AstroFriday

The planetarium presentation for the month of December is appropriate to the season – “The Star of Bethlehem: A Mystery Revealed.” The video portion of the presentation explores possible astronomical explanations for the phenomenon known as “The Christmas Star,” and presents reconstructions of the night sky around the time of the birth of Christ, yielding stunning surprises about several celestial events occurring in the years surrounding that time! After the video, there will be a live sky show depicting the night sky as it appeared nearly 2000 years ago, complete with time-lapse simulations of the movements of celestial bodies over several months and even years of time! We will also give out winter sky maps for the whole season while supplies last!

If weather permits, they will also offer a free public stargaze with telescopes at 8:30pm in the courtyard behind the planetarium after the last show. Come and observe the King of the Planets, Jupiter, the Ringed Planet, Saturn, and the colorful binary star, Gamma Andromedae! If weather conditions are particularly favorable, we may also see such deep-sky objects as the glittering Double Cluster in Perseus, the fanciful “E.T. Cluster” in Cassiopeia, the glorious Andromeda Galaxy, the Pleiades star cluster, and the majestic Orion Nebula! 

There is no admission charge, but there is a maximum seating capacity of 60 in the planetarium, so seating will be on a first-come, first-served basis. In order to preserve dark-adaption, there is no late admittance into the planetarium once the show has started! There is no capacity limit for the stargaze, which will last a maximum of one hour. 

For more information, please feel free to call David Mayeux at 566-3361, or e-mail at mayeuxd@sanjuancollege.edu. Further information about Planetarium presentations and policies are available on the web on the SJC Planetarium Facebook page, or on the Events page on the SJC website. 

AstroFriday Schedule: 

• Saturday, December 7, 2024 Luminaria Stargaze from 6:30 to 9:30 pm
• Friday, December 13, 2024 The Star of Bethlehem: A Mystery Revealed
• Friday, January 17, 2025 Navajo Skies
• Friday, February 7, 2025 The Astronomy of Harry Pottery
• Friday, March 7, 2025 Living Worlds
• Friday, April 4, 2025 Micrometeorites
• Friday, May 2, 2025 Losing the Dark 

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