[cas_announce] Re: Upcoming CAS Program: Neptune-Last Planet in the Solar System?
- From: "Endres, Terence" <terence.endres@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: "Craig Niemi" <craig_niemi@xxxxxxxxx>, "Announce CAS_" <cas_announce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Tue, 16 Aug 2011 16:59:02 -0400
Steve Tilford will be presenting on Neptune. Steve's presentations are always
entertaining and informative. Volunteers should arrive no later than 7:30 to
help with setting up and other duties.
Terry Endres
Writing Center Manager
Room 235 - Main Building
513-569-1442 tel
513-569-4686 fax
Cincinnati State College
3520 Central Parkway
Cincinnati, Ohio 45223-2690
________________________________
From: Craig Niemi [mailto:craig_niemi@xxxxxxxxx]
Sent: Tue 8/16/2011 11:59 AM
To: Announce CAS_
Cc: Endres, Terence; Craig Niemi; Steve Tilford
Subject: Upcoming CAS Program: Neptune-Last Planet in the Solar System?
Just a reminder of our next Member / Public Program.
Neptune-Last Planet in the Solar System?
Saturday August 27th from 8 to 10pm
$3 Adults, Under 12 free.
No reservations needed.
I'm heading out of town and won't have a chance to coordinate our speaker
(Terry??) and volunteers, but like all our other events folks will be needed
for Check-In, Scope Operators and Astronomy Ambassadors to welcome our guests
and answer any questions they might have. The program begins at 8pm so being
set up by 7:30 is a good idea.
Val & I will be in the Badlands hoping for some clear skies (wanna bet on that).
Hopefully the skies will cooperate over CAS!
Craig
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
http://local.cincinnati.com/share/news/story.aspx?sid=183876
Neptune-Last Planet in the Solar System?
From 1930, and until Pluto's demotion in 2006, "My Very Excellent Mother Just
Served Us Nine Pizzas" was the saying we all used to remember the order of the
planets in our solar system: Mercury - Venus- Earth - Mars - Jupiter - Saturn -
Uranus -Neptune -Pluto.
But at times even before Pluto got the celestial boot the correct order was
Mercury - Venus - Earth - Mars - Jupiter - Saturn - Uranus - Pluto - Neptune.
One of the reasons Pluto was demoted was the fact that its oval shaped orbit
sometimes crossed Neptune's temporarily making this distant pale blue dot the
ninth planet.
While officially categorized as two of the four Giant Gas planets Uranus and
Neptune have never been particularly popular with amateur or even professional
astronomers. Overshadowed by the views of the King of the Planets Jupiter and
spectacular Saturn with its amazing rings the other two are so distant that
they never appear as more than tiny pale blue-green disks in backyard
telescopes. NASA's Voyager 2 spacecraft sailed past Neptune on August 25 1989
after a 12 year trip and returned mysteries that to this day have not been
fully explained. Most of what we've learned about Neptune since comes from the
Hubble Space Telescope.
However "Us" and "Nine" in their own rights are remarkable and mysterious
wanderers of our solar system. Neptune's largest moon Triton orbits backwards
around the planet. 30 times farther away from the Sun than our own planet,
Neptune receives little energy from the Sun but somehow has the fastest winds,
up to 1,500mph, in the solar system. Giant hurricane type storms, The Great
Dark Spot and Scooter circle the planet in the wrong direction.
Neptune does hold particular appeal for local amateur astronomers. Orbiting so
far away Neptune has just this year completed one revolution around the Sun
since its discovery in 1846. The credit for its discovery was hotly debated by
French and English astronomers 165 years ago. While they were bickering it's
likely that the astronomers at the Cincinnati Observatory were the first
Americans to view the new planet having just missed being its discoverers.
You and your family can join that Cincinnati tradition on Saturday August 27th
from 8 to 10pm for a family program on the Last Planet in our Solar System!
* First enjoy an introductory program about the far reaches of our solar system.
* Astronomers will be on hand to answer all your astronomical questions.
* View the stars and planets through the Society's big telescopes! (weather
permitting)
* Be sure to come up with your own trick for remembering the order of the
planets.
For 100 years the Cincinnati Astronomical Society's core mission has been
education and with its new headquarters is offering a wide variety of programs
for school groups, scouts, adults and club members.
The Cincinnati Astronomical Society
5274 Zion Rd. Cleves, OH 45002
(near the Mitchell Memorial Forest)
513-941-1981
www.cinastro.org
Admission: $3 adults, Under 12 free.
No reservations required.
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