The Jackson Sun ran a nice article on the Grand Reopening in yesterday’s “Neighbors” section. You can read it online at
http://www.jacksonsun.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080227/LIFESTYLE08/802270301/1032

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As I promised, here is the rundown of last Saturday’s Grand Reopening.

• Over 200 people attended, consisting of all ages from babies on up
• The Chemistry Magic Shows were big successes, and got coverage in the Jackson Sun. I think the kids liked the magic shows more than anything else that went on!
• The shows and displays in the library and in Hyde Hall were well attended, and enjoyed by all.
• About 60 people came to the keynote address, presented by Lawrence Krauss, and many people had a chance to meet and talk with Prof. Krauss at the reception following the presentation

All in all, I think we had a successful day. Photos are behind the link:
Continue Reading »

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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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The Planetarium Grand Reopening begins in just over an hour! I hope to see a big crowd today, since we have lots of exciting stuff, including:

• Magic shows by the Lambuth chemistry club at 1:30 and 2:30 in Hyde Hall, Room 215
• The Gobbel Library will be showing two videos: “Welcome to Mars: NASA’s Ongoing Search for Life Beyond Earth” will be presented at 1:30, and “The Dark Side of the Universe,” a Scientific American Frontiers presentation narrated by Alan Alda, will be presented at 2:30. In addition, there will be displays designed by the library student staff, along with books by the keynote speaker, Dr. Lawrence Krauss.
• Walk-through displays in Hyde Hall, depicting the history of life on Earth, presented by Lambuth biology students and faculty
• Scale models of the planets, presented by Lambuth art students and faculty
• And, of course, a brand-new planetarium show created just for the event: “See How Far the Light Came: A Journey from Our Solar System Outward”. Viewings will be held at 1:30, 2:00, 2:30, and 3:00.
• The Keynote Address will be presented by Dr. Lawrence Krauss at 4:00 PM in the Hamilton Performing Arts Center. Immediately following the keynote will be a reception, to which all are invited.

All events are free, and all are welcome!

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A few random announcements:

• I will be talking about the planetarium and the Grand Reopening on “Good Morning West Tennessee” (WBBJ-TV, Channel 7 in Jackson) at 6 AM on Thursday, February 7.
• The first public night is still on track for Monday, February 18 starting at 7:30 PM. We will be showing Hubble Vision 2, which was developed by Loch Ness Productions.
  
• The next total lunar eclipse visible in this part of the world happens on Thursday, February 21, beginning around sundown and reaching totality around 9 PM. I’m thinking of having a planetarium-hosted viewing of the event (weather permitting of course), with telescopes out on the lawn. Keep an eye on this space for more details as we get closer to the day.
• There is also an annular solar eclipse tomorrow (February 7), but unless you’re a penguin, you probably won’t be able to see it.  The eclipse will only be visible in Antarctica and the southern Pacific Ocean.

And of course, don’t forget about the Grand Reopening on February 9!

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Here is a printable poster to advertise the Grand Reopening (PDF format). Please feel free to print it and post it wherever appropriate!

(Thanks to Holley Wood for creating the poster!)

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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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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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The Competition: In honor of the newly renovated M. D. Anderson Planetarium, we are holding a competition to create a new logo! The logo will be used on planetarium correspondence, posters, T-shirts, etc.

Who Can Enter: Any current Lambuth student, faculty, or staff.

The Prize: the winner of the competition will receive a $30 gift card to the Lambuth Book Store. In addition, the winning entry will be unveiled at the Grand Reopening event on February 9, 2008.

Entries: The logo should contain the words “M. D. Anderson Planetarium” and “Lambuth University”. (What it should not contain: the name of the director or the address of the planetarium.) Two major types of entries:

1. Hand-produced (pen/ink, mechanical drawing, etc.): logo should be on paper no larger than notebook (8 ½” x 11”) size. For preference, the stock should be heavy to survive handling and scanning. The image itself should be either black and white or reproducible in black and white (since most printed forms will be monochrome). Keep in mind that the logo will be eventually converted to electronic format. Please send your entries to: Dr. Matthew Francis, c/o the Planetarium.
2. Electronic: logo should be scalable and in a standard format. Some possibilities include scalable vector graphics (SVG), Postscript (either PS or EPS), and Unix xfig (FIG) format. If you have any question about a file type you wish to use, please contact the director. Please send your entries to: francis@lambuth.edu .

The director reserves the right to make minor changes to the winning design, if any are needed to make it suitable for reproduction.

The Judges: Dr. Matthew Francis (Director of the Planetarium), Dr. Lendon Noe (Department of Art), Ms. Sissy Orr (Staff Representative), and two student representatives (TBA).

Entries are due by 5 PM on Friday, January 25. The winner will be announced during the keynote address at 4 PM on Saturday, February 9.

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