Fall Family Astro with Comets and Meteors

This semester's Family Astro on Saturday, November 14th was the messiest yet.  We started off by telling families about the Leonids meteor shower, which has been taking place over the last few days.  We showed kids how comets can leave behind trails of debris, which hit the earth.  Jana Grcevich made a model comet out of dry ice and showed how it can crack and emit gas when it warms up.  Lia Corrales then talked about different types of meteorites and guided the kids in making a model meteorite out of cookie dough.  Yuan Li and Jennifer Weston had kids throw objects into powder to simulate the formation of craters.  Unfortunately, the weather was too wet to make any telescope observations.  Andrew Brown wrapped up by giving families a tour of the observatory, followed by a slide show about light and telescopes.  Families who felt inclined stayed for the last 20 minutes to watch Cosmic Collisions.  Approximately 17 children and their families were present at the event.

- Lia -