Cosmic Sensation in park Brakkenstein
Unique in the world: dancing to cosmic rays
From Thursday 30 September to Saturday 2 October, the unique dance event Cosmic Sensation will take place in Park Brakkenstein, close to Radboud University Nijmegen. This out-of-this-world experience is being organised by a team of students and staff under the leadership of Sijbrand de Jong, professor of experimental physics. In an enormous dome, visitors will literally be surrounded by live cosmic images. The cosmic radiation will be converted into images and modern dance music, which will be remixed by well-known DJs. Visitors will therefore be able to see, hear, experience and interact with radiation from the furthest corners of the universe, which they are normally not even aware of.
Cosmic particles let us glance back in the universe
Our earth is being continuously bombarded by cosmic radiation: extremely small particles from the universe. Exactly what these are and where they come from is currently being investigated. Large parts of the radiation originate from the sun, but there are also particles that come from supernovas, stars that explode at the end of their lives.
The most intriguing cosmic particles are those with an extremely high energy, yet these are also the rarest. Until recently nobody knew where these came from or how they acquired this energy. Scientists, including researchers from Radboud University Nijmegen, are investigating these high-energy particles at the Pierre Auger Observatory for cosmic radiation in Argentina. As these particles have such a high energy, they are not deflected during their journey through the universe and therefore point directly back to their sources. In 2007, the Pierre Auger Observatory established for the first time that these particles originate from the vicinity of extremely heavy, active black holes in other galaxies. Now the universe can be observed in a completely new manner: not just with telescopes that pick up light, but also with these particles. So we now have a sixth sense for studying the universe! And Cosmic Sensation will allow a wider public to experience this.
Winner Academische Jaarprijs
Sijbrand de Jong is an expert in the area of elementary particle physics. He carries out experiments at the highest energy levels in large accelerator laboratories such as the Fermi Lab (Chicago, USA) and CERN (Geneva) and research into cosmic radiation at the Pierre Auger Observatory near Malargüe, in Argentina. Within FOM, De Jong is a workgroup leader and member of the Board of Governors. His team from Cosmic Sensation won the Academische Jaarprijs [Academic Annual Prize] in 2009 for the best project that brought cutting edge science to the attention of a wider public.
Practical information
Cosmic Sensation
Thursday 30 September to Saturday 2 October
Park Brakkenstein, Driehuizerweg 285, 6525 PL Nijmegen (5 minutes walk from Nijmegen-Heyendaal train station)
The programme starts at 20.00 hours. For the first two hours there will be live cosmic music and after that well-known DJs will play until 01.00 hours. On Thursday 13 September there is a Silent Disco XL with Onno Dekker, one of the founding fathers of disco with headphones. On the other evenings the music will be provided by DJs from Sneakerz: Franky Rizardo, Ralvero, Shagspeare & Lady Bee, Mo MC, Youri Donatz, Skitzofrenix, Rockid vs Sandro Silva and MC Bizzey.
Entry is 5 euro on Thursday and 7.50 euro on Friday and Saturday.
Tickets can be ordered via www.cosmicsensation.nl/
Contact
Team Cosmic Sensation: info@comiscsensation.nl, tel. +31 (0)24 365 21 68.
Science news team, Radboud University Nijmegen: wetenschapsredactie@communicatie.ru.nl, tel. +31 (0)24 361 60 00.