Event

Public Planetarium Shows

Bellevue College will be offering free public planetarium shows in its Willard Geer planetarium on the evening of Thursday, July 31 at 7:00 PM and 8:30 PM.
Each show will consist of "Black Holes" followed by "Violent Universe" and will also include a live segment introducing the audience to that night's sky, and will last about 70 minutes.
The Black Holes show includes animations of the formation of the early universe, star birth and death, the collision of giant galaxies, and a simulated flight to a super-massive black hole lurking at the center of our own Milky Way Galaxy.
In The Violent Universe, the beauty of a starlit sky conceals the violent forces at work within our universe. From the upheaval of a giant star that explodes to release its material into space, to a future encounter between the Earth and a large asteroid that is too close for comfort, we will witness the forces that hold the universe together and occasionally try to rip it apart.
The skies visible above Bellevue will also be discussed by show-giver Pat Beatie. Pat, who also gives all planetarium shows to visiting school groups, is a retired law enforcement officer with a longtime interest in astronomy. He'll point out the brightest stars and constellations so audience members can go home and stargaze from their own backyards.

The Planetarium, is a special domed-ceiling room (room B-244) where the nighttime sky is accurately reproduced. These shows are not recommended for kids under the age of eight. (The darkness of the room and the subject and length of the shows has proven to a problem for kids younger than that.) Because the room is dark during the show, there is no late admission. Parking is free in the parking garage after 3:00pm.
Admission is free but reservations must be made in advance. Reservations can be made starting one week before the shows at noon on Thursday, July 24th. Reservations can be made through brown paper tickets.

For more information call the BC Science Division at 425-564-2323.