March 2011

March sees the launch of Impact Season at the Royal Observatory, exploring the exciting world of comets, asteroids, meteorites and craters through a brand-new exhibition alongside a programme of talks, planetarium shows and family activities running until the end of August. The exhibition Impact: collisions and catastrophes, uses spectacular images, film and interactive exhibits to explore how asteroids and comets have shaped our solar system and what we can learn from them.

National Science and Engineering Week also runs this month and as part of this the ROG is running a special series of the popular Evening with the Stars events. Alternatively visitors can explore the skies from the comfort of the Peter Harrison Planetarium, with every show including a live element presented by a Royal Observatory astronomer. Plus, for those who are feeling inspired, the ROG’s hugely popular Introduction to Astronomy course offers the chance to discover more about the night sky.

Exhibitions

Impact: collisions and catastrophes

From meteor showers to giant asteroid impacts, the Earth is constantly bombarded by debris from space. This brand-new exhibition takes a look at these fiery visitors and their impact on our planet, which can cause death and destruction, laying waste to vast areas and even triggering mass extinctions of plants and animals. It also explores the vital clues that asteroids and meteorites provide about the violent formation of the Solar System. Plus there’s the chance to see and touch real space rocks in the ROG’s astronomy galleries.

Dates: 12 March–29 August
Venue: Astronomy Centre, Exhibition Space
Admission: Free

Events

National Science and Engineering Week

Evening with the Stars

Get involved with National Science and Engineering Week at the popular after-dark experience at the Royal Observatory, Greenwich: watch the Sky Tonight planetarium show, look through the gigantic 28-inch telescope and use small telescopes in the Meridian Courtyard.

Dates: 11, 12, 14 March
Times: 17.25, 17.30, 18.45, 18.50
Duration: 2 hours
Venue: Royal Observatory
Admission: £16 | £54 family ticket
Age: 7+

Family Events

Saturday Space Explorers

As part of Impact Season, this month’s free family workshop focuses on meteorites, with the chance to handle real space rocks and find out what we can learn from them.

Date: 26 March
Times: 14.00, 14.30, 15.00, 15.30, 16.00
Venue: Learning Centre
Admission: Free
Age: 5+

Adult Courses

Introduction to Astronomy

This hugely popular course offers a fantastic introduction to astronomy for beginners, as life-long astronomer Greg Smye-Rumsby introduces the night sky, and explores a broad range of topics from planetary systems and stars to galaxies and cosmology. Students have access to a unique range of resources, from a state-of-the-art digital planetarium to the historic 28-inch refracting telescope.

Date: 1 March–5 April, Tues (6 lectures)
Time: 19.00–21.00
Venue: Learning Centre
Price: £60

Planetarium Shows

Peter Harrison Planetarium

The state-of-the-art Peter Harrison Planetarium is the centrepiece of the Royal Observatory's modern astronomy centre and is now the only planetarium in London. Children must be accompanied by an adult.

NB: Planetarium closed all day 14 March

The Shows

Origins of Life

Launched in February, Origins of Life takes the audience on an extraordinary journey through time and space. Starting with the Big Bang, the show explores the formation of stars, solar systems and the first life on Earth, as well as our search for life beyond our own planet.

Dates: Throughout March 2011
Times: 11.45, 13.30, 15.15 (weekends and holiday weekdays)
             14.45 (weekdays during term-time)
Venue: Peter Harrison Planetarium
Admission: £6.50 adults, £4.50 children/ concessions, £17.50 family ticket
Age: Recommended for ages 5+

We are Astronomers

This visually striking show explores the nature of modern astronomy, from space telescopes to particle accelerators and deep space networks, to the internet. It includes a short presentation given by an ROG astronomer and is narrated by David Tennant.

Dates: Throughout March 2011
Times: 12.45, 13.45 (Weds, term-time only)
Venue: Peter Harrison Planetarium
Admission: £6.50 adults, £4.50 children/concessions, £17.50 family ticket
Age: Recommended for ages 5+

Space Safari

Join Ted the teddy bear, for live music and rhymes as he journeys throughout the solar system looking for the Great Bear in the sky.

Dates: Throughout March 2011
Time: 11.00 (weekends and holiday weekdays)
           12.45, 13.45 (Mondays during term-time)
Venue: Peter Harrison Planetarium
Admission: £6.50 adults, £4.50 children/concessions, £17.50 family ticket
Age: Suitable for ages 7 and under

Sky Tonight Live

Take a tour of what can be seen in tonight’s sky with a Royal Observatory astronomer. The journey takes in stars, constellations, planets and awe-inspiring gas clouds.

Dates: Throughout March 2011
Times: 12.45, 16.15 (weekends and holiday weekdays)
             15.45 (weekdays during term-time)
Venue: Peter Harrison Planetarium
Admission: £6.50 adults, £4.50 children/concessions, £17.50 family ticket
Age: Recommended for ages 5+

Meet the Neighbours

The Earth travels around the Sun with seven other planets, hundreds of moons and millions of asteroids. Meet our neighbours in space in this new live planetarium show narrated by a Royal Observatory astronomer.

Dates: Throughout March 2011
Times: 14.30 (weekends and holiday weekdays)
             12.45, 13.45 (Tues, Fri, term-time)
Venue: Peter Harrison Planetarium
Admission: £6.50 adults, £4.50 children/concessions, £17.50 family ticket
Age: Recommended for ages 5+

Star Life

Explore the fascinating lives of stars – how they are born, grow up, grow old and die. Plus discover how black-holes and pulsars form and how beautiful clouds of glowing gas come into existence.

Dates: Throughout March 2011
Times: 12.45, 13.45 (Thurs, term-time only)
Venue: Peter Harrison Planetarium
Admission: £6.50 adults, £4.50 children/concessions, £17.50 family ticket
Age: Recommended for ages 5+

Exhibitions and Galleries

Time and Space at the Royal Observatory

• The Astronomy Galleries: learn all about astronomy and our place in the universe in four visually striking galleries. With amazing hands-on exhibits helping to provide answers to big questions, the galleries explore how astronomers study space and explain recent developments in modern astronomy.
• Time Galleries: explore the importance of time in all our lives through the interactive exhibits in galleries on ‘Time and Longitude’, ‘Time and Greenwich, and ‘Time and Society’.

General Information

The National Maritime Museum, Royal Observatory, Greenwich and Queen’s House are open: 10.00–17.00 daily.

For updated information prior to visit please visit our web site: http://www.rmg.co.uk or phone (020) 8858 4422.

For advance bookings for charged events please call 020 8312 6608 or email bookings@rmg.co.uk.

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For further information or images please contact:
Jenny Orton
National Maritime Museum Press Office
Tel: 020 8312 6545/6732 | 07960 509802
Email: press@rmg.co.uk