Morehead Planetarium and Science Center

By Karen Kornegay

It’s a tough question: Which is more popular, “Scare-olina Skies” in October or “Carolina Skies: Valentine Edition” in February?

Here are my three reasons why “Scare-olina Skies” rules:

• Those ancient Greeks and Romans created amazing tales about strange monsters, set among the constellations of the night sky. I love to hear those stories — they add a fun new element to skywatching.
• There’s a special “Scare-olina Skies: Family Edition” version just for school-age children and their parents on Saturday, Oct. 30, at 3:30 p.m. (The version for adults and older teens is offered at 8 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 29, and on Saturday, Oct. 30.)
• This planetarium show is a great alternative to the “same old, same old” Halloween activities. (And you can wear your costume if you want.)

Need another reason? Consider this: Since Morehead installed its new fulldome digital video projection system this year, October 2010 is our first opportunity to offer “Scare-olina Skies” as a fulldome show! So if you come this year, you’ll be part of our history.

See you this weekend!

There will be no "sports agent" Halloween costumes permitted on Franklin Street.

By Karen Kornegay

If you’ve ever checked out Morehead’s YouTube channel, you’ve probably seen the Science 360 series about 2012. Even if you haven’t seen the series, you probably know the mythology: ancient Maya astronomers predicted the end of the world, comets, planetary alignments, other bad things.

Well, tomorrow (Tuesday, Oct. 12, 2010) Morehead is offering you a unique opportunity to hear the newest research from Anthony Aveni, who is a founder of archeaoastronomy and one of the world’s leading experts on Maya astronomy. (He’s also a Colgate University professor who was once named one of America’s Top Ten College Professors by “Rolling Stone” magazine.) Dr. Aveni’s publishing his newest book in December, so you’ll get to hear the current thinking about 2012 mythology two months before he hits the talk show circuit.

Dr. Aveni’s presentation begins at 7 p.m. in the Banquet Hall (east end of Morehead), and it’s free.

Thanks to our friends at Lenovo for their support of this presentation.