Hartnell College Planetarium

02/27/2023

Come to the Hartnell Planetarium on Friday, March 3rd at 5 PM for the premiere of the program "Big Astronomy." This program showcases scientific collaborations that opens our minds to the expanse of the cosmos. Be prepared to be transported to the Atacama Desert in Chile where you'll learn about the variety of roles and people involved in running a world class observatory.

Admission to the program is free, but donations will be accepted to support the Hartnell Astronomy Club. The planetarium is located inside the STEM Center (Building S) on Hartnell's Main Campus. The Parking Structure on Central Avenue is available for parking for permit holders, or you may purchase one for $2. Free parking is also available on nearby streets, Please enter the STEM Building to use the inner entrance to the planetarium. The entrance to the planetarium from outside will be locked. Doors will open 15 minutes before show time. Arrive early to get the best seats

07/20/2022

For both humans and stars, death is inevitable. A star's "lifetime" can include birth in a (stellar nursery), a short or long existence relative to other stars, and even a "family" of planets. These two slightly different views of the Southern Ring Nebula reveal intricate structures surrounding a star in its death throes. That star has repeatedly expelled its outer layers of gas into space around it for thousands of years. Many of the intricate patterns within those complex cosmic burps are due to the interaction of a second companion star.

The dying star is clearly visible in the picture on the right, which is tuned to infrared light, seeing through dust shrouding the dying star and revealing it as a pinpoint source of infrared energy, which we commonly experience as "heat." Scientists are working on mapping the nebula based on these images, so at some point in the future we'll be treated to a 3D view. The Southern Ring Nebula is 2,000 light years distant, and almost all the points of light in the background of the photos are distant galaxies beyond our Milky Way, not stars within it.

NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope has revealed details of the Southern Ring planetary nebula that were previously hidden from astronomers. Planetary nebulae are the shells of gas and dust ejected from dying stars.

07/14/2022

Today's image from the James Webb Space Telescope is by far the most dramatic and colorful. It shows a closeup view of NGC 3324, a star forming region on the outskirts of the vast Carina Nebula. Nicknamed the Cosmic Cliffs for all the textural details in the dusty orange area, there is an impressive, clear boundary between it and the area above. That is a hole occupied by large, powerful stars, whose energy is driving driving the boundary further, like an expanding bubble. This action could trigger the formation of new stars out of the gas and dust within the Cosmic Cliffs. Or, it may be so powerful as to eat away at the material and prevent that formation.

This landscape of “mountains” and “valleys” speckled with glittering stars is actually the edge of a nearby, young, star-forming region called NGC 3324 in the Carina Nebula. Captured in infrared light by NASA’s new James Webb Space Telescope, this image reveals for the first time previousl...

07/13/2022

More amazing images from the Webb Space Telescope were released today. We'll try to review them one day at a time working inward. Yesterday's image showed a cluster of galaxies 4.6 billion light years away, with some light detected on the image as far away as 13.1 billion light years.

The image of Stephan's Quintet on the page below shows a group of four galaxies a mere 290 million light years away. A fifth galaxy is actually in the foreground and is 40 million light years distant. The image shows active star formation, gravitational interaction, and shock waves. There's a lot going on here. Other data gathered gave information about highly energetic gases as they are pushed away from a supermassive black hole 24 million times the mass of our sun!

The new image of galaxy group "Stephan's Quintet" from NASA's James Webb Space Telescope shows in rare detail how interacting galaxies trigger star formation in each other and how gas in galaxies is being disturbed. The image also shows outflows driven by a black hole in Stephan’s Quintet in a lev...

07/11/2022

Exciting new beginnings for research into the early universe! More images on the way tomorrow with details in the link.

And also ... new beginnings for the planetarium. We reopened post Covid for school groups this spring and our public programs will return in the fall. More information will be posted here.

NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope has produced the deepest and sharpest infrared image of the distant universe to date. Known as Webb’s First Deep Field, this image of galaxy cluster SMACS 0723 is overflowing with detail.

12/12/2019

Join us tomorrow, December 13th, for our last Friday Night Shows of the year! Children's show "Earth, Moon, and Sun" begins at 5:30 pm and General Admission show "Life: A Cosmic Story" begins at 7 pm. Doors open 15 minutes before show time. If you miss it, you'll have to wait until January 10th for our next shows! Tickets are available at the door or through our website at: https://www.hartnell.edu/academics-affairs/academics/stem/planetarium/ Hope to see you there!

09/18/2019

There will be no Friday Night Public Shows this Friday, 9/20/2019. We will be back next Friday, 9/27. Hope to see you there!

06/17/2019

Looking for something to do now that school is out? Come to the planetarium! Tuesday matinees start this week with Larry Cat in Space. Show starts at 11 AM. Great for kids from preschool through 2nd grade. If you can't make it then, we are still having our Friday night shows throughout the summer. Friday night Children's shows start at 5:30 PM and General Audience shows start at 7 PM. Doors open 15 minutes before any show.

04/10/2019

Scientists today revealed the first ever picture taken of a black hole! Join us this Friday night to learn more about these mysterious objects in our universe. Children's show Stars begins at 5:30 and All Ages show Black Holes at 7. Doors open 15 minutes before show time.

Photo Credit: EHT Research Team

03/26/2019

Hartnell College Planetarium will be closed this Friday, March 29th, in observance of Cesar Chavez Day. There will be no public shows this week. Join us again next Friday, April 5th, for One World, One Sky at 5:30 pm and Undiscovered Worlds at 7 pm

02/12/2019

Hartnell College Planetarium will be closed this Friday, February 15th, in observance of Lincoln's birthday. There will be no public shows this week. Join us again next week, February 22nd, for showings of The Little Star That Could at 5:30 pm and Sunstruck at 7pm. Upcoming show schedules are available on our website at www.hartnell.edu/planetarium.

01/10/2019

Hartnell College Planetarium's Friday Night Sky Shows are back from Winter Break tomorrow night, January 11th, with Larry Cat in Space at 5:30 pm and Undiscovered Worlds at 7pm. Doors open 15 minutes before show time. Tickets available at the door or online at www.hartnell.edu/planetarium.