Located behind Walter-Caylor Hall near 4^th Ave., the Wiley Planetarium recently hosted its first showing of the semester entitled, “September Sky.” Director of the planetarium, Dr. Adam Johanson led a discussion on the night constellations and planets Delta State students and the Cleveland community can expect to see throughout September.

Since its reopening last fall, the Wiley Planetarium has been upgraded with “digital projectors and planetarium software developed by Evans and Sutherland,” explained Dr. Johanson. With the new projectors and software in place, the night sky simulation held true to what people see during the night and day. Dr. Johanson pointed out to viewers where Jupiter and Saturn were expected to appear throughout September’s night skies. He directed the attention of his audience to several constellations that will appear during the nighttime such as Sagittarius and Scorpis. Dr. Johanson mentioned also that the best time to view the Milky Way was during the September evenings around 9 p.m.

“Most people have some fascination with astronomy, and our shows are wonderful opportunities for people to learn more and expand their horizons. Our night-sky shows focus on showing people what they can expect to see when they look up at the heavens, including constellations, bright stars, and planets,” Dr. Johanson stated.

He hopes for more people from Delta State, the Cleveland community, and the rest of the Delta to come to these showings and learn about the stars and planets. Being one of the three planetariums within Miss., all students should take advantage of not only the astronomy classes offered here, but being proud to have this facility on campus. Dr. Johanson added, “Astronomy is a great way to fulfill a laboratory science general education requirement.”

When asked if the Wiley Planetarium was opened for the public, Dr. Johanson explained, “The planetarium is available to the public only during our scheduled public events. At other times, the planetarium is used to teach astronomy classes here at DSU. There are also other opportunities to schedule special presentations for community groups, including elementary schools from the surrounding region.”

The Wiley Planetarium hosts shows once a week during both the fall and spring semesters. Come check out the next show called “Universe”, which will be held on Thursday, Sept. 7, at 6:30 p.m. To learn more about future events, follow the planetarium on Facebook at Delta State Wiley Planetarium or visit their website: http://www.deltastate.edu/planetarium/