Astronomy Exhibit Takes Off at Museum!
Publish On 01-22-2009 , 17:11
RALEIGH – Soar into the new year with the N.C. Museum of Natural Sciences' 19th annual Astronomy Days, on Saturday, Jan. 24, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m and Sunday, Jan. 25, noon to 5 p.m. Experience more than 50 exciting exhibits, hands-on activities and presentations on all four floors of the Museum and outside on Bicentennial Plaza over the course of this free, two-day event. Safely view the sun and incredible solar flares through amazing solar telescopes, meet local astronomy enthusiasts to find out how to get started yourself, and learn about live animals of the constellations.
New this year, the Museum's Special Exhibits Gallery (2nd floor) will be transformed into a planetary wonderland of stations hosted by National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), including an opportunity to learn about the mission to repair the Hubble Telescope and a display of real space paraphernalia like astronaut boots, gloves and space tools. Stations include the NASA Magic Planet Projection Sphere, a digital video globe that allows visitors to view and interact with dynamic digital media of the Earth and other planets on a spherical screen, and NASA's Interactive Constellation Experience, which allows visitors to design a next-generation space-craft using state-of-the-art technology on a giant flat-screen monitor. Also inside the Gallery will be the Explorer Dome, a mobile planetarium, courtesy of KidSenses Children's InterACTIVE Museum in Rutherfordrton.
Visitors can also find out their weights on other planets, make and launch their own bottle rockets, and the Tripoli Rocket Association will be on hand once again to show off their amazing high-powered model rockets -- some over 20 feet tall! Amateur stargazers can also use a remote control to explore the structure of the Milky Way Galaxy via a 4.6-meter radio telescope. There's even a cool photo opportunity courtesy of Cary Space Camp where you can put on a real space suit and get your picture taken on the surface of the Moon!
This year marks the International Year of Astronomy (IYA2009), a year-long celebration of astronomy that coincides with the 400th anniversary of the first recorded astronomical observations with a telescope by Galileo Galilei and the publication of Johannes Kepler's "Astronomia nova" in the 17th century. Galileo first turned one of his telescopes to the night sky in 1609, making astounding discoveries that changed mankind’s understanding of our position in the Universe –– mountains and craters on the Moon, a plethora of stars invisible to the naked eye and moons around Jupiter. In the same year, Johannes Kepler published his work "Astronomia nova" in which he described the fundamental laws of planetary motions.
This year's special guest will be astrophysicist, Frank Summers from the Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore, Maryland. His lecture, "A Private Tour Through Hubble's Universe", will be presented at 1 p.m and 2:30 p.m on Saturday, Jan. 24 and at 1 p.m on Sunday, Jan. 25 in the Museum's Auditorium. Several other presentations by Museum staff and astronomy enthusiasts and scientists from Pisgah Astronomical Research Institute (PARI) and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) will be held in the Museum's Windows on the World, a small auditorium on the Museum's third floor, including Live Animals of the Constellations and How Space Weather Forecasting Impacts Your Daily Life. Children ages 8 and older can also test their space knowlege in a fun game of Astro Bingo.
For more information, visit the Museum's Web site.
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