National Astronomy Day

Saturday was National Astronomy Day. And Night. Whoo hoo! After months of preparation and planning, the day finally came. We had crafts, we had activities, we had demonstrations, exhibits, samples and more. The kids came and made edible Mars rovers.

They also checked to make sure our claim of edibility was accurate.

And many people talked a lot about astronomy. Here's a photo of me in my full nerdiness explaining the finer points of the Diet Coke and Mentos rocket.

Many people won fabulous prizes in our raffle, and one lucky kid went home with this brand new telescope!

We had a great time, as did all 600 other people in attendance that day.

In the evening, we had a star party with many many telescopes, binoculars, hands-on activities and even more fun. Of course my personal highlight was a visit from Momfa, Joe, Krista, Riley (peacefully asleep in her carrier), KK and Alex. Thanks for coming, y'all! In addition to them, another 250 people came and enjoyed a lovely evening of skywatching.

For your final viewing pleasure, here are some time-lapse photos of a Diet Coke and Mentos rocket launch. Enjoy!