National Astronomy Day 2008

Saturday, May 10, 10:00 am–4:00 pm

National Astronomy Day activities are free! Museum admission required for exhibits and films.

Times Event Location
10:00 am–4:00 pm Tour the Space Travels outreach trailer. View the sun using a safe solar telescope, weather permitting. Outside the IMAX® DOME theater entrance
Build and launch a soda-bottle rocket, weather permitting. Front Lawn

Astronomy Activities

  • Touch a meteorite
  • Watch a CCD camera demonstration
  • Make a sundial
  • Telescope mirror grinding demonstration
  • Door prizes!
  • Radio telescopes
  • What is light pollution?
 West Hallway, Level One
10:00 am "Listening to the Big Bang"
Dr. Ted Bunn, Physics Department, University of Richmond		 Eureka! Theater, Level Three
10:30 am "Undergraduate Astronomy Research at Randolph-Macon College"
Dr. George Spagna, Physics Department, Randolph-Macon College
11:00 am "Exploring the Invisible Universe With Radio Astronomy"
Dr. Mark Adams, National Radio Astronomy Observatory, Charlottesville
11:30 am "Coming This Fall: The New Hubble Space Telescope"
John Stoke, Space Telescope Science Institute, Baltimore
Noon "The Search for Other Earths"
Dr. Mike Strutskie, Department of Astronomy, University of Virginia
12:30 pm "The Saturn System Through the Eyes of Cassini"
Dr. Anne Verbiscer, Cassini Imaging Central Laboratory for Operations,
Space Science Institute, Boulder, Colo.
11:00 am and 2:00 pm

Make a Scale Model Solar System
Learn about the vast distances between the planets as you construct a scale-model solar system that's more than 120 feet long!
Limit 30 participants per session; sign up at the greeting area.

 East Terrace, Track Level
1:00 pm “Icy Worlds” planetarium show. Introduced by Anne Verbiscer, Space Science Institute, Boulder, Colo. IMAX® DOME Theater & Planetarium
4:00 pm “What’s Up?” planetarium show.
1:00 pm, 2:00 pm and 3:00 pm

StarLab® Planetarium
Tour the current night sky in our portable planetarium.
Limit 20 participants per session on a first-come basis.

 Atrium, Track Level
8:30 pm–10:00 pm Skywatch
Observe the moon, Mars, Saturn and more with members of the
Richmond Astronomical Society, weather permitting.		 Front Lawn

Thank you to the Richmond Astronomical Society for hosting many of today's events.

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