Ever wonder what it would feel like to be sucked into a black hole? Selected children will have the chance to fall into an artificial black hole, build a man that stretches to many times his normal size and participate in other activities at the Saturday, June 17, CU Wizards show on "Black Holes."
Associate Professor Andrew Hamilton of the astrophysical and planetary sciences department will demonstrate the concepts of black holes in CU-Boulder's Fiske Planetarium at 9:30 a.m. and 11:30 a.m.
"Black Holes" is a brand-new hour-long show, aimed primarily at students in grades five through nine. Hamilton has presented "Black Holes and Relativity" as part of Fiske's monthly Astronomy Evening series.
The CU Wizards show will feature "Henry" the stretchy man to demonstrate how his body would stretch if he fell into a black hole, a gravitationally-powered jet to explain how black holes power jets, and a tornado demonstration to show how matter swirling into a black hole produces a vortex from which jets emerge.
Fifth-grade students from Lafayette Elementary School have been selected to jump into an artificial black hole. Â鶹ÒùÔº will get onto a treadmill at slow speed and fly off the back end onto a crash mat representing a black hole. Hamilton offers assurances that the demonstration has been tested and will be safe and fun.
"I've asked them all to scream really loud," he said.
CU Wizards is an annual program that provides an informal introduction to astronomy, chemistry and physics. The series includes presentations by CU-Boulder faculty in areas ranging from biology to astrophysics.
"Black Holes" is the final presentation of the 1999-2000 series.
Free parking is available in lot 308, west of Fiske Planetarium; lot 436, east of the Engineering Center; and lot 378, east of the stadium.
For more information about the CU Wizards series call (303) 492-4318.