Wayne State has a planetarium.

However an obvious statement it may seem, many students may not be aware of all the shows or take advantage of them.

“The planetarium?” WSC student Connor Osborne said. “I don’t even know what that is.”

This semester’s premiere for the planetarium’s shows has been delayed partly due to participation in a statewide campaign.

“I like to have a fall season and a spring season,” director of the planetarium Todd Young said. “The fall season has been delayed a little bit because we just got done being a part of the Nebraska Passport Program.”

The Nebraska Passport Program is an event in its seventh year in which participants travel all over Nebraska visiting 80 selected destinations. At the end of the program, the participants are eligible to win prizes based on the number of destinations visited. It ended in late September, causing the delay.

“We got a lot of business we don’t usually have,” Young said. “I hope we can be a part of it again soon.”

With the end of Nebraska Passport, the planetarium’s shows will soon come into full swing with regular shows every Friday night at 7 and 8 p.m. There will be 14 individual shows, some with repeat performances, including a show at which three Wayne State professors perform classical music; seasonal shows; a children’s show; and laser shows, some featuring music from rock favorites.
“I have a great sound system,” Young said. “So if you have a hankering for Led Zeppelin or Pink Floyd or the Beatles, I’ll turn it up.”

In addition to the scheduled shows, students are able to reserve a night in advance to use the exterior projector. In the past, movies and even video games have been connected to it. According to Young, two of the most memorable nights that he has had in the planetarium involved a Call of Duty competition and a Madden competition.

“Come one, come all,” Young said.