October 19, 2017
Story by Micah Oelze
The Barton Planetarium will host “Journey to a Billion Suns” at 7 p.m. October 23 in the Barton Community College Planetarium located in the Science Building.
"Journey to a Billion Suns" is a full-dome video experience taking viewers through time and history, explaining the basic technologies of star mapping and on a fascinating journey along the numerous features of the Milky Way.
After the movie, Planetarium Director Dr. Tim Folkerts will discuss news about the recent “kilonova” – a collision of two neutron stars 130 million years ago. The gravitational ripples were recently felt on earth and allowed astronomers pinpoint the location in the sky and then focus dozens of different telescopes to observe this rare and fascinating event. Data collected from this collision provides an explanation for how all the gold in the universe was formed.
Around 8 p.m. (weather permitting) Dr. Folkerts will lead attendees outside for a look at the thin crescent moon, Saturn and Uranus. If you bring a camera, you should be able to snap your own pictures of these objects.
Upcoming planetarium shows
All shows are free and open to the public. The following shows, apart from the Christmas show, will run from 7-8 p.m.:
Nov. 6 – “Dinosaur Prophecy” and “Body Code”
Nov. 27 – “Search for Life in the Universe” and “X-Planets”
Dec. 10 – Christmas Show: “Star of Bethlehem” at 1, 2 and 3 p.m.
For more information, please contact Planetarium Director Dr. Tim Folkerts at folkertst@bartonccc.edu or (620) 792-9320.