VSU hosts planetariun show

VALDOSTA — The Valdosta State University Planetarium will present the second show of its 2009-10 season tonight, focusing its “telescope” on 20th Century astronomy, in Astronomy Grows Up and Out! Presentations will be given by Dr. Martha Leake at 7:30 p.m. and 8:45 p.m. If the weather permits, the observing deck will be open so that visitors can see Jupiter, the Andromeda Galaxy, beautiful star clusters and colorful stars.

Programs this year have highlighted the International Year of Astronomy, featuring highlights of astronomy from the 16th through 19th centuries.

“Our look at 20th century astronomy brings our tour of International Year of Astronomy 2009 not to a close, but to a ballooning explosion of information and understanding, with mysteries abounding,” according to a press release. “During the early 1900s, that understanding still needed to mature, to accurately reflect our place in the universe. Having discovered the distances to the nearest stars, and developed quality telescopes and photographic tools, astronomers could study the stars’ light and its variations. They found that the spectra of the stars yielded temperature and size. Those stars that were not the norm provided examples of the past and future lives of stars — how they aged and died. Understanding nuclear reactions led to an understanding of what powers a star, and what leads to its formation or death. Variations in a star’s light led to a new way to determine distance accurately and helped solve the great debate of 1920 — the size of our galaxy. Spiral, fuzzy shapes turned out to be other galaxies, up to millions of light years away. With new telescopes, greater distances could be reached, probing further back into our past. Great theories of the universe ‘lived and died,’ on the basis of new data. The explosion of information leads to our Big Bang model, an idea of the expansion of the universe, its age, and its future. Nor was the solar system left behind: rockets, spacecraft, telescopes, cameras enabled us to visit other worlds and gather detailed information about our neighbors in space, and even gather rocks on their surfaces, in person. The quest for astronomical data began to overlap our quest for information about the beginning or presence of life.”

Seating in the planetarium is limited to 47 visitors per show and is on a first-come, first-served basis. The planetarium is located in Nevins Hall, Room 3004. Visitors are asked to enter at the southeast tower (nearest the VSU main gate) and take the elevator to the third floor. Limited public parking is available in front of Nevins Hall.

For additional information please contact the Department of Physics Astronomy and Geosciences at (229) 333-5752.