© CC-BY-4.0 Tammo Jan Dijkema
This image features the 1:20 scale model of the Dwingeloo Telescope, that was made at the mechanical department and was featured in a previous daily image. This model is now part of the exposition in the Dwingeloo Science Hub "De Melkweg".
The model is not just to look at: visitors can play with it. They can point the telescope by pointing it upwards or turning it around the full 360 degrees (which nowadays isn't possible anymore with the real telescope, in exchange for optical fiber and running water).
When the telescope is pointed, speakers will play sound that is related to the object they are pointing at, and some informative text and images are displayed on a big screen. The software is mostly written by Stefan van der Linden of S&T as part of their support to the Science Hub.
The objects in the sky currently featured are:
- The Moon (sound of Moon echos)
- The Sun (loud static)
- Pulsar B0329+54 (with the sound from the pulsar demo by Paul Boven)
- Radio tower Hoogersmilde (radio excerpts)
Objects featured without sound are:
- Dwingeloo 1 and 2
- The Milky Way
- Cygnus A
- Andromeda nebula
We are looking for more nice objects to feature with this telescope. Also textual corrections are welcome, the texts now shown are part of the software repository. If you have suggestions, contact Tammo Jan, or contribute directly by making a pull request.
For visiting the Science Hub, we refer to the Dwingeloo Science Hub "De Melkweg" (usually Tuesdays to Saturdays 10-13, reservation may be required if it's busy).