Astronomy Day: "There's More to the Sun than You Might Think" with Astronomer, Randy Rhea

Astronomy Day Program: “There’s More to the Sun than You Might Think” Astronomy Program by Randy Rhea offered at Pebble Hill Plantation

October 12th is Astronomy Day and Pebble Hill Plantation is offering a special program on the Sun to celebrate. Randy Rhea, an astronomer, engineer, and author will present “There’s More to the Sun than You Might Think” at the Pebble Hill Learning Center on Saturday, October 12th from 10:30 a.m. to noon. Rhea will share fascinating facts about the sun, flares, storms, and other solar phenomena. The program will be held indoors in the Learning Center and includes an outdoor component involving viewing the sun through Rhea’s powerful telescope.

“Eclipses, northern lights, sunspots: the Sun has been in the headlines a lot recently,” Rhea said. “The sun is the source of all energy on Earth. Solar heating, solar power, wind power, hydroelectric power, and even fossil fuels derive their energy from the sun.”

“Now is a period of high solar activity,” Rhea continued. “That’s what caused the recent outburst of the Northern Lights, and it could happen again soon. In 1989, a solar flare knocked out the power grid in Quebec for nine hours. In this high-tech age, solar flares have the potential for much greater damage.”

Rhea continued, “Our sun is not perfectly stable. Since the early 17th century, scientists have observed periods of greater solar activity and these active periods repeat every eleven years. We are currently near one of those peaks.”

In this program, Rhea will describe how the Sun works, share strange facts, and explain how the Sun constantly changes more than we might ever imagine. His past presentations at Pebble Hill have resulted in lots of questions and fun discussions.