ISEN-ASTC-L is a service of the Association of Science-Technology Centers
Incorporated, a worldwide network of science museums and related institutions.
*****************************************************************************

>
> ---------------------------------------
>
> Special note to planetarium and science museum educators:
> ---------------------------------------------------------------------- 
> -----------------
>
> Seeing in the Dark, Timothy Ferris’s acclaimed television special  
> on stargazing and amateur astronomy, returns to PBS for a second  
> prime-time national broadcast on Wednesday, June 11, 2008 at eight  
> pm (check local listings).
>
> The broadcast is timed to coincide with warm summer nights, making  
> this an excellent time to schedule "Seeing in the Dark" events.   
> When the show premiered last fall, many planetaria and science  
> museums held special screenings of the film -- often arranging  
> “star parties” afterwards in cooperation with local amateur  
> astronomy clubs.
>
> To assist you with planning, the show's producers are offering  
> these "summer specials:"
>
> 1. A free DVD of the show (if you commit to a public showing in  
> connection with an astronomy program)
>
> 2. Access to the Seeing in the Dark Internet Telescope for your  
> science camp instructors and their students
>
> 3. Downloadable hands-on astronomy activities from the "Seeing in  
> the Dark" web site.
>
> To obtain a DVD, please send a letter on institutional stationery  
> with the specifics of your planned public event to:
>
> Emily Dreyfuss
> ClockDrive Productions
> 97 Telegraph Hill Blvd.
> San Francisco, CA 94133
> [log in to unmask]
>
> P.S. ClockDrive can also arrange short-term loan of a Blu-Ray high- 
> definition DVD should you wish to have a high-def screening,  
> praised by stargazers and videophiles alike for its astonishing  
> views of the universe.
>
>
> ==============================================================
>
> About the show:
>
> Seeing in the Dark, Timothy Ferris’ high-definition television  
> spectacular on amateur astronomy and the wonders of the night sky,  
> returns to PBS on Wednesday, June 11, 2008 at eight pm (check local  
> listings).   When the show premiered, on September 19, 2007,  
> critics called it “a rhapsodic sight-and-sound odyssey into the  
> night sky” (Associated Press) by “the greatest science writer of  
> his generation” (The New York Times).
>
> “This is not your standard one-dimensional, expository science  
> documentary,” wrote David Brody of Space.com.  “Seeing in the Dark  
> is more like a reality show from inside a love affair.”  “The high- 
> definition astrophotography looks like something out of Star Wars,”  
> wrote Joshua Zumbrun in the Washington Post. “Who remembered that  
> our real universe could look that way, too?”
>
> Commenting on the new airdate, Ferris said he hoped that the second  
> national showing would continue to attract teachers and students to  
> the program website, http://www.pbs.org/seeinginthedark.  Millions  
> of viewers have seen the film, and hundreds of thousands have  
> visited the website, taking advantage of its resources for  
> teachers, students, and families.
>
> The website’s most popular features include customizable star  
> charts for every visitor’s time and location; astronomy activities  
> that you can download for use in classrooms, in summer camps, and  
> with families; and the Seeing in the Dark Internet Telescope.  “The  
> Internet Telescope is available free of charge to all students and  
> teachers,” Ferris noted.  “Just request an object through the  
> website and we will shoot an image and email it back to you,  
> usually within a few days.”  During the summer, summer school and  
> summer camp instructors and students can also use the telescope.
>
> The film -- based on Ferris’ book Seeing in the Dark, named by The  
> New York Times as one of the ten best books published in 2002 --  
> shows how amateur astronomers and casual stargazers are getting in  
> touch with nature on the largest scales.  “I hope it will encourage  
> viewers to make stargazing part of their lives,” Ferris said.  “The  
> website provides them with most of the tools they need to get  
> started.  Using its resources you can print out a star chart for  
> your location, make a red-light flashlight to preserve your night  
> vision using materials already around the house, and be outdoors  
> learning the night sky all within ten or fifteen minutes.”
>
> To capture the beauty and wonder of the night sky, the producers  
> assembled a world-class team including Hollywood cinematographer  
> Francis Kenny, veteran BBC natural history director Nigel Ashcroft,  
> the celebrated astronomical special-effects artist Don Davis, sound  
> designer Kate Hopkins (Planet Earth), and three-time Academy Award®  
> winner Walter Murch, who did the digital surround-sound mix. The  
> film features memorable deep-space images by some of the world’s  
> most respected amateur astrophotographers. The film’s original  
> musical score is by Mark Knopfler and Guy Fletcher, of Dire Straits  
> fame.
>
> The project’s educational outreach director is astronomer and  
> educator Andrew Fraknoi, head of the astronomy department at  
> Foothill College near San Francisco.
>
> Seeing in the Dark features amateur astronomers ranging from casual  
> stargazers to those who have made important scientific discoveries.  
> Among them:
>
> §           Former Minnesota Vikings star running back Robert  
> Smith, who today shows the wonders of the night sky to high school  
> students in Miami, Florida.
>
> §           Barbara Wilson, a onetime Houston housewife who got a  
> telescope after her children were born and turned out to be one of  
> the most sharp-eyed visual observers on Earth.
>
> §           Steven James O’Meara, who taught himself astronomy as a  
> boy and was given keys to Harvard College Observatory when he was  
> 14 years old.
>
> §           Ron Bissinger, who co-discovered a planet orbiting a  
> star 150 light years from Earth  from a backyard observatory he  
> built himself.
>
> §           Rob Gendler, who takes deep-space photographs from his  
> driveway in suburban Connecticut that rival the work of  
> professional astronomers using the Hubble Space Telescope.
>
> Teaching resources are available at http://www.pbs.org/ 
> seeinginthedark/for-teachers.
> For family resources, visit http://www.pbs.org/seeinginthedark/for- 
> families.
>
> The Seeing in the Dark film and website are made possible by the  
> National Science Foundation and PBS.
>
>
> ================================
> Andrew Fraknoi, Chair, Astronomy Program
> Foothill College, 12345 El Monte Rd.,
> Los Altos Hills, CA 94022, USA
>
> Telephone: (650) 949-7288
> E-mail: [log in to unmask]
> ================================
>

Suzanne Gurton, Education Manager

Astronomical Society of the Pacific

390 Ashton Ave.

San Francisco, CA 94112



phone: 415-337-1100 x110

fax: 415-337-5205


www.astrosociety.org/education.html







***********************************************************************
For information about the Association of Science-Technology Centers and the Informal Science Education Network please visit www.astc.org.

Check out the latest case studies and reviews on ExhibitFiles at www.exhibitfiles.org.

The ISEN-ASTC-L email list is powered by LISTSERVR software from L-Soft. To learn more, visit
http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html.

To remove your e-mail address from the ISEN-ASTC-L list, send the
message  SIGNOFF ISEN-ASTC-L in the BODY of a message to
[log in to unmask]