2008 Woodie Awards
NASA Upgrades Planetarium
Valley College's astronomy students and community members will soon enjoy the new facilities provided by NASA.
William Hines
Issue date: 3/2/05 Section: News
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"Our new planetarium is state-of-the-art," said Astronomy Professor David Falk. "The difference between our planetarium and others in the area is that ours is made for educational purposes."
The SciDome is a digital planetarium projector that was purchased by the college as part of the $300,000 grant awarded to the department by NASA in order to help improve the anthropology and earth science department's facilities and curriculum.
The grant money was used to upgrade Valley's existing planetarium, which was previously using equipment that predated the 1969 moon landing.
The upgrade makes more classes and events available to both students and community members interested in astronomy.
Approximately $200,000 went toward the installation of the SciDome, a digital projector that projects images of stars on the planetarium's 24-foot-diameter dome.
The remaining $100,000 was spent purchasing planetarium shows, other equipment upgrades, funding curriculum expansion and salary increases for the professors.
The new educational resources aren't limited to Valley students alone. The surrounding community, which, according to Falk makes up about half of the participants, is invited to attend the monthly planetarium shows shows and Star Parties that are organized by the department organizes.
The goal, Falk said, is to contribute to "the visualization of science."
The grand re-opening of the Valley College Planetarium will be Friday, March 11 and Saturday, March 12 from 8 to 11 p.m. in the planetarium.
The event will include continuous demonstrations of the new SciDome star projector, a tornado machine sponsored by the anthropology and earth science department and a special guest speaker.
For more information call the Astronomy Group Hotline at 818-947-2335.
