Super Stellar Fridays

On the 1st Friday of the month, enjoy an evening exploring science with Discovery Center educators and special guest speakers through live programs, planetarium shows, and sky viewing with the NH Astronomical Society.

Event poster for McAuliffe-Shepard Discovery Center featuring a daytime sky with images in balloonsand event details for a presentation titled 'Reaching New Heights' with Hanover High School, scheduled for July 11, 2025 at 6:30 pm.

Reaching New Heights

Next Super Stellar Friday - Friday, July 11th, 2025

*2nd Friday in July due to the holiday

Show Description:  Join the Hanover High School High-Altitude Balloon (HAB) Team as they share their experience participating in NASA’s Nationwide Eclipse Ballooning Project (NEBP). As one of only five high school teams selected nationally, they launched high-altitude balloons during both the annular and total solar eclipses to collect data on the upper atmosphere and gravity waves. Their latest efforts focus on investigating the effects of the current solar maximum and coronal mass ejections (CMEs).

Recommended for all ages.

The Hanover High School HAB Team is a student-led engineering and science research group based in Hanover, New Hampshire. Supported by NASA and the University of Montana through NEBP, the team has designed and launched balloon payloads to altitudes exceeding 95,000 feet. Their work integrates coding, mechanical design, and atmospheric science, and they continue to explore new frontiers in near-space research—most recently focusing on solar-terrestrial interactions during the peak of the current solar cycle.

Please note before purchasing your planetarium tickets:

Ticket costs include admission to the presentation, exhibit galleries, and a planetarium show. Tickets for this event can be purchased at the front desk on the night or before the event online.

Schedule

  • 6:30 pm: Discovery Center opens, exhibit galleries available for exploration

  • 7:00 pm: Speaker Presentation

  • 8:00 pm: Planetarium Show

  • 9:00 pm: Sky Viewing with New Hampshire Astronomical Society (weather permitting)

Ticket Pricing

  • Adult: $13.00

  • Child (3-12): $10.00

  • Senior (62+): $12.00

  • Students (13-college): $12.00

  • EBT/SNAP/WIC Card Holders + Up To 5 Guests: $3.00 (Use code “4ALLSSF” at checkout!)

  • Members and Child Under 2: Free!

A promotional poster for 'Ask the Astronomer,' offering free telescope guidance every Friday, featuring a starry night sky background, orange text, and an illustration of a person looking through a telescope, with a New Hampshire Astronomical Society logo.

In addition to NHAS’s monthly sky watch, get your telescope questions answered by a professional astronomer, whether you need help with your current scope, advice on purchasing one, or tips on how to observe celestial wonders. In the event of inclement weather, an NHAS member will still be present to assist with astronomy or telescope related inquiries. This program is free to attend, but regular admission applies for the featured Super Stellar Friday program.

Can’t make it in person?

We are no longer offering a livestream of the presentation portion of Super Stellar Friday presentations. We apologize for the inconvenience! Presentations will be available on the Discovery Center’s YouTube channel within a few days.

Please consider making a donation to support future programming like this—thank you!