[Chaos-l] Thank you from Morehead Planetarium!

[Sayle, Amy E]

WOW.  At Morehead Planetarium, it felt like the entire planet had heard of the transit of Venus and that most of them decided to show up at our building to see it.  (actual estimate ~3000 people)

Even with a number of activities running simultaneously inside and out, it was still a madhouse.  We never could have pulled this off without the CHAOS members who helped the public with viewing this last-in-a-lifetime event:

Walter Fowler, Jayme Hanzak, Robert Nielsen, Mark Montazer, Jack Roach, Phil Suitt  ... and I hope I'm not leaving someone out?

Thank you for volunteering your time, expertise, equipment, and especially, your enthusiasm for public outreach.

And thank you to Tony Rice and Mike Malaska for their (multiple!) presentations on Venus and the Sun.

I got to spend only a few minutes near the telescopes, but what I did see were faces lit with excitement and wonder.  In the planetarium theater, all 6 shows were filled to capacity (we even added a 7th show after the official end of the event).  When I asked one crowd who among them had had the chance to look through a scope, the people closest to me -- and these were grown-ups -- raised their arms so enthusiastically that I thought they might fall out of our their seats.

Thank you for giving so many people a sight, and experience, to remember the rest of their lives.

N.C. misses out on the 2117 transit, so let's say we do it again in 2125!

Amy Sayle & Mickey Jo Sorrell
Morehead Planetarium and Science Center
http://moreheadplanetarium.org
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