Grand Teton to Host Astronomy Lecture & Book Signing

July 25, 2010
10-59
Grand Teton National Park, in cooperation with the Grand Teton Association and Center of Wonder, will welcome Tyler Nordgren to the Craig Thomas Discovery and Visitor Center on Thursday, July 29 at 1 p.m. for a lecture and author signing of his new book Stars Above, Earth Below: A guide to astronomy in the national parks.

Nordgren, an associate professor of physics at University of the Redlands in California, is an astronomer and writer. He recently took a journey across the American landscape to explore connections between national parks and the wonders of the night sky. Nordgren visited 12 parks in 12 months, exploring the icy realms of Denali National Park in Alaska, the red rock cliffs and canyons of Bryce Canyon National Park in Utah and the serrated pinnacles of Grand Teton National Park in Wyoming. As he met with park experts and visitors, Nordgren examined the astrophysical features that link national parks to other elements of the solar system.

Through his journey, Nordgren studied the uniquely dark skies visible at national parks across the West: a resource that is quickly vanishing from the rest of America. For a vast majority of national park visitors, a star-filled sky is as extraordinary and magical as glaciers, geysers, or grizzly bears. A night spent camping under the stars in places like Grand Teton affords a view of the cosmos not found in many other places. National parks preserve the last best window into the great universe beyond, offering a rare glimpse of the bright band of the Milky Way with its great family of stars, planets, and other astral bodies.

Nordgren’s lecture begins at 1 p.m. with a book signing to follow at 2 p.m. For further information, please contact the Discovery Center at 307.739.3399. For information on the Center of Wonder, contact Carrie Geraci at 307.734.0570.