Sweden Solar System Explained

The Sweden Solar System is the world's largest permanent scale model of the Solar System. The Sun is represented by the Avicii Arena in Stockholm, the second-largest hemispherical building in the world. The inner planets can also be found in Stockholm but the outer planets are situated northward in other cities along the Baltic Sea. The system was started by Nils Brenning, professor at the Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm, and Gösta Gahm, professor at the Stockholm University.^{[1] [2]} The model represents the Solar System on the scale of 1:20 000 000, i.e. one metre represents 20,000 km.^[3]

The system

The bodies represented in this model include the Sun, the planets (and some of their moons), dwarf planets and many types of small bodies (comets, asteroids, trans-Neptunians, etc.), as well as some abstract concepts (like the Termination Shock zone). Because of the existence of many small bodies in the real Solar System, the model can always be further increased.

The Sun is represented by the Avicii Arena (Globen), Stockholm, which is the second-largest hemispherical building in the world, in diameter. To respect the scale, the globe represents the Sun including its corona.

Inner planets

• Mercury (in diameter) is placed at Stockholm City Museum, from the Globe. The small metallic sphere was built by the artist Peter Varhelyi.
• Venus (in diameter) is placed at Vetenskapens Hus at KTH (Royal Institute of Technology), from the Globe. It was previously located at the Observatory Museum in Stockholm (now closed). A previous model, made by the United States artist Daniel Oberti, was inaugurated during a Venus transit on 8 June 2004 and placed at KTH. It fell and shattered around 11 June 2011.
• Earth (in diameter) is located at the Swedish Museum of Natural History (Cosmonova), from the Globe. Satellite images of the Earth are exhibited beside the Globe. An elaborate model of the Moon (in diameter) is also on display, about 20 meters from the model of Earth.
• Mars (in diameter) is located at Mörby centrum, a shopping centre and Stockholm metro station in Danderyd, a suburb of Stockholm. It is from the Globe. The model, made in copper by the Finnish artist Heikki Haapanen, is connected by an "umbilical cord" to a steel plate on the floor having an Earth image.^[4] The globe also features marks that represent some typical Martian chemical elements.

Gas giants

• Jupiter (in diameter) is placed inside the Clarion Hotel located at Stockholm Arlanda Airport in Sigtuna Municipality, from the Globe. Previously, it was made as a flower decoration, with different flowers representing different zones of the giant gas planet. Today, the planet is depicted as a ring light above a lobby.^[5]
• Saturn (in diameter) is placed outside the old observatory of Anders Celsius, in the so-called Celsius Square, in the centre of Uppsala, from the Globe. Inaugurated during the International Year of Astronomy,^[6] the model is a mat with a picture of Saturn, but will eventually grow to crown a school planetarium in the city. In addition, several schools in Uppsala are to provide moons of Saturn: the first completed was Enceladus (diameter) at Kvarngärdesskolan.^[7] (Note: The model was taken down due to vandalism)
• Uranus (in diameter) was vandalized and the new model was reconstructed behind Stora magasinet in Lövstabruk in 2012. It is an outdoor model made of blue steel bars. The rotation axis of the planet is marked in red.^[8]

• Neptune (2.5 m in diameter) is located by the river Söderhamnsån in Söderhamn, a coast town with tradition of fishing and sailing (which relates to Neptune being the deity of the seas). Placed from the Globe, the model is made of acrylic and, at night, shines with a blue light.

Trans-Neptunian objects

• Pluto (in diameter) and its largest moon Charon are placed near the southern of the Dellen lakes, in Delsbo, from the Globe. The lakes are thought to be formed by a meteorite impact 90 million years ago. The two bodies' sculptures are supported by two gravelike pillars (as Pluto is the deity for death), made up with dellenite, a rare mineral formed at that place by the meteorite impact.
• Haumea (8.5cm (3.3 in) in diameter) and its moons are depicted in the 2047 Science Centre, Borlänge, 200 km (124 mi) from the Globe.
• Quaoar (6cm (2.4 in) in diameter) is located in the library in Gislaved, 340 km from the Globe.
• Ixion (in diameter), a dwarf planet candidate, is located at Technichus, a science center in Härnösand, 360 km (224 mi) from the Globe. The sculpture is an orb held by a hand with the arm. This plutino was discovered by a team which included scientists from Uppsala.
• Makemake (7cm (2.8 in) in diameter) is located at Slottsskogsobservatoriet, an observatory in Gothenburg, 400 km (249 mi) from the Globe.
• 'Oumuamua (0.3 mm (0.012 in) in diameter) is placed in the village of Plönninge, Halland, 440 km (273 mi) from the Globe.
• Gonggong (7.5 cm (3.0 in) in diameter) is placed near the Tycho Brahe Observatory in Oxie, Malmö, 500 km (311 mi) from the Globe.
• Eris (in diameter) is located at Umestans Företagspark, Umeå, from the Globe. Made by Theresa Berg, the golden model is inspired by the mythical story of Eris sparking a quarrel between three Greek goddesses with a golden apple bearing the inscription καλλίστῃ (kallistē, "to the most beautiful one").
• Sedna (in diameter), another dwarf planet candidate, is located at Teknikens Hus, a science center in Luleå, from the Globe. This represents a distance of about 15 billion km; Sedna has a highly elliptical orbit, its distance from the Sun varying between 11 and 140 billion km.

Other bodies

• 471926 Jörmungandr a minor planet in Stockholm.
• The near-Earth Object Eros is located at Mörbyskolan, a school in Danderyd Municipality (where Mars is located), from the Globe. It was created as a Valentine's Day project in gold, modeled after Eros, the god of love. The dimensions are 2 × 0.7 × 0.7 mm .
• The asteroid 36614 Saltis is located at Saltsjöbaden's Kunskapsskola, a school near the Stockholm Observatory. The asteroid was discovered by A. Brandeker in 2000, using a telescope at the observatory, and the body was named after the observatory's location, Saltsjöbaden.
• The asteroid Vesta is located at Åva gymnasium, a public secondary school in Täby.
• The asteroid 306367 Nut (a.k.a 5025 PL for Palomar-Leiden) (in diameter) is located in a park in Knivsta Municipality, from the Globe. It is not a sculpture but a dot on a map of the System, placed in front of Erik Ståhl's monumental cosmic sculptures.
• Halley's Comet is located at Balthazar Science Center, in Skövde. Inaugurated on 16 December 2009, there are actually four models of the comet: three placed outdoors, based on schoolchildren's drawings, plus one indoors, consisting of a laser passing through a block of glass.
• Comet Swift-Tuttle is placed at Kreativum, a science center in Karlshamn. The comet's orbit is closest to the Globe in inner Stockholm and farthest in Karlshamn, away.
• The Termination Shock is at the edge of the heliosphere: it is the boundary where the solar wind transitions to subsonic velocity. No sculpture currently represents the termination shock, but a foundation for a future sculpture exists at the Institute of Space Physics, from the Globe, in Kiruna, above the Arctic Circle.

List of objects

Object	Distance from Globen^[9]	Diameter	Location	Coordinates	Inauguration date
Sun		71 m (233 ft), the disk 110 m (361 ft), incl. the corona	The Avicii Arena in Stockholm	59.2936°N 18.0832°W	19 February 1989
471926 Jörmungandr	1.8 km	0.05 mm	Ion Game Design in Stockholm	59.3096°N 18.0728°W	23 september 2023^[10]
Mercury	2.9 km (1.8 mi)	25 cm (9.8 in)	Stockholm City Museum in Stockholm	59.3197°N 18.0711°W	1998
Venus	5.5 km (3.4 mi)	62 cm (24.4 in)	Vetenskapens Hus	59.3529°N 18.0586°W	8 June 2004
Earth and Moon	7.6 km (4.7 mi)	65 cm (25.6 in) and 18 cm (7.1 in)	Cosmonova Riksmuseet in Stockholm	59.369°N 18.0534°W	before 2000^[11]
(433) Eros	11 km (6.8 mi)	2.0 mm × 0.7 mm × 0.7 mm	Mörbyskolan, a school in Danderyd	59.3939°N 18.0447°W
(36614) Saltis	11 km (6.8 mi)	< 1 mm	Kunskapsskolan, a school in Saltsjöbaden	59.2725°N 18.3047°W	14 January 2010^[12]
Mars	11.6 km (7.2 mi)	35 cm (13.8 in)	Mörby Centrum in Danderyd	59.3979°N 18.0366°W	before 2000
4 Vesta	16.4 km (10.2 mi)	2.6 cm	Åva gymnasium in Täby	59.44°N 18.0631°W	6 September 2017^[13]
Jupiter	40 km (25 mi)	7.3 m (24 ft)	Arlanda airport in Märsta	59.6496°N 17.9307°W	before 2000
(306367) Nut (5025 PL)	60 km (37 mi)	0.2 mm		59.7569°N 17.7658°W
Saturn	73 km (45 mi)	6.1 m (20 ft)	Celsius square in Uppsala	59.8594°N 17.6372°W	2010 (only Titan)
Uranus	125 km (77 mi)	2.6 m (8.5 ft)	Stora magasinet in Lövstabruk	60.4086°N 17.8769°W	13 October 2012^[14]
	200 km	10 cm		60.4884°N 15.431°W
	204 km (127 mi)	Four representations, not scale models.	Balthazar Science Center in Skövde	58.3872°N 13.8531°W	16 December 2009^[15]
Neptune	229 km (142 mi)	2.5 m (8.2 ft)	by the river Söderhamnsån in Söderhamn	61.3019°N 17.0553°W	29 October 1998^[16]
Pluto and Charon	300 km (186 mi)	12 cm (4.7 in) and 6 cm (2.4 in)	by the lake Dellen South, in Delsbo	61.7973°N 16.55°W	before 2000
	340 km	6 cm	Gislaved’s library	57.2964°N 13.5305°W	18 November 2017^[17]
(28978) Ixion	360 km (224 mi)	6.5 cm (2.6 in)	Technichus, a science center in Härnösand	62.6303°N 17.9367°W	18 April 2002^[18]
174567 Varda	370 km	33 mm			58.3493°N 11.9289°W	4 september 2021^[19]
109P/Swift-Tuttle comet	390 km (242 mi)	< 1 cm	Kreativum, a science center in Karlshamn	56.1942°N 14.8525°W
Makemake	400 km	7 cm	Slottsskogsobservatoriet in Gothenburg	57.6912°N 11.9434°W	23 September 2017^[20]
ʻOumuamua	440 km	0.3 mm		56.7347°N 12.7452°W
225088 Gonggong	400 km	7.5 cm		55.5428°N 13.0844°W	23 September 2017^[21]
(136199) Eris	510 km (317 mi)	13 cm (5.1 in)	Företagspark in Umeå	63.8347°N 20.2603°W	6 December 2007^[22]
(90377) Sedna	810 km (503 mi)	10 cm (3.9 in)	Teknikens Hus, a science center in Luleå	65.6165°N 22.135°W	8 December 2005^[23]
Termination shock	950 km (590 mi)	A plate	Institute of Space Physics in Kiruna	67.8408°N 20.4096°W

See also

• Nine Views
• Somerset Space Walk

External links

• Sweden Solar System's webpage
• All objects on Openstreetmap

Notes and References

1. Web site: Sweden Solar System: Bakgrund . Swedish . Sweden Solar System . 2009-09-15.
2. Web site: Contact | Sweden Solar System.
3. Web site: Sweden Solar System: English summary . Sweden Solar System . 2009-09-15.
4. Web site: 404. www.danderyd.se.
5. Web site: Karlsson . Lars . Sweden Solar System - Jupiter ver. 2 . 2022-03-25 . www.astrofriend.eu . en.
6. http://space.irfu.se/Pressmeddelande_Mattan.pdf Press release
7. http://www.popast.nu/2009/01/egna-manar-till-uppsalaskolor-hela-listan.html List
8. Web site: Uranus landade i Lövsta. 14 October 2012. 23 August 2016. 17 February 2018. https://web.archive.org/web/20180217082356/http://www.arbetarbladet.se/uppland/tierp/uranus-landade-i-lovsta. dead.
9. Web site: Sweden Solar System: Stationer . Swedish . Sweden Solar System . 15 September 2009.
10. Web site: Asteroid Jormungandr – Sweden Solar System. www.swedensolarsystem.se.
11. Web site: Tours of Model Solar Systems . Psych.illinois.edu . 4 October 2013 . 24 July 2010 . https://web.archive.org/web/20100724064517/http://www.psych.illinois.edu/~wbrewer/solarmodel.html . dead .
12. Web site: Ny Teknik: Saltis invigs i Saltis. https://web.archive.org/web/20100623034707/http://www.nyteknik.se/nyheter/it_telekom/allmant/article705537.ece. dead. June 23, 2010.
13. Web site: Åva gymnasium.
14. Web site: Uranus invigdes i Lövstabruk – Upsala Nya Tidning. 13 October 2012.
15. Web site: Sweden Solar System: Halleys komet . Ttt.astro.su.se . 16 December 2009 . 4 October 2013.
16. Web site: Neptunus i Söderhamn. www.hjalm.org.
17. Web site: Quaoar – Sweden Solar System. www.swedensolarsystem.se.
18. Web site: Technichus' Exhibitions . Technichus home Page . 10 May 2010 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20100814020704/http://www.technichus.se/system/visa.asp?HID=803&FID=782&HSID=13958 . 14 August 2010 .
19. Web site: varda – Sweden Solar System. www.swedensolarsystem.se.
20. Web site: Makemake – Sweden Solar System. www.swedensolarsystem.se.
21. Web site: Gonggong – Sweden Solar System. www.swedensolarsystem.se.
22. Web site: Umeå kommun: Umeå får en egen himlakropp. https://web.archive.org/web/20110929011153/http://www.umea.se/4.2aeb902411d30c9e46080003810.html. dead. September 29, 2011.
23. Web site: Luleå är Sedna. I alla fall om vår sol motsvaras av Globen i Stockholm. . Norrbotten Kuriren (in swedish) . 10 May 2010 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20100715074955/http://www.kuriren.nu/arkiv/2005/11/17/Lokalt/1510647/Lule%C3%A5-%C3%A4r-Sedna.aspx . 15 July 2010 .