Blue Moon of Kentucky

We will have a blue moon on December 31, 2009 for New Year's Eve night! So what does that mean? First, it does not mean that the moon will look blue, like in the picture to the left. On rare occasions, the Moon can actually appear blue in color, but that will not be the case tomorrow night. It will appear as its beautiful, silvery full Moon self. A 'blue moon' is the name given to the second full moon in a calendar month, and it happens only once every 2 to 3 years. Our last blue moon was in May of 2007, and our next one will be in August of 2012. It is special to have one on New Year's Eve, which only happens every 20 years or so. So this year, instead of having the ball in Times Square, we will have a full moon, highest in the nighttime sky at midnight, slowly begin its descent into the new year of 2010 throughout the night, until it finally sets at 7:54 AM here in Louisville. How do you observe a blue moon? Go outside on New Year's Eve and look up. The moon will be out all night for your enjoyment.
If you want to learn more about the blue moon, visit the Farmer's Almanac.

Let it Snow

Getting ready for the winter weather means gaining an appreciation for the common snowflake. The planetarium team has been making different paper snowflakes at the holiday parties, and we got interested in learning more about this crystals from the clouds. We found a really cool snowflake primer that is complete with the answer that everyone wants to know, are no two snowflakes alike? If you are now in the mood to observe some snowflakes, but the weather is not cooperating with you, then you can make your own snowflake patterns with patterns from this website. Enjoy some frosty fun!

Have a Stellar Holiday Season

The holiday season is here, with the longest night of the year!! That means it’s time for last minute shopping, crazy baking in the kitchen and watching mom and dad go absolutely nuts.

NO WAY! The last weekend before Christmas means it’s time for snow balls, reindeers and singing along to my favorite holiday songs! It can mean the same thing for you too if you come to the Planetarium this Saturday, December 19th. From 11 AM to 3 PM we are holding our annual Holiday Family Party. Bring your friends and family and make a snowflake, have a snowball race, get your face painted and help us round up all the reindeer you can find. You can also see our new star show, Seasons of Light, which is all about the holiday sky and the possible cosmic connections to the holidays surrounding this time of year. For the price of party entry ($5 per person), you also get to see our popular Holiday Laser Light show as well! Filled with your favorite holiday songs and laser light displays, you’ll know right away why this show is one of our favorites.

Come and celebrate the holiday with Commander Kaet and her crew.
For more information see our webpage at http://planetarium.louisville.edu

Skies Over Louisville: Winter Edition

Louisville's Winter Skies
As we move into the winter months, longer nights and frigid temperatures mean perfect stargazing opportunities if you bundle up tight and bring the hot chocolate. The full moons during the winter have names which seems to describe the season; the Cold Moon, on December 2nd, signals the longest and darkest nights of the year; January's Wolf Moon is named for the packs that would gather around Native American villages looking for food at this time of the year; and the Snow Moon of February describes the month that usually saw the heaviest snowfall for the Native Americans. See http://louisville.edu/planetarium/sky.html for more about what awaits you in the sky, and at the planetarium, this winter season.

Season of Light Premieres at Planetarium!

The planetarium is welcoming the holiday season with Family Holiday parties and the premier of Season of Light – a show designed to deepen your knowledge of the winter sky as well as your appreciation of the richness of the holiday traditions you and your family hold dear. Additionally we will show the ever-popular Holiday Laser Music Show and have lots of family-friendly activities and fun. Holiday Parties are on Saturday, December 5 and December 19, 11 am – 3 pm. For showtimes throughout December, visit http://louisville.edu/planetarium/events

The making of a planetarium show

Movies and shows seem very plug-and-play in our digital era. Pop in a DVD, program the DVR, or go to the movie or IMAX theater where they play a digital file from a hard drive. However, a planetarium show is more a choreography between the digital and the mechanical- a theatrical performance where the actors are projectors and computers. If the audio, star projector, lasers, and 3 immersive video projectors don't all work in concert, the show will not be accurate and entertaining. This week, the planetarium staff has been hard at work installing and programming the new holiday show, Seasons of Light. It is more theatrical media than movie theater, and the process is interesting for anyone who likes to tell a story using technologies and digital media. When you purchase a planetarium show, what does it look like? You get three things; a CD with a soundtrack, a DVD full of image files, and a script that includes the timeline and the production notes for all your special effects. Next comes the work of integrating and editing all of these components into a single show program that the theater's main computer will follow. This program is what tells the star projector to turn on and off when you want to see the night sky, it shows the 3 projector immersive movie that wraps around the front of the theater, it points the laser constellation outlines and makes meteorites flash across the dome, it synchs the music to the video, and finally, this program will move planet and sun projectors around in their proper seasonal locations. We hope you will come and see Seasons of Light this holiday season, but know that these shows are much more than just a movie, they are mechanical movements and hours of programming and planning, all for the love of the stars. For Season of Light show times, see http://louisville.edu/planetarium/events
Follow us on Twitter at http://twitter.com/uoflplanetarium

Rauch Planetarium now on Twitter!

Want to get the latest news and views of the universe? Connect to the current happenings at the planetarium and in the cosmos at http://twitter.com/uoflplanetarium, and get your geek chic information ready for the holiday party circuit!

Every Star is a Perfect Globe! Free lecture at Planetarium on Dec 2@ 7:30 PM

Join us at the Rauch Planetarium on Wednesday, Dec 2 at 7:30 PM for "Every Star is a Perfect Globe! Galileo, Marius, and the Earliest Telescopic Studies of Stars," a FREE lecture by Professor Christopher Graney, Physicist and Astronomer with Otter Creek-South Harrison Observatory and Professor of Physics at Jefferson Community & Technical College. Brought to you by Sigma Xi, The Scientific Research Society, Louisvile Chapter and the Gheens Science Hall and Rauch Planetarium. Visit http://louisville.edu/planetarium/ for details and directions.