SC State Museum to Watch Moon, Jupiter Jan. 19 | Arts & Culture

The South Carolina State Museum science staff and the Midlands Astronomy Club will start the new year with a new location for the popular “Planets for the People” sidewalk telescope viewing series.  The family stargazing event will take place Saturday, Jan. 19 from 6-10 p.m. at Parkland Plaza in Cayce.

                “If it’s clear, we should have a good view of the moon and the planet Jupiter,” said Tom Falvey, State Museum director of education.

“We’ll set up several telescopes near D’s Wings.  As Jupiter is the largest planet in our solar system, it should be easy to see, weather permitting, of course.

                “We had such wonderful responses to our sidewalk viewings in the fall,” Falvey said. “It’s really great for us to see how excited people get when they look through those telescopes. It doesn’t matter what their age is, they all become starry-eyed kids again!”

                “Our normal enthusiasm for star gazing has been made even more exciting by our recent acquisition of the Robert B. Ariail Collection of Historical Astronomy, a world-class collection of historic telescopes and related equipment,” said Falvey.  “When we open our observatory-planetarium-4D theater complex Windows to New Worlds, for which we have just broken ground, we plan to exhibit nearly the entire collection of more than 60 telescopes, plus related astronomy gear.”

                Dependent on clear skies, this great family activity is free and open to the public.  “We also hope to make a few new converts to the wonders of the universe,” said Falvey.  “The world can’t have too many astronomy fans.”

                For more information, call Tom Falvey at 803-898-4944 or visit the museum’s Web site at www.southcarolinastatemuseum.org.