Planetarium Beams Up 'Galaxies' Program

How did astronomers discover galaxies? That question is probed in the newest public program at the M.T. Brackbill Planetarium at Eastern Mennonite University.

"Galaxies: Island Universes" will be presented 2:30 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 9, and repeated the same time Jan. 23, Feb. 6 and 20 and Mar. 20.

The program will explore the motion of galaxies, the different types of galaxies in the universe and how gravity holds individual galaxies together, according to planetarium director Joseph W. Mast.

The D.R. Hostetter Museum of Natural History, adjacent to the planetarium, will be open for browsing 2-3:30 p.m. in conjuction with the planetarium shows. A fluorescent rock room, a 3,000-year-old mummy hand, a two-headed calf and Nile crocodile are among the more than 6,000 artifacts and specimens on display.

Admission to the planetarium and museum in EMU's Suter Science Center is free.

— article by: Jim Bishop; posted January 3, 2005