Galactic Tick Day

Our planet Earth, along with the rest of the Solar System, travels around the galactic center of the Milky Way Galaxy every 225 million Earth years.   One centi-arcsecond of this revolution is called a ‘Galactic Tick.’  A Galactic Tick happens every 633.7 days or 1.7361 years.     Galactic Tick Day is set aside to acknowledge the Sun’s motion , our progress around the home galaxy, and to celebrate humanity’s knowledge of this motion.

We’ll be presenting three shows today to celebrate Galactic Tick Day

[Admission:   $8.00 per show; $12.00 to watch 2 shows; $15.00 to watch all three shows]

11:00 a.m. Journey to a Billion Suns

A program about mapping the stars. The European Space Agency’s “GAIA” project intends to produce the most comprehensive three dimensional map of our sector of the galaxy.  We’ll know the distances, sizes, temperatures, life spans, exo planet locations and more about a billion stars in our part of the Milky Way. Join us as we discover how these modern day celestial map makers are developing a new view of the heavens. Show length: 31 minutes

12:00 p.m. Hubble Vision 2

Since its launch in 1990, the Hubble Space Telescope has provided incredible images in unprecedented detail to astronomers, and made an astonishing array of discoveries — from nearby objects in the solar system to the most distant galaxies at limits of the observable universe. We’ve taken the best and most exciting Hubble images and woven them into an engaging story of cosmic exploration, bringing the wonders of the universe to audiences everywhere. HUBBLE Vision 2 is a fascinating tour of the cosmos — from Earth orbit. Show length: 30 minutes

1:00 p.m.TimeSpace

Take an adventure through time, as we explore the past and imagine the future of the cosmos. Witness the birth of the Universe, the doom of the dinosaurs, and be there for the first landing on the Moon!  Each TimeSpace travel story is presented as a destination to be experienced as if you are there. Show length: 28 minutes