Starting Monday, September 21, the Barton Planetarium will present shows every other Monday evening from 7:00 – 8:00 PM.  For new guests, we are located in the Science Building on the north side of campus.

Our First Week

For the first week, we are proud to present the Barton premier of the fulldome movie “Astronomy: 3000 Years of Stargazing.”  

Throughout time, the sky has piqued our curiosity. Eclipses, the regular cycle of the seasons, the rising and setting of the Moon, Sun, and planets, the motion of the stars — all have fascinated mankind since our earliest ancestors first looked up. Monuments constructed across our home planet, from Stonehenge to Machu Picchu, bear witness to humanity's ancient fascination with the stars.

 With occasional observations from a learned cartoon Einstein, we retrace the milestones of cosmic discovery in this engaging history of astronomy. Rediscover the major astronomical theories of the last 3,000 years — from the cosmological models of antiquity and the Ptolemaic system of epicycles — to the contributions of Copernicus, Galileo, Kepler, Newton, Herschel and Hubble. From Galileo's telescope to modern instruments used on Earth and in space, see how cutting-edge technology reveals a multi-wavelength universe of planets, star birth regions, nebulae, pulsars, black holes and galaxies.

 After the movie we will take a tour of the fall skies, highlighting some of the constellations and planets that are on display this fall.  Since September 21 is close to the first day of fall (Sept. 23), we will explore how the seasons are related to Earth’s orbit.

 Upcoming programs are:
Oct. 5 - Telescopes: “Two Small Pieces of Glass,” Build a Telescope
Oct. 19 - Our Solar System: “Saturn The Ring World” and “Great Planet Adventures”
Nov. 2 - History:  “Amazing Astronomers of Antiquity” and “Fate of the Maya”
Nov. 16  - Dinosaurs: “Dinosaurs at Dusk: the Origins of Flight”
Nov. 30 - Life Beyond Earth: “Search For Life in the Universe” and “XPlanets”