Maeve Bidonde, Arts Editor
Every Sunday in the planetarium tucked away in the basement of Perna Science, the Nebula Society, which is “a club for students by students,” puts on a show to teach you about the stars, the planets, the galaxy, and the universe. The shows themselves are made and presented by students with a passion for space. They write scripts for each show, and they practice them to make sure that the show runs smoothly. They have two shows, one at 7 pm and the other at 8 pm.
This week’s show focused on our solar system and all it has to offer. They started with the center of our universe, which is the sun. The sun has the same elemental components as Jupiter, but Jupiter was not nearly massive enough to become a star like the sun. After the sun, they talked about the planets and all of the fun qualities they bring to our solar system. They brought up Saturn and its 274 confirmed moons which happen to be the most moons any planet has. As for Uranus, its axis is tilted so far that it actually rotates on its side and it also happens to be a gas giant.
Venus is not only named after the Roman Goddess of beauty, it is also the hottest planet in the solar system, despite the fact that it is the second closest planet to the sun. Earth and Theia collided and the debris from that collision collected and formed our moon. They surely didn’t forget about Pluto, the planet that became a dwarf planet. Pluto was named by an 11-year-old girl named Venetia Burney, who thought that naming the cold and quite dark planet after the Roman god of the underworld was fitting.
When asked, Andy Palmer, Vice President of Nebula Society, described the club as “a club for students to help/learn to present and create planetarium shows for the public.” In fact, Andy was one of the students presenting their show titled “Solar System Taxi Service” last Sunday night. Sometimes, Nebula Society will theme shows based on holidays coming up close to the show. Last semester they did a Halloween themed show where audience members learned about the connection between space and the holiday. Sometimes the shows are even based around music that is artfully crafted by students as well.
The shows are not only informative, but they are also relaxing and a fun time. The students presenting the shows love what they do and enjoy passing on their knowledge of the universe/space onto the audience members and seeing them leave hopefully having learned something new. If you love a good planetarium show, space, and learning new things, then going to Nebula Society shows and maybe even getting involved with the club is the perfect thing to do.
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