Astronomy Day 2023: 4/1/23
When and Where:
Saturday, April 1st from 6:00p - 9:00p at the Marshall W. Alworth Planetarium!
What to expect:
This FREE event is open to all ages! Explore fun, hands-on activities, sit back and watch planetarium shows, and peer out to the great beyond with telescope viewing (weather permitting) in the parking lot outside the planetarium.
Planetarium Shows:
Planetarium shows will run every half hour throughout the event. There are a limited number of seats so we recommend grabbing a (free) show ticket at the table just outside the planetarium hallway to reserve a space. Each show will last about 20 minutes.
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Time |
Show |
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6:05p |
Earth's Wild Ride Set on the surface of the Moon in the year 2081, a grandfather and granddaughter watch a solar eclipse from scenic cliffs overlooking their moon colony. Conversation leads to contrasts between the moon, the only home the granddaughter knows, and the Earth, where the grandfather has spent most of his life. As they watch the Moon's shadow move across Earth, the grandfather tells stories of crashing asteroids, erupting volcanoes, roaring dinosaurs, electrifying lightning and booming thunder. |
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6:35p |
Stories of the Stars Sit back and enjoy a tour of the night sky. You will learn what stars and constellations are visible, tips and tricks to help you find them, and we’ll share some of the stories told around the world about these stars. |
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7:05p |
What Can You See in the Sky Tonight? with Bob King aka Astro Bob Explore the early April sky with a focus on the moon and NASA’s mission to land a woman and man there in 2025. |
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7:35p |
Black Holes: The Other Side of Infinity No longer the stuff of science fiction, the discovery of the black hole is a triumph of modern science. Explore the fascinating world of black holes in this program narrated by Academy Award nominated actor Liam Neeson. |
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8:05p |
Stories of the Stars Sit back and enjoy a tour of the night sky. You will learn what stars and constellations are visible, tips and tricks to help you find them, and we’ll share some of the stories told around the world about these stars.
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8:35p |
Black Holes: The Other Side of Infinity No longer the stuff of science fiction, the discovery of the black hole is a triumph of modern science. Explore the fascinating world of black holes in this program narrated by Academy Award nominated actor Liam Neeson. |
Raffle prizes:
We will be raffling off 3 fantastic prizes this year! Raffle tickets can be purchased for $1 each (cash only) at the welcome table. The winners will be drawn at the end of the evening (9:00p), but you do not have to be present to win. We will email the winners the next day. Winners will have 1 week to respond and set up a time to collect their prize.
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First Place: Orion SkyScanner 100mm TableTop Reflector Telescope Kit Includes: 20mm (for 20x power) and 10mm (for 40x power) 4-element eyepieces, 2x Barlow lens, EZ Finder II aiming device, glare-reducing Moon filter, and Orion's MoonMap 260. Bonus kit also includes a decorative poster set, the informative Explore the Cosmos book for kids, and a helpful StarTarget Planisphere for finding objects in the sky |
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Second Place: Meteorite (graciously donated by Bob King aka Astro Bob) Description: A nice, fresh slice of Northwest Africa (NWA) 869, an L4-6 chondrite found in the Sahara Desert in 2000. You can't see it very well in the photo but the piece has a lot of tiny sparkles of iron-nickel metal. |
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Third Place: Signed Book, Bookmark, and Water bottle Book: Night Sky with the Naked Eye by Bob King aka Astro Bob (signed) Gain a deeper appreciation of the universe and our place in it with Night Sky with the Naked Eye. Learn how to spot the International Space Station, follow the moon through its phases, forecast an aurora and watch a meteor shower along with traditional night sky activities such as identifying the bright planets, stars and constellations. Fun activities embrace modern technology with the best apps and websites that make it easy for anyone to observe the greatest spectacles of the sky without a telescope or other expensive equipment. |
Special Thanks
Special thanks to Bob King, the Arrowhead Astronomical Society, and the Duluth Children's Museum for being a part of this event!