Planetarium show to present ‘Hubble’s Greatest Hits’

M. Michael Rose
The Advocate

The MHCC Planetarium will showcase the wonders and mysteries of the universe Monday in the show titled “Hubble’s Greatest Hits.”

There will be two presentations. The first showing will be at 7 p.m. and the second will be at 8 p.m. Anyone interested should show up early as the 70 seats available for each show will fill up quickly, according to planetarium director Doug McCarty. Tickets will cost the general public $1, with free admission for students and seniors.

McCarty said he hopes to give viewers a greater appreciation of the magnificence and mystery of the cosmos by educating them on the locations of planets, stars, and other phenomena in the night sky.

“I think it’s important that people appreciate the fact that they live on a planet, orbiting a star, in a galaxy that is 100,000 light years across, in a universe filled with billions of galaxies” said McCarty.

Attendees are encouraged to participate by asking questions at any point during the live, hour-long program.

The Hubble Space Telescope took the images that will be shown during the event.

According to McCarty, who has been hosting planetarium shows for 26 years, the Hubble Space Telescope is the most important scientific instrument that has ever been devised. The Hubble, which was launched from space shuttle Discovery on April 24, 1990, at a cost of $1.5 billion, has captured more than one million images, providing pictures of far-off wonders ranging from sky-spanning star clusters to galaxy-swallowing black holes.