Explore Scientific, the Explore Alliance, and Astronomy Magazine Team Up for Global Star Party Celebrating Pluto

SPRINGDALE, Ark., February 1, 2021 (Newswire.com) - On Feb. 4, 2021, the astronomy world will mark the 115th anniversary of the birth of Clyde Tombaugh — the man who discovered Pluto. To celebrate the occasion, Explore Scientific's Explore Alliance is teaming up with Astronomy Magazine to host a special Pluto-themed Global Star Party at 7 p.m. CST.   

During the interactive livestream event, which will be simulcast free on Explore Scientific's social media channels (connect at explorescientific.com/live), the editors and contributors to Astronomy Magazine as well as world-renowned astronomers and scientists will do a deep dive into all things Pluto — a solar system object that has only increased in notoriety since it was reclassified as a dwarf planet by the International Astronomical Union in 2006 — as well as its discoverer - Clyde Tombaugh.

Scheduled presenters on Pluto-themed topics will include:

• David Levy — renowned comet discoverer and author of Clyde Tombaugh: Discoverer of Planet Pluto

• David Eicher — editor-in-chief of Astronomy Magazine

• Alan Stern — the planetary scientist leading NASA's New Horizons mission to the Pluto system and the Kuiper Belt

• Alison Klesman, an associate editor at Astronomy Magazine who has completed years of research in the field of planetary science

"I am excited beyond words to bring together David Eicher and the staff of Astronomy Magazine, Dr. David H. Levy who was a long-time friend of Clyde Tombaugh who discovered Pluto, and Dr. Alan Stern, principal investigator of the New Horizons Spacecraft, that captured amazing data of the frozen world," said Scott Roberts, founder of Explore Scientific and the Explore Alliance. "I believe this will be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to experience Tombaugh's personal recollections of the discovery that was the culmination of a centuries-long quest to find an unseen world beyond Neptune; to gain a deeper understanding of our solar system from a group of highly experienced and talented science writers; and to learn first-hand the amazing revelations from the leader of the team that guided the only spacecraft to Pluto."

Although much of the event will be focused on Pluto, Scott Roberts, founder of Explore Scientific, and David Eicher, editor-in-chief of Astronomy Magazine, will chat with other guests about the new era of spaceflight, science journalism, the legacy of Arecibo Observatory and more.

This special event will be the 31st Global Star Party hosted by the Explore Alliance — the formal educational outreach organization supported by Explore Scientific — since the pandemic brought most in-person astronomy events to a halt last spring.

Press Contact: Scott Roberts +1 (949) 637-9075

Source: Explore Scientific