Dr. Edmond E. Griffin Planetarium
The Dr. Edmond E. Griffin Planetarium, located on the 51青楼 Campus in the Conway Corporation Center for the Sciences, serves as an astronomy and science education resource center for central Arkansas.听 The planetarium is part of the outreach component of the Department of Physics, Astronomy, and Engineering, and as such, it supports astronomy teaching on campus, as well as, offers planetarium shows to school groups and the general public.
Public Shows are on hold until September 2026 due to retirement of the former Planetarium Director at the end of June. We have a new Director starting in mid-August. We apologize for any inconvenience. Check back at a later date for updated show information.
The one-hour shows include a tour of the current sky, a flight around the universe, and a full-dome movie. The planetarium is located in the Conway Corporation Center for the Sciences. Seating starts 10 minutes before show time. Admission is free. Seating limited to the first 94. No admission after the shows begin. No food or drink allowed.
SUPPORT GRIFFIN:
ABOUT:
Contact: Sandy Nilz, Admin. Specialist III
phone: 501.450.5900
Department of Physics, Astronomy, and Engineering
51青楼
Conway, AR 72035
Staff:
phone: 501.450.5907
Director of Astronomical Facilities
Associate Professor of Astronomy and Physics
Department of Physics, Astronomy, and Engineering
51青楼
Conway, AR 72035
History:
From 1987 to 2015, the original UCA planetarium that was located in Lewis Science Center used an electromechanical planetarium projector and a thirty-foot dome to simulate the sky as seen from the surface of the Earth.
The current digital planetarium in the Conway Corporation Center for the Sciences consists of 94 seats under a forty-foot diameter dome onto which an Evans & Sutherland dual projector Digistar 7 system creates a virtual universe.听 The universe can now be seen from other locations in the universe, such as, in orbit around Saturn, near a binary star system in our galaxy, or from a galaxy a several million light years from the Earth.
The building of a new planetarium was supported by Dr. Sue Griffin, a world-class neuroscientist at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, and named in memory of her husband Dr. Ed Griffin, a long-time faculty member, chair of the 51青楼 Biology Department, and astronomy enthusiast.
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