GREAT BASIN NATIONAL PARK ASTRONOMY FESTIVAL - September 6-8, 2018 9th Annual Great Basin National Park - National Park Service
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National Park Service
Great Basin National Park U.S. Department of the Interior
GREAT BASIN NATIONAL PARK
9th Annual
ASTRONOMY FESTIVAL
September 6-8, 2018
Art by Tyler NordgrenNational Park Service
Great Basin National Park U.S. Department of the Interior
2018 Astronomy Festival Schedule
Thursday, September 6
11:00 am – 3:00 pm: Solar Telescope Viewing and Make Your Own Solar Bracelet
Come learn about the sun, observe it safely, and take home your own glow-in-the-sun
bracelet (while supplies last).
Location: Lehman Caves Visitor Center
12:00 – 4:00 pm: Volunteer Registration Table Open
All volunteers bringing telescopes for public star parties or leading programs during the
festival need to check in at this table upon arrival at Great Basin. Volunteer forms, name
tags, parking passes and camping information will be available for pick-up.
Location: Picnic Area
2:00 pm: Teensy-Tiny Tardigrades: The Wonderful World of Water Bears
Join a volunteer ecologist for a program focused on these microscopic animals and their
connection to astrobiology.
Location: Lehman Caves Visitor Center
3:00 pm: Ranger Program: How to Use a Planisphere
Join a ranger to learn the basics of using a Planisphere, an important tool for observing
the night sky.
Location: Lehman Caves Visitor Center
6:30 pm: Ranger Talent Show
One of our most popular events, featuring the numerous talents of the Great Basin
National Park staff, as (sometimes distantly!) related to the stars.
Location: Lehman Caves Visitor Center
7:30 pm – 12:00 am: Star Party and Telescope Viewing
Enjoy an opportunity to view planets, galaxies, nebulae, star clusters, and other objects
through the many telescopes provided by our dedicated volunteers. Park Rangers will
be on duty to answer questions and provide festival information. Come see us at the
Great Basin Table during the Star Party!
Location: Picnic Area
2National Park Service
Great Basin National Park U.S. Department of the Interior
2018 Astronomy Festival Schedule
8:00 pm: Great Basin for Kids: Deep Sky Certificates
Join the hunt to find certain objects many light years away from us. When you finish,
you’ll get a personalized certificate and a candy bar!
Location: Picnic Area
8:30 pm: Constellation Tour
Join a Great Basin Dark Ranger to learn some of the stories in the sky.
Location: Picnic Area
Friday, September 7
11:00 am – 3:00 pm: Solar Telescope Viewing and Make Your Own Solar Bracelet
Come learn about the sun, observe it safely, and take home your own glow-in-the-sun
bracelet (while supplies last).
Location: Lehman Caves Visitor Center
12:00 – 4:00 pm: Volunteer Registration Table Open
All volunteers bringing telescopes for public star parties or leading programs during the
festival need to check in at this table upon arrival at Great Basin. Volunteer forms, name
tags, parking passes and camping information will be available for pick-up.
Location: Picnic Area
12:00 pm: Great Basin for Kids: The Moon
Learn about Earth’s one and only lunar neighbor in an activity especially for kids.
Location: Lehman Caves Visitor Center
1:00 pm: Teensy-Tiny Tardigrades: The Wonderful World of Water Bears
Join a volunteer ecologist for a program focused on these microscopic animals and their
connection to astrobiology.
Location: Lehman Caves Visitor Center
2:00 pm: Ranger Program: Astronomy 101
Join a Great Basin Dark Ranger for an introduction to one of our favorite subjects.
Location: Lehman Caves Visitor Center
3National Park Service
Great Basin National Park U.S. Department of the Interior
2018 Astronomy Festival Schedule
3:00 pm: Ranger Program: How to Use a Planisphere
Join a ranger to learn the basics of using a Planisphere, an important tool for observing
the night sky.
Location: Lehman Caves Visitor Center
6:30 pm: Keynote Speaker Presentation at Lehman Caves Visitor Center
Dr. John Barentine, Director of Public Policy, International Dark Sky Association
Star Light, Star Bright: Protecting Our Heritage Of Dark Skies
Great Basin National Park is a special place to the many thousands of people who visit each year, but few of them
learn why “half the park is after dark”. The park’s dark night skies offer an unparalleled experience for those who
seek it out. But such skies are under threat worldwide, as we have come to understand a host of known and
suspected hazards involving the use of artificial light at night. These hazards threaten the wellbeing of wildlife,
undermine our energy security, compromise public safety, and separate us from an important element of our
cultural heritage. The immediacy of these concerns has been heightened in recent years due to the solid-state
revolution that has fundamentally changed the way we light our cities. I will review the challenges we face in
preserving dark skies around the world and particularly in our parks, describe the impact of the International Dark
Sky Association and its work in the past three decades, and provide practical solutions that empower everyone to
help take back (and preserve) the night.
7:30 pm – 12:00 am: Star Party and Telescope Viewing
Enjoy an opportunity to view planets, galaxies, nebulae, star clusters, and other objects
through the many telescopes provided by our dedicated volunteers. Park Rangers will
be on duty to answer questions and provide festival information. Come see us at the
Great Basin Table during the Star Party!
Location: Picnic Area
8:00 pm: Great Basin for Kids: Deep Sky Certificates
Join the hunt to find certain objects many light years away from us. When you finish,
you’ll get a personalized certificate and a candy bar!
Location: Picnic Area
8:30 pm: Constellation Tour
Join a Great Basin Dark Ranger to learn some of the stories in the sky.
Location: Picnic Area
4National Park Service
Great Basin National Park U.S. Department of the Interior
2018 Astronomy Festival Schedule
Saturday, September 8
6:00 – 7:30 am: Sunrise Walk: The Fremont Indian Culture
Stroll with a ranger to the Baker Archaeological Site to watch the sunrise. Learn about
the Fremont culture and the importance of the celestial sphere in their lives.
Location: Baker Archaeological Site, Baker, NV
11:00 am – 3:00 pm: Solar Telescope Viewing and Make Your Own Solar Bracelet
Come learn about the sun, observe it safely, and take home your own glow-in-the-sun
bracelet (while supplies last).
Location: Lehman Caves Visitor Center
11:00 am: Ranger Program: Astronomy 101
Join a Great Basin Dark Ranger for an introduction to one of our favorite subjects.
Location: Lehman Caves Visitor Center
12:00 – 4:00 pm: Volunteer Registration Table Open
All volunteers bringing telescopes for public star parties or leading programs during the
festival need to check in at this table upon arrival at Great Basin. Volunteer forms, name
tags, parking passes and camping information will be available for pick-up.
Location: Picnic Area
12:00 — 3:00 pm: Cloud Chamber Particle Detection Demonstration
Using dry ice to cool rubbing alcohol in a clear container, we will set up a cloud chamber
for you to have a chance to see the condensation trails left behind from ionizing particles
produced by a needle point radioactive source. These particles are part of the
fundamental building blocks of matter in the universe!
Location: Lehman Caves Visitor Center
12:00 pm: Ranger Program: From Baghdad to Dadu: Non-European Astronomers in the
Medieval Age
Explore the lesser-known astronomers who preceded and inspired the astronomers of
the Renaissance.
Location: Lehman Caves Visitor Center
5National Park Service
Great Basin National Park U.S. Department of the Interior
2018 Astronomy Festival Schedule
1:00 pm: Night Sky Photography Workshop—advance reservations required; space limited
Thomas Sevcik is visiting us from Salt Lake City to share his knowledge of
photographing the night sky.
Location: Great Basin Resource Center classroom
2:00 pm: Ranger Program: How to Use a Planisphere
Join a ranger to learn the basics of using a Planisphere, an important tool for observing
the night sky.
Location: Lehman Caves Visitor Center
3:00 pm: Great Basin for Kids: Space Jingle!
Location: Lehman Caves Visitor Center
4:30 pm: Volunteer Appreciation Dinner—for registered festival volunteers only
We thank you for your dedicated participation! Please wear your festival nametag.
Location: The Border Inn, US Hwy 50, Utah-Nevada State Line
6:30 pm: Guest Speaker at Lehman Caves Visitor Center
Greg Furlich, Ph.D. Candidate, University of Utah
Dark Nights & Desert Air: Understanding the Highest Energy Particles from the Universe
The Great Basin region is known for its low light pollution and dry desert air, which makes it an ideal place for
light sensitive astrophysics experiments. One such experiment within the Great Basin region is the largest cosmic
ray observatory in the northern hemisphere, called the Telescope Array (TA) Project. Telescope Array is an
international collaboration of scientist from the USA, Japan, South Korea, Russia, and Belgium which focuses on
the study of cosmic rays. Cosmic rays are the highest energy charged particles zipping across the universe, and
are detected by their interaction with the Earth’s atmosphere. Some of these particles observed by the Telescope
Array have energy greater than anything that can be produced by current man-made particle accelerators.
Telescope Array is researching what energies cosmic rays are accelerated to, what are cosmic rays composed of,
and what astrophysical processes are responsible for accelerating cosmic rays to great energies. The astronomical
sources of cosmic rays is still unknown, so this groundbreaking, mysterious, and fundamental astrophysics will be
explored in this talk. A general overview of the Telescope Array near Delta, UT, cosmic ray detection methods,
current understandings, and where the field of cosmic rays is heading will be presented.
6National Park Service
Great Basin National Park U.S. Department of the Interior
2018 Astronomy Festival Schedule
7:30 pm – 12:00 am: Star Party and Telescope Viewing
Enjoy an opportunity to view planets, galaxies, nebulae, star clusters, and other objects
through the many telescopes provided by our dedicated volunteers. Park Rangers will
be on duty to answer questions and provide festival information. Come see us at the
Great Basin Table during the Star Party!
Location: Picnic Area
8:00: Great Basin for Kids: Deep Sky Certificates
Join the hunt to find certain objects many light years away from us. When you finish,
you’ll get a personalized certificate and a candy bar!
Location: Picnic Area
8:30: Constellation Tour
Join a Great Basin Dark Ranger to learn some of the stories in the sky.
Location: Picnic Area
ADDITIONAL FESTIVAL INFORMATION
Most events take place outdoors at the Lehman Caves Visitor Center. In the event of bad
weather, check at the Lehman Caves Visitor Center for alternate indoor locations.
Nightly stargazing and telescope viewing will take place in the picnic area adjacent to the
Lehman Caves Visitor Center parking lot. Parking is limited at this location. Shuttle bus
service will be provided from the Great Basin Visitor Center between 7:30 and midnight
each evening. To travel there in your personal vehicle, follow NV Hwy 488 all the way to
the Lehman Caves Visitor Center. Park there and follow the signs to the right for the
picnic area. The picnic area will be closed to cars for the entire festival.
When walking to the picnic area for observing, follow the white lights on the ground to
the red lights. From this point on, please do not use any light color other than red. If you
have a flashlight you want to use, please ask a ranger for red tape. This will help to
preserve everyone’s night vision.
7Lehman Caves Visitor Center
PROGRAMS AND EVENTS HERE
Picnic Area
TELESCOPE STARGAZING
Nightly from 7:30 to Midnight
Resource Center
Classroom
All events take place at the Lehman Caves Visitor Center
unless otherwise noted.
IN CASE OF INCLEMENT WEATHER:
Check at the Lehman Caves Visitor Center
for alternate locations.Notes: __________________________________________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________________________________
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