Friends of Arlington's David M. Brown Planetarium

04/19/2020

Vera Rubin: The Astronomer Who Brought Dark Matter to Light

Vera Rubin: The Astronomer Who Brought Dark Matter to Light

Reference Article

04/18/2020

LUX ATACAMA | Total Solar Eclipse July 2nd, 2019

We talked recently with astronomer Tyler Nordgren about solar eclipses. Here is a link to a short video that shows what it was like to view the 2019 total solar eclipse in Chile.

This video is dedicated to Brian Bloss and who went from us way too soon. Enjoy these impressions of the total solar eclipse of July 2nd 2019, as seen from t...

04/18/2020

Goodbye, Spitzer: Relive the most astounding images from NASA's space telescope

NASA says goodbye to Spitzer

The Spitzer Space Telescope has reached the end of its mission. Relive Spitzer's wildest views of space, from tendrils of spidery nebulae to glowing supernova remnants.

04/17/2020

Cheops telescope begins study of far-off worlds

Cheops telescope begins study of far-off worlds

Europe's newest space telescope starts its study and characterisation of distant planets.

04/17/2020

The Lyrid Meteor Shower Is Back — Here's What You Need to Know

The Lyrid Meteor Shower Is Back — Here's What You Need to Know

Every April, the Lyrid meteor shower fills the sky with shooting stars. Here's how to see them.

04/16/2020

Following the Sun - Eclipses to Auroras

A talk by astronomer Tyler Nordgren

04/16/2020

APOD: 2020 April 16 - Comet ATLAS Breaks Up

APOD: 2020 April 16 - Comet ATLAS Breaks Up

A different astronomy and space science related image is featured each day, along with a brief explanation.

04/16/2020

A Star Orbiting a Black Hole Just Confirmed a Prediction Made by General Relativity

A Star Orbiting a Black Hole Just Confirmed a Prediction Made by General Relativity

A single star called S2 looping around the supermassive black hole in the centre of our galaxy just demonstrated a prediction of general relativity in the most extreme environment we can test it in - putting yet another feather in the theory's alread

04/15/2020

Join the Friends of Arlington's Planetarium on Facebook Live at 4pm (Eastern Daylight Time) on Thursday, April 16, 2020.
Astronomer Tyler Nordgren will present "Following the Sun: From Total Eclipses to the Aurora Borealis".

In addition to his work helping bring astronomy to visitors in national parks, Dr. Nordgren has been the professional astronomer for several solar eclipse and aurora tours on various continents. He is also the author of the book, "Sun Moon Earth: The History of Solar Eclipses From Omens of Doom to Einstein and Exoplanets".

The Friends of Arlington's Planetarium are excited to have Dr. Nordgren share some of his extensive eclipse and aurora knowledge with us!

That's 4pm, EDT, 4/16/2020, here on Facebook!

04/15/2020

The Most Important Image Ever Taken By NASA's Hubble Space Telescope

Here's an article in Forbes about the past 30 years of the Hubble Space Telescope - and the importance of the Hubble Deep Field image to our understanding of the universe.

The original Hubble Deep Field truly showed us what the Universe looks like.

04/15/2020

A Quick Look at the Sky - Mid April, 2020

This video discusses a few objects you can see in the night sky over the next week or so - assuming the clouds stay away!

04/14/2020

Astronomers Detect The Most Powerful Star Explosion We've Ever Observed

Astronomers Detect The Most Powerful Star Explosion We've Ever Observed

Massive stars don't die quietly. Their deaths are spectacular explosions that can outshine entire galaxies - and now, astronomers have identified the most powerful of these exploding stars we've ever witnessed.

04/14/2020

Epic Images Reveal Never-Before-Seen Plasma Threads Woven Through Sun's Atmosphere

Epic Images Reveal Never-Before-Seen Plasma Threads Woven Through Sun's Atmosphere

Astronomers have delivered the closest look yet at the extremely hot outer corona layer of the Sun, revealing never-before-seen structures hidden within regions once only seen as empty or dark.

04/11/2020

50 years ago today, the Apollo 13 mission was launched on its mission to the Moon. Below is a link to a detailed recounting of the first part of that ill-fated flight, often dubbed NASA's "successful failure".

https://www.nasa.gov/feature/50-years-ago-apollo-13-off-to-the-moon

04/11/2020

Stunning Images Show The Rings of Uranus Are Like Nothing Else in The Solar System

Stunning Images Show The Rings of Uranus Are Like Nothing Else in The Solar System

Saturn may be the most showy, but it's not the only planet in the Solar System circled by rings. And last year we found out more about the 13 rings around Uranus when it photobombed a thermal image astronomers took of the ice planet.

04/08/2020

The Moon and Its Influence on Calendar Systems

The Moon and Its Influence on Calendar Systems

04/07/2020

And, of course, we're having some problems with the connection. We'll post a recording of the discussion soon.
Thanks for your patience while we work things out!

04/06/2020

SuperMoon? Passover Moon? Easter Moon?
A short Facebook Live talk Tuesday, 4/07/20 at 7:15pm

Jewish, Christian, and Muslim faithful will observe major festivals this month. Passover and Easter are loosely tied to the Full Moon that will occur at 10:35 PM EDT on Tuesday; it also happens to be a SuperMoon. Passover begins on the 15th of Nissan, which corresponds to sunset on April 8th in the Gregorian calendar this year. Western Christians will celebrate Easter on April 12 while Orthodox Christians will wait until April 19. The sacred Islamic month of Ramadan will begin at sunset on April 23 in the Gregorian calendar. Because the Islamic calendar is a lunar calendar, the month of fasting drifts with respect to the seasons.

Join us here on Facebook Live at 7:15pm as astronomer Jennifer Bartlett gives a brief chat about the Moon and calendars since your SuperMoon viewing may well be canceled due to rain.

04/06/2020

Have you ever wondered why some holidays aren't on the same day every year? Find out how astronomy has affected calendars, from ancient times through today!
Astronomer Jennifer Bartlett will talk to us about calendars and astronomy via Facebook Live on Tuesday, April 7, 2020

04/03/2020

Don’t miss Venus and the Pleiades around April 3 | EarthSky.org

The Planet Venus is passing through the Pleiades on April 3, 2020. But if the sky is clear, you should go outside and take a look at Venus on the 2nd, 3rd, or 4th!

https://earthsky.org/tonight/venus-pleiades-couple-up-on-april-2-3-and-4

Watch for the close pairing of the brightest planet, Venus, with the little dipper-shaped Pleiades star cluster. Their conjunction is April 3, but any evening around then will be lovely!

04/02/2020

Create Craters in Comfort!

A short, easy STEM experiment to help you learn about asteroids and craters.

04/02/2020

Craters on the Earth and Moon [Activity] | Night Sky Network

The recording of the crater making experiment will be posted soon. Here are some links to more information and visuals about craters on Earth and elsewhere.

Simple version of today's exercise, with no measuring.
https://nightsky.jpl.nasa.gov/download-view.cfm?Doc_ID=465

More advanced version of the exercise, with calculations for older students
https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/edu/pdfs/impactcraters.pdf

Amateur Lunar Atlas
https://www.visit-the-moon.com/lunar-atlas

Consolidated Lunar Atlas (thumbnails)
https://www.lpi.usra.edu/resources/cla/maps/thumbs/

Craters on Mercury (APOD)
https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/mercury.html

Craters on Mercury (Britannica)
https://www.britannica.com/place/Mercury-planet/Impact-craters

Craters on Earth
http://solarviews.com/eng/tercrate.htm

Create craters on models of the Moon and Earth in this fun and messy outreach activity. Investigate the properties of Earth that hide past cratering events, such as movement of the crust, erosion, water, and a protective atmosphere.

04/02/2020

Sigh. Murphy's law seems to be chasing our live presentations. The live stream cut out during the demonstration, so we will post a recording for you soon.

04/02/2020

For those of you who are interested in recreating today's experiment, here is the worksheet and a list of supplies.

04/02/2020

Our informal asteroid week continues! Join us on our page at 11:00am today (EDT) for a demonstration of a short, easy STEM activity for your quarantined elementary students! Astronomer Jennifer Bartlett will lead us in "Creating Craters in Comfort".

04/02/2020

This Fireball Ignored the Solar System’s One-Way Signs

It seems to be asteroid week for us, so here's a story about a space rock that became a "grazing fireball" in 2017.

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/30/science/fireball-meteor-australia.html?action=click&module=Well&pgtype=Homepage§ion=Science&fbclid=IwAR3mORZ01fRFOi7Oiz2KAlb5lFHtplSVifhQreD08zMDLQTzOLRsffDippI

A meteoroid that grazed the night sky over Australia in 2017 took a very unusual path away from Earth.

04/01/2020

Hungry black hole may be cosmic 'missing link'

Hungry black hole may be cosmic 'missing link'

Astronomers say they have found the best evidence yet for an elusive class of black hole.

04/01/2020

Comet ATLAS: Will it Become a Naked-Eye Object? - Sky & Telescope

Comet ATLAS: Will it Become a Naked-Eye Object? - Sky & Telescope

Comet ATLAS (C/2019 Y4) might become a naked-eye object some time this spring. Read on to find out when and where to look for it.

03/31/2020

At 11:00am on Thursday, April 2nd, astronomer Jennifer Bartlett will show you how to "Create Craters in Comfort"

In this simple exercise, using common household materials, you can learn about craters and how asteroids form them. Look for the live stream on the Friends of Arlington's David M. Brown Planetarium page. (Hopefully the technology will be more cooperative this time!)
There will be opportunities for questions, and the entire activity should last no more than 30 minutes.

03/30/2020

A special thanks to Dr. Sethanne Howard and Dr. Alice Monet for sharing their knowledge about asteroids with us today - and for being very patient when the live stream didn't want to start. Did you miss the live stream because of the technical glitch? You can always watch the video recording on our page

03/30/2020

Asteroids!

A talk all about asteroids, especially those near the Earth.

03/30/2020

Our technology is being cranky. If we can't get it working in the next few minutes, we'll record and post it afterward.

03/30/2020

Some trouble with the live webcast. working on it now.

03/28/2020

Tired of the same old "life in lockdown" activities? Looking for a little STEM adventure?
Then we hope that you'll join us for a science talk -
"Asteroids Meet the Earth"
When: Monday, March 30, 2020 at 2:30pm EDT
Where: The Friends of Arlington's Planetarium page

This live streaming session, which will talk about near-earth as well as not-so-near asteroids, will last about an hour. Astronomers Dr. Sethanne Howard and Dr. Alice Monet will be our guides, and if the technology cooperates, they will even try to answer your asteroid related questions!

03/27/2020

Friends of Arlington's David M. Brown Planetarium

If you didn't get to see our live streamed conversation with astronomers Tyler Nordgren and Alice Monet, you can still watch the recorded version:

https://www.facebook.com/friendsoftheplanetarium/videos/905457353219600/

A conversation with astronomers Dr. Tyler Nordgren and Dr. Alice Monet

03/26/2020

A very big thanks to both Dr. Tyler Nordgren and Dr. Alice Monet for talking with us live about the inspiration of the night sky and the National Parks.
If you enjoyed some of the images presented during the conversation, you can see more at Dr. Nordgren's website: www.spacearttravelbureau.com

Let us know if you are interested in seeing more live conversations!

03/26/2020

The Power of the Sky to Inspire Awe

A conversation with astronomers Dr. Tyler Nordgren and Dr. Alice Monet

03/26/2020

If there is a problem with the live stream, we'll try to post a recording of the conversation afterward.
(Photo by Tyler Nordgren)

03/26/2020

So, we are going to try to live stream a conversation with astronomers Tyler Nordgren and Alice Monet. The stream will be here on our page at 2pm. They will talk about "The Power of the Sky to Inspire Awe: the Aurora, Eclipses, and the Milky Way." You can probably expect a few glitches!

03/25/2020

Need more activities to keep your budding scientists busy while they are studying at home? Don't forget that NASA has many educational resources and activities available online!

https://spaceplace.nasa.gov/

03/24/2020

Question to our followers: is there interest in having some live streamed talks with astronomers and other scientists posted here on the Friends of the Planetarium page?

03/20/2020

March equinox: All you need to know | EarthSky.org

Happy vernal equinox to everyone! Want to know more? Here's a link to an article about the equinox from our friends at Earthsky.

The 2020 equinox comes March 20 at 03:50 UTC. It's an event that happens on our sky’s dome and a seasonal marker in Earth’s orbit around the sun!

03/17/2020

#PeepYourScience - DEADLINE EXTENDED TO 3/30 - The Open Notebook

Another great family activity! The entry deadline has been extended to March 30, so you still have time to get your peeps diorama done!

https://www.theopennotebook.com/peeps/?fbclid=IwAR00aeFoKcrU8IolXFj0_1qGMJl6v4I6Uu6LjCJHSZfrDeEIH5MigMJpTmY

#PeepYourScience! The Open Notebook is proud to host the World's Finest Science-Themed Peeps Diorama Contest. The contest begins on February 15.

03/16/2020

6 simple astronomy experiments you can do at home

We know that everyone is concerned about the current novel coronavirus situation, and that many of you now have students staying at home. If you are looking for activities to keep your youngsters (and yourselves) occupied, try some simple, hands-on science!
(One of the activities in the link uses a roll of toilet paper, and we bet that a lot of folks have a big stock of that at the moment!)
https://www.skyatnightmagazine.com/advice/diy/6-simple-astronomy-experiments-do-at-home/

Try our experiments using household items and illustrate the mechanics of the Solar System.

03/14/2020

Happy Pi day to everyone! (As well as Albert Einstein's birthday).