Planetarium shows at the John C. Wells Planetarium will be offered in the evenings of Friday, March 31 and Saturday, April 1 for meeting attendees and their guests, as well as the general public.
Please see the Travel & Lodging Info page for a map showing the location of the Planetarium relative to the Hotel Madison and Mason Street Parking Deck.
- Friday, March 31, 8:00PM to 9:00PM
Black Holes: The Other Side of Infinity
Planetarium show followed by star-talk by Sherrie Gies (JMU)
- Saturday, April 1, 6:00PM to 7:00PM
Einstein's Gravity Playlist
This original planetarium show explores the ripples in space-time known as gravitational waves. Albert Einstein first predicted the existence of gravitational waves in 1916, and a century later, scientists detected these waves using incredibly precise laser technology here on Earth. In honor of this long-anticipated detection, the scientists who created the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO) won the 2017 Nobel Prize in Physics. In this show, viewers follow Lucia, a PhD student in physics, as she explores how gravitational waves are formed, how they move through the universe, and how scientists like her work to hear them.
Planetarium show followed by a short presentation and Q&A by Siddarth Ajith & Samantha Lomuscio (University of Virginia)
“Einstein’s Gravity Playlist” was created through a collaboration between MSU's eXtreme Gravity Institute, the Department of Physics, the School of Film and Photography, and the School of Music. It premiered at the Museum of the Rockies’ Taylor Planetarium in 2017 and is now playing in planetariums across the U.S., along with Colombia, Argentina, Brazil, France, and Germany.
See the Planetarium Parking page for information on where to park.
