The Sweden Solar System is the world's largest permanent scale model of the Solar System. The

Sun The Sun is the star at the center of the Solar System. It is a nearly perfect ball of hot plasma, heated to incandescence by nuclear fusion reactions in its core. The Sun radiates this energy mainly as light, ultraviolet, and infrared rad ...

is represented by the

Avicii Arena Avicii Arena, originally known as Stockholm Globe Arena and previously as Ericsson Globe, but commonly referred to in Swedish simply as Globen (; "the Globe"), is an indoor arena located in Stockholm Globe City, Johanneshov district of Stock ...

in Stockholm, the largest hemispherical building in the world. The inner planets can also be found in Stockholm but the outer planets are situated northward in other cities along the

Baltic Sea The Baltic Sea is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that is enclosed by Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, Sweden and the North and Central European Plain. The sea stretches from 53°N to 66°N latitude and fr ...

. The system was started by Nils Brenning, professor at the Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm, and

Gösta Gahm Gösta Fredrik Gahm (7 July 1942 - 27 December 2020) was a Swedish astronomer. Gösta Gahm was the professor emeritus of astronomy at Stockholm University. He was, until 2010, the chairman of the Swedish Astronomical Society, and was the main i ...

, professor at the Stockholm University. The model represents the Solar System on the scale of 1:20 million.

The system

The bodies represented in this model include the

, the

planet A planet is a large, rounded astronomical body that is neither a star nor its remnant. The best available theory of planet formation is the nebular hypothesis, which posits that an interstellar cloud collapses out of a nebula to create a ...

s (and some of their

moons A natural satellite is, in the most common usage, an astronomical body that orbits a planet, dwarf planet, or small Solar System body (or sometimes another natural satellite). Natural satellites are often colloquially referred to as ''moons'' ...

dwarf planets A dwarf planet is a small planetary-mass object that is in direct orbit of the Sun, smaller than any of the eight classical planets but still a world in its own right. The prototypical dwarf planet is Pluto. The interest of dwarf planets to pl ...

and many types of small bodies (

comet A comet is an icy, small Solar System body that, when passing close to the Sun, warms and begins to release gases, a process that is called outgassing. This produces a visible atmosphere or Coma (cometary), coma, and sometimes also a Comet ta ...

asteroid An asteroid is a minor planet of the Solar System#Inner solar system, inner Solar System. Sizes and shapes of asteroids vary significantly, ranging from 1-meter rocks to a dwarf planet almost 1000 km in diameter; they are rocky, metallic o ...

s, trans-Neptunians, etc.), as well as some abstract concepts (like the

Termination Shock The heliosphere is the magnetosphere, astrosphere and outermost atmospheric layer of the Sun. It takes the shape of a vast, bubble-like region of space. In plasma physics terms, it is the cavity formed by the Sun in the surrounding interstell ...

zone). Because of the existence of many small bodies in the real

Solar System The Solar System Capitalization of the name varies. The International Astronomical Union, the authoritative body regarding astronomical nomenclature, specifies capitalizing the names of all individual astronomical objects but uses mixed "Solar ...

, the model can always be further increased. The

is represented by the

(Globen), Stockholm, which is the largest hemispherical building in the world, in diameter. To respect the scale, the globe represents the Sun including its corona.

Inner planets

* Mercury ( in diameter) is placed at

Stockholm City Museum The Stockholm City Museum ( sv, Stadsmuseet i Stockholm) is a museum documenting, preserving and exhibiting the history of Stockholm. The museum is housed in Södra Stadshuset at Slussen on Södermalm. The building was completed in 1685. In the 1 ...

, from the Globe. The small metallic sphere was built by the artist Peter Varhelyi. *

Venus Venus is the second planet from the Sun. It is sometimes called Earth's "sister" or "twin" planet as it is almost as large and has a similar composition. As an interior planet to Earth, Venus (like Mercury) appears in Earth's sky never f ...

( in diameter) is placed at Vetenskapens Hus at KTH (Royal Institute of Technology), from the Globe. The previous model, made by the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., federal district, five ma ...

artist Daniel Oberti, was inaugurated on 8 June 2004, during a Venus transit and placed at KTH. It fell and shattered around 11 June 2011. Due to construction work at the location of the previous model of Venus it was removed and as of October 2012 cannot be seen. The current model now at Vetenskapens Hus was previously located at the Observatory Museum in Stockholm (now closed). *

Earth Earth is the third planet from the Sun and the only astronomical object known to harbor life. While large volumes of water can be found throughout the Solar System, only Earth sustains liquid surface water. About 71% of Earth's surf ...

( in diameter) is located at the Swedish Museum of Natural History ( Cosmonova), from the Globe. Satellite images of the Earth are exhibited beside the Globe. An elaborate model of

the Moon The Moon is Earth's only natural satellite. It is the fifth largest satellite in the Solar System and the largest and most massive relative to its parent planet, with a diameter about one-quarter that of Earth (comparable to the width of ...

( in diameter) is on display in another part of the museum. *

Mars Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun and the second-smallest planet in the Solar System, only being larger than Mercury. In the English language, Mars is named for the Roman god of war. Mars is a terrestrial planet with a thin atmos ...

( in diameter) is located at Mörby centrum, a shopping centre and

Stockholm metro The Stockholm metro ( sv, Stockholms tunnelbana) is a rapid transit system in Stockholm, Sweden. The first line opened in 1950, and today the system has 100 stations in use, of which 47 are underground and 53 above ground. There are three colo ...

station in

Danderyd Danderyd Municipality (''Danderyds kommun''; ) is a municipality north of Stockholm in Stockholm County in east central Sweden. It is one of the smallest municipalities of Sweden, but the most affluent. Its seat is located in Djursholm and it ...

, a suburb of Stockholm. It is from the Globe. The model, made in

copper Copper is a chemical element with the symbol Cu (from la, cuprum) and atomic number 29. It is a soft, malleable, and ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. A freshly exposed surface of pure copper has a pinkish ...

by the Finnish artist

Heikki Haapanen Heikki is a Finnish and Estonian male given name. It derives from a medieval vernacular form of the name Henrik. Notable people with the name include: *Heikki Aho (footballer) (born 1983), Finnish footballer *Heikki A. Alikoski (1912–1997), F ...

, is connected by an "umbilical cord" to a steel plate on the floor having an Earth image. The globe also features marks that represent some typical Martian chemical elements.

Gas giants

Jupiter Jupiter is the fifth planet from the Sun and the largest in the Solar System. It is a gas giant with a mass more than two and a half times that of all the other planets in the Solar System combined, but slightly less than one-thousandt ...

( in diameter) is placed inside the

Clarion Hotel Choice Hotels International, Inc. is an American multinational hospitality company based in Rockville, Maryland. The company, which is one of the largest hotel chains in the world, owns several hotel brands ranging from upscale to economy. As o ...

located at

Stockholm Arlanda Airport Stockholm Arlanda Airport is an international airport located in the Sigtuna Municipality of Sweden, near the town of Märsta, north of Stockholm and nearly south-east of Uppsala. The airport is located within Stockholm County and the pr ...

Sigtuna Municipality Sigtuna Municipality (''Sigtuna kommun'') is a municipality in Stockholm County in east central Sweden. Its seat is located in the town of Märsta, approximately north of the Swedish capital, Stockholm. The municipality is a part of Metropolita ...

, from the Globe. Previously, it was made as a flower decoration, with different flowers representing different zones of the giant gas planet. Today, the planet is depicted as a ring light above a lobby. *

Saturn Saturn is the sixth planet from the Sun and the second-largest in the Solar System, after Jupiter. It is a gas giant with an average radius of about nine and a half times that of Earth. It has only one-eighth the average density of Earth; ...

( in diameter) is placed outside the old observatory of

Anders Celsius Anders Celsius (; 27 November 170125 April 1744) was a Swedish astronomer, physicist and mathematician. He was professor of astronomy at Uppsala University from 1730 to 1744, but traveled from 1732 to 1735 visiting notable observatories in Germa ...

, in the so-called ''Celsius Square'', in the centre of

Uppsala Uppsala (, or all ending in , ; archaically spelled ''Upsala'') is the county seat of Uppsala County and the List of urban areas in Sweden by population, fourth-largest city in Sweden, after Stockholm, Gothenburg, and Malmö. It had 177,074 inha ...

, from the Globe. Inaugurated during the

International Year of Astronomy The International Year of Astronomy (IYA2009) was a year-long celebration of astronomy that took place in 2009 to coincide with the 400th anniversary of the first recorded astronomical observations with a telescope by Galileo Galilei and the pu ...

,Press release
linked 2009-06-08. the model is a mat with a picture of Saturn, but will eventually grow to crown a school planetarium in the city. In addition, several schools in Uppsala are to provide moons of Saturn: the first completed was

Enceladus Enceladus is the sixth-largest moon of Saturn (19th largest in the Solar System). It is about in diameter, about a tenth of that of Saturn's largest moon, Titan. Enceladus is mostly covered by fresh, clean ice, making it one of the most refle ...

(diameter ) at Kvarngärdesskolan. *

Uranus Uranus is the seventh planet from the Sun. Its name is a reference to the Greek god of the sky, Uranus (Caelus), who, according to Greek mythology, was the great-grandfather of Ares (Mars), grandfather of Zeus (Jupiter) and father of Cronu ...

( in diameter) was vandalized and the new model was reconstructed behind Stora magasinet in

Lövstabruk Lövstabruk is a village on a common in the parish of Österlövsta, Tierp Municipality, Uppsala County, Sweden. In 2010 it had a population of 96, compared to some 1300 at its height during the 18th century. The word ''lövsta'' is derived fro ...

in 2012. It is an outdoor model made of blue steel bars. The rotation axis of the planet is marked in red. Neptune_model_of_Sweden_solar_system

Neptune Neptune is the eighth planet from the Sun and the farthest known planet in the Solar System. It is the fourth-largest planet in the Solar System by diameter, the third-most-massive planet, and the densest giant planet. It is 17 time ...

(2.5 m in diameter) is located by the river Söderhamnsån in

Söderhamn Söderhamn is a locality and the seat of Söderhamn Municipality, Gävleborg County, Sweden with 11,761 inhabitants in 2010. Sports The biggest local sport is bandy. Broberg/Söderhamn Bandy play in the highest division Elitserien and have beco ...

, a coast town with tradition of

fishing Fishing is the activity of trying to catch fish. Fish are often caught as wildlife from the natural environment, but may also be caught from stocked bodies of water such as ponds, canals, park wetlands and reservoirs. Fishing techniques ...

and

sailing Sailing employs the wind—acting on sails, wingsails or kites—to propel a craft on the surface of the ''water'' ( sailing ship, sailboat, raft, windsurfer, or kitesurfer), on ''ice'' ( iceboat) or on ''land'' ( land yacht) over a chose ...

(which relates to

being the deity of the seas). Placed from the Globe, the model is made of acrylic and, at night, shines with a blue light.

Trans-Neptunian objects

Pluto Pluto (minor-planet designation: 134340 Pluto) is a dwarf planet in the Kuiper belt, a ring of bodies beyond the orbit of Neptune. It is the ninth-largest and tenth-most-massive known object to directly orbit the Sun. It is the largest k ...

( in diameter) and its largest moon

Charon In Greek mythology, Charon or Kharon (; grc, Χάρων) is a psychopomp, the ferryman of Hades, the Greek underworld. He carries the souls of those who have been given funeral rites across the rivers Acheron and Styx, which separate the wo ...

are placed near the southern of the Dellen lakes, in

Delsbo Delsbo () is a locality in Hudiksvall Municipality, Gävleborg County, Sweden, with 2,192 inhabitants in 2010. It is situated some 25 kilometers west of Hudiksvall, in the vicinity of the two lakes of Dellen. The town is known for its assembly ...

, from the Globe. The lakes are thought to be formed by a

meteorite A meteorite is a solid piece of debris from an object, such as a comet, asteroid, or meteoroid, that originates in outer space and survives its passage through the atmosphere to reach the surface of a planet or moon. When the original object en ...

impact 90 million years ago. The two bodies' sculptures are supported by two gravelike pillars (as

is the deity for

death Death is the irreversible cessation of all biological functions that sustain an organism. For organisms with a brain, death can also be defined as the irreversible cessation of functioning of the whole brain, including brainstem, and brain ...

), made up with dellenite, a rare mineral formed at that place by the meteorite impact. *

Haumea , discoverer = , discovered = , earliest_precovery_date = March 22, 1955 , mpc_name = (136108) Haumea , pronounced = , adjectives = Haumean , note = yes , alt_names = , named_after = Haumea , mp_category = , orbit_ref = , epoch ...

(8.5cm (3.3 in) in diameter) and its moons are depicted in the

2047 Science Centre 47, 47 or forty-seven may refer to: *47 (number) *47 BC * AD 47 *1947 *2047 *'47 (brand), an American clothing brand * ''47'' (magazine), an American publication * 47 (song), a song by Sidhu Moose Wala *47, a song by New Found Glory from the albu ...

Borlänge Borlänge is a locality in Dalarna County, Sweden with 44,898 inhabitants as of 2020. It is the seat of the Borlänge Municipality with a total population of 51,604 inhabitants as of 2017. History Originally Borlänge was the name of a ti ...

, 200 km (124 mi) from the Globe. *

Quaoar Quaoar (50000 Quaoar), provisional designation , is a dwarf planet in the Kuiper belt, a region of icy planetesimals beyond Neptune. A non-resonant object (cubewano), it measures approximately in diameter, about half the diameter of Pluto. The ...

(6cm (2.4 in) in diameter) is located in the library in Gislaved, 340 km from the Globe. *

Ixion In Greek mythology, Ixion ( ; el, Ἰξίων, ''gen''.: Ἰξίονος means 'strong native') was king of the Lapiths, the most ancient tribe of Thessaly. Family Ixion was the son of Ares, or Leonteus, or Antion and Perimele, or the n ...

( in diameter), a dwarf planet candidate, is located at Technichus, a science center in

Härnösand Härnösand () is a locality and the seat of Härnösand Municipality in Västernorrland County, Sweden with 17,556 inhabitants in 2010. It is called "the gate to the High Coast" because of the world heritage landscape just a few miles north o ...

, 360 km (224 mi) from the Globe. The sculpture is an orb held by a hand with the arm. This

plutino In astronomy, the plutinos are a dynamical group of trans-Neptunian objects that orbit in 2:3 mean-motion resonance with Neptune. This means that for every two orbits a plutino makes, Neptune orbits three times. The dwarf planet Pluto is th ...

was discovered by a team which included scientists from

. *

Makemake Makemake ( minor-planet designation 136472 Makemake) is a dwarf planet and – depending on how they are defined – the second-largest Kuiper belt object in the classical population, with a diameter approximately 60% that of Pluto. It ...

(7cm (2.8 in) in diameter) is located at Slottsskogsobservatoriet, an observatory in Gothenburg, 400 km (249 mi) from the Globe. * 'Oumuamua (0.3 mm (0.012 in) in diameter) is placed in the village of Plönninge,

Halland Halland () is one of the traditional provinces of Sweden (''landskap''), on the western coast of Götaland, southern Sweden. It borders Västergötland, Småland, Scania and the sea of Kattegat. Until 1645 and the Second Treaty of Brömsebr ...

, 440 km (273 mi) from the Globe. * Gonggong (7.5 cm (3.0 in) in diameter) is placed near the Tycho Brahe Observatory in

Oxie Oxie () is a locality and was a city district ( sv, stadsdel) in the south-east of Malmö Municipality, Sweden. On 1 July 2013, the city district was merged with Fosie, forming Söder. In 2012, Oxie had a population of 12,453 of the municipali ...

Malmö Malmö (, ; da, Malmø ) is the largest city in the Swedish county (län) of Scania (Skåne). It is the third-largest city in Sweden, after Stockholm and Gothenburg, and the sixth-largest city in the Nordic region, with a municipal popula ...

, 500 km (311 mi) from the Globe. * Eris ( in diameter) is located at ''Umestans Företagspark'',

Umeå Umeå ( , , , locally ; South Westrobothnian: ;). fi, Uumaja; sju, Ubmeje; sma, Upmeje; se, Ubmi) is a city in northeast Sweden. It is the seat of Umeå Municipality and the capital of Västerbotten County. Situated on the Ume River, U ...

, from the Globe. Made by

Theresa Berg Teresa (also Theresa, Therese; french: Thérèse) is a feminine given name. It originates in the Iberian Peninsula in late antiquity. Its derivation is uncertain, it may be derived from Greek θερίζω (''therízō'') "to harvest or re ...

, the golden model is inspired by the mythical story of Eris sparking a quarrel between three Greek goddesses with a golden apple bearing the inscription καλλίστῃ ("to the most beautiful one"). * Sedna ( in diameter), another dwarf planet candidate, is located at Teknikens Hus, a science center in Luleå, from the Globe.

Other bodies

* The

near-Earth Object A near-Earth object (NEO) is any small Solar System body whose orbit brings it into proximity with Earth. By convention, a Solar System body is a NEO if its closest approach to the Sun (perihelion) is less than 1.3 astronomical units (AU) ...

Eros In Greek mythology, Eros (, ; grc, Ἔρως, Érōs, Love, Desire) is the Greek god of love and sex. His Roman counterpart was Cupid ("desire").''Larousse Desk Reference Encyclopedia'', The Book People, Haydock, 1995, p. 215. In the e ...

is located at Mörbyskolan, a school in

Danderyd Municipality Danderyd Municipality (''Danderyds kommun''; ) is a municipality north of Stockholm in Stockholm County in east central Sweden. It is one of the smallest municipalities of Sweden, but the most affluent. Its seat is located in Djursholm and it ...

(where Mars is located), from the Globe. It was created as a

Valentine's Day Valentine's Day, also called Saint Valentine's Day or the Feast of Saint Valentine, is celebrated annually on February 14. It originated as a Christian feast day honoring one or two early Christian martyrs named Saint Valentine and, throu ...

project in gold, modeled after

, the god of love. The dimensions are 2 × 0.7 × 0.7 mm (). * The

36614 Saltis is located at

Saltsjöbaden Saltsjöbaden is a locality in Nacka Municipality, Stockholm County, Sweden with 9,491 inhabitants in 2010. It is on the Baltic Sea coast, deep in the Stockholm Archipelago. History Saltsjöbaden () was developed as a resort by Knut Agathon W ...

's Kunskapsskola, a school near the

Stockholm Observatory The Stockholm Observatory ( sv, Stockholms observatorium, 050) is an astronomical observatory and institution in Stockholm, Sweden, founded in the 18th century and today part of Stockholm University. In 1931, the new Stockholm Observatory ( sv, ...

. The asteroid was discovered by A. Brandeker in 2000, using a telescope at the observatory, and the body was named after the observatory's location, Saltsjöbaden. * The

Vesta Vesta may refer to: Fiction and mythology * Vesta (mythology), Roman goddess of the hearth and home * Vesta (Marvel Comics), a Marvel Comics character * Sailor Vesta, a character in ''Sailor Moon'' Brands and products * Lada Vesta, a car from ...

is located at

Åva gymnasium Åva Gymnasium is a public secondary school located in Täby, Sweden, a suburb to the north of the capital, Stockholm. Established in 1970, it teaches most of the Swedish national curriculum programmes, as well as a two-year International Baccala ...

, a public secondary school in

Täby Täby () was previously a trimunicipal locality, with 66,292 inhabitants in 2013. However, as from 2016, Statistics Sweden has amalgamated this locality with the Stockholm urban area. It is the seat of Täby Municipality in Stockholm County, Swe ...

. * The asteroid Palomar-Leiden ( in diameter) is located in a park in

Alsike Clover or trefoil are common names for plants of the genus ''Trifolium'' (from Latin ''tres'' 'three' + ''folium'' 'leaf'), consisting of about 300 species of flowering plants in the legume or pea family Fabaceae originating in Europe. The genus ...

Knivsta Municipality Knivsta Municipality (''Knivsta kommun'') is a municipality in Uppsala County in east central Sweden. Its seat is located in the town of Knivsta, with some 7,100 inhabitants. History Until 1971 Knivsta was a municipality in Stockholm County, whe ...

, from the Globe. It is not a sculpture but a dot on a map of the System, placed in front of Erik Ståhl's monumental cosmic sculptures. *

Halley's Comet Halley's Comet or Comet Halley, officially designated 1P/Halley, is a List of periodic comets, short-period comet visible from Earth every 75–79 years. Halley is the only known short-period comet that is regularly visible to the naked eye fr ...

is located at

Balthazar Science Center Balthazar Science Center is a Swedish science center located in Västergötland, Skövde. It contains four Halley's comet 3D models, as part of the Sweden Solar System. The Chairman of the Board The chairperson, also chairman, chairwoman or c ...

, in

Skövde Skövde () is a locality and urban centre in Skövde Municipality and Västra Götaland County, in the Västergötland (Western Gothland region) in central Southern Sweden. Skövde is situated some 150 km northeast of Gothenburg, between ...

. Inaugurated on 16 December 2009, there are actually four models of the comet: three placed outdoors, based on schoolchildren's drawings, plus one indoors, consisting of a laser passing through a block of glass. * Comet Swift-Tuttle is placed at Kreativum, a science center in

Karlshamn Karlshamn () is a locality and the seat of Karlshamn Municipality in Blekinge County, Sweden. It had 13,576 inhabitants in 2015, out of 31,846 in the municipality. Karlshamn received a Royal Charter and city privileges in 1664, when King Charle ...

. The comet's orbit is closest to the Globe in inner Stockholm and farthest in Karlshamn, away. * The Termination Shock is at the edge of the

heliosphere The heliosphere is the magnetosphere, astrosphere and outermost atmospheric layer of the Sun. It takes the shape of a vast, bubble-like region of space. In plasma physics terms, it is the cavity formed by the Sun in the surrounding interst ...

: it is the boundary where the

solar wind The solar wind is a stream of charged particles released from the upper atmosphere of the Sun, called the corona. This plasma mostly consists of electrons, protons and alpha particles with kinetic energy between . The composition of the ...

transitions to subsonic velocity. No sculpture currently represents the termination shock, but a foundation for a future sculpture exists at the Institute of Space Physics, from the Globe, in

Kiruna (; se, Giron ; fi, Kiiruna ) is the northernmost city in Sweden, situated in the province of Lapland. It had 17,002 inhabitants in 2016 and is the seat of Kiruna Municipality (population: 23,167 in 2016) in Norrbotten County. The city was ori ...

, above the Arctic Circle.

List of objects

Gallery

File:Stockholm Globe Arena.jpg, The

represents the Sun. The rest of the Solar System is scattered in, and north of, Stockholm. File:Sweden Solar System Mercury.jpg, Mercury in Stockholm File:Swedish Solar System Venus.jpg, Venus in Stockholm File:Sweden Solar System Earth.jpg, Earth in Stockholm File:Mars model of Sweden solar system.jpg, Mars in Stockholm File:Sweden Solar System - Uranus.jpg, Uranus in Lövstabruk File:Neptune model of Sweden solar system.jpg, Neptune in Söderhamn File:Sculpture of asteroid Vesta.jpg, Asteroid Vesta in Täby File:Sweden Solar System - Sedna 2.JPG, Sedna in Luleå File:Entrance to Swedish Institute of Space Physics.JPG, The foundation for the sculpture of the Termination Shock in front of the

Swedish Institute of Space Physics The Swedish Institute of Space Physics ( sv, Institutet för rymdfysik, IRF) is a Swedish government agency. The institute's primary task is to carry out basic research, education and associated observatory activities in space physics, space techn ...

in Kiruna.

References

External links

Sweden Solar System's webpage
{{Portal bar, Astronomy, Stars, Spaceflight, Outer space, Solar System, Science Scale modeling Space art Science and technology in Sweden Buildings and structures in Sweden Tourist attractions in Sweden Solar System models