New Cosmology Program Highlights UW Planetarium Schedule During April

A new program about cosmology will debut at the University of Wyoming Harry C. Vaughan Planetarium during April.

"We have a new presentation April 17 on cosmology," says Max Gilbraith, the planetarium's director. "Take a journey across space and time as we explore the history of our universe. From the Big Bang to today, we'll uncover galaxies, dark matter and the expanding cosmos. Along the way, we'll consider the future of the universe and how scientists are tackling one of humanity's biggest questions: Where did it all come from?"

To get tickets or receive more information about programs, email [email protected] or leave a voicemail and a callback phone number at (307) 766-6506. Tickets are $5 for the public or online tickets, and $3 for students, senior citizens, veterans, first responders and those under 18. Seating is free for children under 5. Bulk tickets/gift cards are available at $2 each when 10 or more tickets are purchased.

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 64, 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 April schedule is:

-- Friday, April 3, 7 p.m.: "James Webb Space Telescope." This program looks at the next-generation space telescope launched in 2021. The tennis court-sized observatory, a million miles from Earth, has revealed the mysteries of the universe like never before. This program will detail the exciting science objectives and the knuckle-biting engineering feats that have gone into our next eyes in the sky.

-- Friday, April 3, 8:30 p.m.: "Liquid Sky: Psychedelic Indie Folk," a music-based light show. Enjoy a custom playlist of "out-of-this-world" psychedelic indie folk music in 5.1 surround sound. The 4K-resolution planetarium sky will become a canvas of color, patterns and movement with cutting-edge music visualization software and live VJ talent.

-- Saturday, April 4, 2 p.m.: "The Sun: Our Living Star," a full-dome movie. The sun consumes 600 million tons of hydrogen each second and is 500 times as massive as all of the planets combined. Viewers will discover the secrets of the sun and experience never-before-seen images of its violent surface.

-- Saturday, April 4, 7 p.m.: "We Are Stars," a full-dome movie. What are we made of? Where did it all come from? Explore the secrets of our cosmic chemistry and our explosive origins. Connect life on Earth to the evolution of the universe by following the formation of hydrogen atoms to the synthesis of carbon, and the molecules for life. This film is narrated by Andy Serkis.

-- Saturday, April 4, 8:30 p.m.: "Liquid Sky: Tranquility/Relaxation," a music-based light show. Enjoy a custom playlist of "out-of-this-world" relaxing tranquil music from artists in 5.1 surround sound. The 4K-resolution planetarium sky will become a canvas of color, patterns and movement with cutting-edge music visualization software and live VJ talent.

-- Friday, April 10, 7 p.m.: "Black Holes." Are black holes nature's mistake or portals to the unknown? Physics can let us speculate about the nature of these bizarre structures, but astronomers are turning an improving eye toward these mysterious and fascinating objects.

-- Friday, April 10, 8:30 p.m.: "Liquid Sky: Country," a music-based light show. Enjoy a custom playlist of "out-of-this-world" country music in 5.1 surround sound. The 4K-resolution planetarium sky will become a canvas of color, patterns and movement with cutting-edge music visualization software and live VJ talent.

-- Saturday, April 11, 2 p.m.: "Distant Worlds: Alien Life," a full-dome movie. This film takes viewers on a journey outward to see what it takes for life to develop, starting with life on Earth and moving out to the rest of our solar system and on to alien planets that orbit distant stars in our galaxy.

-- Saturday, April 11, 7 p.m.: "IBEX: Search for the Edge of the Solar System," a full-dome movie. Join scientists who are investigating the boundary between our solar system and the rest of our galaxy. This film follows the creation of NASA's Interstellar Boundary Explorer (IBEX). The audience will get an in-depth look at the mission and how IBEX is collecting high-speed atoms to create a map of our solar system's boundary.

-- Saturday, April 11, 8:30 p.m.: "Liquid Sky: Metal," a music-based light show. Enjoy a custom playlist of "out-of-this-world" music from heavy metal artists in 5.1 surround sound. The 4K-resolution planetarium sky will become a canvas of color, patterns and movement with cutting-edge music visualization software and live VJ talent.

-- Tuesday, April 14, 7 p.m.: "Wyoming Skies: Lyrid Meteor Shower Prep." The program provides an exploration of the stars, constellations, planets, meteor showers and other celestial phenomena visible from Wyoming for the season. The Lyrid meteor shower will peak Tuesday, April 21, into the dawn of Wednesday, April 22, on an ideal moonless night. This show will explore how to best spot this shower.

After the planetarium show finishes at 8 p.m., informal telescope observing on the rooftop of the Physical Sciences Building at the STAR Observatory will be available, weather permitting.

-- Friday, April 17, 7 p.m.: "Cosmology." This program looks at the history of time itself, the shape of space and the fate of the universe. Are we in a cosmic egg? Will there be a final big crunch or a slow entropic heat death? This program will contemplate the infinite in cosmology.

-- Friday, April 17, 8:30 p.m.: "Liquid Sky: Funk," a music-based light show. Enjoy a custom playlist of "out-of-this-world" funk music 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.

-- Saturday, April 18, 2 p.m.: "Phantom of the Universe: The Hunt for Dark Matter," a full-dome movie. The film reveals the first hints of dark matter's existence through the eyes of Fritz Zwicky, the scientist who coined the term. The film also describes the astral choreography witnessed by Vera Rubin in the Andromeda galaxy and journeys across space and time to the Large Hadron Collider at CERN, the European Laboratory for Particle Physics.

-- Saturday, April 18, 7 p.m.: "5,000 Eyes: Mapping the Universe with DESI," a full-dome movie. The Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (DESI) is creating the most detailed map of our nearby universe. Installed on the Nicholas U. Mayall Telescope at Kitt Peak National Observatory in southern Arizona, DESI's 5,000 independently operated robots can measure the light from thousands of galaxies at once. Explore the science, instrument and people behind this global endeavor.

-- Friday, April 24, 7 p.m.: "Science of Sci-Fi:" This program will look at recent science fiction films and will discuss what those movies got right and wrong on the hard science. Attendees will see the funny physics faux-pas and ground-breaking visuals that advance the body of scientific knowledge.

-- Friday, April 24, 8:30 p.m.: "Liquid Sky: Space Rock," a music-based light show. Enjoy a custom playlist of "out-of-this-world" space rock from artists in 5.1 surround sound. The 4K-resolution planetarium sky will become a canvas of color, patterns and movement with cutting-edge music visualization software and live VJ talent.

-- Saturday, April 25, 2 p.m.: "One Sky," a full-dome series of short films. Each short film represents the perspective of a different culture or Indigenous society from around the globe. Each film stands alone as a short story, or in combination, as a longer narrative organized around themes of "finding patterns" and "developing tools." Short films are "The Forge of Artemis," "Thunderbird," "Jai Singh's Dream," "Celestial Canoe," "The Samurai and Stars" and "Wayfinders."

-- Saturday, April 25, 7 p.m.: "Dark Biosphere," a full-dome movie. Deep beneath the Earth's crust, hundreds of meters or kilometers below the surface -- with no light, no air and very little water, in pores and fissures of hard rock -- scientists have found an enormous biodiversity of micro-organisms that thrive in extreme conditions in an area known as the dark biosphere. This film is narrated by actor Viggo Mortensen.

-- Saturday, April 25, 8:30 p.m.: "Liquid Sky: ABBA," a music-based light show. Enjoy a custom playlist of "out-of-this-world" music from the Swedish pop band in 5.1 surround sound. The 4K-resolution planetarium sky will become a canvas of color, patterns and movement with cutting-edge music visualization software and live VJ talent.

For more detailed descriptions of all programs, go to https://www.uwyo.edu/physics/planetarium/schedule.html.