The University of Wyoming Planetarium has announced its jam-packed schedule for the month of February.
Show times for evening programs were updated to start at 7 p.m. for the remainder of the spring. Weather permitting, an observing night is planned at 7 p.m., Feb. 1, on the roof of the Physical Sciences Building for the comet C/2022 E3.
Other highlights include, picking apart the disaster film “Day After Tomorrow” with a climate scientist at 7 p.m., on Feb. 10. Celebrate Valentine’s Day as it hosts “Hearts in the Sky” at 7 p.m. on Feb. 14, followed by a love-sick playlist of R&B at 8:30 p.m. As always, Saturday afternoon films will be at 2 p.m. and music shows at 7 p.m., and Friday evening science presentations at 7 p.m.
The following are more details of the schedule.
Feb. 3, 7 p.m., Leftovers! Asteroids, Comets, Meteors, and Rings — Learn about the eight major planets from a young age but what about everything else in the solar system? The little things out there have major impacts on the worlds around us. Locked inside them are the secrets of how the planets formed and life could have arose. We’ve learned about them from bright meteor streaks in the sky, fireballs, comet tails and craters. Now space missions have just begun exploring these trinkets like on asteroid Bennu and comet CG-67P. What’s NASA doing to learn about and defend Earth from these celestial curiosities?
Feb. 4, 2 p.m., Europe to the Stars — Will take the viewer on an epic journey behind the scenes at the most productive ground-based observatory in the world, revealing the science, the history, the technology and the people. Discover the European Southern Observatory in a story of cosmic curiosity, courage and perseverance; a story of observing a Universe of deep mysteries and hidden secrets; and a story of designing, building and operating the most powerful ground-based telescopes on the planet. The movie focuses on the essential aspects of an astronomical observatory, while offering a broader view of how astronomy is done. From site-testing to locate the best places in the world for observing the sky, to how telescopes are built and what mysteries of the Universe astronomers are revealing.
Feb. 4, 7 p.m., Liquid Sky: Dark Side of the Moon — Enjoy “Dark Side of the Moon” in 5.1 surround as the 4k resolution planetarium sky melts and becomes a canvas of color, patterns, and movement with cutting-edge music visualization software and live VJ talent.
Feb. 10, 7 p.m. Science of Sci-Fi:”Day After Tomorrow” — A look at some our favorite films, TV shows, and media to discuss what they got right and wrong on the hard-science. It will include funny physics faux-pas and ground-breaking visuals that advancing the body of scientific knowledge.
Feb. 11, 2 p.m., Seeing! — Follow the journey of a single photon as it is produced in a distant star, before travelling across the vast expanse of space to land on someone’s retina. This full-dome planetarium show explores some of the fascinating processes of the cosmos, from astrophysics to the biology of the eye and brain. Funded through a generous grant from ZEISS, the show is narrated by astronomer and science communicator, Neil deGrasse Tyson.
Feb. 11, 7 p.m., Liquid Sky: Retro Hits — Enjoy a custom playlist of “out-of-this-world” music from top artists in genres of rock, indie, pop, electronic, and more in 5.1 surround as the 4k resolution planetarium sky melts and becomes a canvas of color, patterns, and movement with our cutting-edge music visualization software and live VJ talent.
Feb. 14, 7 p.m., Hearts in the Sky — Love is in the air tonight! Our night sky is rich in mythology relating the human condition to the stars. This Valentines’ Day, it will explore love. Join to hear the epic star myths of romance and betrayal, and to hear about the science about those far-away objects those myths describe.
Feb. 14, 8:30 p.m., Liquid Sky: R&B — Enjoy a custom playlist of “out-of-this-world” music from top artists in 2000’s R&B in 5.1 surround as the 4k resolution planetarium sky melts and becomes a canvas of color, patterns, and movement with our cutting-edge music visualization software and live VJ talent.
Feb. 17, 7 p.m., Wyoming Skies — What’s up in the sky around Wyoming: stars, constellations, planets, meteor showers, and more.
Feb. 18, 2 p.m., The Sun: Our Living Star — The Sun has shone on our world for four and a half billion years. The light that warms our skin today has been felt by every person who has ever lived. It is our nearest star and our planet’s powerhouse, the source of the energy that drives our winds, our weather and all life. The passage of the Sun’s fiery disc across the sky — day by day, month by month — was the only way to keep track of time for countless past civilizations. Don’t be fooled by the terminology; although it is a typical dwarf star, the Sun consumes 600 million tons of hydrogen each second and is 500 times as massive as all the planets combined. Discover the secrets of our star in this planetarium show and experience never-before-seen images of the Sun’s violent surface in immersive fulldome format.
Feb. 18, 7 p.m., Liquid Sky: Psychedelic Indie — Enjoy a custom playlist of “out-of-this-world” music from top artists in genres of rock, indie, pop, electronic, and more in 5.1 surround as the 4k resolution planetarium sky melts and becomes a canvas of color, patterns, and movement with our cutting-edge music visualization software and live VJ talent.
Feb. 24, 7 p.m., Keeping Time — In our modern world, cellphones and computers are sent radio messages from atomic clocks to maintain time, but this was not always the case. Our ancestors were able to predict eclipses, the seasons, and the motion of the planets with primitive instruments and observations long before the invention of mechanical clocks, telescopes or other modern tools. Learn how the stars, planets, and Sun all served to calibrate the clocks of ancient peoples through to today.
Feb. 25, 2 p.m., From Earth to the Universe — This stunning, 30-minute voyage through space and time conveys, through sparkling sights and sounds, the Universe revealed to us by science. Viewers can revel in the splendour of the worlds in the Solar System and our scorching Sun. From Earth to the Universe takes the audience out to the colourful birthplaces and burial grounds of stars, and still further out beyond the Milky Way to the unimaginable immensity of myriad galaxies.
Feb. 25, 7 p.m., Liquid Sky: Metal — Enjoy a custom playlist of “out-of-this-world” music from top artists in genres of rock, indie, pop, electronic, and more in 5.1 surround as the 4k resolution planetarium sky melts and becomes a canvas of color, patterns, and movement with our cutting-edge music visualization software and live VJ talent.
Feb. 28, 7 p.m., Wyoming Skies — What’s up in the sky around Wyoming: stars, constellations, planets, meteor showers, and more.
