Your visit will also include a look at the "live sky tonight" in the amazing Bradstreet Observatory. Both are located in McInnis Hall on the Eastern University campus at 1300 Eagle Road in St. Davids, PA. Admission is just $5. Contact Steve Sanders at 610.341.1390 or ssander2@eastern.edu.

Eastern University's Julia Fowler Planetarium was named the "Best Place to Ponder the Heavens" by Main Line Today Magazine, which wrote, "Tucked away on the bucolic campus of Eastern University, the digital, full-dome Julia Fowler Planetarium offers stunning views of the night sky. And while the staff is dedicated to teaching most of the year, they do develop special shows that run for three weekends each season."

The Julia Fowler Planetarium uses a digital projector and computer called the SciDome which was purchased from Spitz, Inc. and uses a fisheye lens to project an assortment of celestial events on the dome. Instead of having static, two-dimensional star fields, the planetarium is able to show a three-dimensional universe.

David H. Bradstreet, Ph.D, is Professor and Chair of the Department of Astronomy and Physics and also serves as the Observatory/Planetarium director.  He says, "I see astronomy as a fundamental science through which many of the other sciences can be taught.  After learning about astronomy, students and the community alike often say, ‘I had no idea how fantastic the universe really is'.  Their understanding of God is profoundly influenced when they better understand the universe that He has made and sustains."

STAR OF BETHLEHEM SHOWS COMING IN DECEMBER

The planetarium is open to the public for special presentations including the perennial favorite The Star of Bethlehem show each December for three weekends: December 4-5, 11-12, 18-19. Show times are 7 p.m. and 8 p.m. each night. Admission is just $5. You'll see the skies as they may have appeared to the Three Wise Men following their brilliant star to Bethlehem. It's not too early to reserve your place by contacting Steve Sanders at 610.341.1390 or ssander2@eastern.edu.

To learn more about the Julia Fowler Planetarium or Eastern's Astronomy and Physics Department, visit: http://www.eastern.edu/academic/cas/depts/physical_sciences/home.html