Don’t miss out on the following shows @ the Buffalo State College Whitworth Ferguson Planetarium:
The Dawn of New Horizons, which occurs Fridays at 6:30 PM and Saturdays at 1 PM is just one of the many events happening this summer at the planetarium. The Dawn of New Horizons highlights two current NASA projects, Dawn and New Horizons. NASA’s Dawn is a mission involving two minor planets named Vesta and Ceres in an attempt to determine what roles size and water play during the formation of planets. NASA’s other project New Horizons is a spacecraft that is currently approaching the orbit of Saturn and is scheduled to arrive on Pluto in 2015. Both missions are significant because they help NASA understand planetary formation and evolution within our solar system and both will be highlighted during the Dawn of New Horizons event. “Dawn of New Horizons ran last season, but there has been some additions made to the program and visitors who come back and see it again this summer will get more,” Arthur Gielow, Planetarium Director said. Tickets are only $5 each for this event.
Another program taking place is Midsummer Marvels. “Midsummer Marvels is one of the most popular programs offered during the summer that gives visitors a tour of the summer night sky as it showcases what constellations are up and other celestial events,” Gielow said. This event will take place on Fridays at 8 PM and Saturdays at 2:30 PM. This season, visitors of the event can expect to see Mars and Saturn put on a spectacular dusk display while Jupiter rises in the southeastern sky. Each show has slightly different additional topics depending on which celestial presenters are starring. Tickets are also $5 each and there will be opportunities for audience participation at the end of each show.
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The popular Observation Hour will also occur this summer on Fridays at dusk. The Observation Hour takes place fifteen minutes after sunset and will feature Jupiter and its four largest satellites, various stars including: Polaris and Alberio, and star clusters such as the Hercules cluster. All of these celestial objects will be viewable through the Ferguson Planetarium’s portable telescope. If you attended this event on August 8 or 15 you were also able to view the moon. The Observation Hour may be canceled without notice depending on changing cloud and humidity conditions. Generally the planetarium holds Observation Hour if there is less than 50 percent cloud cover in the sky. This event is free.
Another free event that will take place at the planetarium is Meteor Shower! This event took place Sunday, August 10 and included five hourly shows from 4 PM to 9 PM. What you missed: Meteor Shower! will inform guests when the best viewing times are for various meteor showers during the summer and autumn seasons. Guests will also learn about some of the strangest meteorite impacts of the last century, background information on famous showers of the past, where meteors originate, how they are named, and why they are predictable. “Additionally, Meteor Shower! will cover some of the years favorite meteor showers and if weather is permitting visitors may be able to view the celestial meteors shooting through the sky with the planetariums telescope,” Gielow explained. This event will be great preparation for August 11, which is the peak of the three-day annual Perseid Meteor Shower for 2008. “The Persoid Meteor Shower peaks on August 11 with 75 meteors an hour, but a few days before and after people can expect to still see something,” Gielow said.
Tickets for any of the events can be purchased at the door 30 minutes prior to the show or can be reserved by calling the planetarium office at 878.4911. Group arrangements can also be made by calling the planetarium office or by clicking here. If you would like to see one of the shows in the planetarium, remember it only fits 70 people!
Events that run from July 25 to September 6. Click here to learn more about the
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