Ashley House
Reporter
Second in size only to the Adler Planetarium of Chicago, the William M. Staerkel Planetarium at Parkland College has been open to the public since October of 1987. The planetarium, named after after Parkland’s very first president, Dr. William M. Staerkel, proudly boasts new technology while honoring the old. The first Carl Zeiss M1015 star projector to be installed in the western hemisphere was in Parkland College, and it still retains its place in the center of the planetarium to this day despite the updates to the rest of the technology. In 2010, the planetarium installed an all new sound system and an upgraded star projection system called the Digistar 4. This August, Staerkel had its first technological update since then; the planetarium was closed for 3 weeks to install the Digistar 6 system, which will make its debut this weekend September 7 and 8.
There will be many opportunities this fall semester to check out the new projection system. Beginning this Friday, Prairie Skies will make its return with a “live-narrated tour of the wonders of tonight’s sky, accompanied by some of the legendary stories of the ancient sky,” according to the Staerkel Planetarium calendar page on the Parkland website. This show is updated seasonally with the relative positions of constellations in the night sky based on position and rotation of the Earth. Prairie Skies shows most Fridays during the fall and spring semesters at 7pm.
New this fall, Experience the Aurora! Is a chance to see photos of the Aurora Borealis, or northern lights, like you’ve never seen before. Crews spent over 7 months in the Arctic Circle capturing time lapse photos of the lights in stunning high resolution. According to the planetarium’s website, “For the first time the aurora has been captured as it was meant to be experienced, as a display that covers the entire sky.” This show will include the story of the journey and experience of the crew that captured the photos, as well as the science behind the breathtaking lights. You can take advantage on Friday and Saturday nights throughout the fall semester at 8pm.
For the child in your life or the one in your heart, the planetarium is also showing The Little Star That Could, the story of an average yellow star who aspires to be just like our very own Sun. “Little Star” goes on a search for his very own planets, and on this journey he learns the differences of stars throughout our galaxy. Fun for all ages or maybe an interesting date night idea… You can see Little Star in action Saturday nights at 8pm.
Staerkel Planetarium will also feature light and laser shows again this year. This fall, Pink Floyd’s albums “Dark Side of the Moon” and “The Wall” will be featured in fulldome light shows. These light shows will be featured on specific weekends during the fall semester, check out the Parkland website to see the full calendar of events and plan a weekend to see lights set in time to music.
This Columbus Day, Monday, October 8, you can catch Secrets of the Sun, a one hour fulldome program featuring the history of and fun facts about our Sun. Also beginning in October, on the first Friday of every month you can stop in for the Kaler Science Lecture, a one hour special segment during which a local scientist can present and discuss a topic they specialize in. Tickets for lectures are only $2, and the first lecture on October 5 is all about the truth behind fracking and oil pipelines. Last but not least, just in time for the holidays the “Season of Light” and “Santa’s Secret” shows will return for fun and festive fulldome shows depicting the history of different Christmas traditions that are great for all ages.
For more information on the Staerkel Planetarium or for the full calendar, visit the Parkland website.