Bring your curiosity about things in the universe to the Museum for an afternoon with Phil Groce, a planetarium design consultant, writer, and President of Helping Planetariums Succeed. Groce will present two unique planetarium features at 2 and 4 pm. The 2:00 show will be “The Upcoming Sky Extravaganza” featuring sky events coming in 2018. At 4:00 Groce will focus on the importance of astronomy and its role in our everyday lives in “Death By Universe and Other Happy Thoughts of a Sky Observer.” From 1:00 – 4:00 pm during a telescope clinic you can bring your telescope to Museum staff for advice on its care and use. Demonstrations and hands-on activities for children will be on-going throughout the afternoon. Weather permitting there will be an opportunity for observing the Sun with special solar telescopes. Astronomy-related door prizes will also be awarded during the afternoon.

Philip Groce is a planetarium design consultant who has participated as a member of the design, engineering and project management team of more than 50 new and renovated planetariums around the US, including Macon’s planetarium at the Museum of Arts & Sciences. Currently, he is consulting on planetarium projects in California and Iceland. 2018 marks his 50th year associated with the planetarium profession, having served as director of three major US planetariums. He has written and produced over 100 planetarium shows that have played all over the US and in star theaters in Europe and Japan. Most recently, he was co-writer and narrator for the Geographics Imaging production of Firefall. This program is playing at dozens of planetariums across the US and Europe.

For his many contributions to the planetarium profession, he has been recognized as a Fellow of the International Planetarium Society (1988) and winner of the prestigious Paul Campbell Fellowship Award (2006) of the Southeastern Planetarium Association. Mr. Groce and his theaters have been featured in InPark Magazine, Sky & Telescope, The Planetarian, and Southern Skies and well as in dozens of newspapers across the US.

Mr. Groce is a veteran eclipse chaser having experienced five Total Solar Eclipses. He joined hundreds of professional and amateur astronomers in Kentucky for the August 21, 2017, Total Solar Eclipse.

You must pay regular Museum admission at the door to attend the event.