[cas_announce] SAVE THE DATE:CAS Member & Public Stargaze Saturday 8/25 8:30

From: Craig Niemi <craig_niemi@xxxxxxxxx>
To: Announce CAS_ <cas_announce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: Fri, 3 Aug 2012 16:32:08 -0700 (PDT)

Dear CAS Members,

Save the Date and Help Pass the Word!
Bring Friends and Family!
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

The
Summer Milky Way

 

Visit the Cincinnati Astronomical Society (CAS) on Saturday
August 25th for a look at our home in the Universe.

 

During the summer months a hazy, glowing band of light
crosses high overhead in the evening sky. The Milky Way is a sideways view
across our home galaxy. Our galaxy is home to billions of stars, nebulae,
planets, dust, gas and more. Our solar system is located about 2/3rds of the
way out from the center of this flattened disk. Imagine you’re a lone blueberry
near the edge of a delicious pancake. If you look up you can easily see the
ceiling in your kitchen; look down and you can see the plate below. But if you
look in toward the center of the pancake, all you see is pancake. When we look
into the summer night sky we’re looking towards the center of our Milky Way. A
region so vast and densely packed that we can’t see beyond it.

 

We know our Milky Way is a fairly typical Spiral Galaxy with
long arms of stars wrapping around a central bulge. It is approximately 100,000
light years cross and a 1,000 light years thick at the arms. One light year 
being
about 6.7 trillion miles. It contains somewhere over 100 billion stars and is
about 13 billion years old. The entire spiral rotates and has carried our solar
system on nearly 20 round trips about the galactic center. At the center it is
thought there is a gigantic black hole devouring everything near it. We seem to
know a lot about the Milky Way but it’s only been since 1920 that we understood
that it was just one galaxy of many millions that fill our universe.

 

CAS astronomers will be on hand to answer all your Milky Way
and other astro-questions. Telescope viewing follows after dusk (weather
permitting) though the society’s 4 large telescopes. You’ll view a spectacular 
First
Quarter Moon too! There will be astronomical activities & displays for all
ages and refreshments will be available. 





Saturday
     August 25th8:30-10:30pmQ&A
     and tours of the telescopes begin at 8:30pm. 
     Viewing
     follows after 9pm (weather permitting)Free, Donations Welcomed.Open to all 
ages.No reservations required.The Cincinnati Astronomical Society

5274 Zion Rd. Cleves,
      OH 45002   (near the Mitchell Memorial Forest)

     513-941-1981

 

Visit our website www.cinastro.org, Facebook
page and follow us on Twitter for a listing of all our public, scout and school
events for 2012.

[cas_announce] SAVE THE DATE:CAS Member & Public Stargaze Saturday 8/25 8:30

Other related posts: