400 College Avenue - Lancaster, PA 17603-3393 Phone: (717) 291-3941
    HOURS: Tuesday - Saturday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. & Sunday from 12 noon to 5 p.m.

    DateEvent
    09/06/10
    10:00 AM
    Museum closed for Labor Day
    09/08/10
    07:00 PM
    Chesapeake Ramble Pre-Trip Meeting
    09/09/10
    10:30 AM
    Read, Touch, and Discover
    09/11/10
    10:30 AM
    Grands are Grand!
    09/16/10
    10:30 AM
    Read, Touch, and Discover
    09/16/10
    03:30 PM
    Coffee and Conversation
    09/22/10
    11:00 AM
    8th Annual North Museum Golf Tournament
    09/23/10
    07:00 AM
    Ramble to the Chesapeake Bay
    09/23/10
    10:30 AM
    Read, Touch, and Discover
    09/30/10
    10:30 AM
    Read, Touch, and Discover

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    Cosmic Mike's® Star Attractions Column

    Check out Cosmic Mike's biweekly article in Saturday's Lancaster Newspapers' Intelligencer/New Era

    Next article tentatively scheduled for... Saturday, September 11

    Most recent article... 

    Visualizing our place in space

    Click on graphic for larger version

    It is hard to wrap our head around distances in the universe. We quickly get overwhelmed and lose a sense of our place in space.

    The numbers are so large we can’t even visualize them. As a result, we overlook the basics.

    For example, how many stars do we have in our solar system?

    Often I hear answers like “billions” or “too many to count.” We tend to think about all the stars we see at night.

    In reality, not a single star we see at night is in our solar system. Our nighttime stars are in our galaxy, but they’re all beyond our solar system. Our night sky is the Milky Way Galaxy.

    We have only ONE star in our solar system: the sun....

    Click HERE for entire column

     

    Past Columns: 

    August 28, 2010 Visualizing our place in space Graphic
    August 7, 2010 Get ready for shooting stars: the Perseids return! Graphic
    July 31, 2010 Beware of the Mars hoax Graphic
    July 17, 2010 Setting the stage for a stellar show Graphic
    June 19, 2010 Big Bird, Elmo and Saturn star at North Museum Planetarium - wasn't published n/a
    June 5, 2010 A dream come true and farewell to Atlantis Graphic
    May 15, 2010 Star bright is not a star light Graphic
    May 1, 2010  How to train a celestial dragon Graphic
    April 17, 2010 All roads lead from the Big Dipper Graphic
    April 3, 2010 Learning the sky with the brightest stars Graphic
    March 20, 2010 Finding our place among constellations Graphic
    March 6, 2010 How polluted is your night sky? Graphic
    February 13, 2010 Close encounters of the planetary kind Graphic
    February 6, 2010 Mars shines at its brightest and dominates evening sky Graphic
    January 9, 2010 Eating onion with six wives Graphic

     

    Telescope Rental

    Looking for a way to observe the wonders of the night sky, but don't have a telescope? Or are you wanting to test one out before investing in a telescope of your own? The North Museum offers an Orion SkyQuest XT4.5 reflecting telescope for rent. Observe planets and the moon, when visible, star clusters, the sun and more. Rental includes all of the following:

    • EZ Finder II Reflex Sight Finderscope
    • 25 mm and 10 mm eyepieces
    • Moon Filter
    • Solar Filter (for SAFE veiwing of sunspots, when visible, on the sun)
    • Red Flashlight
    • Resource Materials (Planisphere included)
    • Training session from Cosmic Mike for the adult borrower
    • 2 week rental (can be a little flexible dependant on percentage of nights with inclement weather conditions and availability of the telescope)

    Total Rental Cost: $200 (includes a $100 Refundable Deposit Fee dependant on condition of returned telescope and accessories. (Entire rental package is valued at $500)

    For more information or questions please contact Cosmic Mike at 717.291.4315 or cosmicmike@northmuseum.org

    Cosmic Mike's® North Stars astronomy club

    Join the club that will take your young astronomy enthusiast from the current night sky to the far reaches of the universe! Guided by North Museum staff, participants in Cosmic Mike’s® North Stars Astronomy Club will take part in hands-on astronomy activities, stargazing opportunities, trips to the North Museum Planetarium, and more.

    Club members also receive Cosmic Mike’s Astronomy Updates, a North Stars T-shirt and planisphere, plus access to the exclusive North Stars Web site.

    Meetings take place the first Saturday of each month.  It's not too late to register as there are still four meetings left. For more information, contact Cosmic Mike at 291-4315 or cosmicmike@northmuseum.org.

    Dates: Aug. 7, Sept. 4, Oct. 16, Nov. 6, and Dec. 4  
    Time: 9–10:30 am
    Ages: 8–12 years
    Cost: $30 for Museum members, $40 for non-members

    Click HERE to download registration form.