Through the Galaxy With RWTH
The RWTHextern Citizens' Forum invites you to explore the universe with a series of exhibitions and lectures
"Through the Galaxy with RWTH" is a series of events at the University that explains the universe in an exciting and entertaining way. In addition to exhibitions, there are two lecture evenings. The series is organized by RWTHextern Citizens' Forum in cooperation with the BMBF, the Physics Department, the Institutes of Textile Technology (ITA), Structural Mechanics and Lightweight Construction (SLA) and Advanced Mining Technologies (AMT), as well as the observatory of the Adult Education Center Aachen.
The Open Air Exhibitions
The mobile open-air exhibition "Big Bang on the Move" will kick off the event from June 5 to 7, 2023, on Platanenplatz opposite the RWTH main building at Templergraben 55, showing how particle physics has revolutionized our understanding of the universe. Visitors can experience an exciting journey through time from the Big Bang to the present in just a few steps. The exhibition is particularly suitable for schoolchildren aged 12 and over. Interactive games such as "Universe Lego," "Hadron Jenga" or "Particle Twister" make science understandable in a playful way. The "Big Bang Guides" are also available on site. They answer questions and guide tour groups through the exhibition. Registration for school classes is requested by contacting extern@rwth-aachen.de.
From June 5 to 23, 2023, ten large banners distributed along Templergraben between Wüllnerstrasse and Schinkelstrasse will also display exciting motifs relating to the universe. The exhibition "A View into our Universe" shows the aesthetic side of science. For each motif, a short podcast via a QR code provides more information. Photographers and researchers explain the scientific background to each image.
Scavenger Hunt in the Particle Zoo
"The Big Bang - Scavenger Hunt in the Particle Zoo" is the title of the lecture on Tuesday, June 6, 2023 at 6:30pm in Lecture Hall I of the RWTH main building, Templergraben 55. Professor Robert Harlander from the Institute of Theoretical Particle Physics will explain how physicists, like detectives, try to combine their observations to form a theory of the Big Bang and thus the birth of the universe. With today's knowledge, they can trace the evolution back to a few fractions of a second after the so-called Big Bang. With experiments at the Large Hadron Collider particle accelerator at CERN in Geneva, they want to go even further into the past in order to develop, if possible, a theory that describes the Big Bang itself.
Project Moon Factory
On Thursday, June 15, 2023 at 6:30pm, the lecture "Let's now build a house on the moon" in lecture hall H05 in the C.A.R.L., Claßenstraße 11, will shed light on the concept of the "Moon Factory", which is about how raw materials available on the moon can be extracted, processed and used. Unlike in the Apollo era, today the goal is to stay and build a settlement on the moon. Constructing a building on the moon is a current research topic at RWTH, and this requires raw materials and special knowledge.