Fair Lawn Planetarium - Offers more than just STARS

The Planetarium at the Fair Lawn High School Astronomy Center is offering more to the public than ever before. The facility originally brought to Fair Lawn in 1961 by department chair and Astronomy teacher Andrew LuKac, was made possible via funding from the National Defense Education Act. The law was enacted in the wake of the launch of the first earth satellite called Sputnik made by the USSR. The space race then began as the USA decided to educate our youth with the mission of going to the moon. The planetarium facility was made permanent in 1982 at Fair Lawn high school atop the stage of the A gym multipurpose room. Since then the facility has been utilized by Fair Lawn students from 1st to 12th grade. Since 2008 the facility has opened its doors to the public offering evening sessions to kids, families, and the general public. "I'm proud to offer educational programs to the public and share the excitement of Astronomy and space exploration", says Andrew Temme, the current K-5 Planetarium Director and district Science Specialist. Recently, Mr. Temme was accepted into the NASA Solar System Ambassadors program that offers outreach to the public about current and future space missions. "Joining the NASA program enables direct access to NASA mission resources which we can share with our community." The planetarium also now offers sessions to private groups such as the scouts and clubs who can visit after school or in the evening. The district provides curriculum related field trips for students in grades 1, 3, 5, 7 and utilizes the room for its high school Astronomy classes. This year the FLHS Planetarium offers public shows on 4 dates through the Fair Lawn Community School: January 29th - Eclipses, March 26th - Our Sun, May 29th -TBD, and a final show in October 2019. Each session will offer a tour of the current night sky, a laser rock 'n roll visual effect musical short, and a fulldome feature on selected astronomical topics.

Anyone interested in attending a public show can visit the planetarium webpage for details and ticketing information: http://flhs.org/index.php/offi...

Tickets are purchased through the Fair Lawn Community School via ComminityPass.net