Not many people are aware of this: Melbourne's bay-side suburbs are home to a little-known, art-science, sculpture installation that comprises a scale model of our solar system. The scale is 1 to 1 billion (both in sizes and distances) and it stretches from the Sun, which is at St Kilda Beach near Luna Park, through Middle Park, Albert Park, and Port Melbourne to Sandridge Beach a little further west of Princes Pier. This amazing installation makes Melbourne a member of a club consisting of a fairly small number of world cities that can boast such a scale model of our solar sytem.
Walking it is not only a nice scenic walk and a learning opportunity; it also gives you a real feel for the vastness of space, even in the local neighbourhood.
As Douglas Adams' wrote in Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy, "Space [the Guide] says, is big. Really big. You just won't believe how vastly, hugely, mindbogglingly big it is. I mean, you may think it's a long way down the road to the chemist's, but that's just peanuts to space."
In 2009, I uploaded to Flickr (a photo-sharing site) this album of 14 pictures of the Melbourne Solar System (12 photos and two satellite maps showing the locations of the planets.)
At the time, I was auditing some astronomy lectures at Monash University. I sent the link to the professor, who was surprised to learn of this installation (so don't feel bad if you also didn't know of it until now), and at the next lecture she advised the rest of the class about it.
This is my description on Flickr of the Album:
The Melbourne Solar System is a scale sculpture of the Solar System that stretches for 5.9 km along the foreshore of the northern and eastern parts of Hobson’s Bay, which is the northernmost part of Port Phillip Bay between Point Ormond in Elwood and Williamstown.
The scale of the sculpture is one to one billion and both the sizes of the Solar System’s astronomical bodies and their distances from the Sun are accurately represented. The sculpture consists of eleven elements: the Sun, Mercury, Venus, Earth, the Moon, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune and Pluto. All but the Sun are mounted on waist-height stone pillars to which explanatory plaques are affixed.
The sculpture follows the walking/bike paths that hug the beach fronts of Hobson’s Bay between St Kilda and Web Dock by the mouth of the Yarra. "Walking the planets" along these paths is not only a healthy and pleasant way to spend an afternoon; it is an educational tour in which you will see our Sun and its planets in their true relative sizes, and at the same time get a real experiential feel for the size of our Solar System and the distances to the planets. If you stop to read the plaques on the sculpture pillars, you will also learn some interesting facts about our Solar System neighbours.
It is a decent size walk, but if you do it at a medium pace, taking in the sights along the way, with a picnic break at Pluto before turning back, you will be able to add to the above the experience of having made the round trip in about the same time as it takes for the Sun’s light to travel the average distance to Pluto - about 5½ hours.
If you start at the Sun, you will walk along the St Kilda, Middle Park, Albert Park and Port Melbourne beaches, go past Station Pier (the Tasmanian ferry terminal) and Princess Pier at Beacon Cove, and end up at Sandridge beach in Garden City.
The Sun is situated in the Triangular Reserve just north of the St Kilda Marina (near the site of the marina lighthouse), opposite the intersection where Blessington St, St Kilda meets Marine Pde. (Melways map 2N, K11.)
Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars and Jupiter are all situated between there and St Kilda Pier along the St Kilda beach walking/bike path that runs parallel with Jacka Boulevard (the continuation of Marine Parade).
After passing St Kilda Pier, head for the Royal Melbourne Yacht Club and walk along Pier Road which runs between Catani Gardens and the beach. There you will find Saturn shortly before Pier Road turns to join Beaconsfield Parade (the continuation of Jacka Boulevard).
Continue on Beaconsfield Parade, along the beaches of St Kilda West and then Middle Park, where you will find Uranus just past Wright St. Keep following the same path along Albert Park beach, after which you will find Neptune just past Bay Street in Port Melbourne.
From there, continue along Beach St (the continuation of Beaconsfield Pde) and alongside Beacon Cove, which lies between Station Pier and Princess Pier, through the new development area. Then, a short way past Princess Pier, take The Boulevard alongside the foreshore barbeque area adjacent to Sandridge Beach. That is where you will find Pluto. This area is a great place to stop for a picnic before heading back.
Find the planets on Google Maps
The locations of all the celestial bodies making up this installation are now marked on Google Maps. In the search bar, type, "Melbourne Solar System Trail - BodyName" (BodyName is, e.g. Sun, Mars, Jupiter, etc.)
Public Transport
If you don’t feel like walking all the way back, there are several public transport options that will get you back fairly close to where you started by light rail or by bus and light rail with one or two changes. Use the PTV journey planner to select transport and route options and to get a map and/or detailed directions for your preferred option.
Here is another photo album on Flickr of the same thing: