Lunar Eclipse Evening - Great Success

The Department of Physics in collaboration with the Southern Africa Association for the Advancement of Science (S2A3) and the Sci-Enza hosted a very successful lunar eclipse viewing evening on 15 June 2011, which was attended by about 150 people.

The evening started with a short public lecture in the Sci-Enza Auditorium by Ruhann Steyn, a 2^nd-year Physics student at UP with a passion for Astronomy. During the lecture, questions on what a lunar eclipse is, why the moon becomes red and what telescopes were used to view the greatest eclipse were answered. A few private telescopes, together with the physics department’s own Celestron 8SE 8" Schmidt-Cassegrain telescope were set up in the parking lot in front of the Sci-Enza.

During the evening, the event, attendees alternated between the telescopes set up to watch the moon and various exhibits in the Sci-Enza, including models, puzzles and the mirror maze. Delicious, hot soup with fresh rolls was provided by the Department of Consumer Science and coffee, hot chocolate and Glühwein by the 'catering team' from S2A3.