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FOAP Newsletter September 2024 |
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Arlington County Fair
The Friends had a fantastic time at our booth and provided dome shows over the three days using the portable planetarium loaned to us by Marymount University. The Fair organizers said they had the largest crowd in many years, and traffic at our booth and the dome was non-stop! The Fair organizers gave the Friends a "partner" status this year, with recognition in the printed program and online as well. |
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Mobile Planetarium Doom at the Arlington County Fair
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The board game, sorting celestial objects by age, distance, or size, was popular. The Friends had groups of teens and 20-somethings challenging each other, and lots of others who showed a great understanding of the cosmos.
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David M Brown Public Planetarium Shows are Back in September!
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Both the Friends of the Arlington Planetarium (FOAP) and Arlington Public Schools (APS) will be offering public shows at the planetarium this month.
FOAP will hosting full dome planetarium shows about various parts of our Solar System on September 21 and 22.
On Sunday the 22 there will also be a special in-person presentation by a NASA Solar System Ambassador, “Our Solar System – Are Other Star Systems the Same?”
APS will offer planetarium shows on September 7 and 8, as well as a special “Stars Tonight” program on September 9. Check https://www.apsva.us/planetarium/weekend-programming for details.
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Saturday, September 21
6:30pm – “Voyage to Distant Worlds” – full dome show about the Solar System
8:0pm – “Sunstruck” – full dome show about the sun
Sunday, September 22
1:30pm – “Perfect Little Planet” – join an alien family as they visit parts of our Solar System
3:00pm – “Our Solar System – Are Other Star Systems the Same?” – an in-person presentation Tickets will be available online in early September. |
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PhotoArtist’s Concept: Our Solar System By NASA/Jenny Mottar
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2024-2025 Friends Show Schedule |
| Friends of Arlington’s David M. Brown Planetarium 2024-2025 Public Weekend Themes |
September 21-22, 2024
Our Solar System
October 19-20, 2024
Extraterrestrials
November 16-17, 2024
Water, Water Everywhere
December 14-15, 2024 The Science of Astronomy
January 25-26, 2025
It Really is Rocket Science
February 22-23, 2025
Matters of Time - & 2nd Annual DomeFest Film Festival
March 15-16, 2025
Space Missions - Current and Future
April 25-27, 2025
Weather and Climate
May 17-18, 2025
Life On Earth
June 14-15, 2025 Exploring the Cosmos
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September is a time of ‘back to’ for many of us - back to school, back to work, back to travels, and for the Friends it is back to the Planetarium after Summer’s break. Read more from President Theresa Schweser.
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Arlington County Fair By Maryclare Whitehead We hope you were able to attend the 2024 Arlington County Fair and that you visited our booth. This year, we added a prize wheel. Contestants used the wheel to determine what prize they would win for answering a science question. We had questions for all age levels, and everyone seemed to enjoy the friendly competition. Two lucky contestants won special prizes, one was a globe that you put together and the second was a Lego set about the first female astronauts. |
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News You Can Use By Maryclare Whitehead
September's Moon phases are right around the corner. Each moon phase describes how much of the moon is visible from Earth. Here's what's coming:
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New moon, September 3: In this moon phase, you can't see the moon at all but it's just a phase...
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First quarter, September 11: The first quarter is not a coin but when the moon is one quarter of the way through its monthly orbit. During this phase, the moon appears as a half-illuminated circle, with one side of the moon lit up and the other side in shadow. In Arlington, the right half of the moon will be illuminated, or shine. The first quarter moon rises in the East about midday and sets in the West about midnight.
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Full moon, September 18: You will be able to see the full disk of the moon. This month the full moon is also known as the Corn or Harvest Moon. Can you guess why? A full moon rises in the East about sunset and sets in the West about sunrise.
Last quarter, September 24: The last quarter moon happens when the moon is three quarters of the way through its monthly orbit. During this phase, the moon appears as a half-illuminated circle, with one side of the moon lit up and the other side in shadow. In Arlington, the left half of the moon will be illuminated, or shine. The last quarter moon rises in the East at about midnight and sets in the West about midday.
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Looking for Planets at all the Right Times By Jennifer Bartlett
Are you a night owl or an early bird?
Night owls: Venus sets during evening twilight during September. Look for it low on your (clear, unobstructed) western horizon immediately after sunset. At the beginning of the month, Saturn rises shortly after sunset but its rising drifts earlier each night so it rises just before sunset at the end of the month. Look for it low in the east once the sky is fully dark.
Early birds; Mars and Jupiter rise near midnight. Look for them high in sky before dawn. Jupiter will be the higher of the two while Mars is reddish in color. Saturn will still be visible lower and in the southwest. During the first half of the month, Mercury rises just before the beginning of civil twilight; however, it is difficult to see near the horizon. If you relish a challenge, try the eastern sky just before 6:00 AM. |
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Photo by Ron Cooper (Jupiter rising)
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How many Planets in our Solar System?
By Jennifer Bartlett
We now count 8 major planets, 5 dwarf planets, and thousands of minor planets (the technical name for asteroids and comets). In classical times, the ancients knew 5 wandering bodies besides the Sun and the Moon: Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn. In 1781, William Herschal identified Uranus as the first newly discovered planet; it is barely detectible by the naked eye under excellent conditions. As astronomers studied the motion of Uranus, they wondered its orbit was influenced by another body. Early in the morning of September 24, Johann Galle found Neptune with his telescope while searching the sky where Urbain Le Verrier indicated a mysterious, unseen body might be located.
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Asteroids: Our Solar System Remnants
By Jennifer Bartlett
Astronomers consider asteroids and comets to be debris left over from the formation of our Solar System. Understanding the composition and formation of these bodies reveals details about the processes at work in the early Solar System. Furthermore, understanding the formation of our own Solar System guides studies of exoplanet systems. NASA’s Psyche spacecraft is on its way to a 2029 rendezvous with asteroid 16 Psyche in the Main Asteroid Belt. Astronomers thought that Asteroid Psyche is the remains of a forming planet that was smashed by other rocky bodies billions of years ago. |
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However, recent James Webb Space Telescope observations identified water on the surface of this asteroid. Did the water come from inside the asteroid? If so, astronomers need a new model for its formation? Did the water come from collisions with icy bodies? If so, how and when did those occur. Either way, mission Psyche will tell us much about the formation and evolution of our Solar System.
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Starliner Spacecraft Set to Return to Earth without Its Crew By Kathi Overton
NASA announced plans for Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft to depart the International Space Station and return to Earth on September 6th – but without a crew. Astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams are now scheduled to remain on the space station until February 2025, and return aboard a SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft. To make room for Wilmore and Williams, the SpaceX Crew-9 mission launching on that spacecraft has been reduced from four crew members to two. |
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Photo Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft is pictured docked to the Harmony module’s forward port at the International Space Station. By NASA https://blogs.nasa.gov/commercialcrew/category/boeing/ |
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Early Galaxies Look Bigger Due to Black Holes? By Kathi Overton
The James Webb Space Telescope has discovered that very distant, early galaxies seem to be much brighter and more massive than expected. A study led by University of Texas at Austin graduate student Katherine Chworowsky now believes that this is not due to fundamental errors in our model of the universe. Instead, massive black holes in these distant galaxies create friction as they consume huge amounts of gas. The friction generates light and heat, making the galaxies appear brighter and more massive. |
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Straight from the International Space Station |
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Photo by Suni Williams Starliner capsule from the ISS |
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Astronaut Suni Williams running the Falmouth 7.1 miler on the ISS |
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Photo by Suni Williams Hurricane Ernesto from the ISS |
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Photo by Suni Williams The Soyuz spacecraft taken from the ISS with earth's Aurora Borealis in the background. |
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This message has been sent to you from the Friends of Arlington's Planetarium.
Friends of Arlington's David M. Brown Planetarium
P.O. Box 7029
Arlington, VA 22207 USA
Copyright (C) 2024 Friends of Arlington's David M. Brown Planetarium (FOAP). All rights reserved.
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