Paseo del Sistema Solar in Manzanares, Spain

The Paseo del Sistema Solar (Solar System Walk) is a three-dimensional model of the solar system that was inaugurated on September 10, 2010. This project was conceived by scientist Julián Gómez-Cambronero Pacheco.

It offers an opportunity to understand the vastness of our universe on a pleasant walk through the park. In 2007, Gómez-Cambronero, a professor at Wright State University in Ohio, created the first design for this project, which scales the size of the planets and their distance from the sun for the city of Manzanares. His idea came about in an attempt to explain the real dimensions of the universe to his daughter Julia and to give her a more realistic perspective than the one shown in books.

The project, supported by the Manzanares City Council, was carried out in the Parque del Polígono. It comprises a one-kilometer route divided into two sections. The first section depicts the planets from Mercury to Pluto, with the asteroid belt separating the inner and outer planets. The second section shows other celestial objects on a different scale to reflect their vast distances. The section is marked by monoliths containing scale fiberglass models of each planet, along with informative plaques about their scientific properties.

In 2022, the park was renamed in honor of Gómez-Cambronero. The tour aims to provide a realistic picture of the size of the solar system and serves as both an educational facility and a leisure attraction for park visitors. The project uses a scale in which the sun has a diameter of 8.4 meters, Jupiter is 86 centimeters tall and the earth is about the size of an orange (7.7 centimeters). Distances between planets are similarly scaled, with Pluto placed 390 meters from the Sun.

Source: Atlas Obscura - Latest Articles and Places