WittClipse: Inside the Project

In March 2024, Professor Emeritus of Physics Dan Fleisch, award-winning educator and astronomer-in-residence at Grand Canyon National Park and at Wittenberg, installed an accurately scaled model of the solar system on campus and at select locations in the surrounding community. That model consists of 15 "Planetary Information Stations" all located at the proper distance from the model Sun, which is represented by a three-foot sphere in Wittenberg Stadium.  

Each planetary information station includes a large placard with information about the planet or asteroid at that location, along with an accurately scaled model of that planet. The stations for the Sun, Mercury, Venus, Earth/Moon, Mars, Jupiter, and several asteroids are on the Wittenberg campus, but Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto are so far away from the Sun that they cannot fit on campus. Happily, the following organizations agreed to host stations:

  • The Springfield Museum of Art: Saturn
  • The Clark County Main Library: Uranus
  • The Westcott House: Neptune and Pluto

A map of the solar system with an overview of the project can be found here.

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