Articles and News

Past Articles

Friends of the Planetarium 2019–2020 Schedule
(Aug. 3, 2019, 12:30 a.m.)

 

Apollo 11 50th Anniversary Celebration
(July 3, 2019, 11:03 a.m.)

 

May 17–19: Apollo 11 Remembered: Tickets Now Available
(May 4, 2019, 12:37 a.m.)

 

Space Telescopes
(April 18, 2019, 3:35 p.m.)

 

Weather and Climate Change
(March 13, 2019, 11:31 p.m.)

 

Darwin and Evolution
(Feb. 5, 2019, 11:32 p.m.)

 

WEATHER CLOSURE
(Jan. 12, 2019, 10:38 p.m.)

 

Exploring Mars this weekend at the Planetarium
(Jan. 8, 2019, 10:44 p.m.)

 

Join the Board of Directors
(Dec. 19, 2018, 3:06 p.m.)

 

Annual Meeting
(Dec. 19, 2018, 2:08 p.m.)

 

Christmas 2018
(Dec. 11, 2018, 8:55 p.m.)

 

Art & Science
(Nov. 12, 2018, 10:24 p.m.)

 

Planetary Paint & Sip
(Oct. 17, 2018, 8:45 p.m.)

 

Exoplanets: Special Weekend October 19-21
(Oct. 12, 2018, 11:10 p.m.)

 

Eat to Help the Planetarium
(Oct. 2, 2018, 6:42 p.m.)

 

VOLCANOES
(Sept. 11, 2018, 7:17 p.m.)

 

Friends of the Planetarium 2018–2019 Schedule
(Aug. 28, 2018, 12:53 p.m.)

 

Special Events This Weekend - June 16-17!
by Kathi Overton (June 13, 2018, 8:37 a.m.)

 

May Special Weekend: Motion of the Heavens: Galileo and Newton
(May 8, 2018, 2:09 p.m.)

 

Collision Course with Earth: April 20 - 22
(April 12, 2018, 4:01 p.m.)

 

Fundraiser at Lost Dog Cafe: Thursday, April 26th, 2018
(April 10, 2018, 3:24 p.m.)

 

March Friends Weekend: Stargazing 101
(March 9, 2018, 9:49 a.m.)

 

2018 SMASH Contest: Deadline Today
(March 4, 2018, 1:10 p.m.)

 

February Weekend: Darwin & Date Night
(Jan. 19, 2018, 12:33 p.m.)

 

Ocean of New Worlds
(Jan. 15, 2018, 11:16 a.m.)

 

2018 Annual Meeting
(Jan. 13, 2018, 10:18 a.m.)

 

Beacon in the Winter Sky
(Dec. 11, 2017, 10:58 a.m.)

 

Important Update for Sunday, 11/19/17!
by Kathi Overton (Nov. 18, 2017, 11:15 p.m.)

 

Lunar Wonders
(Nov. 13, 2017, 4:19 p.m.)

 

Our Redesign
(Nov. 3, 2017, 8:35 p.m.)

 

35th Annual NOVAC Star Gaze Saturday, October 21, 2017
(Oct. 17, 2017, 9:36 a.m.)

 

Immense Telescopes that Sail the Night Above
(Oct. 16, 2017, 9:08 p.m.)

 

Upload Your 2017 Eclipse Images
(Sept. 16, 2017, 3:45 p.m.)

 

Icy Frontier of the Solar System
(Sept. 11, 2017, 3:04 p.m.)

 

Summertime and the Viewing is Easy
(May 17, 2017, 10:56 a.m.)

 

Rockets, Probes & Space Stations
(April 11, 2017, 9:59 a.m.)

 

The Art of Science
by Lee Phillips (Feb. 25, 2017, 12:24 p.m.)

 

Endless Forms Most Beautiful: Exploring Evolution & Celebrating Darwin Day
(Feb. 3, 2017, 10:50 a.m.)

 

January, 2017 FOTP Events: Citizen Science and the Friends' Annual Meeting
(Jan. 9, 2017, 8:14 p.m.)

 

The 2016 SMASH Contest is Now Open
(Jan. 7, 2017, 12:13 p.m.)

 

Science and the Christmas Star
(Dec. 3, 2016, 1:47 p.m.)

 

November Friends Weekend: “On the Shoulders of Giants”
(Oct. 27, 2016, 9:49 p.m.)

 

November Friends Weekend: Advance Notice
(Oct. 25, 2016, 9:38 a.m.)

 

September Friends Weekend: Amateur Astronomy, Telescopes and Stargazing
(Sept. 10, 2016, 7:44 a.m.)

 

Welcome Back: the September Friends' Weekend
(Aug. 26, 2016, 12:13 p.m.)

 

The 2016 Perseid Meteors
by Lee Phillips (Aug. 19, 2016, 4:43 p.m.)

 

Friends of the Planetarium 2017–2018 Schedule
(July 6, 2016, 12:56 p.m.)

 

June Friends' Weekend: PLANETS
by Lee Phillips (June 9, 2016, 11:06 p.m.)

 

May 20-22: Transits and Eclipses
(May 15, 2016, 10:44 p.m.)

 

View the Transit of Mercury
(May 6, 2016, 9:31 p.m.)

 

Human Space Exploration
(April 13, 2016, 4:55 p.m.)

 

Panel Discussion on Science Fiction and Future Technology on March 20th, 2016
by Kathi Overton (March 13, 2016, 11:01 a.m.)

 

March 2016 Friends Weekend - Science Fiction Festival!
by Kathi Overton (March 9, 2016, 8:37 p.m.)

 

February Friends' Weekend: Darwin and Evolution
by Lee Phillips (Feb. 11, 2016, 10:39 p.m.)

 

2016 Annual Meeting
(Jan. 20, 2016, 2:30 p.m.)

 

FRIENDS OF THE PLANETARIUM JANUARY WEEKEND, January 15-17, 2016: “ALL ABOUT TIME!”
by Lee Phillips (Jan. 8, 2016, 2:03 p.m.)

 

Science and the Christmas Star
by Lee Phillips (Dec. 13, 2015, 12:17 p.m.)

 

Friends of the Planetarium November Weekend: A Tribute to Carl Sagan
by Lee Phillips (Nov. 9, 2015, 9:36 p.m.)

 

The Second Annual Tribute to Carl Sagan
by Lee Phillips (Oct. 28, 2015, 1:35 p.m.)

 

“If you seek his memorial, look about you”
by Lee Phillips (Oct. 20, 2015, 12:10 p.m.)

 

Friends of the Planetarium October 2015 Weekend
by Lee Phillips (Oct. 5, 2015, 10:20 a.m.)

 

The Planetarium Calendar
by Lee Phillips (Oct. 5, 2015, 10:18 a.m.)

 

The 2015 Friends of the Planetarium Fall Fundraising Festival
by Lee Phillips (Sept. 21, 2015, 5:18 p.m.)

 

September 2015 Friends of the Planetarium Weekend: Fall Fundraising Kick-Off
by Lee Phillips (Sept. 9, 2015, 9:37 p.m.)

 

Friends of the Planetarium 2015-2016 Schedule
by Lee Phillips (Aug. 26, 2015, 10:04 a.m.)

 

The Final Friends Weekend of the Season
by Lee Phillips (June 23, 2015, 11:03 p.m.)

 

June 2015 Friends of the Planetarium Programming: The Sun
by Lee Phillips (June 12, 2015, 7:27 p.m.)

 

Community Events
by Lee Phillips (May 19, 2015, 3:01 p.m.)

 

May 2015 Friends of the Planetarium Programming: robots
by Lee Phillips (May 3, 2015, 9:51 a.m.)

 

April 2015 Friends of the Planetarium Programming: NASA
by Lee Phillips (April 8, 2015, 8:47 p.m.)

 

Planetarium Invaded and Occupied by Galactic Empire
by Lee Phillips (March 22, 2015, 12:33 p.m.)

 

March 2015 Friends of the Planetarium Programming: Science Fiction
by Lee Phillips (March 7, 2015, 4:39 p.m.)

 

The 2015 SMASH Contest is Now Open
by Lee Phillips (March 6, 2015, 5:01 p.m.)

 

Natural Selection - Extra Screening
by Lee Phillips (Feb. 23, 2015, 7:42 p.m.)

 

February 2015 Friends of the Planetarium Programming: LIFE!
by Lee Phillips (Feb. 4, 2015, 9:19 a.m.)

 

Friends' Annual Meeting on January 24th
by Kathi Overton (Jan. 23, 2015, 6:08 p.m.)

 

January 2015 Friends of the Planetarium Programming: LASERS!
by Lee Phillips (Jan. 1, 2015, 4:40 p.m.)

 

Annie Jump Cannon’s Birthday
by Lee Phillips (Dec. 11, 2014, 10:44 a.m.)

 

December 2014 Friends of the Planetarium programming: Science and the Christmas Star
by Lee Phillips (Dec. 2, 2014, 10:05 p.m.)

 

NOVEMBER 2014 FRIENDS OF THE PLANETARIUM PROGRAMMING - A Tribute to Cosmos
by Maria L. Dittrich (Nov. 2, 2014, 4:40 p.m.)

 

The Partial Solar Eclipse of October 23, 2014
by Lee Phillips (Oct. 24, 2014, 8:21 p.m.)

 

OCTOBER 2014 FRIENDS OF THE PLANETARIUM PROGRAMMING
by Maria L. Dittrich (Sept. 30, 2014, 10:40 p.m.)

 

SUCCESS! Friends' Fantastic Fall Fundraising Fest
by Maria L. Dittrich (Sept. 22, 2014, 10:43 p.m.)

 

MEET ISAAC NEWTON! Sept. 20, 2014 – Free Events
by Maria L. Dittrich (Sept. 13, 2014, 10:54 a.m.)

 

SEPTEMBER 2014 FRIENDS OF THE PLANETARIUM PROGRAMMING: Sept. 19-21, 2014
by Maria L. Dittrich (Sept. 3, 2014, 10:46 a.m.)

 

2014 DAVID M. BROWN SCHOLARSHIP Winner Honored
by Maria L. Dittrich (Aug. 20, 2014, 8:58 p.m.)

 

Friends of the Planetarium 2014-2015 Schedule
by Maria L. Dittrich (July 6, 2014, 10 p.m.)

 

International Space Station (ISS) Flyover
by Maria L. Dittrich (June 5, 2014, 4:53 p.m.)

 

JUNE 2014 FRIENDS OF THE PLANETARIUM PROGRAMMING: June 13-15, 2014
by Maria L. Dittrich (May 27, 2014, 1:28 a.m.)

 

MAY 2014 FRIENDS OF THE PLANETARIUM PROGRAMMING: May 16-18, 2014
by Maria L. Dittrich (April 28, 2014, 11:30 a.m.)

 

April 2014 Science and Engineering Festival
(April 9, 2014, 12:24 p.m.)

 

Exoplanet weekend kickoff
by Maria L. Dittrich (March 21, 2014, 8:51 p.m.)

 

MARCH 2014 FRIENDS OF THE PLANETARIUM PROGRAMMING
by Maria L. Dittrich (March 4, 2014, 5:26 p.m.)

 

Moon Reflections
by Maria L. Dittrich (Feb. 16, 2014, 5:48 p.m.)

 

FEBRUARY 2014 FRIENDS OF THE PLANETARIUM PROGRAMMING
by Maria L. Dittrich (Jan. 28, 2014, 9:25 a.m.)

 

2014 Annual Meeting Wrap-up
by Lee Phillips (Jan. 14, 2014, 3:47 p.m.)

 

Annual Meeting on January 11, 2014
(Dec. 9, 2013, 12:26 a.m.)

 

Brig Pari is ISCC Woman of the Year
(Nov. 30, 2013, 12:36 p.m.)

 

DECEMBER 2013 FRIENDS OF THE PLANETARIUM PROGRAMMING
by Maria L. Dittrich (Nov. 25, 2013, 8:12 p.m.)

 

Rocket Launch Today!
by Alice Monet (Nov. 19, 2013, 8:25 a.m.)

 

Comet ISON Photo Contest
by Maria L. Dittrich (Nov. 4, 2013, 10:57 p.m.)

 

This Morning’s Solar Eclipse: a Post-Mortem
by Lee Phillips (Nov. 3, 2013, 8:43 p.m.)

 

NOVEMBER 2013 FRIENDS OF THE PLANETARIUM PROGRAMMING
by Maria L. Dittrich (Oct. 29, 2013, 10:16 p.m.)

 

Sunday Science: the MAVEN Mission to Mars
by Alice Monet (Oct. 20, 2013, 7:41 p.m.)

 

Comet ISON Still Intact
by Alice Monet (Oct. 18, 2013, 9:49 a.m.)

 

Announcing the 2nd Annual SMASH Contest
by Alice Monet (Oct. 11, 2013, 11:03 a.m.)

 

OCTOBER 2013 FRIENDS OF THE PLANETARIUM PROGRAMMING
by Maria L. Dittrich (Oct. 2, 2013, 11:04 a.m.)

 

This Year's Friends' Weekends
(Oct. 1, 2013, 5:19 p.m.)

 

Annual Review 2012-2013
(Oct. 1, 2013, 9:51 a.m.)

 

History
(Sept. 20, 2013, 4:31 p.m.)

 

Donors
(Sept. 20, 2013, 3:30 p.m.)

 

The Board, Advisory Council, and Corporation
(Sept. 20, 2013, 1:54 p.m.)

 

September Friends of the Planetarium Programming
(Sept. 19, 2013, 12:08 p.m.)

 

Maria Mitchell's Birthday
by Lee Phillips (Aug. 1, 2013, 1:13 p.m.)

 

Astronomy News

6/9/2018 17:41 Jocelyn Bell Burnell wins $3 million prize for discovering pulsars: We regularly recognize J. B. Burnell’s birthday here, and her role in discovering pulsars, with a commemorative illustration. Now she has been rewarded with the Special Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics. She is using the money to establish a scholarship.
27/7/2018 12:02 There Was No Big Bang Singularity: Descriptions of the Universe’s origins as a singularity, although common even on the part of cosmologists, are out of date.
26/7/2018 9:01 Gravitational redshift observed from star orbiting black hole: An impressive confirmation of the General Theory of Relativity.
18/7/2018 10:28 Ten New Moons Discovered Around Jupiter: ‘The newly plotted moons of Jupiter include one “oddball” that orbits in the wrong direction and may be the remnant of a head-on collision.’
15/7/2018 11:18 Space Debris Lands in Kazakhstan: A fireball in the sky leads to a fire on the ground and the discovery of rocket parts, as yet unidentified.
13/7/2018 22:01 Get Some Heaven on Earth at Observatory Park at Turner Farm: ‘Take a guided tour of the heavens at “Family Fun Night at the Telescope” at Observatory Park at Turner Farm.’ The cost is ＄8 per person. Visit the link for location and details.
6/7/2018 15:27 The aphelion occurs today: “On Friday, Earth will swing toward the outermost point in its orbit, known as aphelion. You, me and everyone on the planet will be three million miles farther from the sun than when we are closest to it.”
6/6/2018 9:09 Tiny Asteroid Discovered Saturday Disintegrates Hours Later Over Southern Africa: With video of the fireball.
26/1/2018 14:47 Astronomers enraged by huge man-made star: “This is stupid, vandalises the night sky and corrupts our view of the cosmos”.
15/1/2018 22:47 Mystery funders of Arecibo radio telescope can celebrate an early success: “Dish saved from demolition gets best look yet at fast radio bursts.”
6/12/2017 11:39 Giant Planetarium Opens in New Jersey: The Hayden Planetarium could fit inside “with room to spare.”
3/12/2017 10:37 How to See the Brightest Supermoon of 2017: The “December 3 full moon will be relatively close to Earth and will appear about seven percent larger and 16 percent brighter than usual.”
27/11/2017 10:12 NASA’s next flagship telescope is “not executable” in its current form: A new report questions the viability of the Wide Field Infrared Survey Telescope and criticizes NASA’s management practices.
12/8/2017 12:27 Planning for the 2017 Total Solar Eclipse: This excellent, illustrated guide from 2015 covers weather, roads, crowds, navigation, and strategies for wrangling photographic equipment. And more.
28/7/2017 18:09 Travel the path of the solar eclipse: A great interactive aid for planning your eclipse viewing.
20/6/2017 7:39 Nighttime Rocket Launch To Create Colorful Clouds in Space: The much delayed NASA sounding rocket has a good chance of lifting off tonight too many clouds again — next attempt on June 24th with a launch window between 9:07 and 9:22 p.m. from Wallops Island, Virginia, considering the weather report. The launch window is from 9:06 to 9:21 pm local time. “Canisters will deploy between 4 and 5.5 minutes after launch releasing blue-green and red vapor to form artificial clouds. These clouds, or vapor tracers, allow scientists on the ground to visually track particle motions in space. The clouds may be visible along the mid-Atlantic coastline from New York to North Carolina.”
12/6/2017 22:34 Interesting Wallops Launch Tomorrow: It’s been delayed twice, but with luck NASA will launch a sounding rocket from Wallops Island, Virginia, tomorrow night between 9:04 and 9:19 p.m. local time. “Canisters will deploy between 4 and 5.5 minutes after launch releasing blue-green and red vapor to form artificial clouds. These clouds, or vapor tracers, allow scientists on the ground to visually track particle motions in space. The clouds may be visible along the mid-Atlantic coastline from New York to North Carolina.”
23/5/2017 10:40 Staff Recommends Denying Historic Designation for Potential High School Site: “Under the plan for historic designation, the Education Center and the adjacent David M. Brown Planetarium would be saved from possible demolition [...] School Board members do not support pursuing historic designation”.
4/5/2017 18:53 Ever want to ask a real life astronaut a question? Here’s your chance!: Astronaut Jeanette Epps will be taking your questions in an Answer Time session on Friday, May 5 from 10am - 11am ET here on NASA’s Tumblr.
26/4/2017 16:46 Planetariums — not just for kids: “Planetariums are not just for education, or even astronomy: they could display all sorts of data, if only scientists thought to use them”.

Star chart for Arlington