Astro art and artifacts update

An astronomy device that had been damaged is back in operation, while a city-wide solar system model is, alas, showing signs of decay.

We reported back in August of last year that the Foucault pendulum in the Physics/Astronomy building at the University of Washington was out of commission. While the UW wasn’t saying specifically, we suspected the damage may have been caused by people not well versed in engineering trying to take a ride on the pendulum.

We’d noticed construction happening at the pendulum on some visits to campus in late winter and early spring, and we’re happy to report that it’s back in the swing of things again.



Back in February we told you about a fun project out of Three Dragons Academy, an arts program for elementary-aged children. The students created a scale model of the solar system, a city-wide art installation in which the Sun is an 18-foot circle painted and chalked onto the south plaza of the University Heights Center at NE 50th Street and Brooklyn Avenue NE. Uranus, at this scale, was down on Alki beach, not far from Seattle Astronomy headquarters.

On a recent trip to the U-District we stumbled upon Mercury, which is, in an interesting twist, right outside Neptune Music. Since we were so close, we sought out the Sun and found it still as advertised at the center. That’s the University Heights Center, not the center of the universe. As Copernicus discovered, that’s in Fremont.

Mercury is a little worse for wear, given nearly half a year out in the elements. Uranus has vanished from Alki; perhaps it’s moved along in its orbit!

You can read about the project (click the “projects” icon at the bottom of the page) on the Three Dragons website.