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Upcoming Events

Past Events

Articles in the press

Astronomy and MNPS News

TECH FEST 2010
Saturday February 27
9 a.m. - 5 pm

The Works Technology Museum, Edina, MN  www.theworks.org
952-848-4848

A FREE family event featuring amazing exhibits, shows demonstrations and hands-on activities about engineering.  Tour the Universe and view Earth from space with the MN Planetarium Society.  Please note:  the ExploraDome will not be set up for Tech Fest.

Past Events

Target Family day at the Minneapolis Institute of Arts: The Night Sky
Sunday  December 13, 2009
11 a.m. - 5 pm
Free!
Exploring the Night Sky
Take a virtual nature walk from Earth to the edge of the cosmos with guides from the Minnesota Planetarium Society
12:30, 1:30, 2:30, and 3:30 p.m.
Pillsbury Auditorium
[This is not in the ExploraDome]

Other activities include cosmic storytelling, music, and, creating your own spectroscope and night sky map.

For further info, parking, etc., see
http://artsmia.org/index.php?section_id=197

Telescopes and 400 Years of Astronomy

Como Planetarium
780 West Wheelock Parkway
St. Paul, MN 55117

The cost is $4 per person. Reservations are not needed.
http://planetarium.spps.org/

Astronomy Day
Saturday April 18, 2009 10 a.m.--on
The Marshall W. Alworth Planetarium
University of Minnesota Duluth
The corner of College St. and University Drive, parking in Lot A.

Mark your calendars for April 18th, 2009, we will be celebrating National Astronomy Day and the International Year of Astronomy at the Marshall W. Alworth Planetarium.  We will start at 10 AM with dark-sky shows, full-dome videos, remotely delivered presentations, lectures, demonstrations, booths, workshops on buying and using telescopes, and more!  Also join us for "Return to the Moon." The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) is preparing to return to the Moon; learn how, where we might land and why.  The fun will continue with giveaways, astrophotography demonstrations, solar observing, and night observing (weather permitting).  The festivities will run all day and will be wrapped up with a keynote address in the evening (speaker to be announced)   It should be a fun day for all ages so come and join in on the fun!
All events are FREE and suitable for all ages.
http://www.d.umn.edu/planet/programs/astronomy_day_2009.html

100 Hours of Astronomy
Thursday April 2, 5-9 p.m.
Anoka-Ramsey Community College Gymnasium
11200 Mississippi Blvd NW
Coon Rapids, MN 55433-3470

One of the key goals of 100 Hours of Astronomy is to have as many people as possible look through a telescope between April 2-5, as Galileo did for the first time 400 years ago.  Celebrate with the Anoka-Ramsey Community College Astronomy Club, UM Astronomy Outreach Program, Minnesota Astronomical Society, and Minnesota Planetarium Society.
Events: Hands-on astronomy and science activities, night-sky observing, ExploraDome planetarium shows, a University of Minnesota guest speaker, and a domecast. http://www.an.cc.mn.us/news/story_601.cfm
All events are free.
http://www.100hoursofastronomy.org/

GLOBE at Night
Tuesday March 17, 7-8 p.m.
Como Planetarium
780 West Wheelock Parkway
St. Paul, MN 55117

Public Unveiling of Messier 101 Image
Monday February 23, 7-8 p.m.
Como Planetarium
780 West Wheelock Parkway
St. Paul, MN 55117

In conjunction with Galileo's birthday on Feb. 15, NASA is releasing images from its Great Observatories  the Hubble Space Telescope, Spitzer Space Telescope, and Chandra X-ray Observatory  to more than 100 planetariums, museums, nature centers, and schools across the country.

Como Planetarium is a selected site to unveil a large, 9-square-foot print of the spiral galaxy Messier 101 that combines the optical view of Hubble, the infrared view of Spitzer, and the X-ray view of Chandra into one multi-wavelength picture. "It's like using your eyes, night vision goggles, and X-ray vision all at the same time," said Dr. Hashima Hasan, lead scientist for the International Year of Astronomy at NASA Headquarters in Washington.

We will unveil a matched trio of Hubble, Spitzer, and Chandra images of Messier 101. Each image shows a different wavelength view of the galaxy that illustrates not only the different science each observatory conducts but also how far astronomy has come since Galileo. This event is co-hosted by the Minnesota Planetarium Society and will include a survey of the current sky and a domecast with the Mayo Planetarium, Rochester, Minnesota.
The cost is $4 per person. Reservations are not needed.
http://planetarium.spps.org/

Come Celebrate the International Year of Astronomy with the Minnesota Planetarium Society
Thursday January 15, 5:30-8:30 p.m.
Fridley High School
6000 Moore Lake Dr W
Fridley, MN 55432

Astronomy Open House, 5:30-7:30 p.m.
ExploraDome programs, telescope demonstrations and stargazing (weather depending) with the Minnesota Astronomical Society, hands-on astronomy and science activities.

Domecast, 7:30-8:30 p.m. from planetariums around MN, the country, and the world, featuring a live tour of the universe from the Hayden Planetarium in New York, led by Dr. Carter Emmart, Director of Astrovisualization, American Museum of Natural History.

Articles in the press

Beginning this year, let urban Minnesota also enjoy the stars

Board OKs Minneapolis planetarium

Council OKs plan to set up fund for planetarium

Astronomy and Planetarium Society News

ExploraDome lands in Edina

Angus Vaughan named President of Minnesota Planetarium Society  

Discovery Aglow  

St. Paul Astronaut

Paul Douglas joins MNPS Board

A discovery of cosmic proportions

Welcome Home, Discovery! Image Credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett Discovery touched down on Runway 15 at NASA's Kennedy Space Center, completing the 13-day, 5.3-million mile journey on the STS-119 mission. Discovery delivered the final pair of power-generating solar array wings and the S6 truss segment. The mission was the 28th flight to the station, the 36th flight of Discovery and the 125th in the Space Shuttle Program, as well as the 70th landing at Kennedy.
Discovery Lights Up the Night Image credit: NASA Space shuttle Discovery lit up the sky at sunset as it roared off Launch Pad 39A at NASA's Kennedy Space Center on its mission to the International Space Station. The STS-119 mission is the 28th to the space station and Discovery's 36th flight. Discovery will deliver the final pair of power-generating solar array wings and the S6 truss segment. Installation of S6 will enable the station to house a six-member crew.
Discovery Aglow
Image Credit: NASA/Bill Ingalls A nearly full Moon sets as the space shuttle Discovery sits atop Launch pad 39A at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida, in the early morning hours of Wednesday, March 11, 2009.
Nightime launch awaits astronaut from St. Paul
Capt. Heidemarie M. Stefanyshyn-Piper is on the crew of the space shuttle Endeavour, which takes off on Nov. 14, two days earlier than originally planned. By Paul Walsh, Star Tribune Last update: October 9, 2008 - 9:15 AM
Heide Stefanyshyn-Piper	A St. Paul native is poised leave Earth two days earlier than initially scheduled and add to her 12 days already spent in space. Capt. Heidemarie M. Stefanyshyn-Piper is on the crew of the space shuttle Endeavour, which is scheduled for nighttime launch from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Nov. 14.
Endeavour's launch had been scheduled for Nov. 16, but that date was moved up last week after shuttle Atlantis' Oct. 14 blastoff was delayed. On this 15-day mission, Endeavour will carry a reusable logistics module that will hold supplies and equipment, including additional crew quarters, a second treadmill, equipment for the regenerative life support system and spare hardware. Stefanyshyn-Piper, 45, made her first trip into space in 2006 as a mission specialist on the shuttle Atlantis. She logged more than 12 days in space and made two spacewalks to assist in work on the Space Station. Stefanyshyn-Piper grew up with four brothers in St. Paul, where she graduated in 1980 from Derham Hall High School. Her mother, Adelheid Stefanyshyn, still lives in St. Paul. --Paul Walsh • 612-673-4482
Meteorologist and Entrepreneur Paul Douglas Named to Minnesota Planetarium Society Board
	Minneapolis (May 30, 2008) – The Minnesota Planetarium Society today announced that Paul Douglas, meteorologist and entrepreneur, has been named to the board of directors. Douglas, 49, is the co-founder of Singular Logic, a patent holding company focused on internet news and advertising.
His current entrepreneurial pursuits include WeatherNation, which will syndicate weather reports for web sites, cable channels and broadcasters from a new studio in the western suburbs of the Twin Cities and NoozMe LLC, a new approach to providing news and advertising on the web. He is also the director of meteorology for LaCrosse Technology, an electronic products and weather instruments manufacturer based in LaCrosse, WI. Douglas served the Twin Cities market as a broadcast meteorologist for 22 years, most recently for WCCO-TV. Prior to that time he was associated with WBBM-TV in Chicago and KARE-TV. “Paul’s body of knowledge, visionary pursuits and obvious lifetime passion for science make him a tremendous addition to the board and our efforts to make the new Minnesota Planetarium and Space Center a reality for our state,” said Peggy Leppik, president of the Minnesota Planetarium Society. Douglas is heavily involved in addressing climate change, speaking to schools and nonprofits as well as being active in the Boys Scouts of America and “SAVE” (Suicide Awareness, Voices of Education), a national suicide prevention outreach program based in Bloomington, MN. He is the author of two books, Prairie Skies (1981) and Restless Skies (2004) and made a cameo appearance in the 1996 movie Twister, playing himself. A graduate of Penn State, University Park, PA, Douglas holds a bachelor’s degree in meteorology. The appointment of Douglas increases the number serving on the board to 18 members.
The Minnesota Planetarium Society is a nonprofit organization dedicated to improving math and science education as well as constructing the new Minnesota Planetarium and Space Discovery Center on the 5th and 6th floors of the new Minneapolis Central Library at 300 Nicollet Mall, Minneapolis.  The Center will serve as a learning resource for school groups, students and adults of all ages and is expected to open in 2011.
A Discovery of Cosmic Proportions U Professor boldly goes where no one has gone before
	Last August, Larry Rudnick announced the discovery of a gaping hole in space, far larger than any previously found. See our Announcement here Astronomers have known for years that the universe contains spaces devoid of normal matter and mysterious "dark matter." But this newly found hole is one billion light years across! That's an expanse of 6 billion trillion miles of.nothing. Not to be confused with a black hole, this void is so enormous that current astrophysical theories simply can't explain it. Rudnick's recent findings made headlines around the world and raised intriguing questions about the origins of the universe.