On Friday September 26, Haverford’s Public Observing Program hosted its first event of the semester! Our planet-themed evening featured crafts, a talk, and telescope observing of planets. We welcomed over 100 guests, including local members of the community and Haverford College students and professors!
The skies were clear and both telescopes were open for observing. Visitors were able to admire Saturn and its rings in addition to Mars, the Red Planet.
Guests packed into our library to engage in craft activities, modelling their own planetary creations out of clay, or being creative with paper and glitter.
Five year old Owen and his mom are regulars at our observing events. Here they show off their event t-shirts and Owen’s clay model of the earth!
Astrophysics major Carolyn Oehrig ’15 wrapped up the evening with an exciting presentation about the quest for planets outside our own solar system. She emphasized the amount of data astronomers will continue to analyze in order to identify other stars with planets. Scientists are on the hunt for “Goldilocks Planets” similar to Earth which may support life. These Goldilocks Planets lie in the hospitable zone, meaning they lie at ideal distances from theirs stars so they could have liquid water. Further their masses are similar to Earth so that the planets may support similar atmospheres.
Here is a snapshot of Carolyn’s Prezi presentation!
Congrats to Lee and the 2014-15 team of volunteers who hosted a great first event! And a bigger thank you to all of our guests! We hope to see you on November 1 for our next open house event!