STEAM Education & Research
Family Astronomy Night, Wednesday, September 15, 2021 at 7 PM EST – VIRTUAL EVENT
Please check back soon for a recording of this presentation!
Venus: Our Brightest Planet
Did you know that Venus is the brightest object in the night sky other than the Moon—so bright that it is often mistaken for an airplane? Or that these next several months are the best times to see Venus in the evening since early in 2020, and that it won’t be this nice again until spring of 2023? Are you aware that humans have sent nearly forty missions to the planet Venus—and that almost half of them failed? Have you heard that the surface temperature of Venus is hot enough to melt lead, and the surface pressure is great enough to crush a submarine? And what are the other planets and constellations doing in our skies in September? Join us by Zoom to learn more!
Family Astronomy Night, Wednesday, August 11, 2021 at 7 PM EST – VIRTUAL EVENT
Saturn: Our Most Beautiful Planet Did you know that Saturn is the furthest of the planets that we can easily see with our unaided eye? Have you heard that, while Saturn is many times larger and heavier than Earth, it is so light for its size that it would float on water? Are you aware that, while humans have sent nearly 50…
Family Astronomy Night, Wednesday, July 7, 2021 at 7 PM EST – VIRTUAL EVENT
Please check back soon for a recording of this presentation!
A Brief History of Rockets
What do the Apollo missions, the Hubble Space Telescope, the International Space Station, every planetary mission, and most of the world’s nuclear deterrent forces have in common? They all depend on rockets! But what, exactly, is a rocket? How does it differ from supersonic or hypersonic travel? Who invented the rocket? Are there different kinds of rockets? Why do some have multiple “stages”? How were rockets first used? When was the first manned rocket, or the first mission to other planets? Speaking of planets—what are the planets and constellations doing in our skies in July? Did you see Midland’s partial solar eclipse last month? Join us via Zoom to learn more!
Family Astronomy Night, Wednesday, June 2, 2021 at 7 PM EST – VIRTUAL EVENT
The End of the Sun: How Large Stars Die The Sun has been a constant source of light, warmth, and life for all of human history. But, will it always be this way? What will happen as the Sun ages? Will it get colder? Hotter? Larger? Smaller? Believe it or not, the answer to ALL of these questions is—yes! Have you ever…
Family Astronomy Night, Wednesday, May 5, 2021 at 7 PM EST – VIRTUAL EVENT
Please check back soon for a recording of this presentation! Exoplanets: Other Worlds Beyond Our Solar System People have known about planets since ancient times. But all of those planets orbit our sun. What about all the other stars? Astronomers have been hoping to find planets around them—exoplanets—for centuries. Yet did you know that not a single exoplanet was found to orbit…
Family Astronomy Night, Wednesday, April 7, 2021 at 7 PM EST – VIRTUAL EVENT
Please check back soon for a recording of this presentation! Brown Dwarfs: More Numerous than Stars? What if a star tries to form but doesn’t quite make it? What happens then? Have you heard that such objects might be more common in our universe than normal stars? And that, despite this, none are visible with the unaided eye, and that astronomers with…
Family Astronomy Night, Wednesday, March 3, 2021 at 7 PM EST – VIRTUAL EVENT
Please check back soon for a recording of this presentation! The Life and Death of Normal Stars Are you aware that the great majority of stars are smaller than our sun? That stars can live for millions of years before they die? Or billions of years? Or even trillions of years? It seems almost unbelievable! What factors influence star lifetimes? Do…
Family Astronomy Night, Wednesday, February 3, 2021 at 7 PM EST – VIRTUAL EVENT
Please check back soon for a recording of this presentation! Star Birth: How Our Night Sky Came to Be Zoom link: https://msu.zoom.us/j/98568624049 Password: MSU Did you know that everything we understand about star birth has been learned only in the last hundred years? There are so many questions for scientists to answer! What does it actually mean for a star to be…
Family Astronomy Night, Wednesday, January 13, 2021 at 7 PM EST – VIRTUAL EVENT
Please check back soon for a recording of this presentation! Our Marvelous Moon – Part 2! Join: https://msu.zoom.us/j/93351955313 Password: MSU This past November, we learned about the Moon’s orbit. This month, we will learn more about the Moon itself! Did you know that both the size and the distance of the Moon were already known to ancient astronomers over two thousand years…
How the Universe Was Discovered in the Constellations of Fall
Did you know that in just a few weeks, Jupiter and Saturn will appear closer together in the sky than at any time since the year 1623? Have you noticed that there are star clusters and even some galaxies in the sky right now that you can see with your unaided eye? Have you heard that the best meteor shower of the…
