I teach Earth Science to 8th graders in Port Washington, on Long Island. Each year, when I teach the Big Bang, I show the BBC movie "Lost Horizons: The Big Bang. The Holmdel Horn, Arno Penzias and Robert Wilson are akin to rock stars in our classroom. My classes of 25 students "visit" the Horn on Google Earth and we even take a field trip to a poster of it in another part of the building. The students love the stories, and enjoy the wonder that comes with the almost accidental discovery of that first "echo" of the Big Bang. They are fascinated and feel that they, too, can make an important discovery through the scientific process.
A fan of an antenna? Weird, I know... but a fan I am. I tried to see it once a few years ago when I was visiting the Jersey Shore but then realized it was on private property. Yesterday, the day after the 2013 Earth Science Regents exam (which to my delight had a few questions about Cosmic Background Radiation) I celebrated by visiting again. This time, I saw the Horn. It was everything I dreamed it would be. The only thing that may have made my visit better would be if the whole class and our rock stars, Arno and Penzias were there :)
Thank you Holmdel for landmarking this amazing piece of history!
