Larry Hudson wrote:
> pavium wrote:
>> ... I switched to modelling Solar Eclipses with POVRay.
> 
> In looking at your website, specifically about the size problem, I was 
> reminded of something I read about many years ago.  Now my memory is 
> quite imperfect, and this was probably about 40 years ago, so I only 
> remember the generalities and not too many details.  It was a 
> description of a nature trail somewhere in Europe (I think it was in 
> Switzerland), which had a scale model of the solar system along it. 
> There was a 6 foot (or probably 2 meter) sphere at the trailhead which 
> represented the sun, and at the proper proportional distances along the 
> trail were properly scaled models of the planets.  I thought this was 
> such a fascinating idea that I've always remembered it.  I think the 
> article I read was probably in Astronomy Magazine, or perhaps Scientific 
> American -- definitely a magzine of that sort, but I've never seen it 
> described anywhere else.  And of course, I have no idea whether or not 
> this trail/model still exists.  Anybody else know about it?

I think there are several of those trails in Switzerland, and I'd expect 
many more to exist around the world. One I know is on the Uetliberg in 
Zurich: <http://www.uetlibergverein.ch/planet/index_planet.htm>, 
<http://fiete.ch/Medien/Galerie/11300/113091.html>, 
<http://map.search.ch/uetliberg>. It's at 1:1e9 scale, so the sun is 1.4 
m in diameter.

  -Christian

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