On the map below you can see our Solar System Series follows a rough line north to south along the Cambrian Mountains of Mid Wales and covers 40 miles using 1 mile to 1 astronomical unit, which itself equals 93 million miles. When finding the caches you will also notice we have chosen cache sizes relative to the size of the planets etc.
The picture below shows the relative size and positions of the objects in our series, which starts with Sol near Dylife then travels in a southerly direction nearly 40 miles to end with Pluto near Llanwrda just south-west of Llandovery.
There are 15 caches in all, as we have included the first four Asteroids to be discovered and a famous Comet. We have also included Pluto, as most people have grown up learning that Pluto was a planet, though now demoted to dwarf planet status.
This beautiful image of Venus is a mosaic of three images acquired by the Mariner 10 spacecraft on February 5th 1974. It shows the thick cloud coverage that prevents optical observation of the surface, but produces a greenhouse effect on the planet, so that the surface temperature is more than 900 degrees Fahrenheit. The clouds are mostly composed of sulphuric acid.
Venus is the brightest planet and the third brightest object in the sky, making it even visible sometimes during the day. And is one of three planets that rotate ‘backwards‘, that is, east to west.
When deciding where to place our Solar System series we thought of using the Cambrian Mountain Ridge as a guideline to give Geocachers a scenic route and to give suitable cache sites with interest. We chose to start the series with Sol at it's northern end near the Star Inn because of the connection... Sol being our nearest 'star'.
Here Venus is 0.72 miles (GZ 0.74) away from Sol where we found this beautiful view and waterfall.
The Dylife Gorge
The dramatic ravine was created by the action of first ice and then water. Before the last Ice Age, the river Twymyn did not flow through this valley but instead followed a course from east to west. When the ice came, the valley was filled by a glacier flowing northwards down the side of the hill. This river of ice ground out the earth to form a U-shaped glaciated valley. When the glacier melted the Twymyn started to run down the wide channel left behind. The fast-flowing river further eroded the valley, cutting the V-shaped gorge seen today. This V-shaped channel is typical of the valleys cut by young, fast-flowing streams.
Ffrwd Fawr (Great Torrent) is a spectacular waterfall where the Afon Twymyn drops down a sheer rock face 130 feet or 40 metres into the Dylife Gorge on its way to the Afon Dyfi. You can see the top of this from the viewpoint.
We hope you enjoy our Welsh Solar System series...D&W
If you are interested in Astronomy here in the Dark Skies of the Cambrian Mountains then check out our Mid Wales Astronomy fb page ... www.facebook.com/midwalesastronomy and you are welcome to join us at Newtown Astronomy Society who have monthly meetings from September to June... www.facebook.com/groups/1412459148966189