Eclipse viewing kicks off Saint Vincent planetarium season

Saint Vincent College’s Angelo J. Taiani Planetarium and Astronaut Exhibit will kick off its spring semester of events Sunday night with a public viewing of the total lunar eclipse.

Located in the the Sis and Herman Dupré Science Pavilion on the college’s Unity campus, the planetarium will be open for viewing of the eclipse from 10 p.m. through its completion at 1 a.m.

College officials noted that weather forecasts call for cloudy skies and precipitation, which could affect the viewing experience.

The planetarium also will play host to four monthly public shows that each will begin at 11 a.m. and will be led by a member of the college’s Department of Physics. Each hour-long show will feature a tour of the season’s nighttime sky including planets and deep sky objects.

The shows will touch on concepts in astronomy and astrophysics, with time for questions and answers. Each will end with a full-dome immersive video.

Each program will be followed at 12:30 p.m. by the production “The Sky Above Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood,” geared toward ages 3 to 10. The presentation explores the daytime and nighttime sky with animated characters from the PBS show “Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood.”

Selected showings will be followed by science-themed arts and craft projects, supervised by Fred Rogers Scholars and other Saint Vincent students.

The following shows are scheduled:

• Feb. 9 — Winter Sky Show – Solar Super Storms
• March 16 — Vernal Equinox Sky Show – Oasis in Space
• April 6 — Earth Day Sky Show – Dynamic Planet
• May 4 — Late Spring Sky Show – Back to the Moon for Good

Admission is free to all shows. Because of limited seating, reservations are requested by visiting www.stvincent.edu/planetarium or calling 724- 805-2631.

Private shows can be arranged for organizations with groups of 15 to 35 people.

Jeff Himler is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Jeff at 724-836-6622, jhimler@tribweb.com or via Twitter @jhimler_news.