FRIENDS OF THE PLANETARIUM JANUARY WEEKEND, January 15-17, 2016: “ALL ABOUT TIME!”

Our first special Friends’ Weekend of 2016 will be devoted to time and the calendar.

For millennia, there has been an intimate association between timekeeping and astronomy, between tracking the seasons and observing the heavens. Astronomical Clock, Prague Our “All About Time” weekend will feature four full-dome shows: Perfect Little Planet, Clockwork Skies, Earth, Moon and Sun, and Black Holes: the Other Side of Infinity, as well as presentations by Dr. Alice Monet, President of the Friends, astronomer, and former minion of the USNO Master Clock; astronomer, engineer, and Friends Board member Dr. Andy Clegg, and famed British clockmaker and inventor of the marine chronometer, John Harrison (1693-1776), who will travel through time just to talk to us.

On Sunday, during the intermission between the 1:30 and 3 pm shows, there will be a hands on activity for kids, in the entrance hall of the Planetarium. With the guidance of Friends’ founding member, Carolyn Lange, participants will learn how to make their own sundials. They can take home the materials or make the sundials before the second show begins. There is no additional charge for this fun activity!

By the way, if you were a member, you would have already received advance notice of these events, and been able to make reservations before all those other people. But there is still a chance to go back in time and get your advance notice — so join today!

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