This is a collaborative project between Arloesi Gwynedd Wledig and Snowdonia National Park.  The main aim of this project was to recreate the Solar System within Gwynedd’s boundaries. The Snowdonia Solar System Trail was created by children from local schools and local artists. They created art installations of every planet, which were then placed in businesses throughout Gwynedd.

This was done by placing planets in businesses around Gwynedd, using a distance ratio. The model is an effective way of contextualising the size of the Solar System and adds value to the Snowdonia Dark Sky Reserve status.

The size of the planets is not to scale, but the ratio of their distance from the Sun is graded. On this scale, the Solar System was shrunk by a factor of one hundred and forty million to one. (140,000,000 to one).

The Snowdonia National Park was awarded Dark Sky Reserve status in December 2015. Following this, we are encouraging everyone to learn more about the solar system by going out and visiting these artworks.

Helen Pye from Snowdonia National Park explains: “The designation is a very important award, we have proved that the quality of our night sky is excellent and real efforts are being made to reduce light pollution.”

By placing the artistic creative planets in businesses around Gwynedd, a route is created for people to follow. At each stop, you will learn about the particular planet and understand more about the scale of the Solar System, while also visiting places of Gwynedd that you may not have seen before.