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Astronomy Day Events Planned at Herrett Center

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TIMES-NEWS

TWIN FALLS A day and night full of events has been planned for this years International Astronomy Day at the Herrett Center for Arts and Science at the College of Southern Idaho.

Activities will begin at 10 a.m. April 20 with make and take astronomy projects, coloring pages, solar viewing, and building and launching of water bottle rockets. Admission to the make-and-take activity center is just $1 per person.

The Centennial Observatory will offer safe views of the Sun, bright stars, and planets from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., then re-open for a nighttime star party from 8:45 p.m. to midnight. Targets will include Jupiter, Saturn, the Moon and more. All observatory events are free of charge and weather permitting.

The Faulkner Planetarium will show Lifestyles of the Stars and a live sky tour at 2 p.m.; Blown Away at 4 p.m.; The Planets 7 p.m.; and Altrageous rock! at 8:15 p.m. Admission prices for the planetarium are $4.50 for adults, $3.50 for seniors, and $2.50 for students.

For more information, contact the Herrett Center at 732-6655 or visit the website at http://www.csi.edu/herrett

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Astronomy Day Events Planned at Herrett Center

Astronomy Day at Museum of the Rockies Saturday

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Some gazing at the sky, and learning opportunities, with a free afternoon of astronomy-related events for kids and adults this Saturday, April 20. A former Montana State University student who is now a lead engineer for the Mars Curiosity rover and a scientist from the James Webb Space Telescope will be speaking. Join in at the Museum of the Rockies from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m., and all Astronomy Day 2013 activities, including admission to the museum, are free that afternoon. Exhibits in the main lobby will feature activities, information and give-aways from NASA missions and MSU researchers. Kids' activities include Mars Volcano Erupt!, Life Cycle of a Star Bookmark, and Edible Mars Rover. The planetarium show is Big Sky Tonight. Angela Des Jardins, director of Montana Space Grant Consortium, will begin the afternoon presentations at 1 p.m. At 1:10 p.m., Amber Straughn, lead scientist for the James Webb Space Telescope education and public outreach program, will present "Beyond Hubble: A New Era of Astronomy with the James Webb Space Telescope."

At 3 p.m., MSU alumnus Jaime Waydo, who is now a Curiosity rover mobility engineer, will present "Curiosity's Science: What is the Mars Rover Doing, and What Have We Learned?"

An autograph session with both Straughn and Waydo takes place from 2 p.m. to 3 p.m.

Astronomy Day is sponsored by the Museum of the Rockies, Montana Space Grant Consortium, Space Public Outreach Team, Monforton School Foundation, Southwest Montana Astronomical Society and Montana State University's Physics Department, Optical Technology Center, Extended University and Astrobiology and Life in Extreme Environments (ALEE) program.

For more information visit http://eu.montana.edu/AstronomyDay/

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Astronomy Day at Museum of the Rockies Saturday

Astronomy Day at York County park

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The York County Astronomical Society will offer a day-long slate of free activities for children and adults and a night of Public Observing at John C. Rudy County Park for Astronomy Day, noon-3 p.m. Saturday.

Activities include:

* Radio Astronomy: Listen to the mysterious sounds of the universe using a small radio telescope.

* Solar Observing: Safely observe the Sun through various types of telescopes.

* Solar System Walk: Help build a scale model of the Solar System.

* Learn how to use your telescope: Daytime is the best for learning how to use that telescope gathering dust at home. Bring the telescope, any accessories and instructions to the observatory to get help from experienced astronomers.

Return to Rudy Park at 8 p.m. for a two-hour observing session.

The daytime program will be offered rain or shine. Solar activities will only be offered if it is not cloudy. The evening observing session will only be offered if it is clear or partly cloudy. Call the YCAS Hotline at (717) 578-9109 or check http://www.ycas.org after 5 p.m. on the day of the event if the weather is questionable.

For more information on Astronomy Day, write to info@ycas.org, visit http://www.ycas.org and click on Astronomy Day, or call (717) 578-9109.

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Astronomy Day at York County park

Evening of astronomy offered at Goldthwait Reservation

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All are welcome at the Goldthwait Reservation Thursday, April 18, 7:30 p.m. for an evening of astronomy, moon observation and sky watching.

This event will premiere the newly established Graham Hale Gardner Cultural Series. Established in memory of a beloved Marblehead young man who treasured his time with family and friends at the Goldthwait Reservation, these special presentations are designed to enrich and educate those attending in interesting and reflective topics.

The astronomy program will be presented by local popular stargazers and teachers Jim Keating and Eric Reines. Suggested ages are 8 years and up, and the program will occur weather permitting. Several telescopes will be provided, and the event is free.

There will be a second astronomy evening on April 25, the night of the pink full moon, also at 7:30 p.m. and again weather permitting. Call 781-639-2764 to confirm attendance or for more information concerning a weather-related cancellation.

Organizers strongly urge you dress warmly if you plan to attend.

They also offer a note to all promising and amateur astronomers: April 20-22 are the dates for observing the Lyrid meteor shower, which is best seen in suburban or rural areas. The darker the sky, the better it will be to see these magical celestial bodies, they say. The peak of the meteor shower will be on April 22.

April is also Global Astronomy Month, which is the worlds largest global celebration of astronomy.

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Evening of astronomy offered at Goldthwait Reservation

Mueller Planetarium to celebrate Astronomy Day

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Learn about planets, optics, telescopes, physics, robotics, space travel, nanotechnology and more at Astronomy Day, 9:30 a.m.-4 p.m. April 20 at the University of Nebraska State Museum of Natural History in Morrill Hall, south of 14th and Vine streets.

Visitors will get a chance to win a telescope, binoculars and other prizes, watch educational laser shows and participate in activities about space and science. Regular museum admission will be required;members are free.

During the day, Mueller Planetarium will present Lasers in Astronomy,which explores how state-of-the-art laser technology is helping astronomers better understand the universe. Show times: 11 a.m., noon, 1, 2 and 3 p.m., withadditional Sunday showings at 2 and 3 p.m.

Astronomy Day concludes with a free "star party" between 8 and 11 p.m. at Hyde Memorial Observatory on the south edge of Holmes Lake Park.

Founded in 1973, the national celebration started by the Astronomical League promotes awareness of amateur and professional astronomy.

More, http://www.spacelaser.com/ADay2013.html.

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Mueller Planetarium to celebrate Astronomy Day

READER SUBMITTED: Celebrate National Astronomy Day With Star Gazing April 19 At Connecticut College

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Connecticut College will celebrate National Astronomy Day by offering the public binocular and telescopic views of the night sky on Friday, April 19, from 7:30 to 10 p.m. at the Olin Observatory and the Olin Science Center.

The free event is open to astronomy enthusiasts of all ages. Highlights of the evening include talks by guest speakers, hands-on activities and views of the moon, Orion nebula and two planets Jupiter and Saturn (weather permitting).

This event, which is free and open to the public, is brought to you by volunteers from the Astronomy Department at Connecticut College, the Thames Amateur Astronomical Society and the Treworgy Planetarium at Mystic Seaport. The event will continue regardless of clouds or rain, although stars and planets may not be visible in poor weather.

For more information, please contact Professor Leslie Brown at 860 439-2345. About Connecticut College

Connecticut College is a private, highly selective liberal arts college with 1,850 students and more than 40 majors in the arts, sciences, social sciences and humanities, as well as the option for students to self-design majors. The College offers a high level of intellectual challenge, a campus culture that supports students to tailor their educational experience to their own interests and goals, and a four-year career development program that teaches students how to translate a liberal arts degree into a first job or graduate school admission. Connecticut College is situated in the small New England seaport of New London. For more information, visit http://www.connecticutcollege.edu.

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READER SUBMITTED: Celebrate National Astronomy Day With Star Gazing April 19 At Connecticut College

Astronomy Day invites public to see stars

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No need to own a telescope to closely appreciate the night sky April 20. Dave Wagner and his crew will lend you theirs and teach you about astronomy.

Wagner is the president of the Lake County Astronomical Society. On Astronomy Day 2013, a worldwide event held on the first quarter moon in the spring, the society will host a free event for observation of the sky at the College of Lake County's technology wing.

Astronomy Day is an all-day event with activities from noon to 4 p.m. and from 7 to 10 p.m., weather permitting.

For young astronomy lovers, the Dobbie telescope will be on hand.

Wagner said telescopes are usually not a tool children can interact with because of their intricacies and cost but Dobbie is a "kid-powered telescope."

Children get stickers and a glow bracelet.

Crafts, presentations, comet making with dry ice, exhibits on light pollution, door prize drawings and more are scheduled for the day part of the event.

At night, attendees wanting to gaze at the sky can use society member's telescopes to watch the moon, Jupiter and other astronomical wonders, Wagner said.

Last year more than 200 people attended, although due to rain, night activities were cancelled.

This is the second Astronomy Day event held at CLC. In previous years Astronomy Day was held at the Volo Bog Visitor Center in Ingleside.

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Astronomy Day invites public to see stars

Club observing Astronomy Day with program Friday at LaVale Library

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April 14, 2013 Club observing Astronomy Day with program Friday at LaVale Library Club member discovered supernova in 1979

For the Cumberland Times-News Cumberland Times-News The Cumberland Times-News Sun Apr 14, 2013, 11:17 PM EDT

LAVALE The Cumberland Astronomy Club will observe Astronomy Day 2013 on Friday with a program beginning at 7:30 p.m. at the LaVale Library.

This years event is special for the Cumberland Astronomy Club because April 19 is the 34th anniversary of the discovery of Supernova 1979C by club member Gus Johnson of Swanton.

In 2010, scientists discovered that SN1979C had collapsed into a black hole. The program will feature a talk on black holes by astrophysicist D. J. Pisano from the West Virginia University department of physics.

Following the presentation, telescopes will be set up to observe the moon, the giant planet Jupiter and other sky sights, weather permitting. Visitors who bring a digital camera can take home a photograph of the moon as seen through a telescope.

According to Sky & Telescope magazine, Astronomy Day was started in 1973 by Doug Berger, former president of the Astronomical Association of Northern California, as a way of introducing astronomy to people in urban areas.

Hundreds of astronomy clubs, observatories, museums, colleges and planetariums worldwide now host family-oriented Astronomy Day events to show that amateur astronomy is both educational and fun.

For more information, contact Steve Luzader at 301-689-1976 between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. or visit the clubs website at http://tinyurl.com/a6dqm.

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Club observing Astronomy Day with program Friday at LaVale Library

You can't buy rights to name exoplanet, says astronomy group

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IAU/L. Calada

The diversity of exoplanets is large more than 800 planets outside the Solar System have been found to date, with thousands more waiting to be confirmed.

By Megan Gannon, SPACE.com

There may not be an alien planet named Heinlein any time soon if the International Astronomical Union (IAU) gets its way. The astronomy group issued a reminder April 12 that it is the only body authorized to give exoplanets their official names, despite recent naming initiatives by companies like Uwingu.

In the statement, IAUofficials said that planet-naming schemes have "no bearing on the official naming process," and stressed the importance of having a unified procedure, even though its members welcome the public's interest. The IAU did not mention the space science funding company Uwingu (whose name means "sky" in Swahili)by name, referring only to a "recent name-selling campaign." But the young Uwingu did launch an initiative last month calling on the public to name the nearest Alpha Centauri Bb anexoplanet4.3 light-years from Earth as part of a fundraising campaign.

Projects like Uwingu'sBaby Planet Name Bookseek to at least informally replace official planet names like HD 85512b or Gliese 667Cc with more playful nicknames. The initiative by Uwingu a company that aims to raise money for space research, exploration and education lets you add a nomination to the planet name registry for 99 cents. [Strangest Alien Planets (Photos)]

And for another 99 cents, you can vote for your favorite name on the list. In March, Uwingu started an offshoot contest, which runs through April 15, toname Alpha Centauri Bb, the newfound Earth-sized planet in the star system closest to our own.The company will use the money raised by the project to support research efforts like SETI's (the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence) Allen Telescope Array in California, as well as space launches and science outreach.

Uwingu CEO Alan Stern, a planetary scientist who also leads NASA's New Horizons spacecraft's mission to Pluto, said the IAU's claim to naming rights in space is a self-proclaimed one, and likened Uwingu's effort to a People's Choice endeavour.

"The IAU can't prohibit what it does not control. People's Choice naming contests and the colloquial naming of objects in space are unrelated to the IAU's purview of specifying nomenclature for astronomers," Stern told SPACE.com in an email. "The IAU no more owns the right to control the naming of objects in space for popular purposes than does a county that controls street naming have the right to deny people in the county who the right to adopt a mile of highway in someone's honor."

In the Uwingu campaign, the names Ron Paul, Heinlein, Sagan, Asimov and Pele are currently among some of the more popular monikers that have been proposed so far. Official exoplanet names, often made up of a string of letters and numbers, may look dull and unmemorable in comparison, but IAU officials defended their process.

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You can't buy rights to name exoplanet, says astronomy group

Can You Buy Exoplanet Naming Rights? No, Astronomy Group Says

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There may not be an alien planet named Heinlein any time soon if the International Astronomical Union (IAU) gets its way. The astronomy group issued a reminder Friday (April 12) that it is the only body authorized to give exoplanets their official names, despite recent naming initiatives by companies like Uwingu.

In the statement, IAUofficials said that planet-naming schemes have "no bearing on the official naming process," and stressed the importance of having a unified procedure, even though its members welcome the public's interest. The IAU did not mention the space science funding company Uwingu (whose name means "sky" in Swahili)by name, referring only to a "recent name-selling campaign." But the young Uwingu did launch an initiative last month calling on the public to name the nearest Alpha Centauri Bb anexoplanet4.3 light-years from Earth as part of a fundraising campaign.

Projects like Uwingu'sBaby Planet Name Bookseek to at least informally replace official planet names like HD 85512b or Gliese 667Cc with more playful nicknames. The initiative by Uwingu a company that aims to raise money for space research, exploration and education lets you add a nomination to the planet name registry for 99 cents. [Strangest Alien Planets (Photos)]

And for another 99 cents, you can vote for your favorite name on the list. In March, Uwingu started an offshoot contest, which runs through April 15, toname Alpha Centauri Bb, the newfound Earth-sized planet in the star system closest to our own.The company will use the money raised by the project to support research efforts like SETI's (the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence) Allen Telescope Array in California, as well as space launches and science outreach.

Uwingu CEO Alan Stern, a planetary scientist who also leads NASA's New Horizons spacecraft's mission to Pluto, said the IAU's claim to naming rights in space is a self-proclaimed one, and likened Uwingu's effort to a People's Choice endeavour.

"The IAU can't prohibit what it does not control. People's Choice naming contests and the colloquial naming of objects in space are unrelated to the IAU's purview of specifying nomenclature for astronomers," Stern told SPACE.com in an email. "The IAU no more owns the right to control the naming of objects in space for popular purposes than does a county that controls street naming have the right to deny people in the county who the right to adopt a mile of highway in someone's honor."

In the Uwingu campaign, the names Ron Paul, Heinlein, Sagan, Asimov and Pele are currently among some of the more popular monikers that have been proposed so far. Official exoplanet names, often made up of a string of letters and numbers, may look dull and unmemorable in comparison, but IAU officials defended their process.

"Whileexoplanetnames such as 16 Cygni Bb or HD 41004 Ab may seem boring when considering the names of planets in our own solar system, the vast number of objects in our universe galaxies, stars, and planets to name just a few means that a clear and systematic system for naming these objects is vital," IAU officials explained. "Any naming system is a scientific issue that must also work across different languages and cultures in order to support collaborative worldwide research and avoid confusion."

To be clear, Uwingu has said the nominations in its Baby Planet Name Book won't be official. But the organization had hoped astronomers might come around and consider using the names on the list to refer to new planets informally.

"At Uwingu, we're for opening up the naming of celestial bodies to as wide a spectrum of the public as possible, the IAU seems to want to go the opposite way," Stern said. "We think open-source naming it the future, and we're excited that so many in the public agree."

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Can You Buy Exoplanet Naming Rights? No, Astronomy Group Says


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