• the217
• Calendar
• William M. Staerkel ...

Venue: William M. Staerkel Planetarium

Address: 2400 West Bradley Ave. , Champaign

Posted 4:16 pm May 19
Updated 5:58 pm Jun 2

The William M. Staerkel Planetarium at Parkland College has been thrilling Champaign residents with its light shows for more than 20 years. The planetarium primarily presents educational and entertaining shows about astronomy and the night sky.
The Staerkel Planetarium, built in 1987, features an enormous 50-foot hemispheric dome, the second largest in the state of Illinois. Beneath the dome sits a Carl Zeiss M1015 Star Projector, which lights up the dome with the sun, moon, and the five visible planets along with the many stars that make up our solar system. The image from the projector covers the entire dome with awesome "All-Sky" images.
The projector imitates the subtle movements of the Earth’s rotation and revolution. In addition to the main projector, the planetarium utilizes 57 hidden projectors along with a group of six specially placed visible projectors. The planetarium also has more than 100 small, special purpose projectors to simulate objects such as black holes, rain, smoke, or other galaxies.
The theater can seat 144 stargazers, all watching from reclined seats. To help make you feel like your part of the action, the planetarium sound system features 12 speakers hidden behind the dome, arranged to provide four channels of sound. They also use two giant subwoofers to pump out the bass, and add realism to explosions, rocket liftoffs, and earthquakes.
There are 36 shows for audiences to choose from, including live sky shows, children’s programming and two-story-tall films. Most of the shows are reserved for school and civic groups. However, the planetarium does feature weekend shows that are open to the public. “The Planets,” the most popular adult show, runs on Fridays and Saturdays at 8 p.m. It tours our own planetary system, including some of the latest discoveries. For children, “In My Backyard” has been the most popular public children’s show. It explores the seasons through use of story-telling, poetry and songs; children are encouraged to participate in the show.
Call the planetarium’s office at (217) 351-2568 for reservations or check out the schedule at www.parkland.edu/planetarium for weekend programming.