The schedule of public events has been updated to reflect what’s coming up over the next few months:

• On May 5 and May 19, we will present encore viewings of Black Holes: The Other Side of Infinity. As usual, the shows will begin at 7:30 PM, with admission being $5 for adults, $3 for 18 and under, and $10 for families of three or more. Lambuth students, staff, and faculty are admitted free with ID.
• The M.D. Anderson Planetarium will be closed completely during the months of June and July. Look for new show announcements for the fall!
• The first show for the fall season will be Monday, August 18.

Thanks to everyone who has made our first season with the new projector a great success!

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Tonight (March 17), the Planetarium will be showing Hubble Vision 2 at 7:30 PM, and will also include a short star show following the main attraction.  In addition to talking about the stars and planets visible this week, I will discuss briefly the astronomical significance of the vernal equinox, and its connection with the holidays of Easter and Passover.

Admission is $5 per adult, $3 per child under 18, and $10 for a family of 3 or more. Lambuth students get in free with their ID.

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The schedule of public shows has been updated to include the regular public nights for the months of March and April. I am also working on ideas for other public events, so keep an eye out for those.

Speaking of keeping an eye on things, did you know you know that you can receive instant Planetarium news updates for free in your email client, web browser, or Internet-enabled mobile device? You can do this through RSS news feeds: just navigate to http://planetarium.lambuth.edu/rss to subscribe, and you’ll never have to miss another planetarium announcement again!

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Tonight (February 18) is the first Public Night in the revamped planetarium.  We will be showing Hubble Vision 2, which was developed by Loch Ness Productions.

The show begins at 7:30 PM, and will also include a short star show.

Admission is $5 per adult, $3 per child under 18, and $10 for a family of 3 or more. Lambuth students get in free with their ID.

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A big thank you to everyone who made Saturday’s Grand Reopening a success!  We had between 200 and 300 people over the course of the day.

I will post pictures and specific thank-yous later this week, so keep an eye on this space.

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If you want to be updated whenever changes are made to the planetarium website, please consider signing up for the RSS news feed (http://planetarium.lambuth.edu/rss) or the Atom news feed (http://planetarium.lambuth.edu/atom).

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1. The logo competition is over, so any entries I haven’t received yet won’t be considered. The judges (Dr. Lendon Noe, Ms. Sissy Orr, Ms. Margaret Day, and Mr. Tad McElroy) will be making their decisions within the next few days. The winner, however, won’t be revealed until February 9.
2. Speaking of which, I have updated the Grand Reopening page to include more specific information about the activities of the day. Especially of note: after the keynote address, there will be a reception in the Performing Arts Center, to which all are welcome and invited.

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The deadline for submissions to the logo competition is this Friday, January 25 at 5:00 PM! So, if you want to enter the contest, now is the time!

The rules are behind this link.

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I have begun working in earnest on the planetarium show for February 9, and finally have a title for it:

“See How Far the Light Came: A Journey from Our Solar System Outward”

The purpose of the show is to demonstrate the abilities of the new projector, but also to connect our programming to Prof. Krauss’ keynote address.

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As promised, here is the installed projector. I also attempted to capture the projected images on the dome, but my little camera (alas) isn’t good enough.

The projector on its platform:

A close-up of the projector:

And of course, the crew responsible for the installation:  Tad McElroy (left) and Jared Canada!

Posted by Matthew R. Francis under Director's Notes & Photos & Planetarium News | No Comments »