The Haverford Public Observing Program hosted a Halloween-themed open house last weekend. Despite the rainy weather, we had a great turn out; over seventy guests joined us for a night of fun science!
Our liquid nitrogen station led by Rui, Derrick, and Eric, was a popular destination! Learning about the physical properties of this cold liquid becomes even more exciting when the liquid nitrogen helps young scientists make ice cream! Yum!
Rui and Derrick are ready for the visitors!
Liquid nitrogen at work, captivating young scientists.
Young visitors eagerly await the liquid nitrogen ice cream!
Across the room, Lyn, Mike, and Chris manned the Messy Mars station. Young scientists were invited to learn about Martian water presence and surface morphology via their own hands on experiments with some sand!
Some Brownies observe the Messy Mars demo.
Tamar and Matteo invited visitors to learn about neutron stars by making clay pulsars! Meanwhile, Cora and Rachel led some planetary crafts, while Alison and Arjun performed an exciting eclipse demo.
Fun with clay pulsars
Craft table!
Alison interacts with a guest during the eclipse demo.
A highlight of the night was Dan Deluzio’s (2015) exciting astronomy talk. He fielded numerous questions about black holes after sparking everyone’s interest.
Guests engaged in Dan’s spooky talk!
Thanks to all of our wonderful visitors who attended despite the weather; you all made the night fun for the Haverford volunteers! And thanks to the volunteers for your time and enthusiasm.
We hope to see you all at our next event (weather permitting) on November 15 at 6:30 when we open the telescopes for some observing!
NSF AST-1151462 provides support for our public outreach programs.