Heavy clouds got in the way of Saturday night’s planned star party in Helper, but the show went on anyway.
Paul Ricketts, interpretive specialist for the University of Utah’s physics and astronomy departments, treated the audience in Civic Auditorium to a presentation of the solar system, all the way from the formation of the sun and planets from a gigantic dust cloud to the latest photos of the outermost planets.
This included pictures of Pluto, even though it as been kicked out of the planet club.
The presentation included illustrations and explanations of how nuclear fusion fuels the sun’s immense energy output, and a demonstration of how spectral analysis determines the chemical composition of stars and planetary atmospheres.
Clouds fail to dampen star party in Helper
Mark Bunnell of Castle Country Star Parties club discusses the different types of telescopes on display in Helper’s Civic Auditorium. John Serfustini