Newswise — A stellar salute to humanity's venture into space and the preciousness of our home planet is scheduled for the Fiske Planetarium at the University of Colorado, Boulder on Saturday, April 11.
The celebration highlights both National Astronomy Day and Yuri's Night, the pioneering flight of the first human to orbit Earth -- Cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin " 48 years ago this month.
A full day of hands-on and family-oriented activities are available, including talks, tours, demonstrations, science lessons, as well as balloon-rocket launches and night sky viewing using telescopes at the university's Sommers-Bausch Observatory.
Secure World Foundation is partnering with Fiske Planetarium and Remedy Arts of New York City to celebrate Yuri's Night with two space music concerts under the planetarium dome, performed by:
* Boulder-based electronic musician Mike Metlay and his band, mindSpiral;
* New York artist Kenji Williams and his Bella Gaia show that includes breathtaking visuals of Earth from space.
Admission to each concert is free and open to the public.
"Yuri's Night is really a celebration of two achievements " humanity's venture into space and our recognition of Earth as a fragile planet worthy of our consideration. It's really part of the dawn of the modern environmental movement," said Dr. Suzanne Metlay, Operations Director for Secure World Foundation.
Dr. Metlay said that satellite data have become crucial for human and environmental security.
"We can use images and data from Earth observing satellites to help people in need. In the decades that have passed since Yuri Gagarin first saw Earth from orbit, our view of our planet and of ourselves has really changed " from weather satellite data on the local news every night to monitoring human-induced climate change, or from watching natural disasters to tracking refugee movements," Metlay said. "We are really beginning to understand the intricate relationship of people and planet."
This year has been dubbed the International Year of Astronomy in celebration of the 400th anniversary of Galileo first turning a telescope to the heavens. National Astronomy Day is intended to bring astronomy to the public and is an annual event celebrated at planetariums, observatories and astronomy clubs around the world.
"Astronomy Day at the Fiske Planetarium is a very popular annual community event," said Barbara David, an educational consultant to Secure World Foundation (SWF).
Secure World Foundation will have a booth at Astronomy Day from 11 AM to 4 PM displaying Google Satellite software that indicates the actual positions of satellites and space debris - demonstrating the need for international cooperation in mitigating orbital debris. Printed materials on this issue and other Foundation areas of interest will be available, Ms. David said.
Fiske Planetarium and the Sommers-Bausch Observatory are located on Regent Drive at Kittredge Loop Drive on the CU-Boulder campus.
For detailed information on the entire roster of events and activities at Fiske, please go to:
http://cosmos.colorado.edu/sbo/public/astroday.html
or
or
via phone, call (303) 492-5002
Resources:
For information regarding worldwide Yuri's Night events, go to:
For information concerning the International Year of Astronomy and a listing of global activities, go to:
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