[Students] Celestial Celebration

[Stephanie Peebles]

For Immediate Release/02-12-08/Mary Lou Hazal

 

PLANETARIUM'S FEB. 29 CELEBRATION TO MARK 50,000 VISITORS

 

     

 

     

 

     COMMERCE, Texas - Join the Texas A&M University-Commerce Planetarium
for its Celestial Celebration on Friday, Feb. 29.

 

     The free event will mark the Planetarium's two years of operation and
50,000 visitors.

 

     Light refreshments will be served beginning at 5:30 p.m. followed by
the premiere of the new show, "Seven Wonders," at 6, 7, and 8 p.m. Admission
will be on a first-come, first-serve basis.

 

     Door prizes will also be given away including two grand prize drawings
at 6:55 and 7:55 p.m. for two pairs of Southwest Airlines tickets. To win
the drawings for the Southwest tickets to anywhere the airline flies, you
must be present to win and 18 years of age.

 

     Located on the first floor of the new Science Building, the Planetarium
has been "much more successful than anticipated," said A&M-Commerce
President Keith McFarland. "It's among the finest you'll find in the
country," McFarland said.

 

     The audiences see the shows using the planetarium's state-of-the-art
Digistar 3, an all digital projection system. Viewers enjoy immersive
theater viewing with tilted seats and 10-speaker surround sound during the
shows, which last about an hour.

 

     Shows begin with brief remarks by a member of the staff, who displays
the Commerce night sky on the planetarium's 40-foot dome and points out the
current visible constellations, stars, and planets.

 

     During the week, school groups attend the shows. In the last two years,
over 500 shows have been presented to school groups from throughout North
and Northeast Texas, said planetarium director Dr. Kent Montgomery.

 

     On Friday nights, public shows are presented.

 

     "We are excited to be approaching 50,000 visitors," Montgomery said.

"The support from the community and the area schools has been fantastic and
has exceeded our expectations," Montgomery said.

 

     When the planetarium opened, A&M-Commerce began offering astronomy
classes.

 

     Two classes are being offered. "Astronomy 101" focuses on the solar
system and the history of astronomy while "Astronomy 102" is about stars,
galaxies, and the universe.

 

     "The interest in the classes has grown," Montgomery said. "Our first
classes were small with about 15 students per class while now we are
averaging about 45 per class," Montgomery said.

 

     "The students really enjoy meeting in the planetarium for classes
because of its unique character and the wonderful demonstrations that it can
be used for," he said.

 

     Students meet in the planetarium for about half of their lab
assignments and a couple of times a semester they meet outside and look
through telescopes.

 

     Work is expected to begin within the next few weeks on an observatory,
located about five miles south of Commerce and one-half mile off Highway 50.

 

     Target date for opening of the observatory is early summer. "The
facility will house four telescopes with the largest inside a dome,"

Montgomery said. "We also hope to open the observatory to the public for
regular viewing."

 

     For more information on the Feb. 29 celebration, call 903-468-8650.

Also get information on the web at www.tamu-commerce.edu, click on Visitors
& Community, and then click on planetarium.

 

     Regular show admission is $3 for those under 18 and A&M-Commerce
students with ID, $3.50 for university employees and senior citizens, and $4
for all others. A discount of $1 per person will be offered if tickets are
purchased at the same time for two shows viewed on the same day.

 

     

 

     

 

     -30-

 

Stephanie J. Peebles '05 
Special Event Coordinator
Alumni Relations
Texas A&M University-Commerce
903-468-3085

 

 

 

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