Planet Mercury Site

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The Planet Trek Mercury site, the closest planet to the Sun, is located on the grounds of the Paseo Colorado shopping center (the illustration at right, however, shows a previously planned location in Central Park).

The Imaginative Sculpture, much larger than the scale planet, is designed to capture attention from afar, and convey some aspects of the planet Mercury. It consists of a sphere of 1/2 polished black granite and 1/2 cast bronze. The surface texture of the bronze is engraved to look like the actual planet's surface, based on the planet as it is currently photographed and mapped. The sphere is eighteen inches in diameter.

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Its general appearance is intended to be reflective of its known and unknown portions — only half the planet has ever been mapped.

The image shows the Mercury site in Central Park, with Venus and Earth visible in the background (further north).

The base for the The Imaginative Sculpture is a Canadian white boulder with black (nickel) veins. The approximate height, with the sphere, is 4 feet 6 inches. The sphere is fixed to the boulder base, and the base is attached to a concrete footing at the ground.

The Planet Scale Model is part of a unique planet orbital disk depicting the equatorial plane and the scale model planet on the angle of its polar axis. The base supporting the Planet Scale Model is a pre-cast, uniquely finished concrete pedestal, with informational insets and a title plaque in stainless steel, copper or brass, with etched enamel infill.

Both the Planet Scale Model and the Imaginative Sculpture are on concrete footings connected by a concrete arc with brass inset directional arrows and planet name. Ten "Great Question" plaques surround this site, as with all the other sites, set at ground level.

Scale model planet pedestal closeup

The detail at right illustrates the scale planet model, a hemisphere only about 0.1258 inches in diameter (its true scale size in relation to the 3-foot diameter Sun 124 feet away). This scale model protrudes from a metal surface angled to represent the planet's equatorial tilt. Since Mercury's rotation axis is almost exactly perpendicular to the ecliptic plane in which the planets travel, this metal surface appears level with the ground. All this is atop a concrete pedestal with information and name plaques. Also present on the pedestal is a unique souvenir rub-transfer icon which may be used in school projects and promotional activities to provide evidence of visit.

Click here to see the artists' conception of a typical planet sculpture site, complete with scale model, imaginative sculpture, and the connecting walkway with its ten "Great Question" plaques.

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