History

The planetarium was installed when "new Central" was built in 1967. It ran on a Spitz A3P projection system. That system was in use from 1967 - 2021. Over the years there were a few upgrades and replacements: lightbulbs, carpet, & chairs, but it remained mostly unchanged. This system was able to show you exactly what your eyes could see at night. The dark sky and pinpoint stars of the "old school" A3P projector are still only rivaled by the best digital systems out there. 

 During the winter of 2021 Ash Planetarium service removed the original Spitz A3P and Evan & Sutherland installed a new dual laser projection system that runs the Digistar 7 software program. The software suite gives you a great sky and, more importantly, opens up the universe to you. You can not only see the night sky but you can travel to the places you see. You can also travel to some you can't see. The Digistar 7 system can cover so much material and cover so many more topics than the previous system. The possibilities are near endless. Let's see what the future brings!

Planetarium Directors

1967 - 1971 Martin Scullin

1972 - 1978 Don Olson

1979 - 2000 Dave Whitely

2001 Paul Callan

2002 - Present Chad Wilkinson