5 /5 Adam G: This is a scale model of the planet Saturn. Its one of the sculptures in the Melbourne Solar System Trail which starts with a scale model of the Sun located 1.4 km Saturn south-east along the foreshore from here, adjacent to the Skate Park at 29P Marine Parade, St Kilda and ends with a scale model of the dwarf planet Pluto at Sandridge Beach, in Port Melbourne.
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 planet Pluto, 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 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 Saturn is 120,536 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 Saturn, seen here, is about 12 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.
The next planet from here is Uranus which is 1500 m further on towards Port Melbourne.
Some facts about Saturn:
Saturn is the 6th planet from the Sun, and the second-largest planet in the Solar System, after Jupiter.
Saturn is famous for its spectacular system of rings made from billions of icy rocks, sized from small grains to kilometres wide. It has about sixty moons. Titan, the largest, is the only moon in the Solar System with an atmosphere (nitrogen). It also has lakes of liquid methane discovered by the Huygens Probe which landed in 2005.
