Published on February 11, 2015  

Samford University’s Christenberry Planetarium has released a video trailer that showcases the facility’s upgraded capabilities.

Planetarium director David Weigel produced the mini-show, which zooms into the observable universe, through our galaxy and solar system to show the Sun, the Earth, the moon, Jupiter and Saturn. Weigel also shows a lunar eclipse from the moon's perspective as well as a lunar eclipse shadow on the Earth as it will be visible in the U.S. in the fall of 2017.

We are coming up with new and exciting shows about space that further test the boundaries of the software,” Weigel said. Weigel recently completed showings of an interactive original program on the Rosetta comet exploration mission. He is looking ahead to NASA’s March mission to orbit Ceres, a massive asteroid or dwarf planet. Weigel hopes to complete a Ceres show based on the NASA data soon after the Dawn spacecraft reaches its target.

The next free public Planetarium shows are scheduled for Feb. 26 at 8 p.m. and Feb. 28 at 4:30 p.m.

 
Samford is a leading Christian university offering undergraduate programs grounded in the liberal arts with an array of nationally recognized graduate and professional schools. Founded in 1841, Samford is the 87th-oldest institution of higher learning in the United States. Samford enrolls 5,791 students from 49 states, Puerto Rico and 16 countries in its 10 academic schools: arts, arts and sciences, business, divinity, education, health professions, law, nursing, pharmacy and public health. Samford fields 17 athletic teams that compete in the tradition-rich Southern Conference and ranks 6th nationally for its Graduation Success Rate among all NCAA Division I schools.