Fairbanks Museum & Planetarium's Blog | Fairbanks Museum & Planetarium

Phantom of the Universe

Posted: | Categories: Fairbanks Museum, Planetarium Blog, Programs and Events, What's Happening

Our Lyman Spitzer Jr. Planetarium is OPEN after a week of cleaning and upgrades. We’re NOW OPEN with new shows! Here’s a sneak peek at “Phantom of the Universe: the Hunt for Dark Matter,” a new planetarium show that details the mysteries of dark matter, from its gravitational effects observed… Read More

September Astronomy

Posted: | Categories: Mark Breen, Skywatch Almanac Astronomy

The summer skies, like the weather, are in transition through September. The Scorpion lowers into the southwest through the month, followed by the Teapot in Sagittarius. Between them Saturn remains in view, getting lower each evening. Earlier evenings feature the Big Dipper sinking lower into the northwestern skies, while the… Read More

September Weather

Posted: | Categories: Eye on the Sky, Skywatch Almanac Weather, Weather, What's Happening

Weather almost always takes a back seat to the harvest of the fields and gardens, as well as the blaze of foliage by late in the month. Yet the same decreasing daylight that signals plants to ripen their fruit, and triggers chemical changes in the leaves to stop making green… Read More

Beautiful Butterflies

Posted: | Categories: Fairbanks Museum, What's Happening

The Shippee Family Eyecare Butterfly House will close for the season in mid-September. This is your chance to experience a world of color and motion before our native butterflies take cover as the colder months approach. Monarchs, Painted Ladies, and Swallowtails are still happily fluttering from flower to flower, still… Read More

Awesome eclipse!

Posted: | Categories: Planetarium Blog, Programs and Events

We lost count of how many people came to the Fairbanks Museum to view the 2017 Great American Eclipse on Monday! The mood was festive as we made viewing boxes and watched NASA’s live feed of the event as the eclipse path crossed the continental US. Museum staff and volunteers… Read More

August Astronomy

Posted: | Categories: Planetarium Blog, Skywatch Almanac Astronomy

The obvious highlight this August is a total solar eclipse tracking diagonally across the US on the 21st, covering about 70 percent of the Sun in Vermont. The annual Perseid Meteor Shower brings us shooting stars from the 11th to the 14th, hampered by a waning Gibbous Moon. The evenings… Read More

August Weather

Posted: | Categories: Fairbanks Museum, Skywatch Almanac Weather

If summer can be said to be fading in August, it does so with grace and composure. The days remain warm and hazy, and often muggy. Nights are longer, but rarely cool. And the morning fog settles into the river valleys like a gossamer veil. Thunderstorms remain the most common… Read More

The Great American Eclipse

Posted: | Categories: Museum News, Planetarium Blog

One of nature’s grandest phenomena. The August 21st solar eclipse is bound to be spectacular, and did you know that Vermont will experience a 65% eclipse? To celebrate the event, the Fairbanks Museum and Planetarium, in partnership with the Northeast Kingdom Astronomy Foundation (NKAF) and The St. Johnsbury Athenaeum, is… Read More

Franklin’s Guides

Posted: | Categories: Fairbanks Museum, Learning

Tours with Franklin’s Guides, 11:00 AM – noon, weekdays. It’s that time of the summer where our student curators are here to provide you a closer look into our collections, dioramas, and exhibits! Franklin’s Guides is a historic 75-year tradition that provides service learning and mentoring opportunities for students ages… Read More

Creepy Crawly Café

Posted: | Categories: Fairbanks Museum, Observing, What's Happening

11:00 AM to noon weekdays: join us and our Creepy Crawlies for feeding time. They creep, they crawl, and are ever hungry! From hairy arachnids, feigning beetles, to ever illusive mantises, we have a variety of bizarre creatures that require daily care and feeding. Creepy Crawly Cafe introduces an opportunity… Read More