Andrew Hamilton, who will present the popular program "Black Holes and Relativity," at Fiske Planetarium, says the show was created partly by accident.
The program is the second in a series of live public astronomy shows to be held at Fiske Planetarium at the University of Colorado this semester. "Black Holes" is set for Tuesday, Feb. 16, and Friday, Feb. 19, at 7:30 p.m. It will last about an hour and a half.
Hamilton, whose research is mainly in cosmology, had previously presented a show on themes such as "galaxies" and "the big bang." Casting about for new topics, he hit on the idea of black holes.
"I had no idea at the time that black holes would prove so much more popular than the big bang," Hamilton said. To create the show, he solicited the help of his accelerated introductory astronomy class in spring 1996. The students helped create the visuals and format of the show and at the same time gained hands-on scientific experience.
Hamilton plans to discuss Einstein's Theory of Relativity and several of its strange predictions, including black holes. He will show pictures from the Hubble Space Telescope. In the finale, the audience will experience what it would look like to fall into a black hole.
"People are fascinated by what would happen if you went near or inside a black hole," Hamilton said. He attributes the show's popularity to the mystery of black holes and describes the phenomena as a "frontier of human knowledge."
Fiske Planetarium is located at Regent Drive and Kittredge Loop Drive on the 抖阴短视频-Boulder campus. Free visitor parking is available after 5 p.m. at the meters along Regent Drive and in metered lots 306 and 330 off of Regent Drive.
Admission is $3.50 for adults and $2 for seniors and children. For information about the programs at Fiske Planetarium, call 303-492-5001 for a recorded announcement or 303-492-5002 to speak to a member of the planetarium staff. The public is invited to visit the planetarium's web site at .