Into the Black Hole: HPUniverse Day and its Impact on Young Minds and a Community

Once every fall semester, the High Point University Department of Physics hosts an astronomy-themed public outreach event called HPUniverse Day. More than one hundred faculty and students come together to expose local kids and their families to space, science, and beyond through twenty-five different discovery stations. Examples include hovercraft rides, water-bottle rockets, virtual reality demonstrations, the fabric of spacetime, planetarium shows, and many other experiments. For this past year's event, we invoked a new theme in celebration of the first resolved image of the black hole in M87. Upon arriving to HPUniverse Day, kids were greeted as if they were space cadets arriving for mission training to explore the black hole at the center of our Milky Way galaxy. The newly enlisted cadets started at the World of Physics station where they learned about basic physics that could help them later in their training. Next the cadets listened to informational seminars on black holes, and techniques to ease their interstellar travel. Volunteers from the biology, chemistry, and education departments then provided insight into searching for and analyzing life on exoplanets on the way as well as using robotic technologies for conducting research and building new space colonies. Additionally, the cadets learned how to navigate across the surfaces of different exoplanets using hovercrafts designed by our students and faculty. Getting closer to their final goal, the cadets conducted test launches with water-bottle rockets and blasted off towards the center of our Galaxy. Finally, the cadets were immersed in a thrilling video about black holes and the science behind them in the new Culp Planetarium. HPUniverse Day enhances the collaborative nature of our physics department, while also strengthening the bond between our university and the surrounding community.