Space rocks land in Mora

ECMAC has been busy pursuing our mission of spreading the science of Astronomy, and during that journey we have been fortunate enough to ally our club with Nasa's Night Sky Network.  One of the wonderful benefits to this partnership is the quarterly educational tool-kits that are sent to those clubs that fulfill the requirements set forth in the guidelines.   Well, ECMAC has earned its first tool-kit already and we enjoyed a great evening meeting exploring the Space Rock kit.  First, I must say that the thoughtfulness that went into assembling this kit is tremendous, the activities are great for all ages, and the quality is first-rate.

The central presentation tonight was to run the club through the Space rock/ Earth rock game.  Our junior astronomers took to this with ravenous delight and were eager to examine every sample with the magnifying glass and magnet.  Our members gained great knowledge on the origins of asteroids, different classes of meteorites, methods for differentiating different rocks, and terrific hands-on experience with actual rocks from space!  Thanks Night Sky Network!!  This was truly  a great time for all ages.

While the adult members conducted the meeting, the junior members busied themselves playing Space Bingo (and to hear them calling out the astro-terms  was a hoot!) .  To close the meeting we were extremely proud to present three of our members with Certificates of achievement for completing the First Observation Club, a certificate requiring independent hands-on demonstration of the use of a telescope to locate several different classes of celestial objects.

Another fun-filled meeting is under our belts, and we are pleased to announce the upcoming events:
Dec 20 lunar eclipse independent observation and astrophotography session
Jan 8, 2011  "Hardy Minnesotans" star party at the Jaycee ball field at 5:30 PM,
Jan 25, 2011 Public meeting featuring more great Night Sky Network educational materials

Please join us if you can attend!!