Join us for a magical evening under the stars! Experience the wonders of the night sky with telescopes guided by local astronomers, enjoy captivating space-themed presentations from leading experts, meet nocturnal animals, and connect with NASA ambassadors. Express your creativity with a space-inspired art activity or a fun temporary tattoo to show your cosmic enthusiasm. The evening will begin with an out-of-this-world space-themed Carillon concert. Come early to view the Sun through solar scopes in the Rondel from 12 p.m. to sunset. Don’t miss this one-of-a-kind evening celebrating art, science, and the stars!
Presentation info:
Derek Demeter – 6:00 p.m.
Presentation Title: Stellar News in Astronomy
Description: Join Derek Demeter, astronomer, and director of the Emil Buehler Planetarium at Seminole State College, as he details the amazing recent discoveries in Astronomy and what lies ahead. Derek will discuss the latest James Webb Space Telescope findings and share what is to come with NASA missions like the Europa Clipper Mission.
Speaker Bio:
Ever since Derek could remember, he has been looking to the stars. This constant fascination with astronomy gave him the inspiration he needed to soar through the many stellar journeys he has experienced throughout his life. While a student finishing his Physics and Technical Education degrees, he landed a position at the Seminole State College Planetarium in Sanford, Florida. Over much of the last decade, his passion for teaching people about the wonders of the universe has earned him accolades and recognition from the planetarium industry, his peers, and the community, such as currently serving as the Executive Secretary of the International Planetarium Society. He works hard presenting programs to both the community at large and to students of all ages. Derek also promotes science beyond the planetarium with his appearances at many other venues such as the Starry Starry Night Sky Festival, National Park astronomy events, libraries across the state, serving as the observing chair of the Central Florida Astronomical Society, and simply setting up a telescope at local venues to give the public a truly “out-of-this-world” experience.
Dr. Daniel Britt – 7:00 p.m.
Presentation: Orbits and Ice Ages: The History of Climate
Description: Join Dr. Daniel Britt, Pegasus Professor of Astronomy and Planetary Sciences at the University of Central Florida, as he details the history of Earth’s climate. What is “normal climate?” What is “normal” for the Earth?
Bio: Dr. Daniel Britt is the Pegasus Professor of Astronomy and Planetary Sciences at the Department of Physics, University of Central Florida. He was educated at the University of Washington and Brown University, receiving a Ph.D. in Geological Sciences from Brown in 1991. He has had a varied career including service in the US Air Force as an ICBM missile launch officer and an economist for Boeing before going into planetary sciences. He has served on the science teams of four NASA missions, Mars Pathfinder, Deep Space 1, New Horizons, and currently the Lucy Mission Science Team for a series of flybys of asteroids near Jupiter. He was the project manager for the camera on Mars Pathfinder. He currently does research on the physical properties and mineralogy of asteroids, comets, the Moon, and Mars under several NASA grants and is the director of the Center for Lunar and Asteroid Surface Science (CLASS), a node of NASA’s Solar System Exploration Research Virtual Institute (SSERVI). He has served as the Chair of the Division for Planetary Sciences of the American Astronomical Society and the Planetary Geology Division of the Geological Society of America. Honors include 8 NASA Achievement Awards, election as a Fellow of the Meteoritical Society, and an asteroid named after him; 4395 DanBritt.
Dominic Benford – 8:00 p.m.
Presentation: Settling Our Place in the Universe (and how we’re going to do that)
Description: How did the universe we see today come to be? Are planetary systems like ours common, rare, unique? Join NASA Astrophysicist Dr. Dominic Benford as we approach the answers to these age-old questions with the next generation of space telescopes.
Bio: Dr. Dominic Benford is NASA’s Program Scientist for the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope, the mission to answer fundamental questions of the nature of dark energy, the distribution of dark matter, the occurrence of planets around other stars, and even to enable the direct imaging of planetary systems. His research interests are in the building of novel astronomical instruments to help us learn about the formation and evolution of galaxies and their stars. His sincere wish is that the vast wealth of data from the Roman Space Telescope will inspire astronomers everywhere, professional and amateur alike, to study the heavens in ways never before possible.
Dr. Benford is a dynamic speaker on various platforms. Speaking in front of thousands at South by Southwest, AwesomeCon, and the 2024 Eclipse Over Texas with thousands of attendees; on radio and podcasts including Top of Mind, Gravity Assist, and AstroTalk; and in smaller venues like the National Book Festival, the Death Valley Dark Sky Festival, and at middle and high schools.
“People have been gazing into the night sky for all of history and before. To us, the universe is mostly dark and static. Over eons, though, it has been changing in ways both large and small. Large, in that the cosmic web of galaxy clusters has been coalescing and collapsing to leave voids a hundred million light years across. Small, in that individual planets have been forming by the billions in solar systems throughout our galaxy. When I was born, we didn’t know these things. Soon, we will understand not just the past, but the future of our universe, and whether the conditions for life exist elsewhere out there. We have only to gaze into the night sky a little more.”
Know Before You Go:
• Bring your chairs and blankets to enjoy presentations on the Oval Lawn, seating is not provided.
• Light is not permitted in the Astronomy Meadow. Use a red flashlight or red headlamp while in the telescope viewing area (complimentary red cellophane flashlights will be available in limited quantities).
• Please dress in weather-appropriate clothing as most activities are outside.
• Gates will close for entry at 8:30 p.m.
Event Date & Time
Friday, January 31, 2025
5:00 p.m. – 9:30 p.m.
Location
Bok Tower Gardens
Price
Free for members / $20 for non-member adults, $10 for non-member children ages 6 – 17 (includes admission), Free for children 5 and under
No Registration Required
Stay tuned for more information on the Schedule of Events and speakers.