E Museum Newsletter

By now, you probably already know that we are going to have a total solar eclipse here in Evansville on April 8th. For a total solar eclipse to occur, the Earth, Moon, and Sun have to fall into perfect alignment, circumstances that are not only rare, but also spectacular to witness. But something unexpected appears to be going on inside the Sun that may make the solar eclipse on April 8th a true once in a lifetime experience.

As 2023 fades into the rearview, I want to take a moment to reflect on some of the most groundbreaking and consequential scientific advancements that occurred over the past year. It was a big year for science, with major breakthroughs in the fields of artificial intelligence, climate change, medicine and more.

In this blog post, I want to take a moment to address common questions and discuss safe eclipse eyewear so that you can be prepared for the total solar eclipse in just a few months. 

It is arguably the most famous equation in all of science (if equations can be considered famous, of course). You likely had this equation memorized well before you ever set foot in a physics classroom: E = mc2.

As a newcomer to Evansville, I wondered if this was a typical summer here in the city, or if the high temperatures we are experiencing are uncommon, as they are for much of the country. So, like any good scientist would do, I took a deep dive into the National Weather Service’s database to find the answers. Find out what I learned!

While the Tri-State has enjoyed the benefit of a planetarium since 1952, this year marks the 100th anniversary of the modern planetarium projector. This event will be celebrated as a year-long, global series of events, targeting both the public and planetarians worldwide.

If you were in Evansville during the last eclipse in 2017, you didn’t experience the event that we will experience next year. In 2017 in Evansville the Moon obscured a little over 99% of the Sun. The difference between a 99% eclipse is like the difference between night and day. Or put another way, the difference between seeing something mildly interesting and seeing something that utterly takes your breath away!

How our planetarium got to where it is today is just as remarkable. From our earliest beginnings as a display at the West Side Nut Club Fall Festival in 1952, to our canvas dome at our previous site on  Second Street, to the third-floor planetarium remembered by many, it’s been quite a journey.

The Evansville Museum’s Dorothy & George Eykamp Director of Science Experiences, Mitch Luman, will retire June 30, 2023. Luman has served as head of the Museum’s science department for 37 years, joining the institution in 1985 after directing the planetarium at the Hastings Museum of Natural and Cultural History in Nebraska.

During the period 1960-2000, 35-mm slides were the prevalent means of visual communication in most planetariums.  According to Maryann J. Riker, curator at Lafayette Collage Museum, “The 35mm slide was once a powerful recorders of art, memory, and time”.  

Mesmerica is a powerful visual music show that is crafted to evoke a sense of joy and happiness. This show opened in a few weeks ago in our Immersive Theater & Planetarium and we are seeing sell-out crowds, something we have not seen in a long time.

October is Fire Prevention Month, an observance that occurs each year in commemoration of the Great Chicago Fire, which began on October 8, 1871. The Great Chicago Fire killed more than 250 people, left 100,000 homeless, and destroyed more than 17,400 structures. Here at the Evansville Museum, we have an emergency plan for what to do in the event of a fire and you should too.

If you visit the Museum on a particularly blustery day, don't be surprised if you hear an unexpected sound while making your way to our front door. On certain days, when the wind is just right, a low whistle can be heard originating on the levee behind to the Museum. This eerie, wind-powered music is created from the above ground portion of a device used to control the flow of water underground.

You’ve heard of Comet Halley, right? How about comet Hyakutake, or comet Hale-Bopp of the 1990’s? Going further back, we could consider comets West, Kohoutek and Ikeya-Seki. For over one-hundred years, the names these celestial objects that grace our skies have been bestowed with the name of their discover. These comet discoverers were living, breathing people who, either through luck or perseverance, were the first to find and report a comet, and by current convention, got their name attached to that celestial body.

Clyde Tombaugh--one of the greatest visual astronomers of all time--was the discoverer of the dwarf planet Pluto. This one and only discovery of a planet during the last century (dwarf or otherwise) took place on February 18th, 1930. The announcement was made from the Lowell Observatory located just outside Flagstaff, Arizona.

Did you know that a famous astronomer once called Evansville home? As an adult, George Willis Ritchey, (b. 1864) was an internationally recognized engineer and astronomer, but as an 11-year-old, he moved to Evansville with his family and lived here for two years.

On May 7th, 2021, the Colonial Pipeline was subject to a cyberattack that shut down operations for 5 days. This shutdown left thousands of gas stations up and down the East Coast without gasoline, leading to widespread shortages and soaring gas prices. The Colonial Pipeline is the largest oil pipeline in the United States, capable of transporting 3 million barrels of fuel per day and supplying roughly 45% of all fuel consumed by the East Coast.

As an adult, I have used numerous telescopes located at observatories near where I lived. I acquired my current personal instrument, a 20-inch reflector, twenty-two years ago. Although I still use other telescopes from time-to-time, my 20-inch is currently my go-to star gazing tool. My scope employs a mirror twenty inches in diameter to capture light. I haul it around in a small trailer wherever I need to go.

We’ve been wearing a lot of PPE during the past year. Whether going to the store to buy groceries or visiting with our loved ones, face coverings help prevent the spread of SARS-CoV-2, the virus responsible for the disease that causes COVID-19. But what about the Personal Protective Equipment, used by medical professionals who are on the front lines of the current health emergency? What happens to all that single-use PPE?

I can’t remember a time when I was not interested in astronomy. I have always been captivated by the stars, which is a good thing if you make your living working in a planetarium! I am constantly surprised, however, to discover how few of my colleagues in the planetarium business do not use a telescope on a regular basis. Sure they know how to look through a telescope, how to share the highlights of the night sky and they have a tremendous amount of knowledge of stars and planets, but as far as spending quality time with a telescope for sheer pleasure, I seem to be an outlier.

By now, you probably already know that we are going to have a total solar eclipse here in Evansville on April 8th. For a total solar eclipse to occur, the Earth, Moon, and Sun have to fall into perfect alignment, circumstances that are not only rare, but also spectacular to witness. But something unexpected appears to be going on inside the Sun that may make the solar eclipse on April 8th a true once in a lifetime experience.

As 2023 fades into the rearview, I want to take a moment to reflect on some of the most groundbreaking and consequential scientific advancements that occurred over the past year. It was a big year for science, with major breakthroughs in the fields of artificial intelligence, climate change, medicine and more.

In this blog post, I want to take a moment to address common questions and discuss safe eclipse eyewear so that you can be prepared for the total solar eclipse in just a few months. 

It is arguably the most famous equation in all of science (if equations can be considered famous, of course). You likely had this equation memorized well before you ever set foot in a physics classroom: E = mc2.

As a newcomer to Evansville, I wondered if this was a typical summer here in the city, or if the high temperatures we are experiencing are uncommon, as they are for much of the country. So, like any good scientist would do, I took a deep dive into the National Weather Service’s database to find the answers. Find out what I learned!

While the Tri-State has enjoyed the benefit of a planetarium since 1952, this year marks the 100th anniversary of the modern planetarium projector. This event will be celebrated as a year-long, global series of events, targeting both the public and planetarians worldwide.

If you were in Evansville during the last eclipse in 2017, you didn’t experience the event that we will experience next year. In 2017 in Evansville the Moon obscured a little over 99% of the Sun. The difference between a 99% eclipse is like the difference between night and day. Or put another way, the difference between seeing something mildly interesting and seeing something that utterly takes your breath away!

How our planetarium got to where it is today is just as remarkable. From our earliest beginnings as a display at the West Side Nut Club Fall Festival in 1952, to our canvas dome at our previous site on  Second Street, to the third-floor planetarium remembered by many, it’s been quite a journey.

The Evansville Museum’s Dorothy & George Eykamp Director of Science Experiences, Mitch Luman, will retire June 30, 2023. Luman has served as head of the Museum’s science department for 37 years, joining the institution in 1985 after directing the planetarium at the Hastings Museum of Natural and Cultural History in Nebraska.

During the period 1960-2000, 35-mm slides were the prevalent means of visual communication in most planetariums.  According to Maryann J. Riker, curator at Lafayette Collage Museum, “The 35mm slide was once a powerful recorders of art, memory, and time”.  

Mesmerica is a powerful visual music show that is crafted to evoke a sense of joy and happiness. This show opened in a few weeks ago in our Immersive Theater & Planetarium and we are seeing sell-out crowds, something we have not seen in a long time.

October is Fire Prevention Month, an observance that occurs each year in commemoration of the Great Chicago Fire, which began on October 8, 1871. The Great Chicago Fire killed more than 250 people, left 100,000 homeless, and destroyed more than 17,400 structures. Here at the Evansville Museum, we have an emergency plan for what to do in the event of a fire and you should too.

If you visit the Museum on a particularly blustery day, don't be surprised if you hear an unexpected sound while making your way to our front door. On certain days, when the wind is just right, a low whistle can be heard originating on the levee behind to the Museum. This eerie, wind-powered music is created from the above ground portion of a device used to control the flow of water underground.

You’ve heard of Comet Halley, right? How about comet Hyakutake, or comet Hale-Bopp of the 1990’s? Going further back, we could consider comets West, Kohoutek and Ikeya-Seki. For over one-hundred years, the names these celestial objects that grace our skies have been bestowed with the name of their discover. These comet discoverers were living, breathing people who, either through luck or perseverance, were the first to find and report a comet, and by current convention, got their name attached to that celestial body.

Clyde Tombaugh--one of the greatest visual astronomers of all time--was the discoverer of the dwarf planet Pluto. This one and only discovery of a planet during the last century (dwarf or otherwise) took place on February 18th, 1930. The announcement was made from the Lowell Observatory located just outside Flagstaff, Arizona.

Did you know that a famous astronomer once called Evansville home? As an adult, George Willis Ritchey, (b. 1864) was an internationally recognized engineer and astronomer, but as an 11-year-old, he moved to Evansville with his family and lived here for two years.

On May 7th, 2021, the Colonial Pipeline was subject to a cyberattack that shut down operations for 5 days. This shutdown left thousands of gas stations up and down the East Coast without gasoline, leading to widespread shortages and soaring gas prices. The Colonial Pipeline is the largest oil pipeline in the United States, capable of transporting 3 million barrels of fuel per day and supplying roughly 45% of all fuel consumed by the East Coast.

As an adult, I have used numerous telescopes located at observatories near where I lived. I acquired my current personal instrument, a 20-inch reflector, twenty-two years ago. Although I still use other telescopes from time-to-time, my 20-inch is currently my go-to star gazing tool. My scope employs a mirror twenty inches in diameter to capture light. I haul it around in a small trailer wherever I need to go.

We’ve been wearing a lot of PPE during the past year. Whether going to the store to buy groceries or visiting with our loved ones, face coverings help prevent the spread of SARS-CoV-2, the virus responsible for the disease that causes COVID-19. But what about the Personal Protective Equipment, used by medical professionals who are on the front lines of the current health emergency? What happens to all that single-use PPE?

I can’t remember a time when I was not interested in astronomy. I have always been captivated by the stars, which is a good thing if you make your living working in a planetarium! I am constantly surprised, however, to discover how few of my colleagues in the planetarium business do not use a telescope on a regular basis. Sure they know how to look through a telescope, how to share the highlights of the night sky and they have a tremendous amount of knowledge of stars and planets, but as far as spending quality time with a telescope for sheer pleasure, I seem to be an outlier.