Heavenly Horses trots its way back to North Penn

Shreeya Patel, Staff Writer|January 24, 2023

Shreeya Patel

Monoceros appears in the Planterium Sky at North Penn High School’s annual Heavenly Horses presentation.

TOWAMENCIN- On Tuesday, the Knight Riders and Astronomy Club joined forces to put together their 12th annual Heavenly Horses presentation. Members of the clubs joined club advisors Mr. James Bauman and Dr. Melody Leithold in the Planetarium. 

In Astronomy Club, they talk about current topics in astronomy and view the current sky in the planetarium. When the weather is clear, they take the telescopes outside and view any planets or deep sky objects that are viewable.

The Knight Riders is a club for equestrians to meet and discuss interests in horse riding. This includes offsite visits to riding competitions and training facilities. 

 

“I think it is great that two clubs can find common ground and create something for our school. I hope to see this more in the future,” said Bauman.

The focus of the presentation is to highlight constellations in the night sky that have a connection to horses. These include Equuleus, Pegasus, and Monoceros. Sagittarius and Centaurus were also included. They are represented by centaurs, half-human, and half-horse creatures. Each constellation is highlighted in the sky, its history is explained, and any deep-sky objects are identified.

“In the past, students have researched the constellations and will read an excerpt about them during the program. This year, with the addition of our new planetarium system, students could aid in the creation of the controls for the program. They found content related to the constellations and learned how to present it during the program. They also created controls to display some of the constellations in the sky,” said Bauman. 

This is a great way to get students involved in using and programming the planetarium, as well as a great way to share the planetarium with the school community, and hopefully, the tradition will continue well into the future.

“I hope that this tradition continues well into the future. For me, it is a great way to get students involved in using and programming the planetarium and to share the planetarium with the school community,’ Bauman exclaimed.