About the Planetarium

The RU Planetarium is located on the ground floor of Curie Hall in Room 43. The main entrance to the planetarium is through the doors to the courtyard between Curie Hall and Martin Hall. A campus map showing these locations are here. This map shows Parking Lots B and C where you are welcome to park for the nighttime and Saturday morning shows. If you are coming with a group (in a bus or a large van) as part of a Science Day tour then you should park in Lot A. Please contact Dr. Herman at rherman@radford.edu for more information about this.

The Radford University Planetarium was constructed in 1970 when Curie Hall was built. The planetarium star projector is a Spitz/Goto Planetarium SG-8 Projector from Goto Optical Mfg. of Tokyo, Japan. There are 32 reclined planetarium seats within the 24-foot diameter dome; an additional 15 free-standing seats are in the planetarium to accommodate larger groups.

In addition to the star projector, our projection equipment includes 7 computer-controlled lcd projectors, a multi-input stereo sound system, and a number of slide projectors and laserdisks for our older shows.

The planetarium is used for teaching in several classes including Astronomy (approved for General Education Natural Science credit), Solar System Astronomy, Galactic Astronomy and Cosmology, and various Physical Science classes. It is especially familiar to those majors in the department who choose the Physics Major--Physical Science Option. Past student projects involving the planetarium have included developing programs around specific topics for use in our presentations.

We are also glad to make special arrangements for school groups, scout groups, etc., who might want to visit the planetarium at times other than our regular showtimes. If you have a group that would like to see our planetarium, please contact Dr. Rhett Herman, or email Dr. Herman at rherman@radford.edu .

Our planetarium has its own unique history and design. More information about the history of the planetarium, including its unique design, demands its own web page.