Hosted at Clark Planetarium by board members and staff, this fundraising event features delicious food from some of Salt Lake’s best restaurants, live and silent auctions and we will close out the evening with a presentation of Pink Floyd’s Dark Side of the Moon cosmic light show.

Proceeds from the event benefit Clark Planetarium’s community outreach initiatives focusing on space science education. Since 2003, the planetarium has worked with community and state educators to provide unique and valuable astronomy education programs for students, teachers and the general public.

Design provided by RIESTER

“Community support for our programs is vital to our ability to create and support science education programming to Utah school children. Our facility, staff, exhibits and advanced technology allow us to place students and their teachers in the model, making difficult concepts easier to understand. ” said Seth Jarvis, director of the planetarium.

Each year more than 75,000 school children are served through Clark Planetarium visits and the AstroVan outreach program. The Dark Side of the Moon fundraising gala will give attendees the opportunity to experience the educational exhibits and programs in a fun, party-like atmosphere while helping to fund the planetarium’s educational mission.

The Dark Side of the Moon gala will be held at Clark Planetarium on Thursday, Sept. 23, 2010 from 6:30 – 10:30 p.m. Tickets for the event are $100 ($125 if purchased after Sept. 17) and can be purchased online.

1970’s party apparel is encouraged and all guests will receive a string of pearls compliments of Overstock.com.

Misconception #2:   There are two days in the year when the Sun is directly over the North or South Poles of Earth.

During the Summer Solstice each year, the North Pole (and all areas north of 66° N) experience 24 hours of daylight, and the South Pole (and areas south of 66° S) experience 24 hours of darkness.  During the Winter Solstice each year, this effect is reversed with the South Pole experiencing daylight and the North Pole experiencing darkness.  It would be easy to assume that the Sun must be directly over the Poles when they experience 24 hours of daylight.  This, however, is not the case.

Earth’s rotational axis is pointed nearly at Polaris, the North Star, tilted about 23.5° from vertical relative to its orbit around the Sun. Earth maintains the same angle of inclination throughout its orbit.  Earth’s surface angle to the Sun, however, does change throughout the year.  As we orbit the Sun, the North Pole leans in the direction of the Sun for a portion of the year (summer) and it leans away from the Sun for a portion of the year (winter).

The Sun will never be directly above either of the poles and in fact only gets to a maximum height of about 23.5° above the horizon at either the north or south pole.  At the North Pole, the Sun is permanently above the horizon during the summer months and permanently below the horizon during the winter months causing night-less summers and day-less winters.  The reverse is true at the South Pole.  

To get the full picture, let’s look at some other locations around the world.  Take the Equator, for example. The day length is roughly 12 hours at the Equator all year long.   From the Equator to the Poles, all points in between experience different amounts of daylight depending on their distance from these locations (their latitude).  

So what does this have to do with the seasons?

As we orbit the Sun, Earth’s surface receives varying intensities and durations of sunlight. In Utah, June is when the Sun climbs high in the sky (about 73°) and our part of  Earth receives a strong concentration of sunlight.  Earth has more time (about 15 hours) to absorb the Sun’s energy during the day while there is less time at night (about 9 hours) for that energy to radiate back into space. This is when we experience our warm summer months.  In December, the Sun doesn’t reach nearly as high in the sky (about 26°), so the rays of light spread out as they cover the ground. Therefore, the Sun’s energy is less efficient at warming our part of Earth’s surface.  That fact, coupled with the fact that we have less hours (about 9 hours) to absorb the Sun’s energy and more hours (about 15 hours) for that energy to radiate back to space makes for our cold winter months.

In our next discussion, we will look at the next common misconception about the seasons and discuss some activities that you can do to help you better understand the seasonal changes here on Earth.

The Maya made sense of an ever-changing world by observing, recording and predicting natural events such as solstices, solar eclipses, weather patterns, and planetary movements. These observations, in combination with a sophisticated mathematical system, allowed them to develop a precise calendar system; their measurements of the length of the solar year were more accurate than measurements the Europeans used as the basis of the Gregorian calendar. The Maya also predicted eclipses, were able to forecast seasonal change and developed the concept of mathematical zero, enabling them to predict events into the future.

Produced by the the Chabot Space and Science center,  Tales of the Maya Skies open May 28, 2010 and will play at 1:30 p.m. and 5:30 p.m. daily. Tickets are available online.

Beginning June 5, 2010 at 6:45 p.m., “Gateway to the Stars”  will highlight some of the most prominent objects in the night sky each month, using them as examples to teach observing techniques that will help maximize the stargazing experience.

Audiences will learn to navigate using basic techniques involved in stargazing and finding their way around the night sky by becoming familiarized with stars and constellations, planets and other galactic objects visible to the naked eye. Viewers will also learn to explore deep sky objects like double stars, star clusters, nebulas and galaxies to gain insight and perspective on the different components of our universe.

This innovative and interactive experience combines the most recent technology, space imagery and current night sky information to give viewers a truly out of this world experience.  “Gateway to the Stars” begins on Saturday, June 5, at 6:45 p.m.

Tickets for the lecture series are free for Clark Planetarium members. Tickets for the general public are just $1 each or $2 0nline. “Gateway to the Stars” will be featured the first Saturday of every month in the Hansen Dome Theatre at 6:45 p.m.  Additional information and tickets can be found online.

Retired astronaut Duane "Digger" Carey takes a moment for photos after his lecture at Clark Planetarium.

“Digger” (that’s what he prefers folks to call him) is not your typical astronaut. He grew up in a single-parent home and struggled with his math and science classes as a child. In fact, he admits he slept through some of them.

After finishing high school he bought a used motorcycle, scrounged some camping gear and set off on a cross country odyssey in search of adventure. After running out of travel funds (He noted wryly that, “Eighteen year-olds are known for their planning skills,”) he resorted to hitching rides, hopping freight trains and later worked as a bartender and a typewriter repairman.

After speaking with a retired pilot about the joys of flying Digger concluded that being a jet pilot was what he wanted to do with his life.

He went to college, earned his bachelors degree, joined the Air Force, went through Officer’s Training and earned a masters degree in Aerospace Engineering,  flew combat missions during Desert Storm, became an Air Force Test Pilot, joined NASA, and flew the Columbia Space Shuttle.  Now he’s retired and spends his time traveling by motorcycle around the country working tirelessly to get kids excited about science and math, space exploration, and above all, recognizing their own capacity to do great things.  Wow.

Digger’s stories moved the audience at the planetarium that night to laughter, introspection and above all, heartfelt applause. He came here to share an inspiring story, that’s exactly what he did.

To echo the lessons from Lt. Carey that night, it’s important to stay in school and pay attention to the hard classes (math and science).  Challenge yourself to accomplish something you thought were to hard for you. Great things await those who do.

Most of the time I’ll delve into the tech side of the planetarium, but I decided to take a different track this time. It’s long past due to acknowledge those that make a difference. Being that I know the effect a select few have made in my life I’d like to relate a little about persons who took time from their schedule to instill in me a sense of it can be done, a sense of logic and a sense of wonder for it all.

My fascination with the universe, I would say, was somewhat nascent till about 4^th grade when a teacher at my elementary started a chapter of the Young Astronauts Club. My parents had always encouraged my exploration, but the Young Astronauts was really the launching point for a love affair with the space program and what mankind can do. Students in the program were excited to learn new things about space, even though it wasn’t anything you got credit for in school. Activities provided by the program got me into rocketry, observing and experimenting. You don’t see much of the clubs anymore, which I think is a horrible loss.

Fifth grade brought into my life a teacher that I still respect and admire to this day. Mrs. Hacken took the time to build activities that didn’t revolve around a video or a dry lecture. It seemed like every subject had some hands-on and experience oriented lesson plan. This was the first time I went to the Hansen Planetarium as well. I begged my parents to haul me up there again. Back in the classroom we tried to successfully land our “egg-astronauts” without killing them with the sudden stop associated with a fall from the top of the school building. I’ve found it rare to have a teacher that invested in the learning of their students, and I was lucky enough to have a similar teacher in 6th grade as well. Mrs. Hacken also introduced me to the Christa McAuliffe Space Education Center in Pleasant Grove, Utah. To this day I still hold that there is no better way to teach than mixing sound educational material with entertainment. It causes the student to become excited enough about a subject that they will seek out more information on their own.

The Christa McAuliffe Space Education Center and the staff their launched my interests past a fascination to a want to be involved. I volunteered there for a great many years before leaving to go onto college. During my time there I got to be the instructor for students coming in and learned part of why the teachers who educated me had been so passionate about it. The moment when it clicks, when the light comes on and a student takes off on their own is a reward in and of itself. This is also where I picked up 3D graphics and programming. The recommendation letter from the director at the space center, I believe, is part of what got me in the door at the planetarium.

After finally setting foot in the Clark Planetarium, I started as a show presenter. But I really wanted to get my foot in the door of the production department so I could use some of the 3D skills I’d picked up which working for the C.M.S.E.C. Mike Murray and Aaron McEuen let me, sometimes through trial and error, get started into adding things into the playlist for the theater. And that pretty much brings us to where I am today.

There’s a lot more detail to be added, obviously. I thought the important part though, is to acknowledge the people who often go thankless for the time they spent educating and encouraging a child, a teenager and an adult.

Kids, tell your parents thank you for spending the 50 minutes of drive time to take you to the planetarium. Tell your teachers thank you for making science come alive. Because they all make a difference.

From the basement…