Steam Zone
There will be four anchor installations in the STEAM zone:
- Lowell Observatory
- NASA
- Baylor University
- The Mayborn Museum
Lowell Observatory
A selection of the observatory’s astronomers and educators will be on hand at Eclipse Over Texas 2024: Live from Waco to answer questions and give science talks. Find us in Touch Down Alley from 10am – 4pm for STEAM activities including homemade sundials, UV painting, making eclipse models, plus more.
Educators will also be roaming the grounds doing solar demo experiments.
NASA Planetary Science Division
NASA’s Planetary Science Directorate will be hosting a large tent in the STEAM Zone featuring activities for all ages to make your own “moon” and see how it important it is to an eclipse (hint: very!). Other activities include making a planet or moon bouncy ball, a hands-on experiment to understand the density of icy worlds like Jupiter’s moon Europa, and a chance to paint the Sun’s corona with special UV paint (you won’t know what color it is until you get it in the sunlight). There will also be NASA planetary and eclipse-themed giveaways, and the chance to talk to NASA people from around the country who are working with our missions to discover the origin and composition of our solar system.
Visit the NASA tent in the STEAM Zone for a cool transiting exoplanet demo along with free posters, stickers, and lithographs to learn more about the eclipse.
NASA Astrophysics Division
NASA’s Astrophysics Division will be in the STEAM Zone and will feature activities and scientists from various current and future missions like the James Webb Space Telescope, Hubble Space Telescope, TESS, and Nancy Grace Roman Telescope. Eclipses happen across the universe, including on exoplanets! Scientists study eclipses that block the light of the glare from distant stars and reveal the planets in orbit around them. When eclipses aren’t available, space telescopes use a Coronagraph Instrument which mimics the light blocking effects of an eclipse. Activities will include several electronic exhibits and games relating to the missions and a suspended exhibit of exoplanet eclipses with real images sent back by the telescopes.
Baylor University
The Baylor Physics Department will have several telescopes with solar filters on hand, including one that will broadcast live images to your personal device as well as to a large screen. Additionally, there will be a weather station to measure changes in the weather, experiments with pinhole images, UV solar beads, and other fun physics demonstrations.
Mayborn Museum
Calling all umbraphiles! The Mayborn Museum will have activity tables ready for any and all shadow-chasing eclipse fans! Come make your own customized pinhole projector, play with light and shadows at our tinker table, add your eclipse observations and artwork to our display, and see if you can spot the elusive shadow bands that we’ll hunt for during the eclipse! Don’t forget to show us how far you’ve traveled by adding your family to our map!