Science show features astronomical star
Howard Trottier, 778.782.4465, 604.612.2786 (cell); trottier@sfu.ca
Carol Thorbes, PAMR, 778.782.3210; cthorbes@sfu.ca
Back to school isn’t only about hitting the books at Simon Fraser University’s Burnaby Mountain campus this fall. It is also about stargazing, planetary plotting and astronomical story telling on Saturday, Sept. 18 from 2 p.m. until the telescopes are turned off at Starry Nights@SFU Forever.
That’s the name SFU physicist Howard Trottier and chemist Sophie Lavieri have given to a free day-long extravaganza of activities, organized to spark support for an astronomical teaching observatory and science outreach centre on the mountain.
The north concourse of SFU’s Academic Quadrangle will be humming with activity — hands-on science experiments, telescopes on display and other astronomical exhibits. The public will have access to telescopes set up near the Terry Fox statue. Parking will be free for the day.
Co-organized by the Vancouver Centre of the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada (RASC), Starry Nights@SFU Forever will also host RASC’s local Astronomy Day event.
The showstopper on RASC’s roster of activities is York University space engineer James Whiteway who will deliver the society’s annual Paul Sykes Memorial lecture at 4 p.m. in Images Theatre. Whiteway, the Canadian science lead on NASA’s 2008 Phoenix Mars Lander project, is world famous for spotting snow on the red planet. His weather reports were based on measurements of the Martian atmosphere using a Canadian Space Agency-built laser instrument aboard the Phoenix weather station.
SFU’s Student Astronomy Club will lead a Solar System Amazing Race across campus. There’ll be raffles for prizes, such as a high-powered amateur telescope.
Starry Nights@SFU Forever will happen rain or shine. An evening star party will begin at 7 p.m. If Mother Nature doesn’t cooperate, the back-up event will be a space-themed Hollywood blockbuster movie in Images Theatre.
Now if Trottier could wish upon a star, it would be that Starry Nights@SFU Forever helps SFU raise the $2 million needed to build an astronomical teaching observatory and science outreach centre,” says the amateur astronomer. “That way we could bring all kinds of science, including astronomy, to many more thousands of kids than we already reach through Science in Action and Starry Nights.”
Note: Attendees are requested to fill out on-line survey by Sept. 12, 11 p.m., for event planning purposes. http://www.sfu.ca/starrynights/
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