By LINDSAY LORENZ, Register Staff Writer
Gainesville Daily Register
Gainesville —
A journey to the moon, the Milky Way and to infinity and beyond is what visitors of North Central Texas College’s newly renovated John H. Parker Planetarium can expect, as they careen through the universe with just a few clicks of a mouse.
After a $274,000 facelift that began this summer, gone are the domed-building’s former slide projectors and cassette tapes from the 1970s. In their place is a two-computer Spitz system featuring dual projectors capable of seamlessly casting pre-loaded programs around the room.
On Wednesday, near the planetarium’s exit, NCTC’s science grant coordinator Sara Flusche stood behind a monitor, running its cursor across dozens of options capable of projecting nearly any view of the solar system onto the ceiling.
In a matter of seconds, it’s twilight in the auditorium and guests can catch a glimpse of the sky above the center of NCTC’s campus.
To achieve this effect, Flusche took dozens of photographs and had them compiled into a panoramic view that lines the planetarium’s dome.
“You can toggle the sunlight to see where the stars are during the day,” she said, as the room grew darker and she “flew” from campus to the Milky Way and on to the moon, Mars and July 4, 2021.
One of the system’s features allows viewers to see how space changes over time and Flusche can literally jump from date to date, illustrating orbits and shifts.
But while switching to different space locales, say the journey from Earth to Saturn, those in the audience have a windshield perspective of the path from point A to point B.
Once arrived at a destination, Flusche has the capabilities to rotate planets, showing the geographic features of sides of planets that can’t even be seen with most telescopes.
But as light pollution makes it increasingly difficult to see the features of the night sky, the planetarium offers members of the community a perspective that’s becoming harder to find, even in rural areas.
“It’s kind of like a diamond in the rough,” she said of the building during a phone interview earlier this week. “It would’ve been sad to just let it go by the wayside.”
Flusche said that the renovations aren’t just for NCTC students, but for schools, organizations and the general public.
“The whole goal of this is community,” she said.
The room seats 60 on a handful of reclining benches and shows are free.
Flusche said she hopes to have a schedule of public shows available by the end of the week, right in time for the planetarium to welcome its first official audience, students from Muenster Elementary.
On Friday, a group of fourth and fifth graders will view “Field Trip to the Moon,” a show that puts students in the shoes of an astronaut for a journey to the moon.
Flusche said there aren’t many places students can go without spending a good chunk of the day traveling. However, she said a field trip to the planetarium, in contrast, is nearby and the experience can last more than a day.
Teachers can meet with Flusche to receive professional development before bringing their classes in, where they’ll learn about activities they can do with students before and after bringing them in.
The planetarium’s new system came with curriculum material for all grades and touches on a variety of subjects. Flusche said material ranges from biology to conservation and that there’s even a section on the Mayan ruins.
“It’s not just astronomy,” she said.
Although NCTC does not currently offer astronomy classes, Flusche said it’s a consideration for the future.
