Panguitch • Panguitch Lake • Hatch • Bryce • Tropic • Antimony • Henrieville • Cannonville • Escalante • Boulder • Fremont • Loa • Lyman Bicknell • Teasdale • Torrey • Grover • Fruita • Caineville • Hanksville
Thursday, May 17, 2012 • Issue # 944
Celebrate the 12th Annual Bryce Canyon Astronomy Festival, May 17-20, 2012
Bryce Canyon National Park invites you to join its “Dark Rangers” and amateur astronomers from the Salt Lake Astronomical Society for the 12th Annual Bryce Canyon Astronomy Festival. With its renowned dark skies, astronomy has long been a significant part of Bryce Canyon’s international appeal,” says Park Superintendent Jeff Bradybaugh. “This year is especially exciting because the grand finale of our four-day event will be a ring-of-fire solar eclipse.” This year’s festival will be held Thursday, May 17 through Sunday, May 20 and features Dr. Janna Levin, Professor of Astronomy at Columbia University’s Barnard College. Her Keynote presentation entitled ―Booming Black Holes: Listening for the Sound of Intense Gravity will start at 8:30pm, Saturday, May 19 at Ebenezer’s Barn and Grill in Bryce Canyon City, adjacent to the park. Tickets available at the door—$3 per person or $10 per family.
PANGUITCH WEATHER
LOA WEATHER
Trap Shoot
every Wednesday starting at 5pm at the Panguitch Shooting Range. For more information call Jack at 435-676-2237 or 435-690-1222
Black Holes, the imploded remnants of massive stars, trap light and are therefore invisible, yet can they be heard? When black holes collide, they bang on space like mallets on a drum creating gravity waves in the very fabric of space. Within a few years, and with the help of sophisticated new instruments, it is likely that these waves can be detected and played back as sounds—and not just black holes, but exploding stars and colliding galaxies. Soon, Dr. Levin and other acoustic astrophysicists, will start downloading the soundtrack of the Universe. They might even be able to figure out if the Big Bang really went “BANG! Join us for a first look, and listen, to an en-
DAVCO BUILDING THE SNUGGLE INN......................................................836-2898 55 South Main, Loa ( www.thesnuggleinn.com ) Conference Rooms - meetings, socials, business, reunions, shower rooms, etc. TOSCONOS PIZZERIA.................................................836-2500 Hours: Open: Mon - Sat: 11-8pm ~ Closed Sundays. Sandwiches, Paninnis, Pizzas,Wraps, Salads, Pastas, Breadsticks, Cin-A-Stick w/Frosting, Smoothies and Specialty Coffees CREATIVE SPIRIT GALLERY & GIFTS..................836-2898 www.giftscreativespirit.com MANE-E-ACS HAIR SALON .....................................836-2602 Kimber Wood (Walk-ins, Hair Cuts, Perms, Colors, Pedicures, and Hair Extensions & Jewelry.) PACE TAX SERVICE.....................................................836-2218 Tax Preparations, Refund Loans, IRS E-Filing, and Tax Planning. THE WAYNE & GARFIELD COUNTY INSIDER is owned and operated by Snapshot Multimedia and is distributed weekly to all of Garfield County. Its purpose is to inform residents about local issues and events. Articles submitted from independent writers are not necessarily the opinion of Snapshot Multimedia. We sincerely hope you enjoy the paper and encourage input on ideas and/or suggestions for the paper. Thank you for your support.
tirely new approach to exploring the universe that is likely to revolutionize astronomy – the mother of all sciences. On Friday, May 18, guest speaker and PhD Archeologist, Jan Allen will present ―Maya Astronomers— Predictors of Doom?Learn whether the Maya actually predicted that December 21, 2012 would be the end of the world or a ―new beginning. Every night, following these presentations, free stargazing with telescopes will be provided courtesy of the Salt Lake Astronomical Society and Bryce Canyon’s astronomy experts known as the ―Dark Rangers.” Day time activities will have a variety of fun and educational activities including: looking for sunspots with solar telescopes, exploring a 1:10 billion scale model of the solar system, and the long standing family favorite—model rocket building and launching workshops (kits range in price from $12 to $30). New this year, provided by University of Utah Engineering students, will be live demonstrations of their robotic Martian Rover. Finally, from 6:308:30pm on Sunday, May 20 experience the grand finale—the ―ring-of-fire solar eclipse. As Dark Ranger Kevin Poe explains, ―Over any given region of the Earth, lunar eclipses occur about once every 12-18 months. However, because the alignment of Sun, Earth, and Moon has to be so much more precise to create a solar eclipse, they only occur about once every 50 years (across any given patch of ground). Ring-offire solar eclipses happen when our Moon is at its maximum distance from Earth and therefore isn’t large enough, as seen from Earth, to completely hide our Sun. Instead we get a ring of the sun showing around the black edges of our silhouetted Moon—the ring-of-fire!” Though the entire process of our Moon moving in front of our Sun takes two hours, eclipse maximum lasts only 5 minutes. To make sure all can have a magnified view during those critical moments,
the park will provide realtime video projected from telescopes onto 20 x 10 ft. screens at all three of the eclipse viewing locations: Bryce and Inspiration Points, and Grand Hotel in Bryce Canyon City. Throughout the festival, the Bryce Canyon Shuttle will provide free transportation to and from program venues, and overnight stay locations. To make sure everyone has a safe experience, Bryce Canyon National Park will be providing FREE solar eclipse glasses to all in attendance. ―It’s okay to glance at the Sun for a second,” says Superintendent Bradybaugh. ― Your pupils will naturally constrict down to the size of a pin-hole to protect your eyes. However, eclipses trick the eyes. Because it seems so much darker, pupils dilate letting in far too much ultraviolet light causing long term or even permanent loss of vision. No type of sunglasses is dark enough. Be safe! Use our free eclipse glasses!” Adds Dark Ranger Poe, ―And don’t lose them! Not only do these custom designed glasses make a great souvenir, you can use them again for the Venus Transit on the afternoon of June 5th when the planet Venus, appearing as a small black dot, slowly crosses in front of our Sun. You may have a chance to see another solar eclipse, but nobody living today will ever see another Venus Transit!” Exclaims Poe, ― The next one won’t be until the year 2117!” The park will offer over 100 astronomy programs this year — every Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday night, May through October. But, the Astronomy Festival is the main event with telescope viewing each night. ―We hope to see you there!” For more information about obtaining program tickets, shuttle-only road closures, amateur astronomer participation, and directory of area accommodations, consult the Bryce Canyon Astronomy Festival Website: http://www. nps.gov/brca/planyourvisit/ astrofest.htm, download the Astronomy Festival brochure, or call 435-8345322.
Stuffed deer heads on walls are bad enough, but it’s worse when they are wearing dark glasses and have streamers in their antlers because then you know they were enjoying themselves at a party when they were shot. Ellen DeGeneres Wayne Phone: 435-836-2622 Garfield Phone: 435-676-2621 Fax 1-888-370-8546 PO BOX 472, Loa, Utah 84747 snapshot@live.com ALL content for THE WAYNE &GARFIELD COUNTY INSIDER must be submitted on FRIDAY BEFORE 5:00 PM to be included in the following Thursday edition of the paper.
BOXHOLDER
PRE-SORT STANDARD PAID LOA, UTAH PERMIT No. 5