Top Programs and Events at the Denver Museum of Nature & Science in August and September

TEMPORARY EXHIBITION

NEW! A Day in Pompeii

Opens Friday, September 14

What nature destroyed, it also preserved. Hundreds of exceptional artifacts offer an insider's glimpse into the daily life-and tragic end-of this ancient Roman city that was destroyed by the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in AD 79. These archaeological treasures lay buried in Pompeii's ruins, preserved as if sealed in a time capsule. Highlights include marble and bronze sculptures, jewelry, gold coins, everyday household items, and more. Visitors will uncover the treasures of a city steeped in legend, examine casts of the volcano's victims frozen in their last moments, and discover the power of volcanoes past and present.

SPECIAL OFFER

FREE Field Trips for School Groups

The Museum is offering free self-guided tours to all school groups and organized youth groups through the 2012-2013 school year. In addition, the Museum is offering scholarships to cover bus fuel costs and to reduce fees for onsite labs and classes. As the region's leading resource for informal science education, the Museum hosts more than 300,000 students and their chaperones each year. The organization is committed to making science affordable, fun, exciting, and engaging. Reservations required. Learn more at www.dmns.org/teachers.

IMAX

NEW!Space Junk 3D

Now Showing

After 50 years of launching our dreams into space, we now face a troubling legacy: a growing ring of orbiting debris from various rockets and satellites.Space Junk 3Dis a visually explosive, sensory-expanding voyage into our now-threatened "final frontier." Experience mindboggling collisions, both natural and human-made, as you soar from the stunning depths of Meteor Crater in Arizona to an unprecedented view of our increasingly crowded orbits-22,000 miles above Earth. 

To the Arctic 3D

Now Showing

Follow the lives of a mother polar bear and her two cubs as they navigate the changing Arctic wilderness they call home.  Captivating, adventurous, and intimate footage brings you up close and personal with this family's struggle to survive and thrive in a frigid environment of melting ice, immense glaciers, spectacular waterfalls, and majestic snow-bound peaks.

PLANETARUIM

NEW!Realm of Light

Now Showing

This visual feast for the eyes enhanced with breathtaking music follows the incredible story of life on Earth. From the Big Bang to the modern age of humankind, viewers of all ages will be inspired by the marvel of nature and the power of human curiosity.

AUGUST EVENTS

Curiosity Landing Event on Mars - SOLD OUT (NASA will stream the Museum's event live online. Details will be on DMNS.org when they are available)

Sunday, August 5, 8 p.m.

Come to the Museum to mark another historic moment in space exploration! NASA's Mars Science Laboratory mission is preparing to land the "mega-rover"Curiosity, the largest and most advanced mobile laboratory ever to operate on the surface another planet. The spacecraft was launched in November 2011, and will arrive at Mars on August 5 around 11:30 p.m. MDT. Join the Museum's Mars scientist Steve Lee and other local experts to learn about this ambitious mission and what's in store for the new rover, look over the shoulders of mission controllers during live NASA TV coverage of the landing, and seeCuriosity's first views of its new home on the Red Planet.

SCFD Community FREE Days

Sunday, August 12 and Monday, August 20, 9 a.m.-5 p.m., FREE

Enjoy outstanding permanent exhibitions including Expedition Health, Space Odyssey, Prehistoric Journey, and Egyptian Mummies.

Science Lounge: Big Bang Theory
Thursday, August 16, 6:30-9:30 p.m., $8 member, $10 nonmember

(If sold out online, tickets available at the door.) Enjoy a mind-expanding experience with cocktails and entertainment every third Thursday of the month. Ages 21 and up. This month,travel to the outer reaches of the universe and explore the cosmic microwave background. Say what? Hang out with our own group of brilliant scientists and self-professed nerds-they'll explain what happened at the very beginning. Learn about the expanding universe, why dark matter matters, and try our signature cocktail, the Bazinga!

James Luna

Lecture: Thursday, August 23, 7 p.m., $12 member, $15 nonmember

Performance & exhibition premiere: Wednesday, October 3, and Friday, October 5, 7 p.m., $15 member, $18 nonmember

Acclaimed performance artist James Luna is coming to Denver and bringing his important perspective on themes related to American Indian stereotypes and history. Luna, a Pooyukitchchum/Ipai native, is a powerful force in performance art today. In August, he will present a performative lecture at the Museum in which you will experience his take on performance and installation artworks, using monologues, visual examples, and antics. In October, Luna returns to the Museum with the premiere of a unique art installation entitled Making Do, created specifically for a limited engagement in the Museum's Crane North American Indian Cultures Hall.

SEPTEMBER EVENTS

Science Lounge: Whiskey and the West
Thursday, September 20, 6:30-9:30 p.m., $8 member, $10 nonmember

(If sold out online, tickets available at the door.) Enjoy a mind-expanding experience with cocktails and entertainment every third Thursday of the month. Ages 21 and up. This month,thanks to an explosion of small batch distilleries, Colorado can add the art of whiskey to our list of brag-worthy craft alcohol. Learn about chemistry and the distilling process from Museum scientists, and dig deep into the history of whiskey in Colorado and the medicinal qualities of fine spirits. Wash it all down with our signature cocktail, the Colorado Sidecar.

Missions to Titan: The Enigmatic Moon of Saturn

Tuesday, September 11, 7 p.m., $8 member, $10 nonmember

Titan expert Patricia M. Beauchamp will reveal how missions to Saturn's moon have revolutionized our understanding of the Titan system and its potential for harboring life. Voyager and Cassini-Huygens have shown that Titan is rich in organics, has liquid lakes of methane ethane in the northern latitudes and vast dune fields nearer the equator, likely contains an enormous subsurface ocean, and has energy sources to drive chemical evolution. Beauchamp will discuss these discoveries and hopes for future missions to explore Titan as a prebiotic chemical system that creates an environment comparable to early Earth. Beauchamp is a chemist and works at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory developing missions to outer planets. Sponsored in part by the NASA Astrobiology Institute.

Bacchus Raucous-A Party in Pompeii

Friday, September 28, 7:30-11 p.m., $38 member, $43 nonmember

Party like it's AD 79. Graffiti, gladiators, and glitz await-just another raucous night in Pompeii, Rome's vacation and nightlife hotspot. Come dressed as your favorite Roman god or goddess, or in your toga best. Your ticket includes Italian-themed hors d'oeuvres, entertainment, admission to A Day in Pompeii, and one drink at the bar.

MEDIA CONTACT

Charlotte Hurley: 303-370-6407, Charlotte.Hurley@dmns.org

NOTE:Please let me know if this monthly event/program update is more appropriate for another person at your organization, so we can update our contact list.
 
About the Denver Museum of Nature & Science
The Denver Museum of Nature & Science is the Rocky Mountain Region's leading resource for informal science education. A variety of engaging exhibits, discussions and activities help Museum visitors celebrate and understand the natural wonders of Colorado, Earth and the universe. The Museum is located at 2001 Colorado Blvd., Denver, CO, 80205.  To learn more about the Museum, check www.dmns.org, or call 303-370-6000.
 

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Many of the Museum's educational programs and exhibits are made possible in part by the citizens of the seven-county metro area through the Scientific & Cultural Facilities District.