Events at a Glance

Dates: October 4, 11, and 18, 2022

Time: 7 – 9pm

Location: Pebble Hill Plantation Learning Center

Fees per session: $10/adult

$5/child (ages 12-17)

To register: https://pebble-hill-plantation.ticketleap.com/

Advance registration is required

For additional information, visit: www.pebblehill.com or call 229-226-2344.

“Astronomy is Heavenly” Book Review Sessions and Stargazing at Pebble Hill Plantation

The Learning Center on the grounds of Pebble Hill Plantation will host a review of the book Astronomy is Heavenly by local author Randy Rhea. The sessions are open to the public and will be held from 7 – 9pm on October 4, 11, and 18, 2022. Each evening covers a section of the book with informal questions and discussion led by the author. Weather permitting, each session is followed by a brief viewing of the heavens from Sunrise field adjacent to the Pebble Hill Learning Center.

The program will cover astronomy from pre-science beginnings through current discoveries. What did Copernicus, Galileo, Newton, and Hubble teach us? What was so earthshaking about Einstein’s theories? How do you measure the distance to the stars? Did you know that a method for measuring the distance to galaxies was discovered in 1912 by Henrietta Leavitt who at the time was not allowed to use her institutions telescope? Did you know that twin Suns like those seen from the planet Tatooine in Star Wars is common? Have you seen the planet Mercury? It’s easy if you know when and where to look.

The Pebble Hill program will cover these and many other fun facts. You’ll learn about stars, gravity, relativity, telescopes, how the heavens move, our solar system, space travel, the big bang (it’s not what you think), the expansion of the universe, black holes, dark matter and energy, the Hubble and James Webb Space telescopes, and yes, UFOs.

Rhea first became interested in astronomy falling asleep in a lawn chair under the dark skies of central Illinois. Back then there were no street lights in small towns and the night skies were heavenly. In 1959, Rhea purchased an Edmund Scientific “Space Conqueror” three-inch telescope for $29.95 with money he earned mowing yards. Despite the telescopes rickety mount, with practice he saw the four Galilean moons of Jupiter, Saturn’s rings, the Great Orion nebula, and watched the planet Mercury transit the Sun in 1960. By 1996 his budget had increased and he purchased the University of Denver’s observatory on Mt. Evans, Colorado, and moved it to the Rhea’s cabin in the mountains of northern New Mexico.

Rhea has engineering degrees from the University of Illinois and Arizona State University. He worked for the Boeing Company, Goodyear Aerospace, and Scientific Atlanta before founding the Eagleware-Elanix company and Noble Publishing in Atlanta. Rhea is the author of five engineering text books and technical articles in numerous trade journals. He has taught seminars to over a thousand engineers at the Georgia Institute of Technology and at exhibitions and corporations throughout the United States, Europe, and Asia.

The sessions are open to all adults and children ages 12 and older accompanied by a parent. The fee for each session is $10/adult and $5/child (ages 12-17). You may purchase tickets for individual sessions or all three sessions. Registrants are asked to purchase a copy of the book Astronomy is Heavenly to participate in class discussions and lessons by reading a few chapters of the book prior to each session. Purchasing the book is not necessary, but recommended. Astronomy is Heavenly is available at the Bookshelf at 126 S. Broad Street in downtown Thomasville, (229) 228-7767, www.bookshelfthomasville.com The Thomas County Libraries in Thomasville and Pavo have copies that may be checked out for the program, as does the Roddenberry Library in Cairo.