To the planetarium and beyond

Astronomy program hosts first sightseeing show of the semester

ALEXIS CANELO Reporter @alexiscanelo_

“You wanna know what the sky looked like on your birthday?” Professor Dale Fields asked. Experience the cosmos from the comfort of a chair at the first planetarium showing of the semester.

The first showing will be held Wednesday, Oct. 17 in the Center for the Sciences.

Dale Fields, an astronomy professor and discipline advisor, will be hosting the event from 4 -6 p.m. Doors open at 3:45 pm and seating is first come, first serve.

Fields hosts the event twice a semester at different times to reach the widest range of students. He can answer questions ranging from, “Was that a UFO?” to “What did the sky look like on my birthday?”

“Every semester we try to do at least two planetary shows that are open and free to everyone. I try to do them on different days, because we want to reach the greatest number of people and show them some of the coolness that actually happens out there,” Fields said.

The six projectors in the your major? planetarium allow one to experience the stars, in a completely unique way.

“It is a thing where we can project the sky up onto the inside of this dome and give you a sense of flying through space itself, visiting different planets, visiting different parts of our galaxy, going out past our galaxy into the intergalactic space that’s there at the extent of the cosmic microwave background. All these are different places we can go with our planetarium,” Fields said.

Fields limits his time on a prepared presentation in order to answer students’ questions.

“Astronomy is one of those amazing sciences where people are interested. People want to know what’s going on with space. Even if it doesn't seem to directly affect them, people still want to know and so I want to really honor that. I want to reach out to them and help answer their questions.

Like, the UFO that was in the sky last night was actually a SpaceX launch and so maybe people want to know what goes on with that, how can they tell what’s going on and happening in the sky,” Fields said.

Cindy Leon, a pre-vet major, heard about the planetarium showing last semester, but was unable to attend.

“I had school, job, classes, things, you know life happens. It seems cool. It seems cool to be able to come.” Leon said acanelo.roundupnews@gmail.com

Amir Ranjaber, a kinesiology major, believes the event may attract students to the field of astronomy.

“I think it’s nice, because those that are actually in that field and major it can be helpful to them. It can also pull other people towards that major,” Ranjaber said.

Hamed Seyyedi, a biology major and first-year student, has never been to the astronomy building, but is interested in the event.

“I want to be there. For my first time, it should be interesting, because I’ve never been in this case,” Seyyedi said.

Wednesday’s event will be held at the Center for the Sciences. Seating is limited and doors open at 3:45 pm. The next planetarium showing will be held Dec. 7 from 5- 7 pm.

“Ipickedmymajorbecause sinceIwasakidIalwaysloved workingwithanimals.Iknew itwassomethingIsawinthe future.”

-JazminLozano Pre-VeterinaryMedicine

“Iwanttohelppeoplein general.Youʼreabletofeel betteraboutyourselfbecause knowingthatyouarehelping otherpeoplemakesyoufeel better.

-IsaacLim Nursing

(Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) program, Fields believes that Pierce has one of the better STEM programs found in the valley. “I think Pierce offers the best

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STEM education of any school in the area. It surpasses any other programs in the community college system. I’m really proud to come in and work here,” Fields said.

Students who have a general idea of what major they would like to pursue can benefit from attending events like this in order to gain a more in depth knowledge of the field itself.

Chet Senarathme knows he is interested in the STEM program but isn’t quite sure as to what facet specifically. Senarathme spoke with Fields on the science program. He learned a great deal from Fields on what he can do with a STEM degree and now has an idea of what he wants to do in his future.

“My interest was STEM from the start. But I didn't know whether I’d go into medical or engineering. But after talking with him (Dale Fields) he showed me that chemistry is a big part of STEM and I enjoy chemistry. So if I can go into Med School with chemistry, I definitely would,” Senarathme said.

Fields said he hopes students benefit from all that Pierce has to offer.

“We have all sorts of different programs. Students sometimes don't realize the entire scope of what's out there and to just have better vision is very important,” Fields said.