Hundreds attend Astronomy events
Events occurred both on campus and off, at Jeffers Petroglyphs
Hundreds of members of the public attended events in association with the Astronomy and American Indian Studies program hosted on campus and off, on Friday April 14th. The afternoon's events began on campus as Asst. Professor Michael Rutkowski gave a lecture on the effects and impacts of light pollution on humans, astrophysics, and life generally. Attendees then traveled out to the Jeffers Petroglyphs site where they engaged with anthropologists and archaeologists to explore this 7000 year old site, followed by a lecture by Tom Sanders (former site director and member of the Red Rock Ridge Research Group) on astronomical alignments identified at this site over the past 20 years.
Though weather prevented observing the night sky at the Jeffers Petroglyphs, hundreds turned out for this event which brought together scientists and staff from MNSU, UMN-Bell Museum, and the Minnesota Historical Society.
Pictured below are some of the students who were able to travel to Jeffers with Drs. Michael Rutkowski (AST) and Chelsea Mead (AIS), and student coordinator of the Earth Week events Madison Vandersee. Funding for the vans and meals were provided by the American Indian Studies program and the MNSU Environmental Committee.
