EWU planetarium season ends Friday

When children see the night sky projected on the ceiling at the George Stahl Planetarium, it always raises questions – like if the rings of Saturn spin really fast or, more fancifully, what kind of aliens live in Andromeda?

A popular question this year has been about Pluto’s demotion from planet status. Question: Why is Pluto not a planet? Answer: It’s not big enough, and it shares an orbit with Neptune.

Every year, schoolchildren travel from throughout Eastern Washington and North Idaho for field trips to the planetarium on Eastern Washington University’s campus to learn about the solar system. On Friday nights, the planetarium, which seats 50, is open to the public.

The final public show of the season takes place Friday night, and for one hour, viewers can learn about the night stars and planets and also see a slide show featuring deep-space objects, according to Debbie Moradi, planetarium manager. She and three EWU students – a physics major, an education major and a planetary geology major – conduct the planetarium programs.

Moradi said about 10,000 individuals visit each year. The planetarium, named for the late George Stahl, an EWU physics professor who purchased the projector for the planetarium, also is a resource for students and astronomers during Science Olympiad competitions and workshops presented by the National Science Foundation. Eastern’s descriptive astronomy course utilizes the planetarium as well.

Public sessions will resume with the start of fall classes.