Ken Wilson, an amateur astronomer, retired planetarium director, and accomplished author,  will present “The Big Eye: A Brief History.”  for a fascinating journey into one of the great monuments of 20th-century science, the 200” Hale Telescope at Mt. Palomar.

Ken Wilson brings a lifetime of experience in both the professional and amateur astronomy worlds to this presentation. He holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of Michigan and a Master of Science in Astronomy degree from Swinburne University. His career has taken him to planetariums across the country, including positions in Southeast Michigan, Rochester, NY, and Richmond, VA,. He has also taught undergraduate astronomy at a number of colleges and worked as a consultant to Edmund Scientific and Meade Instruments Corporation.

Light pollution is the alteration of the natural patterns of light and dark in ecosystems, resulting from artificial lighting. In a descriptive sense, light pollution occurs when artificial light is used in a poor or excessive way, especially at night, causing negative effects in the environment and the view of the night sky. Light pollution doesn’t just negatively affect human health, but also the plants and animals that live within the wide surrounding regions affected by artificial lighting.This is a fantastic opportunity to learn from a young, energetic researcher and advocate who is making a real difference in the fight for dark skies. Please join us to hear Ruoyu and learn how we can all help protect the night.  Ruoyu Li is an M.S. student in Urban Data Science at NYU’s Center for Urban Science and Progress.  He studies urban nighttime light pollution and its impacts on human health. He also serves as a Data Analysis and Social Impact Intern at DarkSky International.

This is an ASLI Club Observing Night, open to everyone!  We set up in the parking lot of the Vanderbilt Museum and the lights are turned off for us for the evening. Bring your telescope or binoculars to our public observing session, or look through our telescopes which we set up for everyone to look through.  We can show you some of the wonderful objects in the night sky during the evening.  We will only have this observing session if there are perfectly clear skies, however.  Check this website the day of this event before coming to the event, just to make sure it has not been cancelled because of weather.

Have you ever wanted to sketch something you see through your telescope, like a lunar crater? Where would you learn how to begin?  Right here, in the Planetarium lobby on this night!  Ken will guide us through a relaxed, no-pressure art session, focused on learning how to begin sketching a crater on the moon.  No artistic experience is required.  Sketching a crater is really about how to observe an object carefully and learning to see more carefully.  If you have never tried to draw anything in your life, you will find this interesting and you will be so surprised at what you can do, even with no experience at all.  Ken will bring paper, pencils, erasers and something called a tortillon or a “blending stump” and small clipboards to draw on, as you look at a projected image of a crater on the screen.  He will also bring toilet paper.  “Toilet Paper?”  You will have to be there!

What do astronauts eat when they’re floating hundreds of miles above Earth? How do you cook a meal without gravity? And does that famous freeze-dried ice cream actually taste any good?  Shannon will take us on a mouthwatering journey through the history and science of space food – from the early days of squeeze tubes and bite-sized cubes to to-day’s gourmet space meals and even the challenge of growing fresh food aboard the ISS. Expect fun facts, surprising stories, and maybe even a taste test or two.