Explorers of all ages attend LPI's Sky Fest

The Lunar and Planetary Institute (LPI) hosted “Sky Fest: Observing the Night Sky” on Saturday night, February 25, 2017 for nearly 400 visitors. Those in attendance were engaged in hands-on activities and presentations related to telescopes. Visitors performed four experiments in which they viewed images on posters through one or two lenses. This activity demonstrated how the orientation of objects is affected when viewing them through lenses, just as lenses in telescopes change the orientation of objects viewed through them. Visitors also assembled a simple telescope to take home. Mary Cerimele from the thermal vacuum test chamber at NASA Johnson Space Center spoke with event goers about the James Webb Space Telescope and how JSC has been testing the telescope. Outside on LPI’s lawn, members of the JSC astronomy society set-up their telescopes to share the night sky with visitors. Harris County Public Library-Freeman Branch Library staff were on hand to check-out telescope-related books to attendees and to demo resources available to the public in library’s Innovation Lab.

LPI’s Sky Fest events are thematic public events designed to encourage and facilitate science learning. Events topics center on celestial objects and events or NASA mission milestones. Sky Fest events are held four to five times a year and are open to all ages free of charge.

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Sky Fest