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ASTRO-Tucson Activities
Spagettification—Gravity Activity
No person has ever been close enough to a black hole to actually fall into one, but if a person ever got close enough, their body would stretch out as they were pulled into the black hole. In this activity you will make a spaghettification flip book that will demonstrate how the strong gravitational pull of a black hole would stretch any astronaut unlucky enough to encounter one in space. Spaghettification is the stretching of objects that fall into a black hole. It is called spaghettification because small objects will grow long and stringy like spaghetti as they are pulled into the black hole.
Resources for UAYF Activities
Let us help you with selected Universe at Your Fingertips (UAYF) resource materials—we have the following and are happy to share:
- Lunar Phases with Pictures (Activity A-1)
- Lunar Phases with Moon Balls (Activity A-3)
- Observing Where the Sun Sets (Activity B-3)
- Daily Motion of the Sun (Activity B-8)
- Venus Topography Boxes (Activity C-7) 8 Planet Picking (Activity C-9)
- Earth as a Peppercorn—Solar System Model (Activity D-7)
- Comet Making Supplies (Activity E-3)
- Light & Color—Activities from the Foster Project (Activity J-14)
- Spectroscopes & Spectrometers (similar to Activity J-7)
For more information or to make reservations, please contact Connie Walker at 318-8535 or cwalker@noao.edu or Kathie Coil at 318-8230.
Cratering Demos
Most grade and middle schools do not have access to sophisticated video equipment that allows for frame-by-frame viewing. But many schools are starting to have Internet access. Opening an on-line cratering animation from the web page will provide teachers and astronomers with the capability of stepping slowly through the frames, forward or backward or even freezing the frame, to allow the students to visualize what happens before, during, and after impact.
