Autumnal Equinox, Plenty Wahala and Orange Moon

When life spins to fast, piles are gathering and there is plenty wahala it helps to remember how small we are. Not in a bad way, not small-insignificant, just small-relatively…I think you know what I mean…

I like to look at the sky – moon and stars – to calm me down. The whole thing started with a visit to the Ghana Planetarium. (Or maybe it has always been with me? )

Today, I was informed by a friend from the planetarium that we are approaching the autumnal equinox that comes with a special moon, sometimes called the harvest moon. However, I din’t really see it. I stayed until late in town, lights everywhere (I believe they call it “light pollution”) and I could not quite figure out if we in the southern hemisphere really see the same thing, plus it was cloudy. So I went for Erykah Badu‘s Orange moon instead.

How good it is…

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Aim for the Stars: Ghana Planetarium

Up until about two months ago, I had no clue Accra had its own planetarium. Not knowing what to expect, I went for an event and came out amazed and much wiser…

The program started with a video and some talk about the Ghana Science Project/ Ghana Planetarium by Dr. Jacob Ashong, the initiator of the project, and as the evening drew closer we entered the planetarium dome for some cool presentations almost lying down in the chairs provided. When they do shows for kids, they are invited to lie on the floor which I’d love to have done!

We were also told about the free software Stellarium that shows you a map of the sky from wherever you live including the position of planets, star clusters, and movement over time. Later, I downloaded it and absolutely LOVE IT!

After that we went outside, now it was almost dark. We watched the International Space Station (ISS to all astronomy lovers) fly by and took a closer look at the moon with all its craters.

Now you also have the chance! Here’s a message from the Ghana Planetarium.

April 2010 is “Global Astronomy Month”, and there will be events at the Ghana Planetarium every Saturday throughout the month.  Each event will have a theme, depending on what can (hopefully!) be seen in the night sky around that time.

SATURDAY 10TH APRIL – Mars, our sister planet

SATURDAY 17TH APRIL – Saturn, “Lord of the Rings”

SATURDAY 24TH APRIL – Moon Watch

Events will start at 5pm, and will feature a Night Sky presentation, presentation or film show on that week’s theme, Planetarium show and telescope viewing (weather permitting).

Charge for each event:

Adult – GHc 5

Student – GHc 3

Child – GHc 2

Here are some related links,  Global Astronomy Month around the world, the  Ghana Astronomy and Observation Association (GAOA) and finally for more info on the Ghana Planetarium also read this article by one of the organizers, Sarah Abotsi-Masters.

Pic borrowed from the following Flickr set. UPDATE: Having temporary problems with uploading pictures.




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