Discoveries in the Physics & Astronomy shop | Science, curiosities, and surprises
Second semester astronomy experiments, both year and instructor unknown. And honestly, we’d just be taking a wild stab at guessing the particular course.
Some of these seem genuinely interesting, the sort which might show up in ASTR 201 these days, at least in some form. “Lens or Telescope Experiment,” well, that one may need a little fleshing out.
Corrasable! There’s a portmanteau for you. We’re long past the days of typewriters around the department (though there might be one or two hidden in a closet behind other odds and ends), but paper? Can always use more paper.
Aside from the general vibe of “this is dangerous!,” this seems an odd sign.
Five-thousand volts, but use the minimum. Stick to a less dangerous danger?
Burn only when necessary? Presumably “necessary” gets defined elsewhere?
And, ooh, that blue mercury vapor. You’d think a UV warning could be number 4 on there, given its still-useful ability to sterilize hard-to-reach places. For your eyes’ sake, don’t look too long.
Just over two decades ago, this was our introductory Astronomy lab packet. Things have evolved since then, but the bones are still there!
Three distinct nighttime observing labs, though? Jeez. Night sky conditions really were better back then.
There it goes, our old 1968 Bridgeport. Cast iron and steel, in need of a little refurbishment, and off to a new home across campus. The replacement’s on its way.
That we got the old one out the door is a small miracle by itself. Installing the new milling machine? There’s a budget to pay someone else to do that.
All it’s missing is the chalk outline and little tents with numbers.
Behold, Canis Major, the Greater Dog! He’s such a good boy!
Sirius-ly.
Discovered inside an old wooden desk, burnt into the solid-wood drawer. No complaints about the quality of construction, to be honest. But how long has it been since furniture makers burnt in their brand with red-hot iron?
Large and heavy coils of enamel-clad copper wire, which allow for tight, dense windings, are useful for demonstrating induced currents caused by a changing magnetic field. Students can spin magnets on a rubber band to produce enough electrical energy to light an LED. Not much, sure, but it’s still borderline magical.
Note that these hold up for a long time. Acquired in April of 1966 – just shy of six decades ago – and it’s still in regular use.
That $115.00 price marked on there? $1,171.89 in today’s dollars. Do you think we’ve recouped our investment?
“Classroom door key.” Matter-of-fact, handwritten on a torn adhesive label. No need for building or specific room number identification. (The other side has no markings.)
Maybe there was only one classroom at the time? Maybe they were all keyed identically? Maybe the original bearer was only concerned with one specific classroom, one which needed no elaboration? Who knows?
Another coffee can, this one half-filled with old keys, most unlabeled, almost certainly all of them to locks long gone. Not like “bucket of keys” is a prime organizational strategy, so one supposes these can be used for some exciting new arts and crafts project?
Apparently, at some indeterminate point in time, the second floor held cabinets with a breathing apparatus inside. Respirators? SCBA systems like firefighters use? SCUBA systems like divers use? Pretty confident that those’re long gone.
This one has become disconnected from its key, so your guess is as good as ours. What useful information could that possibly offer? Like, even if we knew which key it identified?