The Astronomy department has been very busy this fall! First, we debuted a brand-new class for fourth graders called “Solar Exploration.” In this class, students use hands-on activities and utilize the Daniel Observatory to explore seasons, telescopes, and moon phases. They use their data to decode a secret word that opens a locked box of research and, if successful, are presented with a classroom ticket to travel to outer space! It’s been a big hit so far; the students are always so pleased when they see the locked box open.

Second, the public Friday Starry Nights program has had a lot of updates. We have been slowly increasing our capacity through recent months. When the program reopened in the spring we were seating approximately 35% of our seats, which increased to approximately 45% in the summer, and are now at approximately 70% capacity. We will continue to increase as we safely can.

In addition to increasing planetarium capacity, we reopened Daniel Observatory in October Friday Starry Nights events. We have connected a camera from the telescope to the monitor so that people can enter the building and see what the telescope is currently viewing instead of viewing individually. Each night we have two astronomers in the building to discuss the history of the telescope, how it works, and what the scope is viewing.

Finally, we’ve been finding new opportunities to showcase laser shows in the planetarium. The last two Friday nights in October hosted sold out Halloween laser shows with hits such as The Addams Family, Ghostbusters, and Monster Mash. Beginning Dec. 10, we will have four evenings of Holiday laser shows. Come see us Dec. 10, 11, 17, and 18 for two amazing shows: Holiday Wonderland (with hits such as Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, Blue Christmas, and more!) and Trans-Siberian Orchestra (with hits such as Christmas Canon, Christmas Even/Sarajevo 12/24, and more!). Friday Starry Nights in the planetarium will return Jan. 7, 2022 with new shows.