The Mackie Planetarium on the Northern Oklahoma College Enid campus will present the next show on Tuesday Sept. 5 at 7 p.m.
Director Fritz Osell will present the night sky over Enid and show prominent constellations and planets in the evening sky. Osell will also show known stars with planets that have been discovered.
“Thousands of planetary systems have been found in our neighborhood of the galaxy,” Osell said. “The discovery of new planetary systems is largely a result of the combination of advanced telescopes like the James Webb space telescope with the rapid advancement of computer technology.”
The full dome planetarium show will take visitors to Saturn and watch the spacecraft Huygens descend on the surface of Saturn’s moon Titan.
Osell said that Titan is one of two moons in the solar system that have an atmosphere. Visitors will watch the Huygens spacecraft descend by parachute through Titan’s atmosphere and see what appear to be river valleys and shorelines on the surface of the moon.
There is no charge but donations of non-perishable food items for Our Daily Bread and for Loaves and Fishes are accepted.
The Mackie Planetarium, under the direction of NOC instructor Fritz Osell is one of the largest in Oklahoma. Visitors can view the sky as it appears during any hour of the night of any year from any location on the Earth. The building can seat 115 visitors under a 40-foot diameter dome, and the chairs are custom designed to optimize the viewing experience. The planetarium can also be used as a lecture room. For more information, contact Fritz Osell at 580.548.2314.