The first planet in the Tampa Bay Solar System has been placed! A model of Mercury now resides at Inkwood Books, Tampa’s fun and friendly independent bookstore.

At approximately 6.7 inches in diameter, the model represents Mercury’s actual diameter of 3,032 miles, at the 1 to 28.7 million scale of the Tampa Bay Solar System. Rivergate Tower, also known as the Beer Can Building, represents the diameter and location of the Sun, and determines the sizes and orbits of all the planet models, some currently under construction and others awaiting volunteer builders.

Mercury is a grey, rocky, cratered planet, as represented by our concrete model, which sits atop a wooden pedestal featuring information about Mercury and the solar system. Thanks to John Huskey for his work on the model and thanks to Stefani and Amanda at Inkwood Books for helping to place it there. Visit the store at 216 S. Armenia Avenue in Tampa to see Mercury and check out Inkwood’s great book selection.

The Tampa Bay Solar System is an all-volunteer project to create the largest scale model of the solar system in the United States, covering the Tampa Bay area and much of the state of Florida. Everyone is invited to participate!