Planetarium shows wrap up

The final planetarium show of the school year, “The Universe of Galaxies,” will be hosted by Doug McCarty, guest speaker and former MHCC planetarium director, Monday at 7 and 8:15 p.m.

McCarty has studied astronomy since the age of 10 and has spent 27 years instructing students on the topic. He has also traveled to Africa, like current planetarium director Pat Hanrahan, and other locations to informally teach about the sky.

“This is a topic I picked that’s of interest to me because a mathematician once said, ‘Astronomy is useful because it’s beautiful,’ which I think is a marvelous way of looking at the field,” said McCarty.

The presentation will cover the birth and death of stars within galaxies, the discovery of black holes in the centers of “virtually all galaxies, including our own.”

According to McCarty, the black hole is 30,000 light years away and isn’t something to fret about.

He will also cover the discovery of galaxies outside our own during the 1920s. “The dimensions of the universe became enormous, larger than anyone had imagined,” said McCarty.

“I’ll talk about how we can observe our own galaxy on a summer night just by going away from city lights and looking at the sky and marveling it. In fact, the summertime is the best time to see the center of our Milky Way Galaxy,” he said.

McCarty recommends taking a trip to southeastern Oregon and the Steens Mountain area. “I don’t know if you’ve ever been to Steens Mountain before, but put it on your list. Most Oregonians have never heard of it. It’s a fun place to go for truly dark skies,” McCarty said.

McCarty encourages questions throughout the presentations. “I tell people you can interrupt me at any time. It’s a live show.”

The show is free to MHCC students with I.D. and $2 for general admission. Children are welcome.