Download Summer 2011 Newsletter

Summer 2011
Volume 2, Issue 2
Planetarium News
Casper Planetarium (307) 577-0310
In This Issue:
Eyes to the Sky!
End of an Era (1)
A Summer Among the
Stars (1)
Eyes to the Sky!
End of an Era
July is a bittersweet time for space
enthusiasts. While there is no shortage
of interesting objects to look for in the
night sky, July will mark the end of an
era. In early July the Space Shuttle
Atlantis will rocket to space for the last
time. This will be the last Space Shuttle
launch of the entire Space Shuttle
program.
The launch of Space Shuttle Atlantis
brings to a close a program that spans
30 years and 135 flights. The first
Space Shuttle launch was on April 12th
1981. On that first voyage Astronauts
John Young and Robert Crippen were
the only crew aboard. When Atlantis
roars skyward in July the crew will
consist of Astronauts Chris Furgeson,
Doug Hurley, Rex Walheim and Sandy
Magnus.
For those of us who grew up after the
heady days of Apollo, the end of the
Space Shuttle program seems a sad
farewell to a part of our culture. Maybe
this is the same feeling people felt
when the Apollo program ended with
the last moon landing in 1972. Which
brings up an interesting question, when
will we return to space?
Before the launch of Space Shuttle
Columbia, the last U.S. manned space
flight was the Apollo-Soyuz docking in
July 1975. Americans had to wait 6
years before we could celebrate a
manned space achievement. How long
before Americans can once again cheer
as a rocket flown by Astronauts
thunders upward from the Kennedy
Space Center?
Sadly there are no easy answers to
that question. Some would argue that
now is not the time to be spending our
national treasure to flirt with the
dangers of outer space.
The urge to
explore is strong in Americans, and it is
a calling we do not easily ignore. I
would argue that now IS the time, that
our Astronauts and our Space Program
ARE our national treasure. Time to
take risks again, time to once again live
up to President John F. Kennedy’s
statement “we chose to go to the moon
in this decade and do the other things,
not because they are easy...but
because they are hard.”
A Summer Among the Stars!
This year the Casper Planetarium will
host 7 sessions of Summer Astronomy
Camp. These camps will give children
ages 4 through 15 opportunities to
explore the night sky, delve deeper into
space science concepts, and connect all
Miss Conception Article
Preoccupied by Pluto (2)
R. Kennedy
D. Riley
of this to their own worlds. Through
interacting with the stars in our
planetarium dome and participating in
hands-on science activities children will
learn to appreciate the science that is
all around them.
Planetarium Personalities
Christine Hoskins(2)
Summer Schedule (3)
New Show: The Zula Patrol:
Down to Earth! (4)
Science Activity
Make a Simple Sun
Clock (4)
Page 2 of 4
Planetarium News
Miss Conception Article
Miss Conception
If you have an
astronomy question
for Miss Conception,
please send it to:
CasperPlanetarium@
gmail.com
Dear Miss Conception,
When I was a kid, I learned that our
solar system has nine planets:
Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter,
Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto.
However, we were talking about the
solar system in my science class
recently and my teacher said there
are only eight planets – Pluto is not a
planet! So, did something happen to
Pluto, or what?
~Preoccupied by Pluto
Dear Preoccupied,
You are not the first person to be
confused by the change in Pluto’s
planetary status.
Do not worry,
though, Pluto is still out there,
orbiting around the sun. Pluto has not
changed, just the label we have given
it.
As our technology improves, we are
able to look farther and farther out
into space.
Scientists have found
◀
A size comparison of Earth and its
moon, Ceres, Eris, and Pluto and its
moon. Courtesy of NASA.
Planetarium Personalities
The sky is NOT the
limit when you work
at the Casper
Planetarium!
Another shining star at the Casper
Planetarium is a young lady named
Christine Hoskins.
Chris began
working at the planetarium as a preservice teacher three years ago and
she has truly made the most of each
opportunity the job has provided her.
She has developed and delivered many
summer astronomy camps and afterschool science camps; and she did
such a great job that she even served
as a mentor to several other preservice teachers who came to get
some experience here.
Chris’s initiative also won her the
chance to chaperone two Girl Scouts
to NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center
last summer, and a place teaching at
Casper Mountain Science School this
summer.
Chris is the kind of employee who is
other objects beyond Pluto; one, Eris,
is actually bigger than Pluto. These
discoveries made scientists consider
more carefully what a planet is.
You see, there are all sorts of things
orbiting around the sun – planets,
asteroids of myriad sizes, comets, and
other space debris. These different
objects have different characteristics
and, therefore, different names.
After a lot of discussion, scientists
agreed that they needed to make a
new classification for objects like
Pluto. They decided to call these
objects dwarf planets.
The key difference between planets
and dwarf planets is how they interact
with the space objects around them.
Planets tend to clear the space around
them. The small items that cross the
earth’s orbit are pretty much
obliterated. This is not the case with
objects like Pluto, which is actually
part of the Kuiper Belt – a whole bunch
of small objects that have a similar
orbit around the Sun. Another dwarf
planet, Ceres, is located in the
Asteroid Belt, which lies between Mars
and Jupiter.
H. Malody
always willing to jump in and lend a
hand where ever she is needed –
whether it is running shows, teaching
kids, showing new employees the
ropes, or moving furniture, we can
count on Chris to help out and to smile
as she does it. This is more than
Chris’s attitude toward work; it is her
attitude toward life. Chris is able to
do it all – work, go to school, and raise
her son, Carter – while maintaining a
positive outlook and high energy.
Her indomitable optimism has gotten
her where she is today: she graduated
this spring with her bachelors degree
in elementary education and has lots
of valuable experience under her belt.
Sorry principals, she’s taken! While
we will miss seeing Chris quite so
often at the planetarium, we cannot
wait for her to bring her classes in for
visits!
Planetarium News
Page 3 of 4
What’s Happening this Summer at the Planetarium?
**Closed July 4th and 12th**
Public Programs June 6th – August 20th
Tuesday, Wednesday, and
Thursday
11:00 AM
Friday
Saturday
11:00 AM
11:00 AM
Zula Patrol: Down to Earth
Legends of the Night Sky: Orion
Secret of the Cardboard Rocket
7:00 PM
7:00 PM
7:00 PM
Earth’s Wild Ride
IBEX
Skywatchers of Africa
8:00 PM
8:00 PM
8:00 PM
Heart of the Sun
Black Holes
Amazing Astronomers of Antiquity
Page 4 of 4
Planetarium News
New Show: The Zula Patrol – Down to Earth!
Through a generous contribution from
Central Wyoming B.O.C.E.S. the Casper
Planetarium was able to purchase The
Zula Patrol: Down to Earth.
This
planetarium program is based on the
award-winning TV series, The Zula
Patrol, and is intended to meet the
scientific curiosities of children ages
four through ten, but can be enjoyed
by all.
In their latest adventure, a routine
fossil-hunting mission launches The
Zula Patrol on a rollicking ride into
Earth's past! When the Zula Patrollers
discover that the villainous Deliria
Take-Home Science Activity
Make a Simple Sun Clock!
Activity developed by the Astronomical Society of the Pacific
Phone:
(307) 577-0310
E-Mail:
[email protected]
We’re on the Web!
See us at:
www.natronaschools.org
under the “schools” tab
CASPER PLANETARIUM
904 N Poplar Street
Casper, WY 82601
D. Riley
Delight has been traveling back in
time to illegally dump her company's
toxic trash, they must find and catch
her before her actions cause
catastrophic consequences. In the
process, our heroes learn all about
the formation and development of
Earth, and the life forms that call it
home.
The Casper Planetarium will host
two sessions of Zula Camp this
summer for children ages four to ten.
The Zula Patrol: Down to Earth will
play at the Casper Planetarium
throughout the summer.