Pierce College hosted the final Planetarium show of the semester on Friday night, allowing both students and community members to attend.
The show was hosted and narrated by astronomy professor Dale Fields, who allowed attendees to ask questions during the presentation.
Fields shared what it means to be able to host an event such as the Planetarium show.
“My favorite part is seeing people care about something like astronomy, something which doesn’t directly affect their lives,” Fields said. “People still take the time to come to these shows because they are curious. It makes me have more confidence in my species because we care about things that aren’t just in front of us.”
The show featured an overview of our solar system, followed by overviews on the structure of the Milky Way galaxy and where the solar system is located, the Earth’s sphere of influence for contacting other stars through radio and satellite and the complete anatomy of galaxies.
Observers were demonstrated how miniscule the Earth and its solar system are compared to the vastness of the universe.
Shalyn Zupon, a psychology major at Pierce, described her initial reactions from observing the show.
“It was cool and interesting,” Zupon said. “I don’t think that I have ever done something like that.”
Zupon pinpointed her favorite segment of the show displaying how small the Earth and its solar system are compared to the rest of the universe.
“I just think how small we really are compared to everything, probably,” Zupon said. “It’s crazy how everything else compared to how small we are just blew my mind.”
Zupon noted that everything that was demonstrated was new to her.
“I know and have heard a lot about astronomy, but I don’t really follow that stuff,” said Zupon. “So I think everything that was talked about was newer to me, or was newly interesting to me.”
Tyrel Woodall, who came to the show along with his wife, described his favorite moment from the show was seeing the whole size of the universe and comparing how tiny humans are to the rest of space.
“When looking at the solar system compared to the Milky Way, it only represents just a tiny sliver of the galaxy,” Woodall said.
Woodall said he enjoyed learning where other solar systems are located within the Milky Way.
“Seeing all the other smaller solar systems within our galaxy was pretty cool,” Woodall said.
While there won’t be another Planetarium show this semester, Fields provided some information on what else will be happening this semester.
“We will have a telescope night outside where we look at the stars and a few planets (Saturn and Jupiter mainly) on Nov. 20 from nightfall until 10 p.m. on that big second floor patio in the Center for the Sciences right outside the Planetarium,” Fields said. “We will get two more Planetarium shows in the spring, as each semester I do two Planetarium shows and two telescope nights.”
