Planetarium News

Chorus performance:  Shepaug Chorus members worked with Mr. Hermans on creating planetarium visuals to go along with three songs, which were performed for an audience of parents and community members in May.  

Nuclear processes in stars:  presentation for Chemistry classes.

Plate Tectonics:  presentation for Physics 9 classes.

Seventh Grade:  introduction to space science unit, culminating in student-created interactive museum displays.

Sixth and Seventh Grade:  end-of-year planetarium shows.

Washington Senior Center:  planetarium show and interactive presentation on the Sun.

Secret Lives of Stars public planetarium show.

Grades 2 and 3, Cultural Astronomy:  segments of the One Sky Project planetarium show as well as interactive presentations, with emphasis on Hawaiian and indigenous North American sky cultures.

Grade 1, patterns in the sky:  interactive presentation on daily, monthly and yearly patterns of change.

The Shepaug Planetarium presented a domecast from the US Space and Rocket Center, Music of the Spheres, featuring a musical performance by Tchaikowsky Competition-winning violinist Itamar Zorman.  The live show was created by the staff at the the Intuitive Planetarium in Huntsville, Alabama, and was streamed live to our planetarium at Shepaug School.  Mr. Zorman's performance was also streamed.  In addition to his performance, we were able to hear his thoughts and commentary on the show.  The planetarium staff and Mr. Zorman collaborated on selecting topics and visuals that complemented the music.  Highlights included a tour of Tycho Crater on the Moon accompanied by Debussy's "Clair de Lune," and a Supernova explosion paired with Philip Glass's "Einstein on the Beach."  

On Friday, January 31st, we had a planetarium show for the public, where the audience visited planets in our solar system, accompanied by the music of Beethoven.  We answered the question:  why to planets sometimes seem to move backwards in the sky?  We had two shows, with one sold out!

The Bridgewater-Roxbury-Washington boy scouts visited the planetarium on Wednesday, January 17th, for a show and stargazing event.  This event prepared the scouts for meeting the requirements of the Astronomy merit badge, and introduced them to the scale and structure of the solar system, the night sky, and more.  Thanks to Pierce Johnson (Shepaug Junior, class of 2026) for presenting the size and scale of the solar system and stars.  

On Friday, Dec 6, the Astronomy club hosted Northern Lights planetarium shows.  These short (10 min) shows allowed us to view the northern lights in the planetarium by accessing the NOAA aurora forecast to find the best location on Earth for viewing them at that time.  We also looked at sunspots and explored the connection between sunspots and the northern lights.  In addition, we also offered a short tour of the solar system.

This photo shows the aurora forecast and the northern lights as shown in the Shepaug planetarium.

Aurora Borealis as seen in the Shepaug Planetarium

 

 

Comet Tsuchishan-ATLAS

On Friday, November 25th, the Astronomy club had a planetarium show about the origins of the Comet Tsuchishan-ATLAS, and afterwards observed the comet and other objects with telescopes.  The comet, which was visible to the naked eye as recently as November 20th, was spectacular in a telescope, with a tail that stretched for at least 6-degrees of the sky.  We also observed the Great Globular Cluster in Hercules (M13), the Double Cluster in Perseus, and several multiple-star systems:  Alberio, Polaris and Epsilon Lyrae (the Double-Double).  Kudos to Astronomy Club member Pierce Johnson for setting up and running some of the telescopes.  

Region 12 Fourth and Fifth Grade Primary Partners:

On Friday, October 18th, one-third of the fourth and fifth-grade students from Booth, Burnham, and Washington Primary Schools visited the Shepaug Planetarium as part of the Primary Partners program.  The rest of the fourth and fifth-grade students will be visiting the planetarium at other visits later this year.  The planetarium program featured exoplanets, our solar system, and how the history of glaciation in Connecticut affects the way the landscape looks.  With thanks to Ben Allen for the following photos:
 
 
Math and the Solar System:
 
On Wednesday, October 16th, Ms. Blum and Mr. Watt’s math classes kicked off their study of the solar system and scientific notation by getting acquainted with the sizes and orbits of the planets in the planetarium.  They got an up-close view of several of the planets, got acquainted with the part of the sky where you can expect to see the planets at night, and saw the sizes and orbits of the planets compared. 
 
Training:
 
Mr. Hermans and Ms. MacSweeney both attended the Digistar Summer Institute in Chadds Ford, PA this summer.  Mr. Hermans also attended the Digistar Users Group conference in Salt Lake City.  These have been fantastic opportunities for our Shepaug staff to meet other planetarians from around the world, and to learn from the people who know how to get the most out of the kind of system we now have at the Shepaug Planetarium.  
 
 
This photo shows a closeup of the asteroid Bennu from Digistar, taken by Friso Hermans at the COSM Experience Center in Salt Lake City, where the Digistar Users Group Conference was held.