Planetarium celebrates Astronomy Day on Saturday with special events

The Kika Silva Pla Planetarium at Santa Fe Community College will offer free planetarium shows and observation events on Saturday as part of International Astronomy Day.

Events start at 3 p.m. with the first of five free planetarium shows, followed by solar telescope observing starting at 3:30 p.m. and lunar and planetary telescope observing at 9 p.m.

From 3 to 3:30 p.m. and from 3:30 to 4 p.m., the children's planetarium show, "Zula Patrol: Under the Weather," based on the acclaimed PBS television show, "Zula Patrol," will be offered in the planetarium.

Solar telescope observing hosted by retired NASA employee Bill Helms will be offered from 3:30-6:30 p.m. using Coronado Personal Solar Telescopes, which are capable of showing solar prominences and flares.!

The Gainesville premiere of "Passport to the Universe," which depicts realistic close-ups of star fields and planets, and is hosted by Tom Hanks, will be held in the planetarium from 5 to 5:30 p.m. and followed by "Black Holes: The Other Side of Infinity," narrated by Liam Neeson, from 5:30 to 6 p.m.

A live presentation of "Planets in the House," which explores the eight planets and three dwarf planets in the solar system, is planned from 7 to 8 p.m. in the planetarium.

From 9 p.m. to midnight, SFCC astronomy professor Sally Hoffman will host another of her series of observations of astronomical events focusing on the moon and the planets, Mercury, Mars and Saturday on the sidewalk north of Building X (the Natural Sciences building, next to the SFCC Police Station). All types of cameras are welcome.

Rounding out the day's events will be a presentation of "MUSIC 360: "Sounds of the Underground," an entertainment music show using a variety of artistic 3-D animations, from 10 to 11 p.m.

All events will be held at SFCC's Northwest Campus, 3000 NW 83rd St., and are free and open to the public.