Smithsonian.com

Come see the ZooLights holiday festival on January 1st. Photo courtesy of the National Zoo.

Friday, December 30 Treasures at the Museum

Treasures at the Museum, by Deborra Richardson, chief archivist of the American History Museum, is a chapter book that introduces children to archives through the imaginative journey of young characters Robbie and Brittany. On Friday, come meet the author and have a copy of the book autographed. A terrific gift idea for children in grades K-4, this book is sure entice young readers to the preservation of history. Free. 2 to 4 p.m. American History Museum, Archives Center, 1st Floor West

Saturday, December 31 Flights of Fancy

Bring children of all ages to the Air and Space Museum‘s Flights of Fancy story series. Museum staff read tales of legendary aviators, hot-air balloons and space exploration, and each session also includes a hands-on art activity. This week, the book is Comets, Stars, the Moon and Mars, a collection of space poetry and paintings by Douglas Florian. Free, with sessions at 11 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. Air and Space Museum.

Sunday, January 1 Last Day of ZooLights

This New Year’s Day, visit the Zoo for your last chance to see Zoo Lights until the next holiday season. The nighttime holiday festival features light displays, special animal exhibits, entertainment and the Zoo’s new “iceless” skating rink featuring a high-tech acrylic material. Come to the area’s only free holiday light show and enjoy an extensive LED display illuminating the trees, walkways and buildings, along with life-size animal light silhouettes. 5 to 9 p.m. National Zoo.

For a complete listing of Smithsonian events and exhibitions visit the goSmithsonian Visitors Guide. Additional reporting by Michelle Strange.

A budding star spits out jets of superheated gas and dust in the Carina Nebula. Photo courtesy of NASA/ESA/M.Livio/STScI

A tour of the Natural History Museum might lead you from an exhibition on dinosaurs to one about ocean creatures. You might read about how hominids evolved millions of years ago, how our planet’s continents have moved, or how early creatures evolved when the atmosphere was practically devoid of oxygen. The time scale of natural history, you realize, is almost unimaginably large.

But if you enter the museum’s new exhibition, “The Evolving Universe“—a show featuring photography from some of the most powerful telescopes ever created—you’ll find yourself even more astounded. Set against the backdrop of the known universe, the history of our dear planet seems nearly irrelevant. Hundreds of billions of stars like our sun are born out of supernovae several light years wide (each light year is longer than five trillion miles) and are destined to die, once again exploding into supernovas, billions of years later. Thousands of galaxies, some containing trillions of stars like our sun, are continuously being born and evolving.

Although these concepts can be difficult to comprehend and even harder to visualize, the stunning photos that make up the exhibition show the visitor just how awe-inspiring these astronomical events can be. They put the latest CGI graphics from 3-D blockbuster films to shame. “Part of our mission is sharing science with the public, and so we felt that doing this exhibit and showing these images is a great way to do that,” says Jonathan McDowell, an astrophysicist at the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory, which partnered with the museum in creating the exhibition. The large-scale photographs in the show were produced by a number of telescopes, both Earth and space-based, including the Hubble Space Telescope.

A black hole at the center of the Centaurus A galaxy spews jets of gas outward. Photo courtesy of NASA/CFX/CfA,MPiFR/ESO/APEX

“We’ve all seen the amazing pictures from NASA’s probes in our own solar system,” says McDowell. “I’m excited about bringing to the public the remarkable images of the broader universe that we astronomers have been exploring with our telescopes. I hope that with this exhibition visitors will take away an appreciation for our larger cosmic neighborhood.”

The show—and accompanying website—use these images to tell the story of our universe, from start to present. The Big Bang, the creation of galaxies, the birth of the Milky Way and the formation of our own solar system are represented in rich images so full of detail that they need to be observed for minutes at a time, like pieces of art hung on the wall.

What might be most remarkable is that the actual images created by the telescopes are themselves ancient history. Because light takes so long to travel from the far-flung reaches of space, when we photograph distant galaxies, the light that hits the camera’s lens to produce the image left its home galaxy billions of years ago. These pictures show some of the celestial objects as they were before humans even existed. And so we have a font-row seat to watch the earliest stages of the universe’s creation, if we look deep enough into space, more than 13 billion years later.

When wandering the exhibition, one might be overwhelmed by the torrent of information presented on scales that are downright otherworldly. How does our planet, so tiny and new, fit into all of this?

The best metaphor to understand earth’s place in the universe might be that of astrophysicist, author and recent Around the Mall blog subject Carl Sagan. In his book Pale Blue Dot, he describes a far-off view of the Earth from the outer reaches of the solar system:

From this distant vantage point, the Earth might not seem of any particular interest. But for us, it’s different. Look again at that dot. That’s here. That’s home. That’s us. On it everyone you love, everyone you know, everyone you ever heard of, every human being who ever was, lived out their lives. The aggregate of our joy and suffering, thousands of confident religions, ideologies, and economic doctrines, every hunter and forager, every hero and coward, every creator and destroyer of civilization, every king and peasant, every young couple in love, every mother and father, hopeful child, inventor and explorer, every teacher of morals, every corrupt politician, every “superstar,” every “supreme leader,” every saint and sinner in the history of our species lived there – on a mote of dust suspended in a sunbeam.

In the scheme of the known universe—of supernovae and galaxies and nebulas and black holes—our whole planet starts to look like a speck of dust, floating in the sunlight.

The Evolving Universe is on view at the Natural History Museum through July 7, 2013

Visit the American Art museum. Photo courtesy of the museum.

Tuesday, December 27 Winter Break Special Programs

This winter break, bring the kids to enjoy a whole range of special activities at the Portrait Gallery. Check out a Discovery Kit to learn more about some of the famous Americans featured in the gallery, or join in the group art project, in which you’ll have the chance to contribute to a piece that will hang in the Education Center. Each day, a new figure will be featured in the work, and a different medium used. Free. 1 to 4 p.m., Repeats daily through Dec. 30. National Portrait Gallery, Education Center.

Wednesday, December 28 Camp Kwanzaa

Come for a family-friendly day of celebration sponsored by the Anacostia Community Museum. This program features Kwanzaa-related performances, hands-on activities and crafts that are sure to be fun for participants of all ages. Interactive music, drama and dance activities allow everyone to show their creative side in enjoying this seven-day festival. Free. For reservations, call 202-633-4844. 10:30 a.m. Our Lady of Perpetual Help Church, Panorama Room, 1600 Morris Rd., SE, Washington, DC 20020

Due to a scheduling error, Art + Coffee will be held on January 29, not December 29. Stay tuned for more information in the coming weeks.

For a complete listing of Smithsonian events and exhibitions visit the goSmithsonian Visitors Guide. Additional reporting by Michelle Strange.

With the holiday season upon us, here’s a different sort of gift list: some of the most interesting, important and surprising diplomatic gifts given the U.S. over the past two centuries. The Natural History Museum‘s Department of Anthropology is home to hundreds of ceremonial items bestowed upon U.S. presidents and officials. Anthropologist Deborah Hull-Walski spoke with us about some of the most notable gifts in the collection.

1. Omani Cashmere Shawl: “The earliest presidential gifts in the Department of Anthropology were presented by the Sultan of Muskat and Oman, to President Martin Van Buren,” Hull-Walksi says. After Van Buren established the first U.S. consulate in an Arab Gulf State, the Sultan responded generously. Among his 1840 gifts were a number of luxurious cashmere shawls, some of the earliest diplomatic gifts held in the collection, along with pearls, carpet, perfumes and Arabian horses. Legend has it that he even presented several lions to honor America, which were briefly held at the American consulate.

2. Japanese Saddle: In 1858, Japan signed the Treaty of Commerce and Friendship with the U.S., its first treaty with any Western nation. As a result, in 1860, the Emperor sent a delegation to the U.S. for the first time, which came bearing gifts for President James Buchanan. The items included a traditional saddle, made of wood and leather, and embellished with gold lacquer and pearls. “The gifts given to President James Buchanan from the Emperor of Japan conveyed the hopes of continuing diplomatic relations between the Japanese and the American people,” says Hull-Walski.

A bronze Buddha sculpture presented by Nepal to President Truman. Photo courtesy of the Smithsonian Dept. of Anthropology

3. Zuni Bear Claw Necklace: During an era of increased U.S. involvement overseas, Theodore Roosevelt received gifts from a number of countries, but one of the most unusual came from a sovereign American Indian nation: the Zuni people of New Mexico. Along with a prayer stick and ritual figurines was a necklace made out of the paws of a bear killed over 50 years earlier. “This item was given specifically to Roosevelt as a mark of high esteem for him as a great hunter of the cougar and bear,” Hull-Walski says.

4. Nepali Buddha Figurine: In 1945, after completing a round of postwar trade negotiations, President Harry Truman received a number of gifts from Nepal. His Highness the Maharaja Rana of Nepal said that the items were to help “remind him of far-off Nepal” in future years. This intricate Buddha sculpture, cast in brass, was among the items that Truman passed along to the Smithsonian Institution.

5. Hopi Kachina Doll: This doll, created by Hopi artist Joe Gash, was presented to then-Vice President George H. W. Bush in 1981. The Hopis create the cottonwood dolls as effigies to represent the ceremonial Kachina spirit. The doll is the most recent diplomatic gift to make it to the Smithsonian archives, as more recent gifts have been donated to Presidential libraries across the country.

Learn about writer and art collector Gertrude Stein as part of the Portrait Story Days series. Photo courtesy of the National Portrait Gallery.

Friday, December 23 ArtLab+ Showcase

ArtLab+, a digital media studio that provides local teens a chance to engage with different forms of art and design, presents this showcase event. Produced by the Creative Consultants Club of ArtLab+, it will feature young people’s creative works in fashion, music, photography and film.  Free. 6 to 7 p.m. Hirshhorn Museum, Sunken Sculpture Garden.

Saturday, December 24 Portrait Story Days

As part of the Gallery’s family-friendly Portrait Story Days series, drop in and hear about an American who has had a major impact on culture and history. This week, learn about writer, poet and art collector Gertrude Stein, subject of the new exhibition “Seeing Gertrude Stein: Five Stories.” After the curator talk, you’ll have the chance to create your own work of art—materials provided. Free. 1 to 4 p.m. National Portrait Gallery, education center.

Sunday, December 25 Christmas

All Smithsonian Institution museums and the National Zoo are closed today. Enjoy the holiday!

For a complete listing of Smithsonian events and exhibitions visit the goSmithsonian Visitors Guide. Additional reporting by Michelle Strange.