Shiras Planetarium participating in MSU Astronomy Night

MARQUETTE — The Shiras Planetarium in Marquette will soon be a participating location in a statewide event. Michigan State University is holding a state–wide astronomy night where the public can go to local planetariums and gaze up at the April sky.

13 different locations around the state are participating in the event, which is designed to get people interested in astronomy. The star show will begin at 7:30 p.m., and a special open house taking place beforehand with plenty of fun activities for all ages.

“We’ll have some stations set up outside of the planetarium with activities for kids, and kids at heart I guess,” said Becky Simmons, Director of Shiras Planetarium. “Make some craft things related to constellations, and play some games. We’ll have some astro–photography demonstrations out there, so just a bunch of different booths for people to check out related to astronomy.”

The open house starts at 6 p.m. on Friday April 12th, and the entire event is free to the public but there are only a limited number of seats available for the star show.