The participation of the Astronomical Institute in the Splendor Hortus 2024 event

On August 8, 2024, the Astronomical Institute of the Romanian Academy (IAAR) participated in the cultural event "Splendor Hortus," organized in Cișmigiu Park by the Bucharest City Hall, through the Environmental Directorate, Urban Ecology Service. At this event, the IAAR team aimed to promote the cultural offerings of the Astronomical Institute and, more broadly, education through science and astronomy.

Participants had the opportunity to observe the Sun through professional filters mounted on telescopes. The splendor of directly observing our closest star impressed visitors of all ages at the IAAR stand, providing an excellent occasion to answer their numerous questions.

Through the modeling component we integrated into this event - a mini-planetarium featuring the celestial mechanics system of the Sun-Earth-Moon, as well as an orbital station - we were able to employ discovery and modeling-based learning methods in our effort to effectively communicate technical and scientific information, especially to school-aged audiences.

This time, through the IAAR's powerful binocular magnifier, the public viewed a fragment of the Gao Guenie chondritic meteorite, discovered in 1960 in West Africa (Burkina Faso). The fascination of directly observing an extraterrestrial object, billions of years old, and the irresistible temptation of dozens of curious little hands to study it using the sense of touch and to "adjust" the binocular magnifier delighted the future professionals of Romania's laboratories and companies.

Published on: Aug 12, 2024