Northern Lights Museum At Home: Adult Edition

Have you ever seen the Northern Lights? Find out what causes this natural light show, where community scientists will look for the lights this season, and what the night sky phenomenon STEVE is all about.

Museum@Home is issued twice a month. The Family Edition is issued on the first Wednesday of the month, and the Adult Edition on the third Wednesday.  

Stay curious!

Expert Expo

Meet scientists and learn about their research

Can the Northern Lights protect us from future space storms?
Audience: Teens and Adults
Grades: 9+
Duration: 15 minutes

If they're lucky, sky-gazing Michiganders might catch a glimpse of the aurora borealis, also known as the Northern Lights, this fall. This awe-inspiring atmospheric phenomenon occurs at both the north and the south poles. But what does the aurora have to do with electricity? Join PhD student Shannon Hill from the U-M Department of Climate and Space Sciences and Engineering to learn all about different types of auroras, how they form, and what they can teach us about outer space.

More to Explore!

Staff favorite science resources from around the web.

Glowing ribbon in the sky scientists call STEVE is spotted in Northern Michigan
Audience: Teens and Adults
Grades: 6-12+
Duration: 5 minutes

“Oh, that? In the sky? It's just STEVE.

"A Michigan-based photographer recently captured a night-time phenomenon that looks like the northern lights, but scientists say was actually STEVE, a cute-sounding acronym for strong thermal emission velocity enhancement…” Read more from the Detroit Free Press, here.

You do the Research!

Engage in community science by helping real scientists crowdsource information, collect data, and uncover its meaning.

Aurosaurus.org
Audience: Teens and Adults
Grades: 6-12+
Duration: Variable

Still chasing the Northern Lights? Navigate a predicted map of the northern lights built with website reports and verified social media posts. Watch this intro video to learn how you can report your own sightings and help confirm data used by scientists to analyze and model space weather patterns.    

Check out Museum@Home for more science fun!

Coming Events

ID Day
Sunday October 9, 2022
11:00 a.m.–4:00 p.m.

Bring in your treasures and discover ours!

Bring in your own collected objects for identification by experts, and take a look at some of our treasures, too! Experts will join us from the fields of paleontology, anthropology, archaeology, botany, zoology, and geology. They will help you identify: Shells, rocks and minerals, fossils, arrowheads and other stone tools, shards of pottery, vertebrate bones, insects, skulls, seeds, leaves, twigs, and fish. Sorry, no appraisals will be given.

Planetarium & Dome Theater

September - October 2022
11:30 a.m. Expedition Reef
12:30 p.m. Sky Tonight
1:30 p.m. Tales of the Maya Skies
2:30 p.m. Sky Tonight

Planetarium & Dome Theater Shows

Tickets: $8 adults, seniors, and children ages 3 & up. Babies without tickets may be required to sit on an adult's lap. Tickets are available the day of the show. Schedule subject to change.

The planetarium is operating at 50% capacity to maximize distance between viewers. Masks are encouraged.

Fall & Winter Hours

September - April
Tues-Sun 10 a.m. - 4 p.m.
Closed Mondays

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