Celebrating Chandra – The Sky Tonight
It’s the first week of the month. You know what that means… it’s time for The Sky Tonight!
The Sky Tonight
The Sky Tonight is held in person at the Fleet Science Center the first Wednesday night of every month and the second Sunday in the Heikoff Giant Dome Theater in Balboa Park. And if you can’t join us in person, join us for The Sky Tonight: Virtual Edition on the third Wednesday at 7 PM. We’ll make sure you see all the same beautiful images as the audience under the dome. And the virtual shows are pay-as-you-wish! From free to $20, with any amount going to support events like these. Just make sure you register in advance so you can receive the Zoom link.
The Sky Tonight show takes the audience on a tour of the night sky, and then we focus on a specific topic. This month, we’ll celebrate the 25th anniversary of the launch of the Chandra X-ray Observatory.
What will you see?
After a sky tour, we’ll discuss the amazing contributions of the Chandra X-ray Observatory. Launched in July 1999 by the space shuttle Columbia, it is the most successful x-ray astronomy mission ever. From its position in low-Earth orbit, Chandra has observed objects in our own solar system and the most distant reach of the universe. Combining its observations with those from visual and infrared telescopes has allowed for important discoveries about star formation and black holes and many other phenomena. And today, 25 years after launch, the Chandra X-ray Observatory is still exceeding pre-launch expectations.
Hopefully we’ll see you soon at The Sky Tonight and other events at the Fleet Science Center.
Wishing you clear skies!
If you’re interested, check out previous Sky Tonight topics – https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLeqFlmu52YsSI51Y7dK3BtTgSIcso9JY1
