‘A Cosmic Dance’

Collaboration between IU physicists, WonderLab receives NASA grant

By Louise Schlesinger

Van Kooten

Musser

The project was one of only 13 proposals nationwide accepted for funding. The collaborative project will result in an exhibit for the future home of WonderLab, which is under construction and scheduled to open next spring at a two-story, 15,000-square-foot facility located on Fourth Street near Morton Street in a redeveloping area of downtown Bloomington.

The purpose of the “Cosmic Dance” is to help the public become aware of cosmic ray particles, which continuously strike the earth. The exhibit will allow visitors to the museum to “see” this ongoing activity, which normally is not visible to the naked eye.

The exhibit will consist of a pathway of translucent floor panels covering special detectors, which will flash every time cosmic ray particles shower them from the sky. Visitors will be amazed to learn that these particles pass through the building and even their own bodies to strike the detectors under their feet. Nearby signs will explain cosmic rays, their origins throughout the universe and interactions with earth’s atmosphere and its magnetic field.

The cosmic dance will be designed, fabricated, tested and installed by IU physics and astronomy undergraduates under the direction of Richard Van Kooten, Bennet Brabson and James Musser, faculty members at the IUB Department of Physics. Unlike a typical classroom experience, the project will create an authentic inquiry-based learning environment as the students create and test prototypes, draw conclusions from preliminary tests, modify their designs, collaborate with other scientists, and help develop educational signs and training materials.

WonderLab’s new facility will offer exceptional public exposure for the exhibit. It is projected that at least 60,000 people will visit each year. The hands-on science museum’s staff will be responsible for evaluating the effectiveness of the new exhibit among various types of visitors.

“This innovative project brings together the resources and talents of WonderLab and Indiana University,” said Catherine Olmer, executive director of WonderLab. “‘Cosmic Dance’ provides an exciting learning opportunity not only for the IU students who will be involved in creating it, but also for the school groups and families that will experience it in the new museum.”

Cosmic rays

The earth is continually bathed by cosmic ray particles that originate from the sun, the galaxy and outside the galaxy. These particles strike the earth’s atmosphere and initiate cosmic ray air showers that result in secondary particles which travel to the earth’s surface. While the general public knows of the existence of stars and galaxies, it is not aware that cosmic ray particles exist or are continuously striking the earth’s surface.

The exhibit will be located in the museum lobby, and will appear as a walking pathway on the museum floor. Lamps are connected to the system so that whenever a cosmic ray passes through one of the panels and is detected below, a brief flash of light appears from the lamp and is visible to the visitor.