Smoky Mountains STEM Collaborative Lunar Eclipse Viewing Party
On May 15-16th, 2022, the Smoky Mountains STEM Collaborative hosted a Lunar Eclipse viewing party along with trivia and other lunar activities with the help of Innovation Station in Dillsboro, NC. Binoculars and telescopes were set up in the parking lot for optimal viewing and the Lunar Eclipse began at roughly 10:30 p.m. with clear skies. Enrique Gomez, Astronomy and Physics professor at Western Carolina University, was on scene to educate observers on the phenomenon as it was happening in real-time. This event opened the door for the Collaborative to plan community future events and reach an even broader audience.
Professor Enrique Gomez said “[The Moon] is capturing the light of every sunrise and sunset happening on Earth right now,” when explaining why the Moon was red during the Lunar Eclipse.
The Smoky Mountains STEM Collaborative is supported by NASA under cooperative agreement award number NNX16AB87A and is part of NASA’s Science Activation Portfolio. Please visit https://science.nasa.gov/science-activation-team/smsc to learn more.
