FREC 480 GPS Project
A scale model of the solar system was installed on the UD campus in 2000.  Your assignment is to find and map each of the black granite tablets representing the sun and planets with a GPS unit.  Each tablet has a sun-sized circle, with a small circle etched in its center to represent the relative size of the planet. The Sun marker is located in front of the main steps of the Old College building; the Pluto marker is located about 1.3 miles south in front of the Fred Rust Skating rink.

Sign out a GPS receiver and clear the old data in it. For the Garmin GPS12 clear the map on the Map page via Opt-Track Setup; clear the waypoint list under the Main Menu page via Waypoint List--Delete Wpts? For the Garmin ETrex clear the data via the Trip Computer page Reset menu (Select All--Apply).

Record your trek to each marker, the marker locations, and the diameters of the planets (the Uranus marker is missing from its concrete pad; I couldn't actually see Pluto on the Pluto marker; it's supposed to be the size of a poppy seed).  Each marker tells the locations of the adjacent markers.

When you get back to the lab, use the DNRGarmin software (courtesy of Minnesota Dept. of Natural Resources) to download the data from the GPS unit and create lat-lon line (trek) and point (planet location) shapefiles to show your trek and the marker locations.  Superimpose these on a digital orthophoto of the UD campus. 

What is the linear (campus) distance between the Sun marker and each planet marker?  What is the actual distance from the Sun to each planet? Verify that the marker spacings use a consistent scale: what is it? Calculate and sum the actual spherical volumes of the sun and planets (matter); calculate the actual total volume of the solar system (sphere with the Sun at the center and Pluto at the surface)  What proportion of the solar system is matter, and what proportion is empty space?

UD campus markers portray vastness of solar system
extracted from UD UpDATE article by Sue Moncure, Feb. 24, 2000

Physicist Harry Shipman, museum director Belena Chapp and exhibition designer and sculptor David Meyer combined their mutual interest in space and talents in their respective fields to recreate the solar system across the UD campus with granite markers representing the sun and the planets. The permanent installation is anchored by the sun at the historic center of the University near Old College. In an accurate reduced scale of distance, Mercury leads off the sequence of planets since it is nearest the sun. Its marker is located in front of Recitation Hall.

"Recreating the solar system on campus has been a long-term goal of mine," Shipman said. "In my teaching, I used walnuts, soccer balls, whatever was handy, to demonstrate the solar system, but this is far more graphic and dramatic. The Delaware standards for elementary school-aged children include learning about space, and this is an excellent educational tool and allows students of all ages to conceptualize the solar system. We are one of the few schools to have created an outdoor solar system, and no one has done it more effectively or accurately.

The granite markers representing the sun and each of the planets are placed to represent the actual distances of each planet from the sun and each other. The relative size of the planet is carved into the marker. Pluto, the smallest planet, for example, is represented by an indentation the size of a poppy seed.

"Accuracy was one of our main goals. The exhibition is used by elementary school children, and they quickly latch on to any discrepancies," Shipman said. "We did not line the planets up in a row because that is not how the solar system functions, so Mercury is near Recitation Hall and Neptune is west of Worrilow Hall."

"Children really get a concept of the vastness of space from the campus solar system installation," Chapp said. "When we stand near the Mars marker at the top of the Mall on Main Street, I point out where Earth is, near McDowell Hall, and tell them that the moon is only three inches from Earth on our campus scale. The lesson is driven home and the students begin to grasp the concept of the huge distances between the planets in the solar system."

The granite markers also are inscribed with information about each planet. For example, Saturn, located near the library, is depicted with its ring system. Its diameter of 116,464 km., and its distance from the sun of 1,426.7 km. are carved on the marker. The etched text informs viewers that Saturn is the "sixth planet from the Sun. Second largest planet, gas giant with spectacular ring system. Atmosphere of hydrogen, helium, ammonia and methane. Many small satellites. Titan (its largest satellite) has a nitrogen and methane atmosphere."

Also included on each marker is information on adjacent planets and where they are located on campus.  The project was funded in part by a National Science Foundation education grant and the University.