Ever since the International Astronomical Union recognized Haumea and Makemake as dwarf planets in 2008, University of Maine at Presque Isle Emeritus Geology Professor Kevin McCartney has wanted to add them to the Maine Solar System Model, a project of his design that stretches from the university to Topsfield.
On Tuesday, that goal came into clear view, as models of the dwarf planets on display posts left MPG Truck & Tractor — where they were manufactured in Presque Isle — and headed north to the St. John Valley to be painted and installed.
Haumea will be placed across the street from the Musée Culturel du Mont-Carmel in Lille, while Makemake will live in front of the Madawaska Public Library. The models are slated to be installed on Aug. 17 to coincide with Madawaska’s Acadian Festival.
They will be the first new installations to the system since 2008 — and the first to be located north of Presque Isle, expanding the length of the solar system to nearly 160 miles on Route 1.
McCartney worked on the project in conjunction with the Upper St. John River Organization, a nonprofit land trust that operates two computerized telescopes and a dark sky location in Frenchville.
Like Pluto and Eris, two of the other three dwarf planets, Haumea and Makemake are located in the Kuiper Belt, a region outside the orbit of Neptune.
Haumea is roughly 1/7 the width of Earth, and Makemake is slightly smaller, around 1/9 the radius of our planet, according to NASA. Those comparisons are calculated using different measurements because unlike any other planet in our solar system, Haumea is oval-shaped, resembling a football.
Both models were fashioned out of steel ball bearings and are slightly smaller than a quarter.
The Maine Solar System Model is the largest display of its kind in the Western Hemisphere, only beaten out by the Sweden Solar System on a world scale. But in McCartney’s eyes, Maine’s is the most accurate.
“There’s lots and lots of solar system models out there. A lot of them are not quite accurately done,” McCartney said. “Ours are all probably within a millimeter accurate.”
Like the rest of the model, Haumea and Makemake were sized and located at a scale of 1:93 million, making one mile on Route 1 the relative distance of a single astronomical unit, the distance between the Earth and the Sun.
In our solar system, the two dwarf planets are located close to Pluto and Eris within the Kuiper Belt, which would cluster them together in the model.
That’s why officials chose to locate them on the opposite side of their orbit, north of the replica of the sun at UMPI, to lengthen the distance of a model that serves both as a tourist attraction and an educational resource.
Its value to The County is why Lynwood Winslow, manager of the Maine Potato Growers Truck and Tractor facility in Presque Isle, was happy to donate the company’s time and resources to help construct the new models.
“Every time I drive by, there is always someone stopped at them,” Winslow said. “It’s such an asset to Aroostook County. We’re happy to support them and be a part of it.”
The models of Haumea and Makemake will be painted and have their concrete bases poured by a group of Madawaska home school students next week.
