Astronomy Day is coming at my university; any suggestions for demos?

[SupernerdSven]

Thank you for anything you can offer. We've got a plasma globe which we can tie into talking about solar and interstellar plasma, and we have a few Galileoscopes, but we don't really have anything else astronomy-themed. I've been thinking, but haven't come up with many ideas.

One idea I did have is a model of Newtonian gravitational potential. Does anyone have a suggestion for how to make a model of an inverse-square potential? A curved surface would be difficult to manufacture...

 

[Jonathan Scott]

Thank you for anything you can offer. We've got a plasma globe which we can tie into talking about solar and interstellar plasma, and we have a few Galileoscopes, but we don't really have anything else astronomy-themed. I've been thinking, but haven't come up with many ideas.

One idea I did have is a model of Newtonian gravitational potential. Does anyone have a suggestion for how to make a model of an inverse-square potential? A curved surface would be difficult to manufacture...

Sorry, not a helpful suggestion, but please be careful with your terminology; the magnitude of the gravitational field is inverse-square, but the potential is merely proportional to 1/r, not the square.

 

[SupernerdSven]

Sorry, you're right - that's what I meant.

 

[berkeman]

A good demo would just be a PC-based program that helps folks locate constellations in the night sky. I think there are several available, and probably some for smartphones as well. That could really spark some interest in folks for Astronomy -- being able to use their smart phone as they stand outside and spot constellations by being given directions on where to look (based on their GPS coordinates that the smartphone app has access to).

You could also set up a scale model of the Solar System in your lab, with the Sun hanging down in the middle, and the outer planets near the outer walls of the room. All in correct scale, if that's possible in a room the size of your lab. If not, maybe set it up outside if the weather is good.

 

[micromass]

Check this out: http://www.celestiamotherlode.net/catalog/educational.php

 

[berkeman]

Check this out: http://www.celestiamotherlode.net/catalog/educational.php

Show Off!

 

[micromass]

Show Off!

Sowwy

 

[SupernerdSven]

Thank you all! I found these as well:
http://isthis4real.com/orbit.xml
https://dan-ball.jp/en/javagame/planet/

I should have been more specific about the nature of the demos - they should be accessible to all ages and require less than a minute of instruction to begin and take no longer than a few minutes to complete.

 

[Bobbywhy]

I should have been more specific about the nature of the demos - they should be accessible to all ages and require less than a minute of instruction to begin and take no longer than a few minutes to complete.

Sundials! Teach the relative positions and motions of the earth-sun by marking a shadow's progress over time.

 

[julcab12]

Thank you all! I found these as well:
http://isthis4real.com/orbit.xml
https://dan-ball.jp/en/javagame/planet/

I should have been more specific about the nature of the demos - they should be accessible to all ages and require less than a minute of instruction to begin and take no longer than a few minutes to complete.

Check this out: http://www.celestiamotherlode.net/catalog/educational.php

Cool! Quick check done. Ill run it later and thanks!.^^

 

[SupernerdSven]

I should have been more specific about the nature of the demos - they should be accessible to all ages and require less than a minute of instruction to begin and take no longer than a few minutes to complete.

Sundials! Teach the relative positions and motions of the earth-sun by marking a shadow's progress over time.

That's a really good one! I seen suggestions like that but passed over them because I think we'll be indoors... but I'll double-check.

 

[RocketSci5KN]

If you can find a rubber sheet, say 3' x 3' and stretch it evenly on a rigid frame, then put a weight in the middle to simulate a massive object (say the sun), you can show a model of space-time and explain how the models dimple makes smaller objects orbit the central object. This would be an approximation, as two objects would actually orbit their center of mass. You can also use this to show how 'gravity'='space time dimple' can deflect light.