Central Illinois Community Solar Model - Saturn - Pekin, IL - Solar System Models on Waymarking.com

In Pekin, in the Pekin Public Library, is a scale model of Saturn, part of the Community Solar System in the Peoria metropolitan area.

The Pekin Public Library is in the center of Pekin, located at the corner of Broadway and S 4th Street.

Once you park in the lot, go to the main entrance, which is on the south side of the building, then enter the Children's Room to the left. Saturn is in a corner where there is a reading area, set at ceiling level - in fact, the ceiling tiles are cut back to make room.

Saturn is an imposing feature - if I were attempting to read at this location, I would feel that it is hovering over me, trying to read over my shoulder. But the globe is beautifully done with details in the multi-colored bands. The rings are at least five feet wide. The model gives an idea what it would be like to hitch a ride with the Cassini probe as it orbited the planet.

The sign has the following about Saturn:

"You have reached the planet
SATURN
Saturn is the sixth planet from the Sun (0.9 billion miles). it is the most distant planet visible with the naked eye. its year is 29 Earth years. Although the planet is big enough to fit 764 Earths inside, this gas giant is less dense than water. If we had a tub of water big enough to drop it into, Saturn would float. Like Jupiter, Saturn is about 75% hydrogen and 25% helium. Saturn's interior is similar to Jupiter's, consisting of a rocky core, a liquid metallic hydrogen layer, and a molecular hydrogen layer. Also like Jupiter, Saturn's interior is hot (over 20,000F) and it radiates more energy into space than it receives from the Sun. Traces of ices of water, methane & ammonia are also present in the atmosphere.

Also, like Jupiter, Saturn has an extensive family of moons (62 confirmed as of 2013). The largest, Titan, is larger than the planet Mercury. Titan has an atmosphere 8 times thicker than Earth's, composed mostly of nitrogen. Just as the Earth's surface has been shaped by a methane cycle. Methane condenses into clouds, rains from the sky, flows across the surface in rivers and streams into lakes and seas.

The most prominent feature of Saturn is its ring system. Although all of the gas giants have rings, Saturn's are by far the most impressive. They can easily be seen in small amateur telescopes. Astronomers believe that some of Saturn's moons, called 'shepherd moons,' help hold the rings in place. These rings extend over 43,000 miles away from the planet's equator, yet are less than a football field thick in many places.

In this model, Saturn's rings are about 20% smaller than they should be at the scale of the model, due to engineering considerations.

The Central Illinois Community Solar System is a scale model with both size and distance to the same scale. (99,000,000:1) The 46' Sun is on the Sun Plaza at the Peoria Riverfront Museum. Learn more at PeoriaRiverfrontMuseum.org."

At the time of writing this submission (September 15, 2017), the probe, Cassini made its last transmissions and was allowed to fall into the planet. The images taken of the planet and the rings and moons will continue to amaze and surprise humanity for decades to come.

Address: 301 S 4th St Perkin, IL United States of America 61554 To-Scale by distance: yes To-Scale by Size: yes Is the model an Orrery?: no Web Page: [Web Link] Hours: Mon - Sat: 9am - 8pm Admission Fee: 0.00 (listed in local currency)

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