Music Light Shows Return to UW Planetarium During February

A little psychedelic indie rock and progressive metal will pump up the volume at the University of Wyoming Harry C. Vaughan Planetarium during February.

“Returning to our diverse lineup of shows are Saturday evenings when we will have new music-based programs that should excite and entertain audiences on the second and final Saturdays of February,” says Max Gilbraith, the planetarium’s coordinator.

Additionally, Gilbraith says the planetarium will bring back popular Friday night live programs about the search for extraterrestrial life, the stellar graveyard, the new James Webb Space Telescope and black holes. Saturday afternoons will showcase a new rotation of films featuring similar subjects with shortened live presentations.

To get tickets or receive more information about programs, email planetarium@uwyo.edu or leave a voicemail and a call-back phone number at (307) 766-6506. Tickets are $5 for the public and $3 for students, senior citizens, veterans, first responders and those under 18. Seating is free for children under 5.

Reservations or pre-purchase is not required, and walk-ins are welcome. Tickets can be purchased online with a credit card, reserved by email or voicemail, or purchased at the start of the show. Cash or check is accepted at the door. The planetarium, which seats 58, is in the basement of the Physical Sciences Building. Seating is on a first-come, first-served basis outside of designated ADA/wheelchair seating.

To pay for tickets with a credit card, go to https://www.uwyo.edu/uwplanetarium/ticket.aspx. For a group larger than six, email the planetarium for a private show at https://uwyo.sjc1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_bKuqIynOn7gFK2F. Tickets for private shows are the same as the public programs.

A film and special live talk for audiences will be featured each week. All programs are approximately an hour in length. As time allows, a portion of the show also may focus on a live sky tour or supporting information related to the film’s topic.

The February schedule is:

-- “Search for ET,” Friday, Feb. 4, 7 p.m. Are we alone in the universe? Astronomers are using telescopes from the ground and space to try to locate signs of life on other planets. Landers, rovers and probes visit the scattered planets and moons of our system to hunt for extraterrestrials.

-- Full-dome movie: “Distant Worlds: Alien Life?,” Saturday, Feb. 5, 2 p.m. This film explores one of the most enduring questions of humankind: Are we alone? For millennia, our ancestors watched the stars, questioning the origin and nature of what they saw. Knowing that the universe is a vast place filled with billions of stars and planets, these questions are still asked, with Earth the only planet known to be inhabited.

 -- “Wyoming Skies,” Tuesday, Feb. 8, 7 p.m. The program provides an exploration of the stars, constellations, planets, meteor showers and other celestial phenomena visible from Wyoming for the season.

-- “Stellar Graveyard,” Friday, Feb. 11, 7 p.m. This program explores white dwarfs, neutron stars, pulsars, nova, supernova, planetary nebulae and other bizarre but beautiful objects that decorate the heavens.

-- Full-dome movie: “Dark Matter Mystery,” Saturday, Feb. 12, 2 p.m. What keeps galaxies together? What are the building blocks of the universe? What makes the universe look the way it looks today? Approximately one-quarter of the universe is filled with a mysterious glue: dark matter.

-- “Liquid Sky: Psychedelic Indie Rock,” Saturday, Feb. 12, 7 p.m. Enjoy a custom playlist of “out-of-this-world” music from artists such as Tame Impala, MGMT, Unknown Mortal Orchestra, Cage the Elephant and STRFKR in 5.1 surround sound. The 4K-resolution planetarium sky melts and becomes a canvas of color, patterns and movement with the use of cutting-edge music visualization software and live VJ talent.

-- “James Webb Space Telescope Update,” Friday, Feb. 18, 7 p.m. The James Webb Space Telescope is in its final destination beyond the orbit of the moon and will soon start transmitting data. This program will review the epic journey to send the most powerful space telescope ever built into space and its mission to reveal the secrets of the cosmos.

-- Full-dome movie: “Europe to the Stars,” Saturday, Feb. 19, 2 p.m. This film takes viewers on an epic journey behind the scenes at the most productive ground-based observatory in the world -- the European Southern Observatory -- revealing the science, history, technology and the people. This movie focuses on the essential aspects of an astronomical observatory while offering a broader view of how astronomy is conducted.

-- “Wyoming Skies,” Tuesday, Feb. 22, 7 p.m. The program provides an exploration of the stars, constellations, planets, meteor showers and other celestial phenomena visible from Wyoming for the season.

-- “Black Holes,” Friday, Feb. 25, 7 p.m. When Einstein first proposed the theory of relativity, many scoffed at one of the consequences: a region of gravity that is so powerful that not even light, the fastest thing in the universe, could escape. Using cutting-edge observational techniques, these enigmatic anomalies have been discovered across the Milky Way and other galaxies.

-- Full-dome movie: “Hot and Energetic Universe,” Saturday, Feb. 26, 2 p.m. This documentary, with the use of immersive visualizations and real images, investigates the achievements of modern astronomy; the most advanced terrestrial and orbital observatories; the basic principles of electromagnetic radiation; and the natural phenomena related to high-energy astrophysics.

-- “Liquid Sky: Progressive Metal,” Saturday, Feb. 26, 7 p.m. Enjoy a custom playlist of hard-hitting and technical music from artists such as Baroness, Gojira, Mastodon, Opeth and Periphery in 5.1 surround sound. The 4K-resolution planetarium sky melts and becomes a canvas of color, patterns and movement with cutting-edge music visualization software and live VJ talent.