STRATFORD -- A young boy in Stratford is being credited with fixing a light display of the solar system, after he noticed that Uranus and Neptune were in the wrong order.
Jaxon Brooks, 7, said he learned about the cosmos last year and used that knowledge when visiting the 'Journey to the Stars' solar system display on Tom Patterson Island. It's part of the 'Lights on Stratford' event organized by Destination Stratford.
“I knew that it was wrong,” he said. "I basically calculated it in my brain that it was wrong."
“He was adamant that he was correct, and that the planets were mixed up," said his mother Kelsea Flood. "I thought there's no way, adults put these things up. They put them in order. He just kept saying ‘No mommy, no mommy, Uranus doesn't have wind. Neptune has the wind.’ So I quickly did a Google image search of Neptune and he was correct. It very clearly showed that Neptune had a big wind spot on it.”
Flood contacted Destination Stratford to let them know about the mistake.
“We are the first to admit it," said Executive Director Zac Gribble. "We definitely made a mistake and a mistake at a planetary proportion.”
Gribble added that more than 8,000 visitors had already seen it by the time Brooks noticed the mistake on Monday.
“Our team, in the dark, were sort of assembling and labeling things and we were pretty confident that we got the order correct,” Gribble said.
As a result, labels are being used to mark each step of the solar system display.
“Anyone under 12 gets the order of the planets completely down pat, and the adults keep saying I can't quite remember what order it is,” Gribble said.
Brooks wants to be an astronomer one day, and is pleased he was able to help make a difference with the display.
“I just think they did so good,” Brooks said.
“He knows more about space than anybody I know,” said his mother.
The light display on Tom Patterson Island is a free event, open to the public every night from 5 p.m. to 10 p.m. until Jan. 28.
