European XFEL Night of Science exhibition attracts thousands
Visitors of all ages attended event as part of the 5th Hamburg Night of Science
The European XFEL exhibition at the Hamburg Night of Science and the Open Day on the DESY campus attracted more visitors than ever before. We hosted visitors at our injector complex entrance hall on the DESY campus in Bahrenfeld, which also saw a record number of over 18 000 total visitors, many of whom came to our building and engaged with our scientists, tried out experiments, and learned about our project. Hundreds of our guests also went on a tour of the accelerator tunnel seven storeys below our entrance hall.
The exhibition included hands-on activities representing the many parts of the XFEL facility. Visitors were able to build motors from batteries to showcase magnetism, to experiment with vacuum pumping air out of a bell jar and a simple accelerator tube, to use a zoetrope to mimic femtosecond serial imaging of molecules, to view holographic images, and to manipulate a simple optical laser array. Other exhibits allowed visitors to examine an undulator, a detector chip, a liquid jet, and, in our tunnel, an accelerator module. Entire families, including small children (and in some cases even dogs!) enjoyed the displays; in particular ice cream prepared with the help of liquid nitrogen was very popular with children. DESY colleagues involved in work on European XFEL’s accelerator complex helped guide visitors through the tunnel exhibit. A small light show in the tunnel demonstrated how electrons will be accelerated from Bahrenfeld, and a composition entirely created from sounds from the tunnel, created by musician Hans Schüttler from the nearby city of Stade, accompanied the tunnel exhibit.
Our staff used these interactive experiences to explain European XFEL’s research and scientific mission. In the evening, Managing Director Massimo Altarelli gave a lecture to a standing-room-only audience in the DESY Auditorium about what we stand to learn using the European XFEL and its current status. Visitors also expressed a great deal of interest in the project’s construction, design, and engineering, viewing a series of films showing the construction at Bahrenfeld, Osdorfer Born, and Schenefeld, along with a 3D fly-through film programme showing the entire length of the European XFEL tunnel.
We thank all those who came to see us this weekend! You can see photos of the event on our Facebook page. The Hamburg Night of Science 2013 was jointly organized by 55 universities, research institutes, and other scientific organizations from Hamburg, the metropolitan area, and Northern Germany and was visited by a total of 29 000 visitors.
