Tombaugh Day, a celebration of the life of Astronomer Clyde Tombaugh, will be held at the Museum of Nature & Science on Saturday, February 1, 2014 from 9:00 am – 1:00 pm. The museum is located at 411 N. Main Street in Las Cruces, next to the Museum of Art.
Starting at 9:00 am, the Museum of Nature & Science will provide continual, free, hands-on activities for families. The NMSU Astronomy Department and the Astronomy Society of Las Cruces will be on site with solar telescopes giving visitors the opportunity to safely view the sun. Dr. Chas Miller of NMSU is speaking about Pluto and the New Horizons mission at 9:00 am & 11:00 am. Museum staff will lead a class about making a homemade telescope at 10:00 am and a liquid nitrogen demonstration by the New Mexico Museum of Space History is scheduled for 12:30 pm. In the afternoon, we will be screening two movies: PBS’s NOVA episode The Pluto Files and The Ecstasy and the Agony of Planet X, a short film by the NMSU Astronomy Graduate Students.
Our neighboring museum, the Branigan Cultural Center with the help of the New Mexico Space History Museum will celebrate Clyde Tombaugh with a variety of half-hour presentations. Thirty-minute presentations will be offered from 9:00 am to 12:00 pm. Planetarium shows will start on the hour and the Space History Museum will present the following programs on the half hour: Sizing Up the Solar System (9:30 am), Awful Truth About Zero Gravity (10:30 am), and Gyroscopes (11:30 am).
The museum is located at 411 North Main Street and is open Tuesday through Saturday from 9:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. For additional information, visit the website at: http://las-cruces.org/museums or call (575)522-3120.
If you need an accommodation for a disability to enable you to fully participate in this event please contact the museum 48 hours prior to the event.
Join a full day of celebrations for all ages on February 1
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