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

[J Sinclair]

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.