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You can explore the solar system on a nice day in Walla Walla by taking the Planet Walk. The 1-mile trail is a scaled-down version of our 3.7-billion-mile solar system, beginning with the sun and ending with Neptune. Metal spheres representing the eight planets are placed in sequence. The distance to each planet is based on each planet's average orbital radius from the sun. When measuring distances in the solar system, astronomers use the astronomical unit (AU). One AU is equal to 93 million miles, the average distance between the Earth and the sun. The scale of this walk is greatly compressed, compared to the actual size of the solar system. [Source: Walla Walla Union-Bulletin]
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