Event includes a virtual presentation by a NASA scientist and an activity
SHOW LOW, Ariz. (December 13, 2018) – Adults (18 years and older) can learn the science and engineering behind NASA’s Parker solar probe on Friday, Jan. 18, from 6:15 to 8 p.m. at Show Low Public Library, 181 N. 9th Street. To help participants understand the underlying science and the work of the solar probe, this NASA@ My Library event includes a virtual streaming presentation by Dr. William Rice, a professor of physics and astronomy at the University of Wyoming, plus an individual activity to build a simple spectroscope. The solar probe, about the size of a small car, was launched in August 2018 and is the first-ever mission to "touch" the Sun. The spacecraft will travel directly into the Sun's atmosphere about four million miles from the surface. It is designed to trace the flow of energy and understand the heating of the solar corona and to explore what accelerates the solar wind.
By building their own spectroscope (with supplies provided), participants will have a chance to look at light coming from different sources to identify their content (akin to determining what the Sun is made of without taking a sample of it). A spectroscope disperses, or separates, white light from a star into a wide spectrum of colors—much wider than a normal prism.
This solar probe event is funded by a NASA@ My Library grant, with Show Low the only library in Arizona chosen by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. The grant funds STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) and space (astronomy) learning opportunities. For more information, call (928) 532-4070.