The Barlow Planetarium is a planetarium

Planetarium

A planetarium is a theatre built primarily for presenting educational and entertaining shows about astronomy and the night sky, or for training in celestial navigation...

 located at the University of Wisconsin–Fox Valley in Menasha, Wisconsin

Menasha, Wisconsin

Menasha is a city in Calumet and Winnebago Counties in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. The population was 16,331 at the 2000 census. The city is located mostly in the Town of Menasha in Winnebago County; only a small portion is in the Town of Harrison in Calumet County. Doty Island is located...

. The Barlow Planetarium is named after late businessman and mineral collector F. John Barlow.

History

In the mid 1990s, UW–Fox Valley began planning an update of its science and administration facilities. Included in the budget was plans for a new planetarium to replace the older one. There was not enough money in the budget to cover the entire cost of the new planetarium, so most of the funding came from donations. The planetarium takes its name from F. John Barlow, a late businessman who was the largest private donor. The Barlow Planetarium opened its doors to the public in March 1998. Its premiere show was "Through the Eyes of Hubble," a program detailing the Hubble Space Telescope's servicing mission and first few years of operation.

Facilities

The planetarium has a 102 person seating capacity (98 regular chairs, 4 wheelchair positions). Each seat is equipped with an interactive control panel on its armrest that allows the audience to vote during certain programs. The Barlow has numerous slide projectors, including panoramas and an all-sky system (an all-sky image is a series of six pie-shaped images that are aligned to make a picture fill the dome. Video images can be projected onto the dome from DVD, laser disk, computer, or SVHS tapes. The planetarium's is powered by a Digistar II

Digistar II

Digistar II is a planetarium projection system by Evans & Sutherland - Digistar Users Group. It was released in the early 1990s as a descendant to the earlier Digistar, developed in the late 1970s...

star projector. In 2004 the Barlow acquired a laser projection system from Laser Fantasy International. This system uses a three color argon laser to draw images set to music on the dome. The planetarium features a 10,000 watt sound system.

Involvement in the community

In addition to offering many different programs for the general public and educational programs for local schools, the Barlow Planetarium hosts a variety of other events. The planetarium has worked with local Boy and Girl Scout units, offering programs to help children earn badges for advancement. Several couples have chosen the Barlow as a place for a unique wedding. Bands and musicians, including noted space music musician Jonn Serrie, have performed in the Barlow's dome. The planetarium also works with the local astronomy club NEWSTAR (North East Wisconsin Stargazers) to host a springtime event commemorating International Astronomy Day.