Dr. Jose Mena-Werth
(308) 865-8283
Discover the secrets of Saturn during the presentation of “Rings on Her Fingers and Moons in Her Hair” planetarium show Friday, March 18, at the University of Nebraska at Kearney planetarium.
The presentation will begin at 7 p.m. in the UNK Bruner Hall of Science planetarium. The 45-minute show is free and open to the public; however, donations for the local food pantry are accepted. Tickets are available on a first-come, first-served basis beginning at 6 p.m. An encore show will be presented at 8 p.m. if there is an overflow crowd.
The show will showcase the discoveries of the Cassini spacecraft, which has been exploring Saturn, the second largest planet, for six years. During the Cassini exploration, astronauts have studied Saturn’s weather patterns, mapped Saturn’s rings and discovered 40 new moons orbiting the planet.
“The UNK planetarium is currently the most modern planetarium between Chicago and Phoenix,” said Dr. Jose Mena-Werth, UNK planetarium director. The UNK planetarium is a fully accessible 60-seat public science theater. A $600,000 NASA grant helped fund the new planetarium, which features a state-of-the art projector the Zeiss Skymaster ZKP4.
“Each of the 6,000 stars is individually projected on the dome with fiber-optic technology,” Dr. Mena-Werth said. “The space and time functions of the projector are completely computer controlled. We can navigate to any place in the world, and any date in the past or future, with the push of a button.”
The “Rings on Her Fingers and Moons in Her Hair” planetarium show will also be presented on the upcoming Fridays: April 1 and May 5.
