Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts
1. Visualizing the solar system is tricky because it actually is a lot of empty space - imagine shrinking it to a diameter of 1 m - even the sun would be a tiny speck of less than 0.2 mm - not much to see! In Sweden you can find a model with a scale of 1: 20.000.000 - the largest in the world.
The inspiration for the Sweden Solar System was given by a 110m wide spherical and highly visible structure which is close to central Stockholm and represents the sun. Which of the following is this?
2. Let me take you to one of the boundaries of our solar system - the termination shock, where the solar wind meets the interstellar medium and slows down to the speed of sound in that medium. In the Sweden Solar System this would be near the northernmost town in Lapland, which takes its name from a bird. Which one is this?
3. Heading south and back toward Stockholm, through the Norrland Terrain with its vast boreal forests, you could easily miss the dwarf planet Pluto's model. It is 12 cm small and together with the model of its moon Charon can be found at a distance of 300km from Globen. The two sculptures are encased in two pillars of the rare mineral dellenite, which was formed by the same meteoric impact that formed the two nearby Dellen lakes. Can you guess the name of the locality?
4. Traveling further south towards Stockholm and the sun, we find the model of Neptune which at night is beautifully illuminated from the inside with a blue light. It has a diameter of 2.5m and can be found at a distance of 229 km from Stockholm in this town, the name of which means "south port".
5. A model of Uranus used to be some 160km away from Stockholm in the town of Gävle. It has been vandalised and a new model has been placed in the village of Lövstabruk, at a distance of 146 - corresponding to Uranus' closest approach to the sun. It was sponsored by a company that has a connection to the name of Uranus; can you figure out which one?
6. While some of the moons of Saturn already have found their placeholders, the work on the representation of Saturn itself currently (in 2020) is still under way. It will be in a well known city some 70km north of Stockholm. Which one?
7. The search for Jupiter brings us still further towards Stockholm. The representation of Jupiter should be at a distance of 40 km from Globen and have a diameter of 7 meters. It used to be a flower bed, in which Jupiter's famous stripes and the giant red spot were painted by flowers. Chances are that while traveling to, from and in Sweden, you have already passed close by this place. Where?
8. Of the inner planets, Mars at a distance of 230.000.000 km, is furthest away from the sun. Bearing in mind the scale of the model, where is the sculpture representing Mars located?
9. Going after models of comets and meteors, one has to travel in a different, south westerly, direction from Stockholm - after all those wanderers do not travel in our ecliptic but rather visit our cosmic vicinity from a different angle. Halley's Comet has not one, but four models. Three can be found outdoors of a science centre and are inspired by drawings of school children, one was cut by a laser out of a solid block of glass and can be found inside the centre. At 260km from Globen, where can this science centre be found?
10. Our last destination in the Sweden Solar System is the model of comet Oumuamua which was inaugurated in 2018. Oumuamua was a recent visitor to our solar system and, due to its shape and way of motion, it was speculated that it might be a space probe from an alien civilization. The model has a diameter of 0.3mm and can be found in Plönninge, a community on the coast of the Kattegat arm of the North Sea, some 100 km south of which large Swedish city?
Source: Author
malama
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agony before going online.
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