Summer Sunday Visitors Battle the Weather for a Great Day at NSLS

Despite the rainy, humid weather, the National Synchrotron Light Source (NSLS) Summer Sunday, held August 1, still pulled in over 450 members of the community and was one of the most enjoyable Sundays yet.

For eight consecutive Sundays each summer, the Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL) Summer Sundays program welcomes the public to see the popular Whiz-Bang Science Show and several hands-on science exhibits. Each Sunday also showcases a different BNL facility.

Visitors wishing to see the NSLS began the tour in Berkner Room B, where there were NSLS-specific exhibits and posters, manned by NSLS staff volunteers Steve Ehrlich, Nick Gmur, Payman Mortazavi, Eva Rothman, and Marty Woodle, and student volunteers Meghan Ruppel and Jyoti Tibrewala. The visitors then saw a short “Introduction to the NSLS” overview film before boarding a bus for the facility.

Upon arrival, they were escorted upstairs to see a presentation by an NSLS scientist, who welcomed them and gave more detailed information on the facility and the research performed here. They also discussed how they use synchrotron light to perform their individual research. Many guests were very curious about the NSLS, and the speakers answered several questions after each talk. This year’s speakers were Marc Allaire, Elaine DiMasi, Tony Lanzirotti, Lisa Miller, Peter Siddons, and Vivian Stojanoff.

After the talk, visitors filed down to the NSLS lobby and patio, where more activities awaited them, such as the “What am I looking at?” picture window that provides an impressive view of the vacuum ultraviolet (VUV) experimental floor, a sight that is always fascinating for guests. NSLS staff members Steve Bennett, Mike Buckley, Susila Ramamoorthy, and Larry Fareria were on-hand to explain the view and answer questions, such as the common query, “What’s the aluminum foil for?” This year, for the first time, large neon numbers were placed on beamline components, which made it easier for guests to see the features described to them.

The lobby also contained several exhibits, such as “See the Light,” in which volunteers Randy Smith and Ted Feldman showed how a fiber optic cable siphoned actual NSLS light into the lobby, and “Flowing Lasers,” in which Tom Dickinson and Raji Sundaramoorthy made a laser beam “flow” down a stream of water. The children enjoyed watching the laser light fill the water and seeing the light sparkle when they put their hands under the stream. Other displays were hosted by additional NSLS scientists, staff, and students: Peter Abbamonte, Marc Allaire, Alec Bernston, Brandon Chapman, Ed Haas, Amubhav Jain, Payman Mortazavi, Angela Padilla, Vivian Stojanoff, Tejas Telivala, Adele Wang, and Zhong Zhong.

On the patio, the visitors saw how superconductivity can “levitate” a magnet and how boiling liquid nitrogen sends a sprinkler spinning. Scientists Wolfgang Caliebe and Cecilia Sanchez-Hanke kept watch over the outdoor activities.

A fun, new event this year was the quiz/raffle, which turned out to be quite successful. Each visitor received a yellow quiz card with questions, which could only be answered by visiting each exhibit. This encouraged them to stop at each one and also made the day more interactive. Every 20 minutes, the quiz cards were collected and Gerry Van Derlaske, the enthusiastic quiz/raffle MC, picked a winning name. Each winner received an NSLS flashlight.

Additionally, at several points during the day, Caliebe braved the rain to launch a giant water rocket in the parking lot across from the NSLS – a hit with all the guests.

The successful day was made possible by several additional volunteers, who served as tour guides, escorts, and support personnel: Melissa Abramowitz, Diane Hatton, Madeline Hughes, Laura Mgrdichian, Eileen Morello, Wendy Morrin, Gina Paveglio, Lydia Rogers, Nancye Wright, and Emil Zitvogel.

Article by: Laura Mgrdichian