MIDLAND Saturday, October 14, will bring tens of thousands of visitors to the Permian Basin for the opportunity to see the last annular eclipse of this century. The Marion West and William Blanton Blakemore Planetarium, part of the campus at the Museum of the Southwest, is proud to have Chevron’s support for this exciting astronomical event, a press release said.
This amazing phenomenon occurs when the Moon passes between the Earth and Sun, creating a brilliant “ring of fire” effect in the sky. It will begin at 10:18 a.m., peak at 11:45 a.m., and conclude by 1:21 p.m. Annularity, the time during which the Moon’s entire disk is silhouetted against the sun, will be a little less than five minutes.
Thanks to generous support from Chevron, the day will offer a variety of activities including two lectures in the Helen Greathouse Discovery Dome by special guest, retired NASA Astronaut John Herrington, the first Native American to fly in space. NuMinds Enrichment’s team will be on site providing dynamic STEAM programming throughout the day, as will Midland College, Texas Tech Physics and Astronomy Department, McDonald Observatory’s education staff, and West Texas A&M. Seating for the Herrington talks are limited and registration is available online at www.MuseumSW.org for $5 per person. The lecture will also be streamed on the Museum’s YouTube channel.
The Museum of the Southwest’s buildings will be open to the public starting at 9 a.m. on Saturday, October 14, and admission for the day is free to the public. Protective viewing glasses are currently available for purchase at the Blakemore Planetarium.
New additions to campus will also be unveiled during the weekend — the installation of new technology in the Greathouse Dome, the Digistar7, will bring viewers experiences like never-before-seen dome shows, live streaming with other planetariums around the world, and educational programming are just a few of the features. Also opening is the aerospace-themed exhibition located in the Brown Science Classroom where visitors can build a paper rocket and test its flight capabilities!
“We are excited to offer our campus and activities for the public to experience this once in a lifetime opportunity. Partnerships throughout the Permian Basin are what make these community events a reality and go to the very heart of our mission—to transform visitors’ experiences through the arts, sciences, history, and culture. A special thank you to Chevron for their support,” said Mary Katherine Marshall, Sr. Director of Development & Communications for the Museum of the Southwest, in the release.
