Story By: Rhea Mursalin 

Take a journey through the night sky at the Palomar College Planetarium.

Palomar College’s Planetarium was one of the first to be built in community colleges back in the 1960s. The original Planetarium was demolished in 2008 and rebuilt in 2012. Today, it is the 5th largest in the entire state of California and open for a showing every Friday night.

The Director of the Planetarium, Mark Lane played a major role in the new design of the Planetarium and is very proud of its turn out and how it serves the Palomar college community.

“Working at the planetarium is a fun part of our jobs that connects the concepts of astronomy to a live audience. By recreating the night sky, we can show our audience what the universe would look like if we could go to these distant places,” Lane said.

There are a wide variety of shows that students, or the general public, are welcome to experience at the Planetarium every Friday throughout the school year, including when school is not in session.

These shows include those such as the following:

“From the Earth to the Universe,” which focuses on the journey through our solar systems; “Moons: Worlds of Mystery,” this portrays how our moon came to be as well as other planets’ moons; “Hot and Energetic Universe,” which uses high – energy light to show colliding galaxies, the mysteries of exploding stars, black holes, and much more; and “Faster Than Light: The Dream of Interstellar Flight,” which focuses on the continuous development of spacecraft with the hope of one day reaching stars and planets closer to the sun.

Lane explained, “Our ‘Sky Tonight’ show is very popular with audiences and I would recommend it to anyone who has never been here before. Each full dome show has its merits and so there is no one show that stands out – they are all quite good.”

Tickets are required for every show and they can be purchased in advance or can be purchased on the night of the show. Prices vary from 4 – 6 dollars per show/presentation.

For more information on dates and showtimes consult the following website https://www.palomar.edu/planetarium/public-shows/