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Pallas (Bloomington Solar System) Traditional Cache

This cache has been archived.

ErWenn: Looks like this one finally vanished. I am not actively replacing caches anymore, so I'll just archive it. Thanks to everyone who searched!

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Hidden : 10/17/2010
Difficulty:
1.5 out of 5
Terrain:
1.5 out of 5

Size: Size:   micro (micro)

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Geocache Description:

This 4-millimeter model of the asteroid Pallas is attached to a magnetic nanocache. It shouldn't be very hard to find.

This cache is part of a 1:133,700,000 scale model of the solar system. The dome on the Monroe County Courthouse in downtown Bloomington serves as a model of the sun. Pallas is about 500-580 kilometers across in all directions, so this model is about four millimeters across. Pallas ranges from 319 to 510 million kilometers from the sun, so I've hidden the cache about 2.26 miles from the Courthouse.

photo of the real Pallas

Pallas is about the same size as Vesta (another asteroid), but it's not nearly as heavy, so it only ranks as the third most massive object in the asteroid belt. It's named after Pallas Athena, the Greek goddess that most of us know as just "Athena". Pallas' orbit is considerably more eccentric than most other large asteroids, meaning that it is sometimes closer to and sometimes farther from the sun than the other big asteroids. It also has a more inclined orbit, meaning that it dips further above and below the ecliptic plane (which is the plane in which the Earth, and most solar system objects, orbit). I briefly considered taking this into account in the placement of the cache, but I couldn't find any climbable trees made of ferromagnetic wood in the area, so I'll just say that it's at that point in its orbit where it's quite close to the ecliptic plane.

The only thing keeping this cache from being a 1-star-terrain cache is the fact that someone in a wheelchair would need to have very long arms to reach the cache.

Congratulations to Bumblebee Buddies for the first-to-find!

Additional Hints (Decrypt)

Vg'f abg rknpgyl va gur rpyvcgvp cynar, fb lbh zvtug unir gb ernpu hc sbe vg.

Decryption Key

A|B|C|D|E|F|G|H|I|J|K|L|M
-------------------------
N|O|P|Q|R|S|T|U|V|W|X|Y|Z

(letter above equals below, and vice versa)