The OSU Planetarium & Telescope
The OSU Astronomy Department has an 80-seat Spitz Planetarium located on
the 5th floor of Smith Laboratory on the OSU Columbus campus, and a
12-inch Meade telescope located in a dome atop Smith Laboratory. While
both are primarily used for teaching, we offer a limited number of
special planetarium and telescope observing programs throughout the
year.
Audience and Scope
We offer a series of
Roof Night
planetarium programs roughly weekly during the normal academic quarter.
These programs are primarily intended for OSU students enrolled in our
introductory astronomy courses, and cover more advanced topics than the
public shows. Members of the OSU community are welcome to attend Roof
Nights as space permits (first priority is given to students enrolled in
introductory astronomy courses during that quarter).
We also offer special programs for schools and other groups (scouts,
clubs, etc.) as part of the Astronomy Department's public outreach
efforts on a by-appointment basis. Programs are available at a variety
of levels appropriate for your group, from elementary school children
all the way up to college-level courses. Program availability is
limited primarily by the availability of personnel to do them, and we
will try to honor all requests but cannot guarantee availability. All
shows are presented by graduate students in the OSU Department of
Astronomy. Please contact the Astronomy Department for more
information.
- We regret that because of on-going budget and personnel
constraints, we do not possess the resources to offer regular
general planetarium shows to the general public at this time.
Programs
Our planetarium allows us to simulate the appearance of the night sky
from a variety of locations and observing conditions.
Planetarium shows cover basic naked-eye astronomy, with particular
emphasis on the following topics:
- Annual motions of the planets and the Sun
- Daily motion of the Sun and the stars
- The orientation of the sky
- Locations of important points and well-known constellations
- The Seasons
- The appearance of the sky from different locations on the Earth
- The Moon and its phases
- The Milky Way and its stars
- Light pollution in urban areas.
Planetarium presentations may also be accompanied by a brief lecture,
illustrated using PowerPoint, on a variety of special topics, including:
- The Planets
- Telescopes and Spacecraft
- Star-formation movies
- Moon formation movies
- History of Astronomy
These mini-lectures are offered
in addition to our regular
planetarium programs upon request. The Astronomy Department reserves
the right to determine the content and scope of these presentations.
Telescope Viewing
Night-time planetarium shows may be followed by night-sky viewing with
OSU's 12-inch telescope which is located in a dome on top of Smith
Laboratory, weather permitting.
Contact Information:
For information on planetarium programs, please contact:
Department of Astronomy
The Ohio State University
140 W. 18th Avenue
Columbus, OH 43210-1173
(614) 292-1773
during normal business hours (M-F, 9am-5pm).
Directions
The OSU Planetarium is located on the 5th floor of
Smith
Laboratory on the OSU Main Campus in Columbus, Ohio. Just follow the
highlighted link for a map to Smith Lab. Unfortunately there is no
parking available at Smith Lab. Public parking garages are located
nearby, with parking available off High Street. Try to be 5-10 minutes
early for the planetarium shows since the doors will typically remain
closed once the show begins in order to keep people's eyes dark adapted.
Accessibility
The OSU Planetarium is accessible to persons in wheelchairs via the
Smith Lab building elevator. The telescope, however, is located in a
special roof enclosure only accessible by stairs.
