Saturn orbits Sky Theater

By Amy Staples

Saturn will be on display Monday evening at the Mt. Hood Community College planetarium, the Sky Theater.

At “Saturn Up Close,” attendees will be shown how to locate Saturn and other constellations. Saturn is closest to Earth in February. Planetarium director and astronomy instructor Doug McCarty will lead the journey to the ringed planet and will be available to answer questions.

The Sky Theater hosts popular shows January through August on the second Monday of the month. Amateur and professional astronomers can be frustrated by the Northwest’s mercurial weather and intruding city lights, so many people from the community come out to enjoy the shows. The events are also publicized in The Oregonian on the monthly science page.

McCarty calls the planetarium a wonderful teaching tool, and agrees that the Sky Theater is popular to visitors. “I get lots of fan mail,” he said.

The Sky Theater is also available to groups from the community for customized shows. The planetarium sees many visitors a year, enthusiasts who are driven inside by the Northwest’s mercurial weather. “We see about 5,000 visitors a year,” said McCarty.
The planetarium is unique in Oregon, a state that can only claim five planetariums, two being at colleges, one at MHCC and another at Chemeketa Community College.

It is also well hidden; unless students take an astronomy class or attend a public show, they may not realize there is a dome beneath the library that is home to planets and nebulae, constellations and the Hubble telescope.

The equipment that controls the constellations is a complicated piece of machinery that has the faint scent of gear grease. The machine must be calibrated from time to time, and McCarty does this, using the “Observer’s Handbook,” an astronomy almanac, to find the correct positions of the planets and stars.

The carpet was once orange, with plastic seats that matched, but five years ago the planetarium was remodeled. Now the carpet is dark blue and the seats an inoffensive shade of red. The sound system was upgraded after the remodel.

Seating capacity in the Sky Theater is 70, and the planetarium is usually full 20 minutes prior to showtime, said McCarty. He doesn’t like to turn people away so sometimes there is standing room only.

A little tip for Sky Theater-goers – arrive early, and the best seat in a unidirectional planetarium is in the back row.

“Saturn Up Close” is 7:30 p.m. Monday in the Sky Theater, located beneath the library. The planetarium is wheelchair accessible.