What happens at a planetarium?
Being basically darkened theaters with seats and projectors, virtually all planetaria present programs or shows to audiences. Naturally, with a starry night sky overhead, astronomy tends to dominate the topics of presentation. Planetarium programs will probably differ greatly from one theater to the next, depending upon the planetarium’s mission, capabilities, staffing, and other factors. Still, the primary mission for most planetaria is to enlighten its audiences about astronomy, space, and the beauty of the night sky. Many space scientists, astronomers, physicists and astronauts attribute their local planetarium visits in their youth as inspiration for their careers. In its earliest form, the planetarium show consisted of a demonstration of the star projector’s capabilities — diurnal and annual motion, precession, constellation depiction, etc. At some planetaria, that is still the only type of presentation offered. The stereotype of the planetarian as a “learned astronomer” — weari
