[meteorite-list] Astronomy Days 2014: Celebrating Comets, Meteorites, and MORE!

From: J Sinclair <john_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Sat, 18 Jan 2014 15:36:50 -0500
Message-ID: <CAAeS-uvdp-6YShs1W96_cdggH6YWGEffsi-fAE6Swx_CdtHQmg_at_mail.gmail.com>

Hi List,

Looking over the schedule for Astronomy Days, I see there's more...

Duke University is going to have a meteorite exhibit
and
Nick Gessler has a presentation -

How to Identify and Find a Meteorite
Nicholas Gessler, PhD, Duke University

Here is part of the schedule.

Saturday

10:30 am
How to Identify and Find a Meteorite
Nicholas Gessler, PhD, Duke University
Windows on the World, 3rd floor

11:00 am
Comets: Visitors from Deep Space
Tony Rice, NASA/JPL Solar System Ambassador
Auditorium, 1st floor

11:30 am
Dissecting the Moore County Meteorite, Piece by Piece
Dr. Chris Tacker, Curator of Geology, NC Museum of Natural Sciences
SECU Daily Planet Theater, NRC

1:00 pm
Life in the Solar System ? and Beyond?
Dr. Rachel L. Smith, Director of Astronomy & Astrophysics, NC Museum
of Natural Sciences
SECU Daily Planet Theater, NRC

You can see the whole schedule here:
http://naturalsciences.org/programs-events/astronomy-days-2

Hope you can make it.


On Sat, Jan 18, 2014 at 2:27 PM, J Sinclair <john at meteoriteusa.com> wrote:
> Hi List,
>
> Next weekend the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences in Raleigh
> will have their annual Astronomy event - Astronomy Days 2014
>
> Their are over 100 meteorites on display and the new Chelyabinsk
> meteorite exhibit will be featured.
>
> Dr. Chris Tacker, our Curator of Geology will give a presentation on
> the Moore County, NC Eucrite that fell in 1913 and Dr. Rachel Smith,
> Director of Astronomy and Astrophysics will give a talk on "Life in
> the Solar System and Beyond? " There are many other good presentations
> throughout the weekend.
>
> NASA had a big presence last year and I expect them to be all over the
> Museum again this year.
>
> This is a great event in a wonderful big museum and it's all FREE..
>
> I'll be at the meteorite exhibit, "Postcards from Space" along with
> Don Cline and others from the Pisgah Astronomical Research Institute
> most of the day on Saturday and Sunday.
>
> Stop by and say hello if you can and check out this great event.
>
> http://naturalsciences.org/
> http://naturalsciences.org/nature-research-center
>
> Cheers,
> John
>
>
> FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
>
> Science, Education, Features Editors. Image available upon request.
> Contact: Emelia.Cowans at naturalsciences.gov; 919.707.9837
>
> Astronomy Days 2014: Celebrating Comets, Meteorites, and MORE!
>
> See a piece of the asteroid that exploded over Russia, meet a
> US-trained Russian Cosmonaut-Candidate, take a picture in an
> astronaut?s uniform
>
>
> RALEIGH ? It?s up, up and away at the North Carolina Museum of Natural
> Sciences? Astronomy Days 2014! The free, two-day, out-of-this-world
> event will be held Saturday, January 25 from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and
> Sunday, January 26, from noon to 5 p.m. Both wings of the Museum will
> be teeming with dozens of exhibits, entertaining and educational
> hands-on activities and live presentations guaranteed to delight
> everyone from star-struck kids to novice astronomers to expert
> stargazers.
>
> Returning favorites include the Tripoli Rocket Association, who will
> be on hand to show off their amazing high-powered model rockets?some
> over 20 feet tall! Visitors can also see telescopes on display, learn
> what they need to know before buying the right telescope, explore an
> array of special presentations and exhibits covering weather on other
> planets, meet animals of the constellations, view demonstrations of
> astrophotography (taking space photos using basic home equipment like
> telescopes and tripods) and learn how to identify meteorites. You can
> also get your picture taken ?on the moon?s surface? in as astronaut?s
> uniform!
>
>
>
> Highlights
>
> The Museum is very pleased to be home to three pieces of the asteroid
> that entered the Earth?s atmosphere over Russia last year. These
> pieces will be added to our ?Postcards From Space Exhibit? (3rd floor,
> NRC), a collection of more than 100 meteorites, courtesy of Don Cline,
> President of Pisgah Astronomical Research Institute (PARI). The
> asteroid was roughly the same size as the Museum?s Daily Planet
> Theater globe on Jones St. before it exploded into many fragments
> several miles above the Russian city of Chelyabinsk. The explosion was
> equivalent to 500,000 tons of TNT, or about 30 atomic bombs. The
> Museum?s meteorite collection contains many specimens that were ?seen
> to fall,? which is unusual. Most meteorites are found later, not
> witnessed in events like this one.
>
>
>
> We also have special guest speaker who will speak on both days. Dr.
> Yuri Karash is a US-trained Russian Space Policy expert and journalist
> and former Cosmonaut-Candidate. His talk is entitled, ?The Current
> State of the Russian Space Program.? Dr. Karash is sponsored by the
> North Carolina Academy of Sciences.
>
>
>
> Other presentations include ?Comets: Visitors from Deep Space? and
> ?Comet ISON, Disappointment of the Century?? by Tony Rice, NASA/JPL
> Solar System Ambassador; ?Dissecting the Moore County Meteorite, Piece
> by Piece? by Dr. Chris Tacker, Curator of Geology, N.C. Museum of
> Natural Sciences; and ?Life in the Solar System?and Beyond?? by Dr.
> Rachel L. Smith, Director of Astronomy & Astrophysics, N.C. Museum of
> Natural Sciences. A complete schedule of presentations and workshops
> is available on our website at www.naturalsciences.org. A program
> guide listing events and activity times for each day will be available
> at the door.
>
>
>
> Presentations will be held in the WRAL-3D Theater (1st floor, Main),
> Daily Planet Theatre (1st floor, NRC) and Windows on the World (3rd
> floor, Main). Interactive astronomy workshops will be held throughout
> the day in the Environmental Conference Center, (4th floor, NRC).
>
>
>
> Kid-friendly Activities
>
> There?s lots to do at Astronomy Days for the entire family. Kids can
> drive a small rover on a model of a moonscape, sponsored by the
> Morehead Planetarium and Science Center, get their faces painted and
> see demonstrations on how craters are formed. Members of the
> ?Weightless Lumbees,? a team of students from UNC Pembroke and UNC
> Charlotte selected by NASA to conduct scientific experiments aboard
> reduced-gravity aircraft, will also be on hand. Outside on
> Bicentennial Plaza there will be solar viewing and opportunities to
> blast off your own bottle rockets!
>
>
>
> Visitors can also talk to Astronomy experts. Educational tables
> include, ?Astronomy: Fact or Fiction? designed to debunk myths, ?How
> Much Things Weigh in Outer Space? sponsored by the Raleigh Astronomy
> Club, and ?Moon Phases and Classifying Galaxies? sponsored by
> UNC-Chapel Hill.
>
>
>
> ?Birds of Paradise: Amazing Avian Evolution?
>
> The Museum?s current traveling exhibit has a unique connection to
> astronomy. The Bird of Paradise constellation, also called Apus, is a
> faint constellation in the southern sky, first identified in the late
> 16th century. Apus in Greek means, ?no feet.? ?Birds of Paradise:
> Amazing Avian Evolution? runs now through March 23, 2014. Tickets are
> available online. http://naturalsciences.org/exhibits/special-exhibits
>
>
>
> Astronomy Days is co-sponsored by the non-profit Raleigh Astronomy
> Club and the North Carolina Science Festival. For more information
> contact Bonnie Eamick at 919-707-9890 or via e-mail at
> Bonnie.Eamick at naturalsciences.org.
Received on Sat 18 Jan 2014 03:36:50 PM PST