The OSSIS Project on the Erie Trail
Our Solar System in Scale
Our Solar System in Scale (“OSSIS”) depicts with signage the
planets of our solar system at a scale of 1:355 million on the
Erie Trail. The Constellation of Starke Creative Network
opened the OSSIS project in October 2021.
The Starke County Community Foundation funded the OSSIS
project through a Lilly Endowment grant. The SCCF is in the
final stages of developing the Archway of the Sun which will be
placed near the southwestern trailhead of the Erie Trail on Main
Street in North Judson. Jacque Ryan, Director of Development
for the SCCF, stands next to what will be near the top of the
Archway of the Sun when erected over the trail.
Models for the planets are already in place. The most distant
model is for Neptune and located on the Erie Trail between
Starke County Road 800 South and US Highway 35, nearly nine
miles from the future site of the Archway of the Sun.
The Prairie Trails Club has received numerous requests for the placement of a model for the dwarf planet, Pluto. If included,
the Pluto model would be near the southeast trailhead of the Erie
Trail at Starke County Road 700 East, almost eleven miles from
the Archway of the Sun. Also being considered is the inclusion
of a model for the dwarf planet, Ceres.