The Campus Solar System is made possible by a grant from the Champaign Urbana Community Schools Foundation with support from the Champaign Community School District Unit #4 and Parkland College. It is a scale model of our solar system reproduced around the perimeter drive of the campus, with all of the planets shown scaled to the correct size and distance from the Sun. The Sun is the large yellow ball just across the drive from the planetarium with the other planets winding their way clockwise to the north. How many planets can you find?

Teachers . . . why not walk the campus solar system with your class? You can go from the Sun to the Earth (113 yards) and Mars (172 yards) without crossing any major roads. There is a brochure available in the office with suggested discussion topics and classroom activities!

NOTE: Someone unfortunately thought it would be "fun" to destroy our original solar system model. A replacement is being constructed and will be out very soon! The Sun, planet poles, and new plaques are in place! Until new spheres can be obtained, the sizes of the planets are depicted on the plaques themselves.

Download a pdf of the Campus Solar System brochure (with activities) here!