Wyoming Dinosaur Center hosts films, lectures

The Wyoming Dinosaur Center will be hosting a series of films and lectures this weekend, Aug. 19 and 20 at the school’s auditorium. All of the events are free to the public.

On Saturday, at 10:15 a.m., learn all about “Solar Superstorms” through a major production that takes viewers into the tangle of magnetic fields and super hot plasma that vents the sun’s rage in dramatic flares, violent solar tornadoes, and the largest eruptions in the solar system – coronal mass ejections.

The show will focus on the sun’s effects on Earth’s atmospheric, communications and power systems, featuring one of the most intesive efforts ever made to visualize the inner workings of the sun.

The production will last approximately 25 minutes.

At 11 a.m., “From Dream to Discovery: Inside NASA” will be presented, allowing you to experience the excitement of today’s space missions as you journey from NASA’s test facilities all the way to Pluto.

You will see extremes of spacecraft engineering, from the design of missions like the James Webb Space Telescope and New Horizons, to the rigors of testing, launch and space operations.

The film will be approximately 30 minutes in length.

The “Moon” will be the focus of the next film, which begins at 11:45 a.m.

Since the dawn of time, the moon has played a major role in bioligical life, acting like a pedulum of the terrestrial clock, dictating its rhythm to everything alive.

The moon is present in all cultures and civilizations through myths and legends. This film will be a scientific odyssey, revisiting the subtle link between the moon and the earth.

Run time for the film is approximately 80 minutes.

The final presentation on Saturday will be “To Catch a Comet” which covers the Nov. 11, 2014 landing on an icy rock billions of kilometers from earth.

The craft landed on the rock, hurtling through space at 67,000 km/hr while an international team of scientists worked around the clock to make sure the orbiter, Rosetta and the lander, Philae, survived the journey.

This film runs approximately 55 minutes.

Sunday, starting at 10:30 a.m. and ending around 2:30 p.m. will be a series of Cosmic Conversations.

Shannon McConnell starts the morning out with her discussion about “My Life at NASA” followed by “Eclipse Phenomena” by John Stocke. B. Lee Drake will talk about “How to Survive a World Ending Meteor Strike” and things will wind down with “NASA’s Deep Space Network” with McConnell.

There will also be an after hour social at the Wyoming Dinosaur Center from 6 p.m. til 8 p.m. on Sunday evening featuring a pulled pork sandwich plate. A $5 donation is suggested.

Entertainment at the social will be provided by the Silver Tip String Band.