Astronomy buffs will have a chance to visit Pluto this weekend, but not without a considerable walk.

Thursday, April 19, 2001

Astronomy buffs will have a chance to visit Pluto this weekend, but not without a considerable walk.

Thanks to Albert Lea High School science teacher Ken Fiscus and volunteers from the local astronomy club, a true scale representation of the solar system is expected to attract hundreds of visitors Saturday to a flat section of County Road 118 on the west edge of Hollandale.

&uot;It’s very realistic, and it shows just how expansive our solar system is. We’re accurate to within a few percentage points on the whole scale,&uot; Fiscus said.

The walk is set up for a mile-long section of the highway, which is barricaded for the duration of the event, to give an accurate representation of the distances between the planets.

&uot;When people leave Saturn to visit the last three planets, they swear the whole thing is a practical joke because it takes so long to reach Uranus,&uot; Fiscus said.

A true scale model or illustration of the solar system is very rare, Fiscus said, because the relative distances between the planets are so large. Almost all pictures in textbooks, for example, distort the both size and distance, he said.

&uot;It’s a great teaching tool. It’s just hard to grasp the immense scale of the solar system until you walk for several minutes just to get to the next planet,&uot; Fiscus said.

A volunteer from the astronomy club is stationed at each planet to recite some interesting facts and stamp passports, which will be handed out at the beginning of the tour. People who make it to Pluto will be treated to hot chocolate for the walk back to the sun.

Fiscus uses several household objects to represent the planets, from various shot gun pellets for the smaller planets to a sanded-down golf ball for Jupiter, the solar system’s largest planet. A 15-inch globe light fixture represents the sun.

Using larger objects would throw off the scale, Fiscus said. If he decided to use a beach ball for the sun, the walk to Pluto would be several additional miles.

&uot;People don’t seem to understand the concept of scale. That’s why this is such a valuable experience,&uot; Fiscus said. &uot;It just knocks you over when you realize just how huge the solar system is.&uot;

Fiscus purposely scheduled the tour for the evening hours, 8-10 p.m., so the skies would be dark. He encourages people to bring flashlights for the walk.

&uot;Outer space is a very dark place. I wanted this to be as realistic as possible. The only unrealistic aspect of the tour is that we have all of the planets perfectly aligned, which never happens,&uot; Fiscus said.

The event is in its third year, Fiscus said, but he is actively promoting it this time around. More than 250 people attended the tour last year. He’s expecting a much larger turnout Saturday. He contacted science teachers across the state, and expects bus loads of people from as far away as St. Paul and Mankato.

Fiscus said it takes the average person about 25 minutes to make the 2.2 mile round trip to the edge of the solar system. He asks all walkers to make sure they have enough time to complete the tour by 10 p.m. when the road must reopen.

For more information about the tour, contact Fiscus at 379-5492 or email to kfiscus@albertlea.k12.mn.us.