Staerkel Planetarium

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

William M. Staerkel Planetarium is a planetarium located in the Parkland College in Champaign, Illinois. It is the second largest planetarium in Illinois and provides science education programs and light show entertainment to nearly 40,000 people each year.

1 Exhibits and equipment
2 Shows
3 Construction and Naming
4 External links

[edit] Exhibits and equipment

The Staerkel Planetarium has, at its heart, a Carl Zeiss M1015 planetarium star machine that projects over 7,000 stars, the Sun and Moon, five planets, plus many deep sky objects. Nearly 60 slide projectors, all under computer control, plus a host of special effects add to the planetarium experience. The planetarium also offers two-story tall films. The lobby of the Staerkel Planetarium exhibits an original mural by Billy Morrow Jackson entitled "Cosmic Blink."

[edit] Shows

In addition to planetarium shows for schools and the community, outreach services are also offered to schools, libraries and civic groups.

Public shows are held on most Friday and Saturday evenings (except for holidays), including late night rock-n-roll light shows featuring the planetarium's 3,000 watt sound system.

In addition to the M1015 Star projector, the planetarium owns an educational simulation of a space shuttle space suit which the staff use in outreach programming.

[edit] Construction and Naming

Parkland College built the new planetarium back in the 1980s at a cost of USD$4 million project. Was named Staerkel Planetarium in September 1987, to honor their first president who oversaw the construction. Staerkel attended the dedication, but died just weeks later.