Exploring the Universe: TCC’s Virginia Beach Campus Planetarium Entertains and Educates

Tidewater Community College’s Virginia Beach campus has a hidden gem: a state-of-the-art Digistar 5 laser projector planetarium with 4k resolution.  In 2008, the planetarium opened in the Science building, featuring 88 seats and an all-sky image.

TCC collaborates with the company Evans and Sutherland, which makes shows for the planetarium, usually one new show a year on top of regular shows. On the first Friday evening of every month, the planetarium usually presents two or three visual and sound shows, which are open to the public. Several TCC professors take turns hosting the shows: Dr. David Wright, Leah Flax, and Kevin Mitchell, among them. Johnny Waugh, who works as the Equipment Service Repair Tech II, also helps with the preparation before the shows.

The most recent shows were hosted by Dr. Wright on Friday evening, March 7. Wright is a TCC Professor Emeritus of Physics and Astronomy. He presented three shows: Max on the Moon and Cosmic for kids, Supermassive Black Holes, and Rock Music Laser Light Show featuring music by David Bowie. 

Wright helped with the planning, building and startup of the planetarium. He taught at TCC for 45 years in the Physics and Astronomy department, specializing in calculus physics, algebra-trigonometry based physics, conceptual physics, and astronomy. Dr. Wright previously appeared in a TV show called Science Files on PBS that won two Emmy’s. He has also presented on multiple shows with celebrities: Kelly Clarkson, Conan O’Brien, and Regis and Kathie Lee. After retirement from TCC, Wright is still heavily involved with the planetarium and encourages people to attend the shows to learn more about astronomy and science.

“People should expect to learn something about astronomy as well as have some fun,” he says.

Flax and Mitchell noted that they favor the music side of the shows where they sync the sound to different visuals. They have their longtime friend, Chris Kemp, join for some shows to play his bass guitar. The three of them call their band, “Pleiades Planetarium Exchange”.

Before the shows, details are blasted out to the public and students are notified earlier to have first dibs on obtaining tickets. Tickets are free; however, they must be reserved online on the TCC website.

TCC does have rules for attending the planetarium: children under the age of 4 are not permitted in the planetarium, and children under the age of 16 must be accompanied by an adult. Food, drinks, and chewing gum are not allowed. The Science building is wheelchair accessible and has accessible parking on the backside of the Science building.

The next shows will be on Friday, April 4, starting at 6:00 p.m. “Secret Lives of Stars (By E&S) will be showing the unique characteristics of stars and their secret lives. At 7:15 p.m., “Laser Light Show Grateful Dead” will be shown.

For the educational side of the planetarium, Flax emphasized that she enjoys taking TCC students into the planetarium for labs and even lectures. Like her science class, multiple classes in the Science and Mathematics Pathway use the planetarium for labs, especially classes NAS 131 and NAS 132 which are astronomy-based. Students learn about constellations, seasons, blackholes, and more.

“Instead of looking at a computer screen and showing like what a sky would look like, I can put it up and it really looks like its nighttime. It’s a huge tool for teaching and answering questions. It’s such a special place. I can’t imagine a better educational tool,” Flax said.

Eathan Wankel is one of Flax’s students who has enjoyed his time in the planetarium. Wankel is a General Sciences student on the Virginia Beach campus and plans to transfer to the University of Arizona to study Astrophysics after graduation in May.

Wankel notes that his astronomy class spends class time in the planetarium once a week which he prefers over a normal classroom setting. He also attended multiple shows on Friday evenings with his family including the “Life to Mars” presentation.

“It definitely is an enjoyable room to be in, mainly for all the different pictures we get to see from telescopes that have been taken over the last 20 years,” says Wankel.

Wankel said he is inspired to further his education and eventually work with telescopes through his experience in TCC’s planetarium.

To reserve show tickets and learn more about the planetarium, visit https://help.tcc.edu/s/article/Planetarium.