Sarah Vise is ready to help Science Central visitors explore the galaxy – including celestial bodies invisible to the naked eye – following today’s opening of the museum’s $2.8 million planetarium.
No place is seemingly too far-flung to explore in the immersive facility, where images of stars and planets can be projected on a dome-shaped ceiling.
“We can go to the moon,” Vise, the planetarium manager, said during a ribbon-cutting ceremony outside the planetarium’s entrance. “We can go to Saturn’s rings. We can see the constellations.”
The 1,830-square-foot facility features a 21-foot-high, 28-foot-wide dome and can accommodate about 50 seated visitors. It is the only planetarium open to the public in northeast Indiana.
Mandee Mikulski, Science Central’s executive director, described the facility as a place where people can gather, connect and experience something unforgettable.
“The planetarium brings complex ideas to life,” she said, “turning curiosity into understanding and moments of wonder into lasting interest while giving families opportunities to learn together.”