The peppercorn model is a scale model of the solar system which can
demonstrate at the same time both the sizes of the planets and the
distances between them. In the peppercorn model the Earth is roughly
the size of a peppercorn placed about 26 yards from a bowling ball
representing the Sun, and Pluto is a pin point about 1000 yards away.
I'll show that the model fits well on both the SUNY New Paltz campus
and on the Dutchess Rail Trail, and discuss other posible locations.
I'll contrast the model used as an event versus a permanent
installation, and discuss ways the club might promote the use of the
model.
Eric Myers is a physicist trained in in high energy physics and
cosmology and interested in astronomy. This year he is a visiting
assistant professor of physics at SUNY New Paltz. He received his
Ph.D. from Yale University and went on to do research at Brookhaven
National Lab, Boston University, and the University of Texas. He has
taught at the University of Michigan, Vassar College, and Marist
College. He has given a talk to the club before, in January of 2009,
about the prospects of detecting gravitational waves using data from
LIGO and the distributed computing project known as Einstein@Home.
Date: Tuesday, 2/19/2013
Time: 7:30 PM - 9:00 PM Eastern
Location: Coykendall Science Building, SUNY New Paltz, 50 S Manheim Blvd, New Paltz, NY 12561