Download GW Component Descriptions

FAMILY OF THE SUN
Portraits of the Giants. Upon
entering, visitors are greeted by
spectacular images of the giant
planets and their moons. An audio
track of eerie sounds from Saturn
sets the mood.
Tools of the Trade. Visitors will peer
through a replica of Galileo’s
telescope to see Jupiter as he saw it.
Giant Worlds are Giant. Scaled models of Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune appear
before an illustration of the Solar System. A beautiful schematic of the Milky Way
galaxy shows where our Sun is located.
Gravity Rules. This full-body interactive uses projections of visitors’ bodies to
demonstrate how gravity both attracts and deflects masses and how bodies interact in
the Solar System.
Solar System Formation and Crash Course.
These short videos show how our Solar
System formed and the role that the giant
worlds played in Earth’s history during the
Early Bombardment period. Scientists think
that most of Earth’s water came from
collisions with icy bodies.
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Friend or Foe. Visitors can place one or more giant planets into a gravity simulation that
includes our Sun, Earth, and a swarm of icy bodies and try to get the icy bodies to
collide with our planet. If a giant planet gets too close, watch out Earth.
MEET THE GIANTS
Planet Plunge. Using electro-mechanical
controls, visitors create and launch virtual
probes into Jupiter’s enormous atmosphere
to better understand the crushing pressures
within a planet made of gas.
Light Probe. Astronomers use filters—colored
plates of glass—to isolate very specific
wavelengths of light and highlight different
details on a planet, such as cloud height.
Visitors can turn a filter wheel to see how
Jupiter’s Great Red Spot looks in different
wavelengths of light.
Seeing the Unseen. Our eyes see only a narrow range of the light filling the Universe. However,
special instruments allow us to detect light waves that we can’t see, such as infrared, which
corresponds to heat energy. Visitors can compare what their image looks like in infrared
and visible light, and explore these two wavelengths of light with various materials.
Equatorial Bulge. Visitors turn a handle to spin two model planets. They can easily see
that the equatorial bulge of one of the planets increases as the spin rate increases. They
learn that scientists can tell what is going on inside a planet by how much it bulges.
Moon Dance. Why is Jupiter’s moon Io the most volcanically active world in the Solar System?
The answer is the flex heating caused by an orbital resonance. An electromechanical activity
demonstrates flex heating resulting from the push and pull of gravity. An audio-visual
device illustrates how
resonance works when
several Galilean moons
periodically line up.
Cosmic Light Show. A
looping video presents
spectacular high-definition
images of aurorae on Earth
from an IMAX film called
SolarMax.
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Magnetic Attractions. Aurorae are caused by charged particles in a planet’s
magnetosphere. These particles also move in very strange ways in a magnetic field.
Visitors use a pinball launcher to control both the direction and speed of virtual
particles. After a few practice rounds, they try to get their particles to move along
Jupiter’s magnetic field all the way to the polar regions and “light up the poles.”
Planet Rings. All four of the giant planets have rings. Visitors can learn what causes
them and explore Saturn’s spectacular rings on a 37-inch monitor.
Extreme Seasons. Visitors manipulate a virtual orrery—a device that shows the relative
positions and motions of planets around a sun—to better understand the reasons for
seasons on both Earth and Uranus.
Occultation. The rings around all of the giant planets, except Saturn, are invisible.
Visitors can use the device to learn how the light from a distant star can be used to
detect the presence of an invisible ring.
NEW FRONTIERS
Giant Worlds Odyssey. Visitors take a journey to the outer Solar System on board the
Odyssey spaceship. The tour to the four giant
planets and some of their moons includes a
gravity assist from the Sun and a bumpy ride
through the asteroid belt.
Mission Teams. Visitors get to hear from
several members of the Juno mission team
about their experiences and work on this
upcoming mission to Jupiter. A large
photomural shows the many activities
required to send a spacecraft to another
planet. As the leader of the mission says,
teamwork is absolutely necessary for success.
What’s Next: Missions of Tomorrow. At a multimedia station, visitors learn that we are
still planning missions to explore the outer Solar System. This includes NASA’s Juno
mission to Jupiter (expected to launch in August 2011) and future missions to Jupiter’s
moon Europa and Saturn’s moon Titan.
Planet Challenge. Up to three visitors can play an action-packed trivia game based on
information presented in the exhibition.
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