Gravette library hosts fourth Moon Over Main Street event

November 16, 2021 at 7:56 a.m.

by Susan Holland

Westside Eagle Observer/SUSAN HOLLAND Library clerks Artemis Edmondson and Brittany Mangold, Allie Cook and library director Karen Benson pose with a poster giving information about the James Webb Space Telescope to be launched next month in French Guiana. Cook, a seventh grader at Gravette Middle School, is volunteer at the library and helped with the Moon Over Main Street event.
Westside Eagle Observer/SUSAN HOLLAND Library clerks Artemis Edmondson and Brittany Mangold, Allie Cook and library director Karen Benson pose with a poster giving information about the James Webb Space Telescope to be launched next month in French Guiana. Cook, a seventh grader at Gravette Middle School, is volunteer at the library and helped with the Moon Over Main Street event.

GRAVETTE -- The Gravette Public Library hosted its fourth Moon Over Main Street event Saturday evening, Nov. 13, with about 70 persons attending. Members of the Sugar Creek Astronomical Society brought telescopes that were set up on Main Street and the streetlights were dimmed to allow better viewing of the night sky.

Adults and youngsters alike enjoyed looking through the telescopes, searching for and identifying the various planets and stars. Members of the astronomical society were on hand to assist by answering questions and helping viewers locate the visible space objects. Guests could visit the library for star charts which also helped in their search.

Exhibits were set up inside the

library providing information about the James Webb Space Telescope which is scheduled to launch on Dec. 18 in French Guiana. The 13,700-pound telescope will use infrared technology and will be able to see farther than the Hubble Telescope currently in orbit. It will also be better able to penetrate the dust and debris floating in space which will result in sharper images. A video presentation allowed visitors to view scenes of how the telescope will unfold and prepare for use after its launch.

Other exhibits allowed viewers to track the orbits of planets, comets, asteroids and spacecraft through NASA's Eyes, an interactive computer visualization, and displayed NASA-issued gloves that the astronauts wear on their missions. Youngsters were able to put on the gloves and try to write their names, giving them a feel for how tasks are performed while in space.

A series of videos showing Indian legends about the planets and stars was available for viewing. These Star Stories, provided through the Smithsonian Institute's National Museum of the American Indian, featured legends from the Arkikara, Blackfoot, Cheyenne, Chipewayan, Ho-Chunk, Chippewa, Cree, Mohawk and Paiute tribes. They were shown in recognition of November being Native American Heritage Month.

Visitors were served hot spiced cider, Moon Pies and Milky War bars, and children were given free art kits.

This year's Moon Over Main Street event was a part of the NASA@MyLibrary space science program and was funded through a $1,600 grant from NASA. It is the first of a series of events that are part of the NASA program. Other activities will include distributing "Look Up! Explore Our Universe" Take & Make kits in December, a "First Images" event in early 2022 featuring images sent back from the James Webb telescope, and the "Oceans of Possibilities" reading program in the summer of 2022.

Westside Eagle Observer/SUSAN HOLLAND Jocelyn Miller (center), of Gravette, and her father gaze up at the night sky as her mother looks through one of the telescopes set up at the Gravette Public Library's Moon Over Main Street event Saturday evening. The entire Miller family came out to enjoy the activities as part of the NASA@MyLibrary space science program.
Westside Eagle Observer/SUSAN HOLLAND Jocelyn Miller (center), of Gravette, and her father gaze up at the night sky as her mother looks through one of the telescopes set up at the Gravette Public Library's Moon Over Main Street event Saturday evening. The entire Miller family came out to enjoy the activities as part of the NASA@MyLibrary space science program.
Westside Eagle Obsever/SUSAN HOLLAND Kailee Miller, 6, of Gravette, looks over a poster displaying information about the James Webb Space Telescope to be launched Dec. 18 in French Guiana. The telescope will employ infrared technology and will take sharper images than the Hubble Telescope currently in orbit. The display was exhibited as part of the Gravette library's Moon Over Main Street event.
Westside Eagle Obsever/SUSAN HOLLAND Kailee Miller, 6, of Gravette, looks over a poster displaying information about the James Webb Space Telescope to be launched Dec. 18 in French Guiana. The telescope will employ infrared technology and will take sharper images than the Hubble Telescope currently in orbit. The display was exhibited as part of the Gravette library's Moon Over Main Street event.
Submitted Photo John Fare III, 12, of Gravette, views the moons of Jupiter through a telescope set up on Gravette Main Street Saturday evening while his father, John Fare, Jr., looks on. The father and son were among about 70 people who attended the Gravette Public Library's Moon Over Main Street event and enjoyed the various activities.
Submitted Photo John Fare III, 12, of Gravette, views the moons of Jupiter through a telescope set up on Gravette Main Street Saturday evening while his father, John Fare, Jr., looks on. The father and son were among about 70 people who attended the Gravette Public Library's Moon Over Main Street event and enjoyed the various activities.
Westside Eagle Observer/SUSAN HOLLAND Jocelyn Miller tries writing her name while wearing NASA issued gloves like the astronauts wear when on a space mission while her little sister Kailee, age 6, tries one of the gloves on for size. The girls were getting the feel of how tasks are performed in space while in full flight gear. The activity was a part of the Gravette library's Moon Over Main Street event.
Westside Eagle Observer/SUSAN HOLLAND Jocelyn Miller tries writing her name while wearing NASA issued gloves like the astronauts wear when on a space mission while her little sister Kailee, age 6, tries one of the gloves on for size. The girls were getting the feel of how tasks are performed in space while in full flight gear. The activity was a part of the Gravette library's Moon Over Main Street event.