Icy Frontier of the Solar System

From Sep. 22-24, the Friends of the David M. Brown Arlington Planetarium hosted their first weekend of the 2017-18 school year titled, “Icy Frontier of the Solar System”. On Friday Sep. 22 and Saturday Sep. 23, there were viewings of the Friends’ newest full dome show “IBEX: The Search for the Edge of the Solar System”. On Sunday Sep. 24 there were viewings of the full dome shows “The Accidental Astronaut” and “One World, One Sky (Big Bird)”.

“Some substances such as Carbon Dioxide can transition directly from the solid phase to the gas phase, bypassing the liquid phase altogether. This is called ‘Sublimation’. You’re seeing that here as this solid dry ice is changing directly into gas. This happens on actual comets,” said Dr. Alice Monet of the Friends of the Arlington’s David M. Brown Planetarium. Dr. Monet along with some of the other Friends including Physics Teacher Dean Howarth and Kathi Overton, conducted interactive hands on comet-making demonstrations using household products, for the attendees throughout the weekend. The children in attendance looked on in amazement, and were able to touch the newly made comets, and ask questions about the science they had just witnessed.

The Friends will host special events at the David M. Brown Arlington Planetarium one weekend every month until the end of the school year. Each weekend will be geared towards increasing STEM education/awareness for all ages and will feature a specific theme. For more information, visit the Friends’ website. The theme of October’s weekend will be: Immense Telescopes That Sail the Night Above.

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