Solar System Trails is a family run business based on the West Coast of Ireland with manufacturing partners on three continents.
Years ago, we took part as a family in our daughter’s school project. We wanted to see what effect setting an outdoor model of the Solar System would have. Whilst globes help us visualise the Earth; it is much harder to envision the Solar System as a single unit that moves through the galaxy.
A scaled model of the Solar System cannot fit on the page of a science book, a classroom wall or a museum exhibit-hall. It demonstrates the relative size and space between the Sun and planets, as if we shrunk the Solar System down to the size of our trail.
Most representations of the Solar System amount to learning about our place in space without the effect of the space environment. As a result most of us have no sense real of distances to the Moon, the Sun and the Planets.
Walking a Solar System trail is a surprising experience. Our sense of space gets dramatically magnified while the Sun and planets, now appear small, unique, and precious. Our senses switch on and go beyond facts and knowledge, gaining a new perspective and value for what we are part of. A connection to a bigger picture.
A typical trail may start with a 20-inch-wide Sun. 180 ft away you will encounter the 4.6mm wide Earth. Neptune would be 2/3-inch sphere, one mile away. For students, running between planets in a vast 3D Solar System model is more than a fun science practice, they gain a new ‘space perspective’ of a vast environment they can now relate to, our place in the Solar System.
The feedback was that everyone should benefit from the experience, and so we decided to make ready-to-install Solar System Trails widely available.
After several years of activity in Ireland and elsewhere, culminating with the Birr Castle Solar System Trail, we started offering these in the U.S., with initial installations in the Dark Sky regions of Colorado and Utah.
Today our systems can be found from New Jersey to California and from
A mother commented on how she wished there was something her son could listen to while they walked the trail as she couldn’t answer all of his questions. This led to the development of the X-Trails App and Audio Guide which offers fun and educational content for younger and older visitors alike. The App is the collaborative work of scientists, writers, space artists, voice actors and a 10 year old girl that wrote the poems for Mission to Mars. It offers interactive fun STEM education for all ages.
Ultimately, they put us in touch with our place in Space. The Universe and our presence in it are awe inspiring, it is our aim and hope to encourage that appreciation in others.