The planetarium was founded by Talbert “Ted” Abrams, who was a pioneer of aerial photography and a space buff, John French, interim director of the planetarium, said. Abrams was an aviation pioneer for aerial photography and his original pilot license is signed by Orville Wright, one of the two Wright brothers who built the first successful airplane.

“When (Abrams) was getting ready to retire, he gave a bunch of money to build the planetarium since he was a space buff.” French said.

French said the main part of the planetarium is the Sky Theater which presents the main show to the public called “Comets and Discovery.” Tickets to see the show are available Friday and Saturday night and Sunday afternoon. They are $3 for adults and $2.50 for students.

Elementary schools also are welcome to come to the planetarium during the week to learn about the different planets and constellations.

“I think it’s an entertaining presentation that we do, and if you are interested in astronomy and things technical, I think you would enjoy the show,” French said.

The planetarium holds a lecture series every third Thursday of the month about astronomy. An astronomy faculty member hosts a presentation about a current topic in astronomy, French said.

One of the main classes that utilizes the planetarium is the ISP 205 lab, Visions of the Universe.

Mark Voit, professor of astronomy and associate dean for the College of Natural Science, taught the class last fall and in the past and said he uses the dome as a visualization tool.

“While someone can wait a year to see things happen, it can be shown to them in a matter of minutes,” Voit said. “It is nice to have a big visualization environment to communicate (material) to students.”

Voit said that even though the planetarium is a good tool to help students find their way around the sky, the technology it uses could be improved.

“It doesn’t have quite the resolution that is available now,” Voit said.

French said he thinks the planetarium is due for a upgrade with new computers and a projector because the last update was about 30 years ago.

“We are due for another upgrade, but that will cost some money that we don’t have right now,” he said. “Other planetariums in the country have already upgraded to a full-dome video — we don’t have that yet.”

Even though upgrades are needed, students like human resource management sophomore Priya Adusumilli felt the planetarium helped her understand what she needed to look for in the sky when she took the ISP 205 lab.

“I still remember all the constellations because of the pictures they put up,” Adusumilli said. “It felt really real and was educational too. I was really excited when I found out the lab was in the planetarium, because it’s not a normal class in a classroom.”

Even though French said he is happy with the number of people who come to the planetarium, he hopes to attract more visitors.

“I am hoping the awareness of the planetarium increases and that people on campus know we are here,” French said. “When you come here, we want you to leave with some knowledge about what’s up in the sky and increase your ability to stand out on a starry night and look out and know what you are looking at.”

A lecture about massive stars and their violent demises, put on by Laura Chomiuk, will be held at 7:30 p.m. today.