Do you still use that same computer or phone?  Well our beloved Taylor Planetarium still uses the state of the art technology from when it opened back in 1985.  The Taylor Planetarium is a 40-ft, 104-seat domed theater located at the Museum of the Rockies. The Planetarium provides a unique look at the Montana night sky and has a variety of educational shows year-round.  The Taylor Planetarium currently uses an Evans and Sutherland Digistar Two digital planetarium projector and is in the initial stages of an upgrade to the projection system and planetarium equipment that is slated for 2013.

A new Taylor Planetarium will open in March 2013

Last year the Museum asked members about the planetarium in an online survey, and 485 responded. The bottom line was that although  members value the planetarium as a benefit of membership, it was time to update the technology and offer fresh, current programming. Teachers had been suggesting the same thing and since 88% of the schools that visit the Museum want to see a planetarium show, they took their concerns seriously, too.

The new planetarium is going digital, meaning that you will be able to see the same shows that visitors to any big city planetarium could see. The MoR will acquire a collection of new shows that reflect current research and update our K-12 school shows to the digital format.  You’ll see other changes, too, including new and expanded seating, sound system, lighting, and a face-lift for the facility.

As 2012 unfolds, there will be opportunities to help with the “Building Bigger Skies” $1.5 million fundraising effort. Since the Museum of the Rockies is the home of SMAS, we encourage you to take a look and join in on the efforts.  Thanks.

NASA astronaut Richard Arnold headlines a day of space science-related outreach for kids and adults in Bozeman on April 2.

A day of astronomy-related events for kids, adults and teachers will be held in Bozeman on Saturday, April 2, including a presentation by astronaut Richard Arnold, who flew to the International Space Station as part of NASA’s Teacher in Space program.

Public events take place at the Museum of the Rockies from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m., and an evening telescope viewing session is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. to 10 p.m., weather permitting. All Astronomy Day 2011 activities and Museum admission are free.

At 1 p.m., MSU President Waded Cruzado will give the opening remarks, and at 1:10 p.m., astronaut Richard Arnold will speak about his mission aboard the space shuttle Discovery in March 2009. An autograph session with Arnold will follow. Seating is limited to 200 people and is available on a first-come, first-served basis. The auditorium doors open at noon.

At 3 p.m. NASA Solar System Ambassador Shirley Green will present “Pluto and New Horizons,” and at 4 p.m., Robert Leamon, a Living with a Star Discipline Scientist, will present about NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory.

Kids’ activities include face painting, sun catchers, star finders, solar system jewelry and more. Telescopes will be set up for solar observing (weather permitting), and exhibits in the main lobby will feature activities, information and give-aways from NASA missions and Montana State University researchers.

Planetarium shows include “Star Signs” and “Here Comes the Sun.”

Educator workshops are a new addition to this year’s Astronomy Day. From 9 a.m. to noon, grade 4-12 educators can learn about lunar and meteorite samples stored at the NASA Johnson Space Center and become certified to bring these samples into their classrooms. The workshop is led by NASA education specialist Tony Leavitt. “Ice in the Solar System” takes place from noon to 1 p.m. Designed for teachers of grades K-12, it is led by NASA Solar System Educator Shirley Greene. Montana OPI Renewal Units are available for both workshops, and pre-registration is required.

Astronomy Day is sponsored by the Museum of the Rockies, Montana Space Grant Consortium and its Space Public Outreach Team (SPOT), Project WET Foundation, Southwest Montana Astronomical Society, and MSU’s Astrobiology Biogeocatalysis Research Center, Department of Education, Extended University, Solar Physics Research Group and SPIE.

For more information visit http://eu.montana.edu/AstronomyDay/

The question whether there are others like us or are we alone in the Universe has been asked since there has been someone to ask it.   Dr. Larson’s deep insights into this question, and the questions that it leads to, helped me to make some sense of these profound and fundamental issues.

This was a wonderful presentation and I was very glad to see a large turnout at the Hager Auditorium at the Museum of the Rockies for the event.  A big thank you to Dr. Larson for coming up here on short notice and presenting this lecture and thank you to the Museum of the Rockies and the Montana Space Grant Consortium for their support of the Winter Lecture Series.   Thanks also to SMAS and it membership for making this all happen.

I am really looking forward to next month and the next lecture in the series when Mike Murray, Programs Manager of the Clark Planetarium in Salt Lake City, will present Seeing in the Dark: Tales of an Amateur Astronomer.

On September 2nd at  10:45 pm or so, Jupiter will appear to be without any moons for 1hr & 45 minutes till 2 moons appear within 10 minutes.  This is something else I want to see.  Kinda funny that on this night, Our moon Luna, will be darn near full, and right next to Jupiter in the sky….(Apparently).

The web site to track Jupiter’s moons is: http://www.skyandtelescope.com/observing/objects/javascript/jupiter#

Jupiter appearing moonless is a rare event that happens only about 20 times per century, and we have front row seats.

Happy Gazing!

Friday night was spectacular and we had the telescopes set up in the parking lot rather than down in the meadow below the amphitheater and this worked out quite well overall.  The turnout for Jim’s first campfire presentation was large and we had a huge crowd at the telescopes into the night.  Jupiter was rising as the Sun set and was high in the sky as Jim’s presentation was over and the crowd moved up to the telescopes.  Of course, everyone got to view Jupiter and the Galilean moons,  M14 The Hercules Cluster and many other jewels of the summer sky.

On Saturday, Charlie, Dr. Sabo, Eric and Ester, and our friends from YVAA, Kevin Bebbe and Rich McCellan, were at Old Faithful for solar observing throughout the afternoon.  Burt Rutan and his wife Tonya stopped by and Eric, Charlie and I got to visit with them for a few minutes about SMAS, commercial space flight, and science education among other topics.  What a pleasant surprise and honor to meet and visit with these good folks.

Jim’s campfire presentation Saturday evening, Galileo’s Universe, was wonderful and a large crowd turned out.  Duncan and I had decided to return to Bozeman after Jim’s presentation and so we missed the observing session but a great weekend overall.  I really can’t think of a better way to spend a weekend.  Cheers…

Dr. Palin presented her lecture The Lives of Stars to a large audience while SMAS members got the telescopes setup below on the meadow. After the lecture it was fairly crowded but it looked as though everyone got to put their eye to the eyepiece on several telescopes and see the many wonders of a very dark sky. A few of the favorite objects viewed were M13, the Hercules Cluster, M51, the Whirlpool Galaxy, and of course, Jupiter and its Galilean moons as they rose in the southeast.

As things quieted down, we toured Sagittarius and Scorpius on the big telescopes hitting many  of the wonderful emission nebulae in those constellations that we only get to see this time of year. As the night worn on, Dr. Larson and SMAS president Dr. Richard Sabo took a group of us on a wonderful tour of lesser known but spectacular objects such as NGC 5907, the Splinter Galaxy, NGC 6543, the Cats Eye Nebula, and the Veil Nebula supernova remnant.

The weather did not cooperate much on Saturday. The solar observing session at Old Faithful was pretty much clouded and rained out, although Lynn Powers stuck it out and provided handouts and deployed the solar system scale model. In the evening, the skies began to clear and Dr. Palin presented Astrostories: Constellation Stories from the Ancients to a large audience at the amphitheater but high thin clouds preventing any observing.

All in all, a good time was had by all over the weekend. Special thanks to Dr. Palin for her presentations and to all of the SMAS members who came and helped out. I also want the thank the National Park Service for letting us come and enjoy the dark skies of Yellowstone and share our love of astronomy with others.

Thank you Lynn and all of the other club members who help with our outreach programs and activities.