Una Planetarium Chosen To Unveil New Nasa Images

Sep. 30, 2009

Michelle Eubanks, UNA, at media@una.edu, 256.765.4392 or 256.606.2033

FLORENCE, Ala. - The University of North Alabama Planetarium and Observatory has been chosen as a participating institution in NASA's International Year of Astronomy Great Observatories Image Unveiling. The images will be unveiled to the public at the UNA Planetarium on Nov. 10.

According to the NASA Web site, the images unveiled will be composites from each of the three Great Observatories: an optical view from the Hubble Space Telescope, an infrared view from the Spitzer Space Telescope and an X-ray view from Chandra X-ray Observatory. UNA's Planetarium director, Dr. Mel Blake, applied for the honor of becoming one of about 100 institutions to unveil the images. "Those images are just going to be spectacular," Blake said. To celebrate the event, the planetarium will conduct a local middle school essay contest. The winning class will be given a new telescope and a poster of the new images. The class with the winning essay will also be provided with telescope construction materials and taught how to assemble their own personal telescopes.

FOR MORE INFORMATION: For more information on the image unveiling or the essay contest, contact Blake at 256-765-4284 or rmblake@una.edu.

About The University of North Alabama

The University of North Alabama is an accredited, comprehensive regional state university offering undergraduate, graduate, and doctoral degree programs through the colleges of Arts, Sciences, and Engineering; the Sanders College of Business and Technology; Education and Human Sciences; and the Anderson College of Nursing and Health Professions. Occupying a 130-acre campus in a residential section of Florence, Alabama, UNA is located within a four-city area that also includes Muscle Shoals, Sheffield, and Tuscumbia. UNA Athletics, a renowned collegiate athletics program with seven (7) Division II National Championships, is now a proud member of NCAA Division I as part of the Atlantic Sun and United Athletic conferences. The University of North Alabama is an equal opportunity institution and does not discriminate in the admission policy on the basis of race, color, sex, religion, disability, age, or national origin. For more: una.edu and una.edu/unaworks/.