ORONO – The Emera Astronomy Center, located off the Rangeley Road at the University of Maine, will host the following star shows in the month of October.

Legends of the Night Sky – Perseus and Andromeda, October 1, 8, 15, 22, 29, 2-3 p.m.: Perseus and Andromeda is a fun-filled retelling of the tale of the beautiful but unfortunate princess Andromeda, who in divine punishment for her mother’s bragging, is sacrificed to a sea monster—and rescued by the Greek hero Perseus.

Polaris: Mystery of the Polar Night, October 3, 10-11 a.m.: A traveling penguin from the South Pole and a funny polar bear from the North pole meet on arctic sea ice. They become friends observing the night sky together and wondering why night is so long at the poles of the Earth. This mystery leads them on a scientific adventure by building an improvised spaceship to travel around the Earth to learn about seasons, visit Mars and Saturn to learn about ice in the solar system and how planets have similarities and differences which make them unique.

Mysteries of the Unseen World, October 6, 13, 20, 27, 7-8 p.m.: Take an extraordinary journey into unseen worlds and hidden dimensions beyond our normal vision to uncover the mysteries of things too fast, too slow, too small or simply invisible. What it would be like if we had X-ray vision, or infrared vision like a mosquito, how a bee’s eyes see through ultraviolet light? Peer into the world of wonders too small for the human eye to see – from the minute structures on a butterfly’s wing and the tiny organisms that inhabit the human body all the way down to nano-scale structures. See how electron microscopes create images that magnify things by as much as a million times–revealing a world that is both bizarre and beautiful. The film, narrated by Forest Whitaker, uses innovative high-speed and time-lapse photography, electron microscopy, and nanotechnology, to transport audiences to an enthralling secret world of nature, events, and breathtaking phenomena not visible to the naked eye. Explore the unseen world all around us!

Tickets for planetarium programs are $6 for Adults, $5 for UMaine Students/Veterans/Senior Citizens, and $4 for children under 12. Tickets may be purchased online at http://astro.umaine.edu, by phone at 207-581-1341, or at the center’s box office prior to the show.

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