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Spring Astronomy Day 2022
May 7, 2022 @ 1:00 pm - 10:00 pm CDT
Saturday May 7, 2022
Eagle Lake Observatory at Baylor Regional Park
10775 County Rd 33, Norwood Young America, MN
The Minnesota Astronomical Society would like to invite you to attend the Astronomical League’s Astronomy Day activities at the Eagle Lake Observatory in Baylor Regional Park. Speakers are scheduled throughout the day and will give talks on astronomy and what there is to see. Door prize drawing will be held Saturday evening and include MAS merchandise, astronomy books and telescopes. Weather permitting, the evening will conclude with tours of the night sky and of course stargazing.
Schedule of Events – Subject to Change
Saturday May 7, 2022
The observatory will open at 1:00 pm for some solar viewing as well as other bright daytime objects.
In the evening we’ll have some of the winter and early spring objects coming into view including the Orion Nebula, Crab nebula, the Sombrero Galaxy, the Whirlpool Galaxy, the Beehive Cluster, the Black Eye Galaxy and Hercules cluster among many others.
Scheduled Speakers
3:00
Speaker: Sarah Devine
Topic: “Too Hot to Touch?
The Sun is the star we know most about, but it is still a tangled mystery in many ways. Facing brutal heat and extreme conditions, the Parker Solar Probe will be performing its 12th perihelion flyby of the Sun this June. What have we learned so far mid-way through the mission and what more do we hope to learn in the coming years about our parent star?”
4:00
Speaker: Colin Kilbane
Topic: Come get excited about science! Colin Kilbane, Science teacher and senior Mad Scientist for Mad Science of Minnesota will give you the chance to participate in some serious science fun. Catch cloud filled bubbles, watch colorful chemical reactions and we may even launch a rocket! This interactive show is fun for kids of all ages!
5:00
Dinner Break
7:00
Speaker: Dave Falkner, MAS member and NASA Solar System Ambassador
Topic: The James Webb Space Telescope – A New Era in Astronomy
On December 25, 2021, the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) was launched into space. Touted as the successor to the Hubble Space Telescope (HST), Dave will explain how the JWST has capabilities beyond the HST which will allow astronomers to not only look into star forming regions and explore exoplanets, but allow us to look back to the very beginning of the universe!
8:00
Door Prize Drawing: Astronomy books, MAS merchandise, binoculars & telescope given away. Must be present to win.
9:30
Tour of the Sky on the Plaza: We will conduct a laser pointer tour of the constellations from the plaza in front of the Onan Observatory. (If it is cloudy there will be a presentation in the classroom)
Evening Activities
The evening will continue with viewing through our array of telescopes.
