Enjoy the Perseids meteor shower – this year without the moonlight interfering – under the dark starry skies of the countryside, with dozens of shooting stars visible as they enter our atmosphere during the shower’s peak, reaching up to 100 per hour.
CSEO’s president and scientists will be on hand to offer a guided tour of the planets and constellations of the night sky so bring a cushion or picnic blanket for comfort! Guests are also welcome to bring their own telescopes.
For those who wish to combine the night with some further astronomical education, there will be screenings of a number of space documentaries at the Riverland’s kiosk (see below for the screening schedule).
Entrance is free and everybody is welcome. Refreshments and snacks will be available for purchase at Riverland Bio Farm’s kiosk but attendees are also welcome to bring their own.
—
Documentaries – Screening Schedule:
8.30 pm – ‘Black Holes: Messages from the Edge of the Universe’ (2017) (51 min)
It is the birth of neutrino astronomy. For the first time, astrophysicists can detect extra-terrestrial neutrinos in the ice of the South Pole. Neutrinos are the most common and also most mysterious elementary particles and as these particles are invisible to us, their mass is unknown.
9.30 pm – ‘The Hunt for Dark Matter’ (2017) (23 min)
CERN and the University of California-Santa Barbara are collaborating in the search for the elusive substance that physicists and astronomers believe holds the universe together — dark matter. Where is this search now in the realm of particle physics and what comes next?
10.00 pm – ‘Cosmic Front: Betelgeuse’ (2011) (54 min)
In the Orion constellation, Betelgeuse, a red star 1,000 times the size of the Sun, is an old star that scientists predict will soon come to a violent end. Will we see a supernova explosion 100 times brighter than a full moon in our lifetimes? Will the explosion release rays harming life on Earth?
11.00 pm – ‘Zenith: Advances in Space Exploration – Space Telescopes’ (2020) (25 min)
Space telescopes orbiting above the distorting effects of the Earth’s atmosphere, such as the Hubble, have made incredible contributions to our knowledge of the universe.
11.30 pm – ‘First Images: The James Webb Space Telescope’ (2022) (15 min)
The dawn of a new era in astronomy has begun as the world gets its first look at the full capabilities of NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope. These first images from the world’s largest and most powerful space telescope demonstrate Webb at its full power.
Friday, August 11, 08:30 pm – 01:30 am at Riverland Bio Farm, Kampia