‘The Wall’ and the moon at the planetarium

University of Texas at Arlington’s campus has offered visitors entertainment, whether it be live performances, album-based shows or glimpses into the universe. Across the community, people have been drawn to the planetarium.

Every Saturday, UTA’s Planetarium hosts multiple non-astronomy themed shows. In the afternoon they show a Sesame-Street themed adventure for younger attendees and either “The Wall” or “The Dark Side of the Moon” by Pink Floyd in the evening with accompanying visuals by Starlight Productions. During the week, the planetarium is a popular destination for field trips, with 30,000 K-12 students visiting each year.

“The Wall” and “The Dark Side of the Moon” are each shown twice a month, alternating every week.

“The shows are absolutely spectacular. It feels like you are really there in space,” UTA student Dani Delgado said.

UTA’s Planetarium, opened in 2006, is one of the largest planetariums in Texas. It features a 60-foot dome projection surface, a fully digital projection system, advanced digital software, surround sound and seating for 150 people. The planetarium has around 50,000 visitors from the DFW area per year.

“I believe the planetarium’s had this [Pink Floyd] show for quite a while now. It’s a pretty popular one, so we’ve kept it in our show book all this time,” said Sarah Teel, an educator at UTA’s Planetarium and a mechanical engineering and physics undergraduate student.

When the Planetarium opened it featured a Digistar 3 video projection. Since then, the Planetarium has had four technology upgrades. It now features Digistar 7, which uses six high-resolution laser projectors to create an immersive 360-degree full-dome experience.

The visuals used for the Pink Floyd shows are by a company located in Salt Lake City, Utah, called Starlight Productions. Their videos are used in at least 37 planetariums around the world, from Japan to France and Texas.

Tickets are available on the UTA website, $8 for children, seniors, UTA faculty, students, staff and $10 for everyone else. Eligibility is checked at the door.

 

UTA Planetarium Schedule

One hour Educational Shows: Every Saturday at 1:00 p.m., 2:00 P.M. & 6:00 P.m.

One hour Pink Floyd shows: Every Saturday at 7:00 p.m.