Programs to commemorate 75th anniversary of WWII’s end
To complement the National Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day 79th Anniversary Commemoration Ceremony, the National Park Service will host a series of virtual public programs, across seven days beginning Monday to share information about World War II history.
These programs are free to the public and will set the virtual stage for the National Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day 79th Anniversary Commemoration Ceremony. This year’s ceremony will be live-streamed Dec. 7 on the Pearl Harbor National Memorial’s Facebook page and on www.pearlharborevents.com in partnership with Defense Media Activity.
“In our effort to bring the remembrance of the pivotal events of WWII to a wider audience, Pearl Harbor National Memorial and its partners are excited to offer these virtual field trips and education programs,” said Scott Burch, acting superintendent of Pearl Harbor National Memorial. “I invite everyone to join us for these very special opportunities.”
Starting Monday and continuing through Friday, the NPS will cohost five virtual field trips with the National WWII Museum in New Orleans. The Remember Pearl Harbor virtual field trip will discuss the historical conditions that lead up to the attack on Pearl Harbor and reasons why the event remains an important part of history today. These fieldtrips are intended for fourth through eighth graders. Up to 500 students can be accommodated per day and teachers can register their class in advance online.
Days and times for the field trips are: 11 a.m. Monday; 8 a.m. Tuesday; 11 a.m. Wednesday; 8 a.m. Thursday and 11 a.m. Friday.
Starting Friday and continuing through Dec. 6, the NPS will host Beyond Pearl Harbor: Untold Stories of WWII, a virtual event exploring a broader story of the WWII experience. This program will feature other WWII sites the NPS manages across the nation including Pearl Harbor National Memorial, Rosie the Riveter WWII Homefront National Historic Park, Golden Gate National Recreation Area (Presidio), Tuskegee Institute National Historic Site, Port Chicago Naval Magazine National Memorial, Minidoka National Historic Site, Manzanar National Historic Site, Tule Lake National Monument, Honouliuli National Monument, Bainbridge Island Unit, and Manhattan Project National Historic Park.
The program will cover different aspects of WWII and will include a film festival, education sessions, and eight live programs over the course of the weekend to showcase the war effort on the home front and on the war front.
The opening ceremony will be at 4 p.m. Friday with live programs running at 10 a.m., noon, 2 p.m., and 4 p.m. on Dec. 5 and 6.
Keck Observatory announces upcoming astronomy talk
Keck’s next virtual Public Astronomy Talk will be held at 5 p.m. Dec. 9 and will featureTaylor Hutchison from Texas A&M University presenting “Hunting for the Most Distant Galaxies in the Universe.”
We understand very little about the first galaxies in the universe whose light has traveled over 12 billion years to reach our telescopes. The early universe was a much darker place, filled with neutral gas blocking starlight from traveling far from its source. However, some light from young, small galaxies blasted through the gas around them to escape and travel to us. The little light that we see from these ancient cosmic objects hints at a remarkable story: galaxies housing young stars hundreds of times the mass of our Sun, intense and powerful radiation, and a paucity of elements heavier than hydrogen and helium. Taylor will share her part in piecing together this story, highlighting what she’s learned from Keck Observatory about this distant time and what’s next for this rapidly developing field of research.
The talk will be streamed online at https://keckobservatory.zoom.us/j/98010004710 with meeting ID 980 1000 4710. The talk will also be live-streamed on Facebook.
