A large sculpture of the sun adorns the wall outside the UW Planetarium in the basement of the Physical and Biological Science buildings. Shows at the planetarium are Friday nights with prices set at $2 for students and $3 for adults.
For the past week the bright, glistening night stars have not been present in the UW Planetarium.
Although the majority of the planetarium is on hiatus due to recent malfunctions, Friday night laser light shows are still going on with some new additions, assistant Rachel Smullen said.
“We recently got some Lady Gaga and Deadmau5 laser light shows,” Smullen said.
On a normal Friday, the planetarium has shows from 7 to 8 p.m. and a laser light show at 8 p.m.
The planetarium has had problems with software since it updated, Travis Laurence, planetarium coordinator, said. Both Laurence and Smullen hope it will work again soon.
“Its odd, this has been the first time in six or seven years since it’s been down for so long. Normally we can fix it over the phone easily, but this time is different,” Laurence said.
According to Smullen, the planetarium offers a way to teach courses by “speeding up the night sky” allowing students to watch the processes of the night without spending 24 hours outside. Because of the malfunctions, astronomy classes have had to push back planetarium lab dates, and the students might have to brave the bitter Laramie nights outside.
Smullen and Laurence also have been unable to schedule private shows for elementary school kids and birthday parties. They said they are looking forward to interacting with the audience again.
“Interacting with the kids is my favorite part,” Smullen said. “When they are excited, you get excited as well.”
“I love it when it comes time for questions and even the teachers are raising their hands, it makes it a much more enjoyable atmosphere,” Laurence said.
Smullen and Laurence hope to get more shows when they upgrade the planetarium to digital in the future. Instead of an optical mechanical star ball, the planetarium would run on projectors and would be like an Imax movie, Laurence said. Once upgraded, there would be almost endless possibilities for shows.
Soon the planetarium will be up and running again, hosting shows for birthday parties, elementary schools and college astronomy classes.
