On a cloudless night, Earthlings gathered to get a closer look at the universe.
More than 900 people attended Starry Night, an annual public stargazing event, on Friday to peer through telescopes and peruse astronomy exhibits at the Florida Museum of Natural History.
“There’s something about the grandeur of the sky that gets people excited,” said Vicki Sarajedini, an associate professor of astronomy and one of the event planners.
There were telescopes that could focus on Jupiter so well that viewers could see the four Galilean moons next to the planet.
A meteorite, owned by Santa Fe College, which weighs more than 70 pounds, sat in a bed of sand inside the museum on display for visitors.
A portable planetarium was inflated for a show about constellations.
Children used black plastic cups, CDs, pipe cleaners and glitter glue to build their own model black holes.
Alison Klesman, an astronomy Ph.D. student, said astronomy is a field that a lot of people like because it’s so visual, and they can relate to that.
Also, she said the public doesn’t always get a chance to see space through high-powered telescopes.
“People don’t get a lot of access to do things like this,” she said.
