The Fred G. Dale Planetarium’s schedule is picking up with the next group of planetarium shows as Wayne State College’s midterm break ends.
“I like to do a variety of shows,” Todd Young, director of the planetarium, said. “I think you could come every weekend and see a different show. We have a pretty vast library.”
Selections for March include “Firefall” and “Skywatchers of Africa,” among others.
“Visually, they’re all great,” Young said. “Anybody can come see a planetarium show, even the very young. They might not understand the content, of course, but visually they’re spectacular.”
The shows don’t only cover astronomy and outer space.
“We have a really fun and interesting one hosted by Neil deGrasse Tyson called “Seeing” which talks about a photon traveling through space and all the different things that it encounters, and then what happens when the photon goes your eye,” Young said. “Then it gets into the biology of an eye, so it’s like this mix of astronomy and biology in one show.”
“Then, we shift into the Easter celebration since that last weekend of March is Easter, so I have multiple showings of a really fabulous show that we have called “The Sistine Chapel,” which takes you on a tour of The Sistine Chapel in the sense of talking you through all of the different paintings that you’ll see there,” Young said.
Young said one feature of this show is the dome of the planetarium transforming into a recreation of The Sistine Chapel ceiling, not without limitations, but it still imitates it in a way that is engaging.
“The planetarium itself is just generally immersive,” Young said. “It’s a great way to just escape.”
The planetarium will also have upcoming shows relating to the anticipated solar eclipse.
“The first weekend in April, that’s the eclipse,” Young said. “We have a bunch of shows that are about eclipses in general, and then on Monday, April 8 is the actual solar eclipse.”
Young said details are being finalized for eclipse viewing parties around town.
“Keep an eye out for some announcements, special announcements regarding not only the Easter celebration but then also the eclipse,” Young said. “There is going to be a TED-like talk at The Majestic Theatre as we get closer to the eclipse if anyone wants to learn about that.”
Young said the planetarium has solar eclipse glasses for sale to allow spectators to view the eclipse safely.
“All that money is going directly back into the planetarium to help with maintenance and getting new shows and stuff like that,” Young said. “It truly is not going into the vacuum of whatever. It’s going right directly back into the planetarium.”
Young said he wants others to walk away from a show feeling like it was worth the time.
“I hope that they walk away with a better appreciation for astronomy, and what’s out there and how we’ve learned it,” Young said. “And hopefully they’ve been entertained as well as educated.”
