| Sagan Planet Walk, Ithaca Common | |
[1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7]
Cornell University sits in Ithaca, "high above Cayuga's waters," but down below in town is Ithaca Common, an honorary annex of the college where I sat for a rest among the goths and skateboarders. This monument caught my eye, not least because it honors Carl Sagan, who did so much to advance the public's appreciation of science and the universe.
This is the beginning of the Sagan Planet Walk, a scale model of the solar system. This is the Sun, represented by the 30-centimeter opening at the top of the stele. The exhibit invites you to "pace the space" starting with Mercury just down the way, then Venus, and so on to Pluto 1200 meters away in a park. But you can do it from your own desktop through sciencenter.org's Web site about the Planet Walk.
From here I set off back eastward, into the hills of the Allegheny Plateau.
(c) Copyright 2002 Andrew Alden, licensed to About.com, Inc.
