Past Events 2009
Milky Way Photo Unveiling
Sunday, November 15, 2009
Mueller Planetarium lobby
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The University of Nebraska State Museum and Mueller Planetarium invited the public to take a journey to the center of our galaxy!
We commemorated the 2009 International Year of Astronomy with the unveiling of two new mural-sized color images of the Milky Way's core taken by NASA's Great Observatories: the Hubble Space Telescope, the Spitzer Space Telescope, and the Chandra X-ray Observatory.
Tim Clare, member of the University of Nebraska Board of Regents, unveiled the stunning photographs. This was followed by a talk on Black Holes by Dr. Jack Gabel of Creighton University.
Mars Rover engineer to speak
Oct 9 - Nebraska Union
Oct 10 - Morril Hall
Oct 10 - Hyde Observatory
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Nagin Cox of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory was at UNL to share the dramatic story of the Mars exploration missions with students and community members. Cox is part of the system engineering team on Mars Science Laboratory -- the next NASA rover to Mars scheduled for launch in 2011.
Cox's visit was sponsored by NASA Nebraska Spacegrant Consortium, in cooperation with Mueller Planetarium, Hyde Observatory and the UNL chapter of Society of Women in Engineering.
Hubbard Rhino Barn
Dedication at Ashfall Fossil Beds
Located near Royal, Nebraska
Friday, June 19, 2009
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Visit Ashfall Fossil Beds »
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Visitors to the Ashfall Fossil Beds State Historical Park near Royal can share the same joy and adventure as the paleontologists who discover fossils each day in the newly opened Hubbard Rhino Barn. The expanded facility is generously supported by a $1.2 million gift from the Hubbard Family Foundation. |
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Ashfall Fossil Beds is a fossil site left intact for public viewing. About 12 million years ago, a volcano in southwest Idaho spread a blanket of ash over the flat savanna-like grasslands of northeastern Nebraska. The animals which lived there began to die. Undisturbed except by an occasional scavenging meat-eater, the skeletons of these animals are preserved in their death positions, complete with evidence of their last meals in their mouths and stomachs and their last steps preserved in the sandstone below. |
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Since studies began in the 1970s more than 200 fossil skeletons from 12 species of Clarendonian Land Mammal Age have been discovered at the site. In 2006 the park was designated a National Natural Landmark by the U.S. government. |
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Colorful Creature Day
featuring The String Beans
Saturday, May 16, 2009
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We enjoyed a day of art, music and fun! The Colorful Creature art exhibit opened with a performance by the family-friendly band The String Beans.
Fun activities for families included face painting, fun with beads, watching artists work, talking to scientists about fossils, colorful rocks, and minerals, and meeting adoption dogs from the Capital Humane Society.
Astronomy Day 2009
Saturday, May 2, 2009
Press release »
Mueller Planetarium and Lincoln's Prairie Astronomy Club joined forces with Astronomy Magazine and Celestron Telescopes to celebrate the International Year of Astronomy with Astronomy Day 2009!
Exciting hands-on science activities and demonstrations for kids and families included: robotics, rocketry, space travel, physics, telescopes, meteorites, optics and much more.
Preview screenings of
the PBS documentary
400 Years of the Telescope
Saturday, April 4, 2009
Mueller Planetarium, Morill Hall
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Mueller Planetarium, in partnership with NET-Television, presented a free preview of the documentary 400 Years of the Telescope, as part of the 2009 International Year of Astronomy (IYA) celebrating the 400th anniversary of Galileo's use of the telescope to reveal the unseen heavens to humanity. This visually stunning film takes viewers on a journey chronicling the history of the telescope from the time of Galileo, its profound impact on the science of astronomy, and how both have shaped the way we view ourselves in the midst of an infinite universe.
NASA Astronaut
Clayton Anderson Appearance
Hubble Mural Unveiling
Dinosaurs & Disasters
Family Science Day
Sat, February 7, 2009
Morill Hall, UNL City Campus
The University of Nebraska State Museum and the UNL Department of Geosciences held their annual fun family day, Dinosaurs & Disasters, on February 7. The theme reflected Changes Over Time. Visitors experienced a full day of discovery with three floors of hands-on activities with scientists!
| Stations included: Dinosaurs Fossil horses Earth History Fossil beds Extinction & Geologic history Tornadoes |
Climate change Weather Station Antarctica's past climate Meteorites Volcanoes Plate tectonics Fossil elephants |
Visitors were encouraged to bring a rock or fossil for identification. The Museum also showed the Fulldome movie Origins of Life in Mueller Planetarium.
