Celebrating the Sky in Wausau

Planetarium Hosts Community-Wide Party

Fingers crossed, Wisconsinites yearned for a clear sky to see the rare occurrence of Sunday’s Total Lunar Eclipse.  With clouds drifting to the south in Northern Illinois, the Planetarium at Wausau School District scored with the night air welcoming the phenom of a full moon at perigee, glowing in a burnished orange-red tone.  

Planetarium Director, Chris Janssen, hosted a community-wide party, inviting both the young and the old to view the moon through the sights of high-powered telescopes.  “It was amazing!” said Janssen, noting the high interest in the Telescope Viewing event. 

Blanketing the horizon, party attendees watched a special showing of the Christopher Nolan’s Interstellar.  Janssen boasts how the rocket launch scene “blew out his venerable classic 15 sub woofers…RIGHTEOUS!”  The moon, stars, movies and popcorn all under a moonlit night sky provided an amazing opportunity for the next generation of students to get excited about space.

Learn more about programs supported by the Planetarium at Wausau School District.  The Planetarium’s Space Ship Bridge Simulator project was a 2014-2015 Aerospace Outreach and Special Initiatives Program award winner.