New Show at the TAMIU Planetarium Debuts Friday, March 3

Discover “Kaluoka’hina, The Enchanted Reef” at Texas A&M International University’s Lamar Bruni Vergara Planetarium Friday, March 3 at 7 p.m.

This family entertainment feature film transports viewers to a tropical coral reef as Jake, a young sawfish and his buddy Shorty, a lively reef fish, try to restore the magic of their enchanted home after a volcanic catastrophe breaks the spell.

Jake’s and Shorty’s home is a one-of-a-kind world that is colorful and foreign, full of adventure and danger, riddles and mysteries, old legends and old myths. It is a world inhabited by creatures that are humorous and courageous, lovable and bizarre, charming and dangerous and unknown to man.

General admission tickets cost $5; tickets for TAMIU students, faculty and staff and children under 12 are $4. Cash, checks and credit cards are accepted. Group rates are available for 50 or more people; advance reservations required.

The TAMIU Planetarium has one of the few new generation digital projectors. Prior technology only allowed a view from the Earth; this projector allows viewing from any part of the known universe. Thus, one can travel to structures unseen, except to highly developed telescopes. The Digistar 3 projectors use powerful graphics hardware and software to generate immersive full-dome images on the interior surface of a dome, integrating all-dome video, real time 3D computer graphics, and a complete astronomy package.

Other shows currently at the Planetarium: “Force 5,” which explores violent weather; “The Future is Wild,” which gives audiences a glimpse at what might be the future of the animal kingdom on planet Earth; and “Destination Saturn,” which looks at how our understanding of this planet has changed over history. The Planetarium also features shows in Spanish: “Maravillas del Universo” and “Microcosmos.”

For more information and show schedule, visit the Planetarium on the Web or call 956. 326.2444.

For information on group rates, please call Laura Diaz at 956. 326.2463 or e-mail planetarium@tamiu.edu.

Journalists who need additional information or help with media requests and interviews should contact the Office of Public Relations, Marketing and Information Services at prmis@tamiu.edu