MIDSOUTH STAR GAZE & ASTRONOMY CONFERENCE!

April 23-26, 2025

DETAILS TO COME!

FREE MONTHLY PUBLIC PROGRAM!

"COMETS: Icy Visitors from Space!”

Rainwater Observatory in French Camp Mississippi will be offering a free 4-County Electric Foundation “Exploring the Heavens” public program series! This month’s presentation is a new program called, "COMETS: Icy Visitors from Space!”, presented on Friday, February 14, 2025, starting at 7:00 p.m. by Edwin Faughn, director of Rainwater Observatory.

Comets are some of the most spectacular and mysterious objects known in our solar system! They hurtle inbound towards the Sun each year, heat up and sometimes develop long beautiful tails blown back by the solar winds! Some have even hit the Earth and other solar system bodies in the past with devastating effects! In this program we will examine the mythology, history, and science of comets and how they have helped shape our solar system. After the presentation, weather permitting, an observing session will be held using some of Rainwater’s powerful telescopes.

Edwin has presented hundreds of programs to diverse audiences including universities, museums, schools, aviation firms, conferences, churches, civic groups, senior and youth groups, scouts and various other organizations such as Winthrop Rockefeller Institute, Federal Express World Headquarters, Pink Palace Family Of Museums (75th Anniversary Celebration), Sharpe Planetarium, Arkansas State University (Distinguished Alumni Speaker), Mississippi State University, University Of Mississippi (conference keynote speaker), Arkansas State University (keynote speaker for NASA's STEAM Initiative (STEM with Art + Design) and Crew Training International (CTI is one of the leading providers of Cockpit/Crew Resource Management training for the world's military aviators).

His work has also been featured on the main KEPLER website of NASA's Ames Research Center and can be seen at www.edwinfaughn.com. His original artwork has been featured in and on the covers of leading international space science magazines, books, exhibitions, and planetarium productions such as Scientific American, Federal Express World Headquarters and the world premiere of Titanic: The Exhibition. He served nearly 20 years as the art director for the Sharpe Planetarium of the Pink Palace Family of Museums in Memphis, Tennessee and is now the director of Rainwater Observatory in French Camp, Mississippi which is one of the largest public observatories in the southeast.  

After the presentation, weather permitting, a telescope observing session will be held using some of Rainwater’s collection of powerful telescopes including the largest in Mississippi. Rainwater Observatory and Planetarium is located one mile east of the Natchez Trace Parkway off MS Highway 413 near the village of French Camp in Mississippi. Come early and enjoy dinner at the Council House, another support ministry of French Camp Academy.

For more information, visit Rainwater Observatory at: www.rainwaterobservatory.org, call us at: 662-547-7283 or email us at: info@rainwaterobservatory.org. Sign up for our free monthly e-newsletter on the homepage!