Sagan Planet Walk

The Sagan Planet Walk is a walking scale model of the solar system, extending 1.2 km from the center of The Commons in downtown Ithaca, NY, to the Sciencenter, a hands-on museum featuring over 200 exhibits.

The exhibition was created in memory of Ithaca resident and Cornell Professor Carl Sagan by the Sciencenter in 1997. Professor Sagan had been a founding member of the museum's advisory board and was instrumental in developing the institution's educational philosophy.

Free Audio Tour

You can now download and listen to a free audio tour of the Sagan Planet Walk on your computer, iPod or mp3 player. More information and instructions are available on the Sagan Planet Walk Podcast Page.

Map

• The Sagan Planet Walk Map

Archive: Dedication and Press Releases

• Press Release - 9/18/1997
• Press Release - 10/24/1997
• Dedication Ceremony Remarks -11/8/1997

History, Biography & Addendums

• History of the Sagan Planet Walk
• Biography of Dr. Carl Sagan
• Protect-a-Planet

Project Design Measurements

Scale factor = 5,000,000,000:1

OBJECT	Orbit Radius (kilometers)	Object Diameter (kilometers)	Scaled Orbit Radius (meters)	Scaled Object Diameter (millimeters)
Sun	0	1,392,000	0	278
Mercury	58,000,000	4,980	12	1.0
Venus	108,000,000	12,360	22	2.5
Earth	150,000,000	12,742	30	2.5
Mars	228,000,000	6,760	46	1.4
Jupiter	778,000,000	142,600	156	28.5
Saturn	1,430,000,000	120,600	286	24.1
Uranus	2,870,000,000	47,000	574	9.4
Neptune	4,490,000,000	44,600	898	8.9
Pluto	5,900,000,000	2,274	1,180	0.4

Doc Kinne created this portion of the web site in 2001 as part of his Graduate Projects in Astronomy at the Swinburne Center of Astrophysics and Supercomputing Melbourne, Australia.