WHEN: Sunday, Nov. 23, 5 p.m.
WHERE: Mary Riepma Ross Media Arts Center, 313 N. 13th St.
Lincoln, Neb., Nov. 20, 2003 -- Nebraska viewers will have a front-row seat for an exceptional event beginning at 5 p.m. Nov. 23 when the Discovery Channel broadcasts a "Discovery Special Presentation: Solar Eclipse Live from Antarctica." This rare opportunity will be shot in high-definition, giving viewers a superlative, detailed image of the eclipse, and it will be projected on the big screen at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln's Mary Riepma Ross Media Arts Center utilizing the theater's digital electronic cinema projector.
The approximate 2-hour program is free and open to the public at the Ross, 313 N. 13th St. Additional details are available on the Ross Web site at www.TheRoss.org.
New York-based digital cinema company Emerging Pictures is presenting the HD program on large screens at leading natural history museums, science and technology institutions, and other cultural venues. The Lincoln screening is co-sponsored by the Ross Media Arts Center, the University of Nebraska State Museum and Ralph Mueller Planetarium.
Daily Planet's Jay Ingram and Natasha Stillwell will be in studio with producer/columnist and astronomy expert Ivan Semeniuk to witness and discuss the live images being broadcast from Antarctica by NHK Japan Broadcasting Corp.
This will be the first total eclipse of the sun in Antarctica to be witnessed by humans; the last total solar eclipse recorded for the region occurred on Sept. 21, 1903, before permanent research stations were established there. NHK plans to use several HD cameras to capture the eclipse. Cameras will be set up at Russia's Novolazarevskaya Station and Japan's Syowa Station, as well as at a nearby Adelie penguin rookery to record their reaction as Antarctica's midnight sun is temporarily blocked by the moon. In addition, the eclipse will be filmed from an aircraft flying 33,000 feet above the continent.
The live special will be broadcast simultaneously on Discovery Channel's standard and HD signals.
CONTACT: Danny Lee Ladely, Director, Ross Media Arts Center, (402) 472-9100
Back to menu
Posted by Tom Simons, Office of University Communications
Phone: (402) 472-8514, Fax: (402) 472-7825