THIS CACHE IS NOT LOCATED AT THE POSTED COORDINATES!
The Community Observatory Scale Model of the Solar System (COSMOSS) is a pair of Adventure Labs with 10 stages collaborative designed and built by zumby65 and randallh, both contributing videos for stages in both of the Adventure Labs. These Adventure Labs will take you on a stroll through the solar system. This stroll is set at approximately a 1:4 Billion scale of the solar system and will take you on a walk from the sun to Neptune. This Bonus cache’s posted starting coordinates is set at this same approximate scale distance for Pluto and the Kuiper Belt (the final container location is not on scale), showing you in miniature just how massive our solar system is.
This is a bonus cache, to get the final coordinates for this cache you have to complete both of the adventure labs:
COSMOSS 1: Small But Mighty
by zumby65
and
COSMOSS 2: There Be Giants
by randallh
Take a stroll through our Solar System on this 10 stage, collaborative Lab Series and learn about our planets and solar system.
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The Kuiper Belt:
It's vast and mysterious, cold and dark. It's a HUGE region of space beyond Neptune. The Kuiper Belt is one of the largest structures in our solar system. Its overall shape is like a puffed-up disk, or donut. Its inner edge begins at the orbit of Neptune, at about 30 AU from the Sun. The inner, main region of the Kuiper belt ends to around 50 AU from the Sun. Astronomers think the icy objects of the Kuiper Belt are remnants from the formation of the solar system. Similar to the relationship between the main asteroid belt and Jupiter, it's a region of objects that might have come together to form a planet had Neptune not been there. Instead, Neptune's gravity stirred up this region of space so much that the small, icy objects weren't able to coalesce into a large planet.
The Kuiper Belt is also host to four of the five Dwarf Planets in our solar system, Pluto, Eris, Haumea, and Makemake (Ceres is a Dwarf Planet located in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter, learn more about Ceres in COSMOSS 2 Adventure Lab).
Pluto & Dwarf Planets:
Pluto is about 3.6 billion miles away from the Sun, or 39.5 AU (Astronomical Units). One astronomical unit, the distance betwen the sun and Earth, is 93 million miles. That is nearly 40 times the distance from Earth to the sun. Pluto has a thin atmosphere composed mostly of nitrogen, methane, and carbon monoxide. Pluto is orbited by five known moons, the largest of which is Charon. Charon is about half the size of Pluto itself. Pluto is about 1/5th the width of Earth. Pluto has an elliptical orbit it means that on occasion Pluto is actually closer to The Sun than Neptune. Pluto is a Dwarf Planet. Dwarf planets are smaller than planets. In August 2006 the International Astronomical Union (IAU) downgraded the status of Pluto from planet to “dwarf planet.”
Dwarf Planets are defined as objects that orbit the Sun, and are nearly round, but have not been able to clear their orbit of debris. So far, the IAU has only recognized five dwarf planets. In order of distance from the Sun they are: Ceres, Pluto, Haumea, Makemake, and Eris.
SOURCE INFO from: https://science.nasa.gov/
THE COMMUNITY OBSERVATORY hosts community nights on Friday and Saturday evenings (check the website for times and closures due to weather or other factors). See the stars through the 17-inch and 14-inch reflecting telescopes on a clear, dark night. Follow planets or the moon as they travel across the sky. Bring the whole family for an unforgettable experience in the foothills of El Dorado County.
- Free Admission/No reservations required (Parking $2 at the college)
- Etiquette: The Community Observatory is located on El Dorado County Office of Education property. This means NO drugs, NO tobacco/vaping, and NO alcohol is allowed on the premises!
- Safety: For visitor safety, (a) NO Pets are allowed (Service animals trained to aid persons with disabilities are welcome). (b) NO Private/unauthorized telescopes or other stargazing equipment is allowed.
- Fun Fact: The Community Observatory was established in 2006, the same year Pluto was reclassified as a Dwarf Planet.