The Fountain Hills Dim Sky Pageant, scheduled for Saturday, March 25, is a signature party and celebration of the town’s certification as a Dark Sky Local community, a recognition obtained by only 17 communities worldwide.
Held at the Community Middle and Centennial Circle starting at 4 p.m., highlighted events include keynote speakers, night sky reveals, a university student artwork contest and routines for the complete relatives.
The Fountain Hills Dim Sky Association has invited Paul Bogard to discuss at this year’s event. Bogard is a writer, professor and author of “The End of Night time,” a tribute to darkness and the evening. Bogard will discuss at 5 p.m. in the Local community Centre.
Joe Monthly bill, co-founder and president of the Worldwide Darkish Sky Discovery Center, will solution, “How are NASA, the Smithsonian and Fountain Hills Linked?” Bill is scheduled to speak at 6 p.m. in the Local community Middle.
At 6:30 p.m., Dr. Rhonda Stroud, a elements physicist and planetary scientist at Arizona Point out College, will converse with a presentation on “Asteroid Goo, Moon Drinking water, and Stardust: A Laboratory Tour of the Photo voltaic Procedure.”
The Fountain Hills Library will be open for the pageant, the place attendees can learn inspiring textbooks about the night time sky, study about the library’s telescope lending method and obtain out how to use the library’s Citizen Science sky quality study kit.
At 4:30 p.m. in the library, Bogard will host a Story Time when he reads his children’s guide, “What If Evening?” adopted by a pleasurable exercise for the kids.
The River of Time Museum & Exploration Heart will invite site visitors to stop in and test out the Dr. Charles Juels telescope, which Juels utilized to explore hundreds of asteroids from his backyard in Fountain Hills.
The Fountain Hills Superior Faculty is sponsoring the Virtual Truth Practical experience, with students foremost the complete setup, operation and teardown for the function.
Applying VR headsets, people can choose a 3D tour of the Solar Technique and see the cosmos as they’ve by no means viewed it prior to.
The worldwide meteorite corporation, Aerolite Meteorites, will sign up for in on the pleasurable this calendar year with an show filled with meteorites from all around the earth. They will have meteorites for order in case attendees want to bring anything house.
Get up close to dwell nocturnal animals and neat desert critters at one of 5 booths. This calendar year, attendees will be joined by Wild at Heart, Southwest Wildlife, McDowell Sonoran Conservancy, the Middle for Native and City Wildlife, and McDowell Mountain Regional Park. Discover about how light air pollution impacts their means to hunt, sleep, mate, navigate and far more.
Soon after darkish, telescopes will be set up for night time sky viewing as the fruits of the total Dim Sky Pageant. Get a peek through one of a dozen telescopes to get an up-close view of planets, star clusters, the moon, nebulae and additional.
Dr. Jeffrey Corridor, director of Lowell Observatory in Flagstaff, will present two laser-guided tours of the night time sky. He’ll enable determine a selection of beautiful celestial objects and constellations with the bare eye.
Vicky Derksen, president of the Fountain Hills Dim Sky Association and host of the Evening Sky Tourist podcast, will give one laser-guided star tour that will focus on cultural astronomy and ancient star stories.
A beer and wine garden, together with foods vans, will deliver refreshments together with a few solutions for sweet treats with Fountain Hills H2o & Ice and the Swette Ice Product Truck.
Liquor will be offered all evening in the beer and wine backyard garden, which will incorporate local institutions, Bone Haus Brewing and Grapeables Wine Bar.
Musicians Scott Hallock and Suzi Kiraly will take attendees by means of a playlist of music from distinct genres and eras, digging up some fantastic night sky-themed tunes along the way.
The Fountain Hills Darkish Sky Association’s mission is to encourage inhabitants to take pride in the Town’s uncommon difference as an International Dark Sky Neighborhood and to protect and protect the evening sky for the reward of all dwelling issues.
This celebration is cost-free to the normal public. Parking is also totally free. For a lot more facts, take a look at fhdarksky.com.