NMMNHS News:
The annular eclipse on the morning of Oct. 14 is coming up quickly, and the New Mexico Museum of Natural History & Science (NMMNHS) has a week of activities leading up to the eclipse, featuring visiting experts from NASA, NOAA and other world-renowned institutions.
What:
Throughout the week, the museum is hosting a series of Solar Family Afternoons, which include all-ages activities like viewing the sun through the museum’s specialized solar telescopes, building simple eclipse viewers, and walking on the museum’s one-of-a-kind moon map. Additionally, from 1 to 2 p.m. each day the museum is open for short eclipse talks by visiting scientists.
Schedule of upcoming talks:
- Wednesday, Oct. 11: Retired NOAA space weather scientist Dr. Douglas Biesecker will discuss solar storms and the facility NOAA uses to monitor these storms.
- Thursday, Oct. 12: Dr. Craig DeForest, Program Director for Solar Astrophysics Southwest Research Institute and Principal Investigator of NASA’s Polarimeter to Unify the Corona and Heliosphere (PUNCH) mission, will talk about the sun’s corona and the upcoming PUNCH solar research mission.
- Friday, Oct. 13: Dr. David Hurd, Professor of Astronomy and Meteorology at Pennsylvania Western University at Edinboro, will talk about recent U.S. eclipses and scientific advances that have enhanced our understanding of the sun.
Friday is the biggest Solar Family Afternoon of all. On Oct. 13, visitors will have a chance to meet scientists from NASA, NOAA, PUNCH and the Dubai Astronomy Group, and can learn to make rockets from film canisters and Alka-Seltzer tablets with educators from the Center of Science and Industry.
Each event is included with Museum and Planetarium admission. Visit nmnaturalhistory.org to buy tickets in advance.
