Free planetarium shows at Williams College

WILLIAMSTOWN — This fall, the public is invited to experience the wonders of the universe at the Milham Planetarium, located inside the Old Hopkins Observatory at Williams College.

Astronomy students at the college will host free shows for the public on the following Friday evenings at 7:30 p.m.:  Sept. 14, 21 and 28; Oct. 5, 12, 19, and 26; Nov. 2, 9, 16 and 30; and Dec. 7.  Audiences will be treated to shows from the high-precision Zeiss Skymaster ZKP3/B opto-mechanical planetarium projector, installed in April 2005.

The Zeiss Skymaster is capable of demonstrating a large variety of astrological phenomena, including retrograde motions of the planets, phases of the moon, the varying temperatures/colors of stars, locations of neighboring galaxies, the mythological figures and zodiacal signs ascribed to constellations, the Southern Hemisphere’s sky, comets and artificial satellites, amongst other things.

Fall 2012 shows will be hosted by Williams College students Muzhou Lu, Connor Dempsey, Pushpanjali Giri and Charles Baxter. Field Memorial Professor of Astronomy Jay Pasachoff is director of the Hopkins Observatory.

The Hopkins Observatory, built in 1836-38 by the first professor of astronomy at Williams College, Albert Hopkins, is the oldest extant observatory in the United States. Shows will last about 50 minutes.

For reservations (which are recommended), contact Michele Rech at (413) 597-2188 or mcr4@williams.edu. Others will be admitted as space permits. Large groups should call for special appointments.

The Hopkins Observatory is on a small hill on the north side of Main Street, east of Spring Street in Williamstown and just east of Lawrence Hall Drive, on which planetarium patrons share parking with the Williams College Museum of Art.

A campus map showing the Hopkins Observatory’s location can be found on the web at williams.edu/map or at 829 Main St., Williamstown, Mass. on maps.google.com.

Posted by Catherine M. Krummey on September 10, 2012. Filed under Breaking News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry