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STOKEY'S SOLAR WALK
In October 2014, an evening in Perks Wine Bar somehow ended in an invitation to attend one of Stokey's 'Wonders of the Universe' courses the following day. Like many people, I had always looked up at the stars and planets and asked myself questions like 'how many stars are there?', 'how far away is the Sun?' and 'what is beyond the Milky Way', so I thought, why not? Stokey's presentation was accompanied by fabulous visuals, models and practical demonstrations that answered these questions and more and included the original walk.The talk was fascinating, as Stokey shared his enthusiasm for the mysteries of the solar system and a lifetime of knowledge, presented so that we laymen could grasp the concepts. Stokey led the group down to Horseshoe Bay at Bonchurch, held up a large orange balloon and pronounced it to be the Sun. He then walked us along to Wheelers Bay, pacing out the distance between the planets to. At each stop, we learned some interesting facts and figures about the planet. As we walked along it occurred to me that it would be great to see this walk marked out so locals and visitors could discover the Solar System as they enjoyed a stroll, and so the Solar System Walk was born.
The Solar Walk
Follow the plaques Supported by Ventnor Enhancement that mark out the distances between the planets to scale, each one bearing some interesting facts. The walk is laid out based on the 1,000-yard model, where one inch represents 100,000 miles.
Start from Bonchurch where a model of the Sun can be seen and a plaque explaining how many paces you then need to take to get to the first planet Mars. Once the walk is completed you will have walked a total of 1,019 paces, the equivalent to 3,666,000,000 miles! to Pluto.
Personal Guide
Why not let Stokey (The Star-man) take you on a stroll through the solar system , or if you have more time, on a "Walk Through The Heavens" Book your own celestial guide by the hour, and uniquely experience the night sky in Ventnor, where it is said that you can see more stars their than in Hollywood.
Wonders Of The Universe Day
An interesting fun packed day aimed at people who have always wondered about the vastness of the universe and who would love to look up into the night sky and have a better understanding of what they are looking at.
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