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

2014-01-18 Thread 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.cow...@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 

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

2014-01-18 Thread J Sinclair
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 j...@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.cow...@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.