An in-depth view of the nighttime sky and beyond can be found at Berea College. It comes through gazing up at a dome located on the school’s campus.
Inside the 35-foot dome are two digital 4k resolution laser projectors. The planetarium has been situated in Berea College’s Science Building for about five years. Tracy Hodge is a physics professor at Berea. She said planetarium technology today is far different than two-star balls, moving mechanically found years ago. Hodge said anything from the Hubble Space Telescope or ground based telescope can now be viewed.
“So, now we can clearly show the Milky Way, show various nebulae, like the Orion nebula. We can zoom in on the planetarium surfaces of all the major planets in the solar system,” said Hodge.
Eastern Kentucky University’s planetarium has been closed for two years. Hodge said there are significant costs associated with operating a planetarium.
“Because we’re only four or five years old and we have laser projectors that are good for several thousand hours, we don’t foresee any large expenditures in the near future, but at some point, those laser projectors will need to be replaced and that will be a significant infrastructure cost,” said Hodge.
Hodge noted show fees are used to help cover the cost of planetarium shows, which can run as high as 10 to $15,000. She added students run the shows, so the biggest expense is tied to infrastructure overhead and new shows.
Hodge says there are public showings at seven o clock Friday evenings and four o clock on Sundays during the academic year. She says students take on the operation responsibility for shows.
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