Every Tuesday evening through Labor Day, enjoy an entertaining and educational presentation at the Museum of Coastal Carolina. The Sandbar Lecture Series brings local experts to speak about topics ranging from our coastal environment to Outer Banks history.
On Tuesday, Aug 30, join Sara Dousharm, Environmental Educator and Butterfly House Curator at Airlie Gardens in Wilmington, to learn about the butterflies you can see in your backyard. Dousham will bring living specimens and talk about butterfly life cycles and adaptations. Get an up-close look at some of our butterfly species native to SE North Carolina! All of the species brought to the lecture can be seen in the butterfly house exhibit at Airlie Gardens. Dousham will talk about monarchs, black swallowtails, common buckeyes and more. We will also discuss the importance of pollinators and how to support pollinators in your own yard!
Sara Dousharm is an Environmental Educator and Butterfly House Curator at Airlie Gardens in Wilmington, NC. She is a North Carolina native and has a degree in Biology with a concentration in Conservation from UNCW. She is a certified NC Environmental Educator and has worked in a variety of settings such as parks, nature centers, and museums.
Magic Globe is an engaging story designed to interest and challenge young children. While on vacation at her grandpa’s house, Mia accidentally discovers a mysterious piece of astronomical machinery with secret powers that can change the world’s seasons. Mia’s eccentric uncle tries to trick Mia into using the tool’s secret powers but she quickly realizes the consequences of their actions. The movie is followed by a live star show.
Narrated by actor Liam Neeson, this show explores the inner workings of Earth’s climate system. With visualizations based on satellite monitoring data and advanced supercomputer simulations, this cutting-edge production follows a trail of energy that flows from the Sun into the interlocking systems that shape our climate: the atmosphere, oceans, and the biosphere. Audiences will ride along on swirling ocean and wind currents, dive into the heart of a monster hurricane, come face-to-face with sharks and gigantic whales, and fly into roiling volcanoes. This movie is followed by a star show.
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trap on a virtual reality (VR) headset and watch hundreds of sea turtles emerge from sand, heading toward the beach in our newest VR program, Sea Turtle Quest. This exciting program explores the life cycle of sea turtle including digging a nest, laying eggs, and returning to the sea. Through VR technology, explore a virtual science laboratory that brings the real world into the lab and teaches the process of science. Examine eggshells with a microscope, scale, and other common lab tools. Match the sea turtle tracks to the sea turtle who laid them by examining photos of turtle tracks. Learn why not all baby sea turtles survive and what you can do to protect hatchlings.
The Science in 3D program will feature Sea Turtle Quest on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday at 1:00 pm through Labor Day. The Science in 3D program is hosted by Education Coordinator Jamie Justice, who will help launch each VR adventure and answer questions about the experience. This program is not recommended for children under 8 or people who experience motion sickness.
For four and a half billion years, the Sun has shone on our world. It is our nearest star and our planet’s powerhouse, the source of the energy that drives our winds, our weather and all life. The Sun consumes 600 million tons of hydrogen each second and is 500 times as massive as all the planets combined. This film explores the secrets of the Sun. The film is followed by a live star show.
For thousands of years the humans observed the light coming from the night sky with their eyes. In the beginning of the 17th century, the invention of the telescope by Galileo revolutionized our knowledge of the Universe. Finally, in the 20th century with the advent of rockets, it became possible to go above the earth’s atmosphere and observe X-ray and gamma ray radiation which are the marks of the hot and violent Universe. But it is not only light that can give us information about the cosmos. Neutrinos and cosmic rays also provide vital information. Finally, the detection by the LIGO experiment of gravitational waves from two merging black holes opened a new window in astrophysics. This video presents images of the cosmos as revealed by all these different messengers.
Children can test their ocean IQ and learn who really lives in the ocean while being safe. This program is designed to entertain and educate kids about sea life using a fun, interactive format. Kids will learn all about the sea life they are swimming with and the way the animals protect themselves. Safety while at the beach or near water will also be discussed across seven rules such as what to do when swimming alone, how to help someone in the water, etc. Kids will have an opportunity to make sea bottles (plastic bottles that they can fill with shells, crystal sand, and mermaid magic) that they can take home.
Judy Soboda facilitates the All Hands on Deck program. Judy received her Bachelor’s in Education from Bowling Green State University. She has lived on Ocean Isle Beach for the last 20 years and has been a dependable volunteer maintaining and caring for the fish and sea critters at the Museum of Coastal Carolina.
Learn how to recognize the planets, constellations, stars, and other heavenly bodies that may be visible in the night sky over North Carolina.
Tickets are sold out for this showing. Please call the Planetarium to reserve tickets for the 5:00 pm time slot.
See recently released images from the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) at the Ingram Planetarium on Wednesday, August 31 at 4:00 and 5:00 pm. The JWST is the largest and most sophisticated space telescope ever conceived, placed approximately 1 million miles from Earth. High-Definition images will be projected onto the 40-foot 360-degree dome theater. The program will also include an in-depth exploration of the content of these photos and the telescope itself.
JWST is the largest and most complex space science telescope ever built. This international mission, led by NASA in partnership with the European Space Agency and the Canadian Space Agency, launched Dec. 25, 2021. The observatory is designed to see the universe in the infrared. The telescope peers into dusty stellar nurseries to explore distant worlds orbiting other stars, as well as observing objects in our own solar system. JWST is studying light from distant parts of the universe for the very first time – the first galaxies that formed over 13.5 billion years ago – and this will give us insight into how our universe formed.
Alan G. Brown, PhD, will lead the presentation. Originally from Canada, Brown received his doctorate in Solid State Physics from the University of Toronto. Brown has been a U.S. citizen since 1998 and volunteering at Ingram Planetarium since 2008. No stranger to volunteer service, he served on the national board of the Modernization Forum and even started his own nonprofit to support research commercialization in the area of nanotechnology. Now semi-retired and living in Southport, Brown is active in the community by serving on the STEM Council of Brunswick County, tutoring at Brunswick Community College, and performing Dome shows and special programs at Ingram Planetarium.
See recently released images from the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) at the Ingram Planetarium on Wednesday, August 31 at 4:00 and 5:00 pm. The JWST is the largest and most sophisticated space telescope ever conceived, placed approximately 1 million miles from Earth. High-Definition images will be projected onto the 40-foot 360-degree dome theater. The program will also include an in-depth exploration of the content of these photos and the telescope itself.
JWST is the largest and most complex space science telescope ever built. This international mission, led by NASA in partnership with the European Space Agency and the Canadian Space Agency, launched Dec. 25, 2021. The observatory is designed to see the universe in the infrared. The telescope peers into dusty stellar nurseries to explore distant worlds orbiting other stars, as well as observing objects in our own solar system. JWST is studying light from distant parts of the universe for the very first time – the first galaxies that formed over 13.5 billion years ago – and this will give us insight into how our universe formed.
Alan G. Brown, PhD, will lead the presentation. Originally from Canada, Brown received his doctorate in Solid State Physics from the University of Toronto. Brown has been a U.S. citizen since 1998 and volunteering at Ingram Planetarium since 2008. No stranger to volunteer service, he served on the national board of the Modernization Forum and even started his own nonprofit to support research commercialization in the area of nanotechnology. Now semi-retired and living in Southport, Brown is active in the community by serving on the STEM Council of Brunswick County, tutoring at Brunswick Community College, and performing Dome shows and special programs at Ingram Planetarium.