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Stargazing at Marble Springs special camping event this weekend
KNOXVILLE -- Marble Springs State Historic Site is presenting a Stargazing camping event on Saturday, August 10th from 5:00pm to Sunday, August 11th at 11:00am. This event will be instructed by Mr. Garry Noland. Mr. Noland has been an adjunct instructor of Astronomy at The University of Tennessee for 11 years.
The lecture topic will be Meteor Showers. Topics to be discussed will include the planets Mercury, Mars, and Jupiter. The primary event will be observing the Perseids meteor shower, which is one of the more spectacular events. The radiant point for this shower will be in the constellation Perseus.
The fee is $25.00 per camp set up (up to two tents per spot). This fee needs to be paid in advance. Please pay by check, which can be made out to Marble Springs. If you plan to camp, you can set up your tent any time after 5:00pm. If you are not camping and would like to come anyway, the cost will be $10.00 per person, and the lecture will begin at midnight. Marble Springs will supply wood, water, trash cans, and restroom facilities.
All activities take place at the Marble Springs State Historic Site, 1220 West Governor John Sevier Highway, Knoxville, TN 37920. In case of cancellation due to weather, attendees will be notified and a refund will be offered.
All participants are encouraged to bring a flashlight. Telescopes will be available on site, but you are welcome and encouraged to bring your own binoculars and telescopes.
Programming assistance for this event is provided by the Arts & Heritage Fund and Knox County. Marble Springs is funded under an agreement with the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation, Tennessee Historical Commission, and supplemented by additional funds raised by the Governor John Sevier Memorial Association.
Marble Springs is operated by the Gov. John Sevier Memorial Association (GJSMA), a non-profit group dedicated to preserving the memory of John Sevier and his way of life. Memberships are available for anyone interested in GJSMA. Benefits of GJSMA membership include, a ten percent Trading Post discount, newsletters and updates about the site, program announcements and VIP invitations to special events. Funds raised assist GJSMA in providing affordable educational programming and preservation of the historic site.
John Sevier was born on Sept 23rd 1745. He became Tennessee’s first governor in 1796. John Sevier obtained the property in the late 1780s. The farm was named Marble Springs after the springs located on the property that flowed throughout the year, as well as the “Tennessee Rose” marble deposits that surrounded the area. The main house was completed in the late 1790’s. Today Marble Springs consists of Sevier’s house, a tavern, loom house, spring house, smoke house, trading post and a half cantilever barn. Marble Springs was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1971.
Published August 9, 2013
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