Treat yourself to childfree, brain-building science fun at OMSI After Dark! Check out live demos, a planetarium show, Science On a Sphere, SAMSON the T. rex, new featured exhibits, and old favorites. Sample tasty snacks and sweets along with beer, wine, and craft soda, and talk to regional food and beverage artisans about the science behind them. The OMSI Market Cafe will be open with a special dinner menu and cash bars will also be available for those who want more than just a taste! It's geeks gone wild! (21-and-over only.)

Come and freeze your tushie off for science! A total lunar eclipse will mark the solstice this year. Bring binoculars, telescopes, cameras, and hot drinks.

From NASA:

"Early in the morning on December 21 a total lunar eclipse will be visible to sky watchers across North America (for observers in western states the eclipse actually begins late in the evening of December 20), Greenland and Iceland. Viewers in Western Europe will be able to see the beginning stages of the eclipse before moonset, and in western Asia the later stages of the eclipse will be visible after moonrise.

From beginning to end, the eclipse will last about three hours and twenty-eight minutes. For observers on the east coast of the U.S. the eclipse lasts from 1:33am EST through 5:01 a.m. EST. Viewers on the west coast will be able to tune in a bit earlier. For them the eclipse begins at 10:33 p.m. PST on December 20 and lasts until 2:01am PST on Dec. 21. Totality, the time when Earth's shadow completely covers the moon, will last a lengthy 72 minutes."

When the moon is exactly between the earth and the sun, we get eclipses. Full eclipses occur when the moon is near enough to the earth to block the entire disk of the sun, and the earth, moon, and sun are exactly in line (syzygy). Given that the moon and sun are rather small in the sky (half a degree) and that the moon's orbit precesses and is inclined by 5.5 degrees to the earth-sun (ecliptic) orbit, syzygy lineups are rare. Given that the moon is much smaller than the earth, its shadow passes over only a narrow strip, moving west to east.

If the moon is at apogee, the far extreme of its orbit, it does not block the entire sun, but leaves a ring of bright sunlight around the moon, an "annulus". The ring will be perfect near Crescent City, and the eclipse will block 94% of the sun's disk. Further north near Portland, the sun will peek over the top of the moon, and we will see a crescent, horns down, blocking 88% of the sun at Portland's latitude.

The eclipse becomes visible at sunrise over coastal China on Monday May 21, passes over Japan, the international dateline at local noon, south of Alaska on May 20 and then to Oregon near sunset. It would be way cool if someone would use something like Google Hangout to aggregate webcam feeds from around the Pacific Rim.

This may be the only chance in your lifetime to observe an annular eclipse without traveling halfway around the world, or into space. Eclipses are spooky and cool. Don't miss this one!

A 4-hour lecture and visual slideshow on how electricity shapes and powers the physical universe.

Lecturer James Sorensen is an engineer and science buff with a lifelong interest in myths & legends, religions, and scientific theories. James believes all these knowledge systems must be integrated to gain a deeper understanding of living phenomena, and this is the inspiration for his lectures.

While working in the semiconductor industry, James noticed curious similarities between his observations of plasma etching (micro) and the forms of planetary nebulae and cosmic plasma phenomena (macro). This inspired five years of intensive study into Electric Universe theory.

Join us for an overview of how recent discoveries in electricity, when linked to historical events, challenge conventional wisdom across the sciences -- from astronomy, biology, geology, and archaeology, to health sciences, mythology, meteorology, and beyond.

Price: $30 Adults / $10 Young Adult / Children free, and should be able to sit quietly for 3-4 hours. Limit of 25 guests, reserve your space now.

To register, contact Cherie Mensching 206-459-6626.

Science on Tap is a science lecture series where you can sit back, enjoy a pint, and laugh while you learn. Listen to experts talk about the science in your neighborhood and around the world. You don’t have to be a science geek to have fun—all you need is a thirst for knowledge!

COST: $8 online advance tickets, $10* suggested cover at the door

FOOD & DRINK: Beer, wine, pizza slices, popcorn and snacks available.

DESCRIPTION:

This event will feature two speakers:

Doug McCarty, Professor of Astronomy with the Science Integration Institute and past Planetarium Director and Astronomy Instructor, at Mount Hood Community College,

Pat Hanrahan, current Planetarium Director and Astronomy Instructor at Mount Hood Community College.

Science on Tap at the Kiggins is produced in partnership with Washington State University Vancouver.

*A note on the suggested cover at the door: Science on Tap is supported, in part, by money collected at the door. We are committed to offering educational opportunities to adults who want to learn, so if $10 is a hardship for you, please come anyway and donate what you can.