By Charles Pan

There were a lot of explosions.

They came from the Wrightson Gym, where 7^th and 8^th graders dropped pieces of alka seltzer into film cans (filled with a tiny bit of water) and backed off as the top of the film can shot up into the air. This station, while meant to educate students on rockets, was also a lot of fun when a film can would shoot especially high into the air or when an occasional student would be splattered with a mixture of alka seltzer and water. This activity was one of many in the Middle School Astronomy Night, which took place on Thursday, November 29^th.

This event, organized by Ms. Reeves and Ms. Palmer, featured a UV light station, an “Oreo” phase station, a moon crater station, and many more. Mr. Bitler, a Newark Academy physics teacher, made a presentation on the mysteries of the universe, and there was a planetarium and a star lab also set up. Every activity was geared toward teaching students about famous astronomers, interactions between the moon, the sun, and the earth, and our universe. 7^th and 8^th grade students and their parents walked around the school, enjoying activities such as matching planets with their description or making a model of the solar system. Ishan Gadde, a 7^th grader at NA, says, “I had lots of fun, and my favorite part of the Astronomy Night was the rockets.”

I had the chance to ask Ms. Palmer a few questions about the Middle School Astronomy Night. She says that based on the feedback from the parents and students, the MS Astronomy Night was a great success. “It appeared that everyone had a great time but they also had the opportunity to learn something new,” she says. “From what I’ve heard, each station was run well by the 8^th graders.”

The turnout for the Astronomy Night was enormous, and many of the students had a great amount of entertainment. Whether it was the 8^th graders, who enjoyed helping students and their families learn about different parts of astronomy at their stations, or the 7^th graders, who had fun doing each activity, everyone had a great time and never regretted coming to the MS Astronomy Night. As Durga Srivatsan, a 7^th grader, says, “I didn’t think many people would come, but almost the entire 7^th and 8^th grade came! It was a huge success.”