Entering the planetarium can sometimes feel like stepping out of one world and into another. As you pass the stars and galaxies that cover the walls of the hallway down into the theater, you might feel like you are leaving your reality behind and finding yourself in a new one where anything is possible.
Located in the basement of the Physical Sciences building, the Harry C. Vaughn Planetarium regularly holds shows Tuesday, Friday or Saturday evenings for a cheap $3 for students or $4 for non-students. The organization hosts shows ranging from presentations about the night sky in Laramie to feature films about dark matter. The folks at the planetarium, like math and physics major Jack Small, believe the programming offers something for everyone.
“We do a bunch of cross-curricular projects as well,” Small said. “We all the time do shows about art. I definitely think [the planetarium] is something that everyone should go to.”
One such cross-curricular project in the planetarium is a series of plates commissioned to a student from the art department. Each one is painted to look like the surface of different planets and can be seen hanging around the planetarium any time it is open.
Students like Small also lead shows in the planetarium when not showing pre-recorded films. One such show Small does is about astronomy in different cultures around the world.
“It’s not science-based. It’s more so based on how the variety of different people see astronomy,” he said.
The planetarium is part of the Wyoming NASA Space Grant Consortium, a group of research and educational programs that support science, technology, engineering and math education at the K-12 and college levels. The facility was renamed after Harry C. Vaughn after his philanthropic organization, Windy Ridge Foundation, donated $875,000 to the planetarium, in addition to a $350,000 grant matched by the state. Vaughn, a meteorology professor from Iowa, retired to Laramie and built an observatory in his own backyard. He also mentored students from UW’s Department of Atmospheric Science.
Walking into the planetarium on a Tuesday night might not sound like the most excited thing you can do with your time, but some students would disagree. Computer science and math major Bryce Michaud believes the planetarium is a fun way to spend your time.
“I believe the planetarium is something that all students should experience,” Michaud said. “Even if you’re not crazy about astronomy the planetarium can be really cool to watch because of how awesome it feels to sit and watch shows over your head and feel like you’re no longer in your own reality. It feels like you are out of this world sometimes.”
The planetarium holds feature films on Tuesdays and various kinds of presentations on Fridays and Saturdays. They sometimes also give a free tour of their star observatory and allow attendees to look through the telescope. More information about the planetarium and its schedule can be found at WyomingSpaceGrant.org/planetarium.
