RyanHenge

Created by Ryan Williams, CEO of Western Elite, RyanHenge is a solar calendar and sundail, designed to withstand the elements for over 1,000 years.  The Circular structure, made of concrete and reinforced with steel, took 10 years to complete – for 10 years Ryan mapped out the sunrise and sunset of the 21st of each month because Ryan’s birthday also falls on the 21st. Today, visitors will find a world map painted on the ground, and in the middle, a flagpole.  At high noon, light flashes through the flagpole, converting it to a sundail.  At night, standing on Antartica transforms the flagpole into a marker for the North Star.

How it came about:

In 2006, Ryan began spending evenings at the Ranch/Landfill and became interested in the stars.  He said growing up in Las Vegas, it can be very hard to see the few visible stars.  Once away from the city lights, he was amazed how bright and countless the stars are.  Curious as to why the North Star was the only star in the sky that never moved, he began to learn more by spending his free time at the ranch studying the sun and stars.  Over the yars, he tracked the earth’s movement around the sun by putting a stake in the ground where the sun’s shadow would disappear at sunset.

How it was built:

In 2008, Ryan and his dad, Ron, placed the 40′ pole (gnomon) that you see now.  Before they permanently placed the pole, they had been marking the shadows from the spot for a couple of years.  After the pole was set, they continued to mark the shadow and tried to figure out the best way to build a solar calendar on the spot.   The circular floor was placed in 2014, and has a diameter of 120′.  In 2017, the formation of the vertical columns started.  The column widths are the only dimensions that vary – the standard width is 4 ft at the bottom and 3 ft 6 in at the top.  The standard distance between each column is 3 ft.

How it works:

When the sun sets in the center of any two columns, that would mark the 21st of that month.  The 21st was chosen because along with Ryan’s birthday, the solstices and equinox generally fall on the 21st. The location of the sunset on the 21st will always be in the exact same spot.