12/9/12

Griffeth Observatory


As part of J's birthday celebration we went to the Griffeth Observatory.  The upcoming winter solstice, and corresponding countdown to the NOT-end-of-the-world were the hot topics amoung astrologers.  We were able to look through an incredibly large telescope, an artifact of the mid-1930's, and see the refracted and magnified Jupiter and his two moons.  AMAZING!

My favorite display was an interactive periodic table.  Each element has a shadow box in which was an example of the physical properties of the element.  For example, the noble gases had a neon bulb that would light up in the various colors upon the touch of a button.  They didn't have examples of the actinides... do you know why? (hint: they're the elements I research...)

12-in. diameter Zeiss refracting telescope.

A replica of Galileo's telescope.
In front of the interactive periodic table.

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