Today's adventure is actually an evening adventure. Allie took us to Auckland's Stardome Observatory and Planetarium. It's located in Cornwall Park, adjacent to One Tree Hill Domain.
We arrived a little early to allow the boys to have a run in the park and some hands-on fun before we went inside to exercise our minds and imaginations.
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| A couple of spiders on their web. The shadows are getting long. |
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| Amiri says, "Hey Arram, come over, hop on and balance this thing out!" |
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| We are in line. To the left you'll notice two girls on a platform in front of a control panel. Amiri and Arram spent quite some time there too. You can select a planet or a moon or several stars and the screen will show you how much, or little, you would weigh if you were standing on your choice. |
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These seats don't recline. They are permanently set at the proper viewing angle. I would have found it easy to nod off if the program hadn't started.
We learned, among other things, that Jupiter, Mars, Saturn, Venus and Mercury are lined up across the sky and will be visible before morning through February.
The presenter also showed several well known constellations and explained that they were named by the Greeks. To us, in the southern hemisphere, these constellations appear upside down. He pointed out that compared to the Greeks, we're all standing on our heads. |
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| After the show, we all went outside to where the staff had set up three large telescopes. We all had a look at a Very bright full moon. |
Looks like you all had fun at the planetarium - both inside and out! Now I'm curious about One Tree Hill: is there really only one tree on it? LOL!
ReplyDeleteThe chairs in the planetarium do look comfy - although they remind me of the ones at the dentist (who also has interesting pictures on the ceiling to look at!)
Finally your cover picture with the cloud-eclipsed moon is quite dramatic too! reminds me of one Allie had in her blog a couple years ago.
Thanks once again for sharing your overseas adventures with us!
Actually, there is quite a history surrounding One Tree Hill. Too much to go into here. You'd enjoy reading about it though, I'll bet. Check it out. -djf
DeleteI loved seeing New Zealand in the evening light. It gives you a different perspective. Your cover photo is exquisite. The moon light shining on the leaves of that tree capture the evening light perfectly. What a shot! I loved the seats for my back. I probably would have fallen asleep but the show was likely interesting enough to keep you awake. McKenzie
ReplyDeleteI was quite surprised that photo turned out so well. I used the flash to light the yard and the moon did the rest.
DeleteThe show was interesting it's true, but the presenter did a great job, using lots of humor in his talk. He made the science even better. The boys just love going, and they are little sponges, soaking up the knowledge. They've made comments since then that made me realize just how much information they've retained.
Wow! Love all this stuff, so cool!
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