Editor's note: In honor of the university's centennial year, The Daily News is counting down 100 days to the university's celebration Sept. 6 with 100 of Ball State's most famous traditions and figures. Check back each day to read about Cardinal history.
Cardinals can fly through Saturn’s rings, travel to various stars or land on Mars in one of Ball State’s attractions.
The Charles W. Brown Planetarium was completed in 2014 to replace an older planetarium with increased seating and better technology.
The planetarium has 148 seats and a 52-foot dome, making it the largest planetarium in Indiana.
There, audiences can see images from outer space such as celestial bodies, galaxies and black holes. These images are crafted by combining real images from spacecrafts and telescopes with computer graphics.
Some of the shows, such as “Saturn & Beyond” and “Halloween: Celestial Origins,” were produced by Ball State. The shows run 45-55 minutes and are meant for audiences 10 years and older.
Since the planetarium is meant to inform, questions are encouraged throughout the show. In addition to the show, there are activity stations that guests can explore before and after the showing.
Volunteers and student interns who assist with group visits, public events and outreach run much of the planetarium.
Programs are open to the public, school groups and Ball State students. Upcoming programs include “Tombaugh’s Planet,” the story of how Clyde Tombaugh discovered Pluto, and “Planet Nine,” which talks about New Horizons taking images of Pluto and if there could be planets past it.
“Tombaugh’s Planet” will play July 13, 20 and 27, and “Planet Nine” will play Aug. 3, 10 and 17.
Read more centennial content here.
Contact Brynn Mechem with comments at bamechem@bsu.edu or on Twitter @BrynnMechem.
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