Eclipse the feature of Planetarium show at Mesa Community College
The Planetarium at Mesa Community College Southern and Dobson campus will host a special showing of “Totality!” on Friday, April 5 in honor of the solar eclipse happening early next week.
The show is part of the Planetarium’s recurring Astronomy Nights which present an astronomy themed event each month.
This month’s presentation is a classic in the college’s collection as “Totality” breaks down what makes a solar and lunar eclipse a once in a generation event.
There will be 100 first come, first service tickets available for the upcoming showing of “Totality!”
There will be a showing of a 24 minute presentation at 6 p.m., 7 p.m, 8 p.m. and 9 p.m., with tickets available beforehand online.
The Planetarium planned to bring out a telescope to the adjacent parking lot to provide hands-on celestial viewings, weather pending.
“The show covers the celestial mechanics of how eclipses even work, and what makes them possible here on the Earth, it goes over safe viewing practices, ideal viewing locations,” said James Enos, Planetarium coordinator, who hoped the showing would provide important information ahead of a solar eclipse on Monday, April 8 at around 11 a.m.
“I’d like to plead with people not to look directly at the sun with their eyes, and please make sure you use either safe ISO certified eclipse sunglasses, or perhaps build your own observing device such as a pinhole camera. Instructions for such devices can easily be found online and they are incredibly cheap and easy to make,” said Enos of the upcoming eclipse.
The MCC Planetarium is located on the Southern and Dobson campus in the Physical Science building, PS 15, along Planetarium Way on the southwest side of campus.
