Flash Fundraiser, September 8th, 5-9pm
Eat, drink, network, donate… Our first Flash Fundraiser at the Roaring Fork was such a success, that we have decided to make it a regular occurrence. So this coming Wednesday, September 8th, you can join us for cocktails and conversation at the Belmont Restaurant and Bar on 6th Street.
Our Flash Fundraisers provide a great opportunity to spend some time with the Austin Planetarium crew, meet other supporters like you, and make the donation experience a more personal one for our supporters. This time we will have our Magic Planet on hand to set the mood; now, all we need is you! We will be passing the hat to raise money in support of our continuing efforts to bring Austin its first planetarium, science museum and technology center, so bring a friend and introduce them to the Austin Planetarium. If you are unable to join us, please consider making a donation by clicking the Donate Now button on our home page or by going to the Make A Difference section of our website.
When: Wednesday, September 8th from 5-9 pm. Cash Bar. Happy Hour ends at 7, but stay for dinner if you like!
Where: The Belmont Restaurant and Bar
305 W. 6th St.
Austin, TX 78701
512.457-0300
Map
Previous NewsMobile Planetarium
It’s here! The Mobile Planetarium has arrived and is now available to Central Texas. Using an inflatable dome combined with a digital projection system, the Austin Planetarium can bring the stars directly to schools and events throughout the community. However, it’s not just about astronomy; the sky’s the limit in a planetarium, where a wide variety of educational programming can be shown. Programming can cover topics ranging from astronomy to biology to social studies. To learn more about the Mobile Planetarium Program or to make a reservation follow this link…Mobile Planetarium. This excellent educational tool has been made possible by a grant from the Texas Space Grant Consortium, and the contributions of the Austin Community College, 3M, Applied Materials, Mirage 3D and Allsky.de.
Flash Fundraiser!Start the week off right with the Austin Planetarium... Join us for a happy hour soiree at the Roaring Fork restaurant to celebrate the launch of our newest educational outreach program, the Mobile Planetarium a.k.a the Austin Planetarium Discovery Dome. Come hungry, thirsty and packing your wallet, as we intend to pass the hat to raise funds for Austin’s first planetarium, science museum and technology center. It will be a great opportunity to meet other distinguished friends of the Austin Planetarium and network with like-minded individuals…individuals with the great foresight and wisdom to support bringing the stars to Austin. Spread the word, bring a friend, and don’t miss out on this opportunity to participate in the future of Austin! When: Monday, August 9th from 5-9 pm. Cash Bar. Happy Hour ends at 7, but stay for dinner if you like! Where: The Roaring Fork restaurant 10850 Stonelake Blvd. Austin, TX 78759 512.342-2700 Map
If you cannot attend, please consider making a donation through our website. You can click on the Make a Donation link in the top right of the page or go to the Join Us tab and select Make A Difference.
Portable Planetarium OK'ed For Launch!The Austin Planetarium’s Portable Planetarium Outreach Program has been OK'ed for launch! Our proposal to the Texas Space Grant Consortium has been approved and the major source of funding for our Portable Planetarium Outreach Program is on the way. This program will provide the proven benefits of a planetarium to the Central Texas community…in portable form! The Portable Planetarium Outreach Program will utilize an inflatable dome and a high definition projection system to bring planetarium programming directly to students in Austin and the surrounding communities. There is still work to be done though; the TSGC grant requires a 1:1 match for all awarded funds. Subsequently, the Austin Planetarium is looking for corporate sponsorship from Austin’s high-tech community. 3M has already pledged $5,000 to the cause, and the Austin Planetarium is actively pursuing additional matching funds. You too can help! If you would like to help launch the Portable Planetarium Outreach Program, you can visit the Make A Difference page of our website and make a donation. When donating, you can request that your donation be applied to the Portable Planetarium Outreach Program. Please help us bring the stars to Austin!
Austin Under The Stars
The Austin Astronomical Society is
hosting another Austin Under The Stars. This special event is free to
the public and will offer the Austin community a chance to make some
astronomical observations of their own, including a safe daytime viewing
of our closest star, the Sun. Following the sunset, all eyes will be on
the sky to observe the wonders of the cosmos. As always, the Austin
Planetarium will be there to take part by sharing their astronomical
expertise and showing the attendees our vision for the future of
Austin.
The event will take place at St. Stephens Episcopal School on Saturday June
19th from 7:30 pm until midnight, and there will be plenty of telescopes
available for those who do not own one of their own. You can visit the
Austin Astronomical Society's website for more information at www.austinastro.org/auts.html.
KLRU Pledge
DriveKLRU has invited the Austin Planetarium to participate in their pledge drive. On June 8th at 7:00pm KLRU will be airing the Pluto Files, which follows director of the American Museum of Natural History’s Hayden Planetarium Neil deGrasse Tyson around the country as he explores the many opinions held about the icy Kuiper belt object we all know and love. Austin Planetarium Executive Director Torvald Hessel will be in the KLRU studios to provide on-air interviews during the breaks to discuss Pluto, our participation in the upcoming Austin Under the Stars event and the Austin Planetarium project. Some of the Austin Planetarium crew and volunteers will also be on hand to help answer phones and raise money for PBS in Austin. The controversy surrounding Pluto has played out quite publicly as pluto-philes around the world have expressed their great disappointment with the International Astronomical Union’s decision to classify Pluto as a “dwarf-planet”; thus removing it from the prominent list of official planets that comprise our solar system. Discovered in 1930 by Clyde W. Tombaugh, Pluto was accepted as the 9th planet in our solar system, but in recent years, questions about the nature of Pluto’s orbit and size began to shake up the astronomy community, spurring a hard look at the accepted definition of a planet. In 2005 Eris was discovered in the region beyond the Kuiper belt and was briefly named the 10th planet before receiving the title dwarf-planet. Eris is much larger than Pluto, so questions began to arise about what constitutes a planet. Then, in 2006 the IAU, being the recognized authority in categorizing, classifying and naming objects in the cosmos, changed Pluto’s classification to dwarf-planet.
The story doesn’t end there, but you will need to tune in to the NOVA episode Pluto Files on KLRU to hear the rest. Pluto Files airs June 8th at 7:00 pm on Austin’s PBS channel KLRU.
IMAX Hubble 3D EventOn Saturday May 15th we held a fundraiser at the facilities of our partner the Bob Bullock Texas State History Museum. We celebrated the legacy of the Hubble space telescope with a viewing of the IMAX Hubble 3D movie, and then threw an after-party with robots, a raffle, portable planetariums and actual moon rocks to raise funds for Austin’s first planetarium, science museum and technology center. The event was a great success! The movie was incredible and the Planetarium after-party was a blast. We would like to extend our thanks to the Liberal Arts and Science Academy (LASA), Girl Scouts, Anderson High School and Westlake High School robotics teams for showing off their awesome work; e-Planetarium for bringing their Discovery Dome portable planetarium; the Round Rock Independent School District for bringing their Starlab portable planetarium; the crew of Mad Science for setting up their super-cool experiments; and the Texas Space Grant Consortium and Center for Space Research for providing so many fun activities and showing off their moon rock and meteorite samples. We would also like to thank the Bob Bullock Texas State History Museum for hosting us and all of our volunteers for coming to help us out. And, of course, we want to thank all the guests for supporting the cause, we truly enjoyed having you there, and we hope you enjoyed the event. If you missed it, here are some images from the after-party…
New Board Members!
The Austin Planetarium is very pleased to announce that we have installed two new members to our Board of Directors. We feel very fortunate to have them and we would like to share with you a little about them. Karin Richmond is the Principal of Austin-based consultancy Intelligent.Incentives. She currently serves on the Board of the International Economic Development Council, as an Editorial Board member of Tax Incentive Alerts and has served as the Chairman of the Texas Enterprise Zone Board. She has provided testimony and insight before the Texas Legislature and the U.S. Congressional Committee on Ways and Means. She continues to manage her successful consulting practice of almost thirty years. As an established community leader, accomplished speaker, and published author, Ms. Richmond’s influence has stretched from the Capital of Texas to Capitol Hill. Her business sense and expertise navigating political landscapes are essential resources for the Austin Planetarium Board.
Anthony Plattsmier is a lifelong Austin resident with a wealth of enterprise management experience including work with Fortune 100 and Global 1000 companies. He is the founder of the innovative open source engineering database Open Gadget. A long time supporter of the Austin Planetarium, he currently provides primary systems integration planning, website support, and long term technology planning to the organization. Mr. Plattsmier is a sailing enthusiast, pilot and the President of the local chapter of the Experimental Aircraft Association.
The Austin Planetarium store is open for business!
The Austin Planetarium store is up and running. If you are a regular visitor to our website, you may have noticed that our online store has been in development. The day has finally come to turn the open sign around in the window, and start offering our Planetarium paraphernalia to the world. You can visit the Store section of our website and peruse our selection of Planetarium goods including T-Shirts, mugs, stickers and more. You can also get special items like the incredible coffee table book Cosmos: A Field Guide.
Now you can show your Planetarium pride by sporting a t-shirt with our logo, or you can grab your groceries in style with a Planetarium tote bag. And what better way to stay warm this winter than sipping some hot chocolate from an official Austin Planetarium mug. Purchasing products from our store is a great way to support the Austin Planetarium and show your commitment to our cause. All proceeds from sales at the Austin Planetarium store go towards the effort to bring Austin its first Planetarium, Science Museum, and Technology Center. Additionally, all transactions are secure and your personal information will not be shared. Let the shopping begin!
Iconic Austinite Hosts Benefit to Bring the Stars to Austin
Gaming Guru and Space Explorer Richard Garriott hosted a benefit for the development of Austin’s first planetarium, science museum, and technology center.
Austin, Texas, October 23, 2009, Britannia Manor – Austin software mogul Richard Garriott hosted a fundraiser benefiting the Austin Planetarium. The event was held at his legendary estate, Britannia Manor and it drew some big names from the world of science and technology.
Located in the hills of West Austin, Britannia Manor is famous for its medieval architecture, secret passages, hidden rooms, and eclectic artifacts. Additionally, the house has an observatory, which really drove home the planetarium theme. For the event, Mr. Garriott provided tours of the Manor and displayed pieces from his collection of space memorabilia, like an original Soviet Sputnik satellite and the space suit from his 2008 visit to the International Space Station.
Other items on display included multimedia architectural proposals for the Austin Planetarium and Science Museum facility, provided by Davis Architects. Davis employed videos, static images, and even a hologram to give party goers a glimpse of their vision for the Austin Planetarium Facility. In the “Exploratorium” tent guests could get some hands on time with some of the items from Mr. Garriott’s collections, like a piece of the deck of the Titanic and a hunk of one of the lightest substances known to man Aerogel. The “Exploratorium” tent also offered a space themed flight sim, some mad scientist style science gadgets, and a 6’ Magic Planet manned by our good friend Steve Utt. Nearby, Planetarium partner Anthony Plattsmier of Open Gadget was showing off some incredible 3D imaging technology that he is pioneering.
The event also entertained guests with professional magicians who wowed the guests on the lawn and spiced up the already smoking hot tours of Britannia Manor. And what Planetarium party would be complete without some stargazing? And who better to conduct the stargazing then Astronomy giant Galileo Galilei. That’s right Galileo himself was in attendance, presenting the stars to guests through a telescope far more modern and capable than the 30X number he built almost 400 years ago.
Guests were able to take part in a live auction presided over by Austin Planetarium Executive Director Torvald Hessel and host Richard Garriott. Among the items up for auction were a lunar lithograph signed by Buzz Aldrin, some authentic meteorites that originated on the Moon and Mars, and a trip to Tennessee to meet and dine with June Scobee Rodgers, one of the founding directors of the Challenger Center for Space Education and widow of Dick Scobee, Commander of the ill-fated STS-51-L Challenger mission. The closing auction item was a zero-g flight, which auctioneer Richard Garriott characterized as “life changing”; and having participated in many zero-g flights, he would know.
After the auction the sky above Britannia Manor was lit up by a spectacular fireworks display, a fitting end to an incredible night. The Gala event made a big splash for the Austin Planetarium and introduced our mission to a whole new audience. We would like to extend our most sincere gratitude to all the guests, volunteers, employees, partners, board members, friends and family who worked so hard to make this event a reality. We would also like to extend a special thank you to those individuals who went above and beyond the call of duty by purchasing items from the auctions. And, last but not least, an extremely special thanks to our gracious host Richard Garriott for his vision and generosity in his support for the development of the Austin Planetarium.
A new website!
After many months of hard work we finally have a brand new website in place! Not only has the look and feel changed, but we also have much more content. We integrated the blog, created many more pages detailing the Austin Planetarium project, and launched our membership drive!
The old website was badly in need of a workover, after all, it was designed more then 5 years ago. Since that time we have gained a new logo, and the project itself has changed as well. For all those reasons we had started the process of a complete overhaul. The new website is designed by the folks from NAKA Media, and boy do they do spectacular work. Because they are huge planetarium supporters, this work was all donated to the Austin Planetarium. We truly are now the non-profit with the most beautiful website!
Through the hard work of several volunteers, we finally were able to set the website up in a content management system to simplify editing and enhancing many features. And, as stated before, added a lot of different content. We now also describe the Science Museum as well as the Technology Center, and hopefully will start adding things like potential building designs and such. |
