The topic is “Agriculture in a Changing World” with Carl Bernacchi. $1 admission.

Our &ldsquo;new Moon&rdsquo; event for those who want to venture out under darker skies.

We’ll show a new DVD out that celebrates the 50th anniversary of the European Southern Observatory. The video has some fantastic footage in it and lots of telescopes!

Our first open house of the year! We’ll need a few volunteers to run the observatory and maybe operate a a few instruments outside the dome. The dome is localted on County Road 700E, south of the Monticello Road, between Champaign and Sadorus. Weather permitting.

This is a new children’s show about flight. The show, originaly produced by the Indianaapolis Children’s Museum, examines why things fly and some of the history of flight. An “opening night party” will take place in the lobby from 5-7pm. Participants can make a foam plate airplane, fly a flight simulator (courtesy of the Chanute Air Museum), and see large rockets provided by Central Illinois Aerospace.

UI Astronomer Brian Fields will be in the dome to discuss “dark energy” and the accelerating universe. Admission is $1 at the door.

This is also “National Astronomy Day.”

The state planetarium meeting is open to anyone interested in the operation of planetariums. You don’t have to be a GLPA member to attend the state meeting.

A “bonus talk” . . . . Physicist Paul Debevec introduces us to “the energy challenge.”