The most favorable time to actually see Pluto is this July. We’ve got the lowdown on viewing plus the latest from New Horizons in our next virtual Super Stellar Friday event “Pondering Pluto & What's New with the New Horizons Mission” on Friday, July 2 at 7 pm. Participate with senior Discovery Center educator and amateur astronomer, Dave McDonald, as he guides you on a quest to find the dim planet. "Planet"? What is the current planetary status of Pluto? What have we recently discovered about Pluto? Learn what New Horizons has been doing as it speeds on towards the boundary of our solar system. All this and more in this engaging interactive presentation. Don't miss it.

This online event is free and open to the public, but registration is required- you can register here

We’re spending the week looking at the planets, and this week’s Saturday STEM challenge is about just that: looking at the planets!

For as long as people have been on Earth, they have been observing the night sky. This week, we’re challenging you to make like ancient civilizations and watch the sky. Using the given information and tools, try to track the planets. Since the sky never looks the same two nights in a row, you can try this challenge for as long as you want, trying to see as many different planets as you can.

This week’s distance learning theme is planets. Join one of our museum educators as she reads about the planets in our solar system—and so much more—in The Story of Space by Catherine Barr and Steve Williams, illustrated by Amy Husband!

We’re spending this week looking at planets! Today, we’ll learn a little about the development of models of the solar system and Kepler’s Laws of Planetary Motion, and then we’ll simulate how planets move around the Sun by making our own gravity well.

You may think of outer space as a vast, empty void—but space is full of objects! Both within and beyond the bounds of our solar system, there are countless stars, nebulae, asteroids, comets—and, of course, planets. But what IS a planet, anyway? Why was Pluto “demoted” from a true planet to a dwarf planet, and what makes a planet different from other objects in space?

In this module, we’ll look at the official definition of what makes a planet, and put the current criteria into historical context by reviewing some of the ways that astronomical understanding has evolved throughout history. This content is most appropriate for middle- and high-schoolers, based on reading level.

We’re spending this week looking at planets, so let’s get to the heart of the matter: planet cores. Although there are common elements in all of the planet cores in our solar system (we think...), there is a lot of variety out there, too. And a planet’s internal structure has a big impact on what happens around the planet, too.

In honor of National Wildflower Week, this week’s Distance Learning offerings are focusing on the plant world.

This week, we’re challenging you to flex your creativity! Learn about Earth’s biomes, and then imagine a distant planet and what it’s environment is like, and then create an alien plant that would grow on that planet.

Join one our our museum educators as she reads the children’s book “Going Around the Sun: Some Planetary Fun” by Marianne Berkes!