FHSU University Communications
The Kansas Wetlands Education Center (KWEC) invites the public to join its staff for a free, family-friendly meteor shower watch party on Tuesday, Aug. 12, from 8:30 to 10:30 p.m.
This annual event celebrates the end of summer as the Earth passes through the dust and debris of the Swift-Tuttle comet, creating a spectacular display of meteors or “shooting stars” in the night sky. This year, our event will coincide with peak viewing dates, and stargazers may be able to spot 60-100 meteors per hour.
Located northeast of Great Bend on K-156 Highway, the KWEC offers an ideal location for comfortable sky-watching. Guests are encouraged to bring lawn chairs or blankets to relax on the KWEC lawn while enjoying the celestial show.
In addition to meteor watching, the evening will feature s’mores making and eating, and several space-themed learning stations inside the KWEC. Activities include a magnetic meteor hunt, spectroscope building, a space lander challenge, an asteroid belt art project, and using a blender bike to make galaxy smoothies. Planetarium shows will be offered in the inflatable planetarium, and we will have real meteorites on loan from the Sternberg Museum of Natural History.
The event will proceed rain or shine, but clear skies are necessary for optimal meteor shower viewing.
The Kansas Wetlands Education Center, affiliated with FHSU’s Werth College of Science, Technology and Mathematics, is located 10 miles northeast of Great Bend along Kansas Highway 156 at Cheyenne Bottoms, 592 NE K-156 Hwy., Great Bend.
For more information, visit wetlandscenter.fhsu.edu or call 1-877-243-9268.