Astronomy club builds a passport to the stars

The Alachua Astronomy Club plans to blast young astronomers into the wonder of the stars with its new version of the Solar System Walk along NW 8th Avenue.

However, until Gainesville citizens contribute approximately $8,000 to $10,000, the nuts and bolts scientific information about the planets will remain missing.

The round holes on the base of each obelisk will eventually be filled by 14-inch bronze plaques, designed by club member Tim Malles.

From left, Michael Toomey, Tim Malles and Pam Mydock look at the spot on the Earth obelisk where the brass plaques will be placed. Malles was the artist for all the plaques. BRYAN TUDEEN/Special to The Sun

Each plaque will supply such information as the planet's diameter, average distance to the sun, rotation, tilt and astronomic symbol.

"Without those bronze plaques the science is all missing, and the ability for the children to learn about it just won't be there," said Howard Cohen, a University of Florida associate astronomy professor and vice president of the Alachua Astronomy Club.

The planets will be represented in scale on the left side of the plaques. Their sizes will range from the pinprick of Pluto to a quarter-sized representation of Jupiter. The plaques are 14 inches across because that is the size of the sun in scale to the solar walk (one unit of measurement to four billion).

When you look at those little dot-sized planets, compare them to the overall size of the plaque, to learn how they compare to the sun.

"The symbols will be raised. Children can come along with a piece of paper and a pencil and make a rubbing of the symbol or other items on the plaque to show that they have actually visited each planet," said Cohen. The club envisions creating a passport to the stars, to aid in the learning process.

"Mercury, pockmarked by the sun's yellow fever."

Diane Ackerman

Buchholz science teacher Ken Brandt, who also serves as a NASA ambassador to the Gainesville community, said he will use the Solar Walk as an extra credit project for his students.

He's already completed a worksheet, and plans to have kids working on the project within the next two weeks. (Anyone interested in gleaning his astronomy expertise for their lesson plans is welcome to contact him at brandtkc@sbac.edu.)

Brandt's idea is to get his students to calculate the number of paces between the planets and then equate the paces to a unit of distance. For instance, the average distance between the Earth and the sun is one astronomical unit. He would have his students determine the distance between Saturn and the sun, for example, using the number of paces between the two.

Sarah Charbonnet, a science teacher at Westwood Middle School, said she created some time ago her own version of a solar walk on Westwood's athletic field. Now she'll use the official version, as soon as she adapts her lesson plans.

She says walking along the Solar System Walk will help her students understand the vastness of our solar system, as required by the state-mandated science standards.

Designs like this will be reprinted on brass plates and placed on the Solar Walk obelisks. BRYAN TUDEEN/Special to The Sun

"We can do that walk and see just how far apart the planets are, and know that it's just one speck in the universe," said Charbonnet. "The distances are so huge it's hard to even imagine."

She added that she is worried about keeping the children safe along such a busy road, and that she will need to enlist the help of chaperones.

A fence or guard rail is one of the potential items on the Alachua Astronomy Club's wish list. The definite items include boulders for a rock garden to represent the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter, benches along NW 8th Avenue for people to rest during the nearly mile-long walk, especially in summer, and an introductory sign at the start of the walk. There is talk of printing an informational pamphlet, the sort you get at the start of a nature walk. The Alachua Astronomy Club would also like to collaborate with children to bury a Halley's Comet time capsule.

To create the plaques and the wish list items, the club estimates they need to raise a total of about $15,000.

"I would rather walk with stars...

They are friends of mine."

P. Herbert

In 1993, Gainesville businessman and Alachua Astronomy Club member Chip Sullivan developed the original concept for a solar walk. The walk's earlier version consisted of simple green metal signs, and stood from 1993-1996 before vandalism forced the group to remove the remaining signs.

That version cost only about $3,000. The new version has already cost about $30,000, with nothing left over for the additional items.

"The project has been so difficult to accomplish," said Cohen. "Everyone's losing money on this thing at this point."

FYI: How to help Donations to the Solar System Walk are tax-deductible. To contribute, send your check to the Alachua Astronomy Club, P.O. Box 13744, Gainesville, FL 32604-1744. For more information, call Mike Toomey at (352) 528-3476, or visit the Web site at http://www.floridastars.org/.

Artist Elizabeth Indianos said she purposefully utilized recycled materials in the planet stations. The bricks lining the concrete around the base of each planet station are from UF's Hume Hall. The star-shaped collars at the top are made of recycled plastic.

"While we pay homage to the heavens, we also pay homage to the Earth by recycling," said Indianos. "It's meant to be a model."

The colors of the monuments were not randomly selected, either. Instead, they relate to the qualities of the planets they represent. "My intention was for them to be seen as giant core samplings.... I view them as metaphors," said Indianos.

The idea is that viewers will notice that the sun station is white, wonder how that relates to the actual sun, and then go on to further study and exploration.

Its creators want the Solar Walk to be a catalyst for your own curiosity.

Julie Garrett can be contacted at 374-5049, or by e-mail at julie.garrett@gainesvillesun.com.

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