatory (JJMO)
Tak FSQ106 JJMO
5" Meade refractor/ Coronado filters.
60mm Bushnell refractor, my first since early 80's
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solaryellow
member
Reged: 09/28/09
Posts: 53
Loc: New Milford CT
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Our scale model of the solar system is complete, and in place...
Unfortunately the first few days someone stole Uranus.
Our permanent loc-tite wasn't quite permanent.
The planets are made from Bronze, which are mounted on Brass holders, which are then threaded into the stainless steel piers.
We have since incorporated roll pins drilled through the rod to prevent removal..
We hope it is enough to keep the curious thieves from stealing any more.
Here is a pic of all of them together.
I will try and get some closeups from their final resting places...
The pier mount onto concrete footings, as well as the signs..
Wood platform was just for transport.
If you google earth McCarthy Observatory, and switch on images, you will see the sun as above, and hopefully soon, all the others.
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16" Meade Starfinder,GEM AC version. home
16" Meade SCT McCarthy Observatory (JJMO)
Tak FSQ106 JJMO
5" Meade refractor/ Coronado filters.
60mm Bushnell refractor, my first since early 80's
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ArizonaScott
Postmaster
Reged: 04/29/04
Posts: 5649
Loc: Scottsdale, AZ
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Looks awesome Dennis! 
And while I don't like to wish bad karma on anyone, maybe the astronomy gods will drop a meteorite on the Uranus thief. For shame 
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Scott
10" LX200 Classic, Konus 200, Orion ST80, ETX90 OTA, 60mm Celestron alt-az, Obie 20x80's, Meade 10x50's
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StarStuff1
Pooh-Bah
Reged: 04/01/07
Posts: 1131
Loc: South of the Mason-Dixon Line
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Yep, the thief had his head up his Ur....!
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Tools that make objects very far away appear much closer than they actually are.
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The_Vagabond
sage
Reged: 10/27/08
Posts: 209
Loc: Jacksonville, Florida
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I worked at the Talcott Mountain Science Center in Avon, Connecticut for a couple of years and visited the McCarthy facility twice, once on my own, once as part of fact finding for TMSC. We did a Solar System model as well, but I must say, this looks fantastic.
It looks as though you used a scale just slightly larger than the scale I used for my own "Solar System To Go" (Jupiter is 100mm in diameter). I'll post images, as well as a link to my old online page on the subject as well.
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I have loved the stars too dearly to be fearful of the night...
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SteveG
professor emeritus
Reged: 09/27/06
Posts: 570
Loc: Seattle, WA
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Wow that's a great scaled model and almost exactly as one that I am working on. I started my project a few years ago and then abandoned it, but I've recently started working on it again. My model is slightly larger but will not include a scale model of the sun (8 ft diameter). My Earth is a 7/8" marble that looks like the Earth. Similar marbles make up the rocky inner planets and then I move to styrofoam balls for the gas giants. I want to cover these in plaster and paint them to look realistic.
Attached pic shows the marbles (Mercury is not yet painted), and the foam ball for Jupitor is in the background. I included a 1-1/4" eyepiece for size reference.
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WO Megrez 110 ED on SP Mount
10" Meade LightBridge
Orion ED 100 on Polaris Mount
6" f8 Edmonds reflector on GP Mount
4.5" F8 Orion EQ Reflector
Astroscan
Meade 226 2.4" f11.7
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The_Vagabond
sage
Reged: 10/27/08
Posts: 209
Loc: Jacksonville, Florida
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This is a link to my largest Solar System model to date...
http://www.freewebs.com/vagabondastronomer/solsys1.htm
Actually, I need to state, not my largest scale model, just the most expansive. I still have dreams...
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I have loved the stars too dearly to be fearful of the night...
Edited by The_Vagabond (11/25/09 07:36 PM)
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cpsTN
Pooh-Bah
Reged: 04/26/07
Posts: 1365
Loc: Murfreesboro, TN -- 36N 86W
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I looked around and could not find any mention of the distance of the farthest planet used would be from the Sun and the size of the Sun, from the McCarthy obs.
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Charles Sands
Observing since 12/29/86
8" f/5.9 dobsonian (Zhumell DSH-8), with 8x50 RACI
70mm f/5 achromatic refractor (Orion GoScope)
15x70 Celestron SkyMaster binos
S&T's POCKET SKY ATLAS
Kodak EasyShare Z915 digital camera
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The heavens declare the glory of God;
and the firmament sheweth His handywork
Psalm 19:1
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solaryellow
member
Reged: 09/28/09
Posts: 53
Loc: New Milford CT
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I will get all the exact distances, and errors from the person who did all the calculating..
The inner planets since they are all on the main grounds of the highschool near the observatory have a high degree of accuracy as far as size and distance.
We had a couple that deviate by 10 meters or so...
Only because the schools are spread among the town..
Of course we have a galaxy and a New Horizons model and a comet that are placed at locations irrelavant to distances from the sun..
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16" Meade Starfinder,GEM AC version. home
16" Meade SCT McCarthy Observatory (JJMO)
Tak FSQ106 JJMO
5" Meade refractor/ Coronado filters.
60mm Bushnell refractor, my first since early 80's
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BDS316
super member
Reged: 09/16/09
Posts: 153
Loc: Andover, MA
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Someone....stole uranus?????
 
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Bryan
XT8 "Ebony" with Moonlite CR2 and Telrad Plus
SV Aplanat "Ivory" with M1 and gng
TV 11NT6, 32P, 1.8xB
Pentax XF 8.5
UO KII 16
GSO SV 30
Orion 1.25 Ultrablock, Moon Filter, 4 color filters, 25mm Sirius P, 10x50 Explorer
Celestron 1.25 broadband filter
Tectron Sight Tube & Cheshire
I am really a Post Laureate
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BDS316
super member
Reged: 09/16/09
Posts: 153
Loc: Andover, MA
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The solar system model at Boston's Museum of Science is pretty cool because average adult walking speed is the speed of light, 186,282 miles per second and it takes 8 plus minutes to walk from the sun to the earth.
Running or biking or a car ride puts you at warp speed!!!
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Bryan
XT8 "Ebony" with Moonlite CR2 and Telrad Plus
SV Aplanat "Ivory" with M1 and gng
TV 11NT6, 32P, 1.8xB
Pentax XF 8.5
UO KII 16
GSO SV 30
Orion 1.25 Ultrablock, Moon Filter, 4 color filters, 25mm Sirius P, 10x50 Explorer
Celestron 1.25 broadband filter
Tectron Sight Tube & Cheshire
I am really a Post Laureate
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The_Vagabond
sage
Reged: 10/27/08
Posts: 209
Loc: Jacksonville, Florida
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That is pretty much the scale for the one that the Talcott Mountain Science Center was trying to acheive; average walking speed = C. It was actually John Dobson who pointed that out on a visit to the center.
The McCarthy Solar System model has one big advantage, and that is Route 7; simply determine the distances and you have this mighty convenient highway to build along.
Incidentally, and I don't know if this has been posted, but you can plug in the numbers at the Exploratorium's "Build A Solar System" page to get an idea of the scale and distances.
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I have loved the stars too dearly to be fearful of the night...
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 lightfever
Pooh-Bah
Reged: 09/27/04
Posts: 1482
Loc: Macomb Michigan
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Awesome link vagabond, thanks
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Mark
Tasco 15-TE 76mm Sky Watcher 80mm ED AT-111
XT8i (with Woden re-figured mirror)
12.5" f/6.3 Dob (Underconstruction)
36mm Siebert, 24mm Pan, 13mmT6, 10mm XW, 4.7 UWA
8.8mm, 6.7mm, 4.7mm Meade 4000 UWA
Various Ortho's, Brandons, Nikon zoom and a Pentax 5mm XO
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