What's that Bright 'Star' Almost Straight Above - That's no Star, that's JUPITER!

This month's public event at the South Mountain Environmental Education Center was all about Jupiter. We reviewed some astrophysics basics then dived right in to understand this planet of superlatives. We all acted as observational scientists as we took notes on images like those that would have been seen by Galileo through his crude telescope in 1610. Then, WOW... as the next presentation slide showed, our notes were just like an actual page from Galileo's notebook! We then talked about how those notes were changing the scientific process. Both for the good of the scientific community and bad for Galileo. We studied Jupiter's composition, surface storms, radiation and magnetic environments, the Great Red Spot, the four 'Galilean' moons, and the scientific satellites sent to study this king of all planets. We then went outside to observe the planet through telescopes to see up close the beauty of this planet, but now knowing how hostile and violent this 'big bully' of the solar system actually is.

​Next month's presentation at the center is not to be missed. All about rockets! History, types, design, successes and failures, and future methods of space rocket propulsion systems. Start your journey to become a rocket scientist by attending this unique astronomy presentation on Friday, 23 June starting at 6:30 PM.