Effort to reopen U of L’s Rauch Planetarium shoots for the stars

University of Louisville astronomy professor Benne Holwerda is now one of the few people who get to use the school’s Rauch Planetarium .

He wants to see the space space open its doors again to the wider community.

“There is a push within U of L to see if we can make the planetarium available to schools and the public again,” Holwerda said. “For schools especially, we've noticed that the students that come in now, haven't gone to the planetarium in high school. So when they get to my class into a planetarium, that's the very first time they see it.”

The main issues facing Rauch Planetarium right now, he said, are outdated equipment and a lack of funds to update it.

“We're sort of at the lifetime of the bulbs in the projector and the projector as a whole, it’s sort of at that lifetime limit,” Holwerda said. “We have a digital projection system, it works really great. Except that it's showing a little bit of its age, it's still running a really old version of Windows.”

During current shows, faulty bulbs skew the appearance of the sky. He takes time in his lectures to explain when students aren’t seeing a true depiction of space.

“For example, there's a show about black holes, and they go ‘Oh, we don't have a picture of a black hole’ like hang on a minute, since 2019, we do,” Holwerda.

The skygazing space would also need staff to run shows, manage programming and maintain equipment.

“I would absolutely be thrilled to run this with a couple of students,” Holwerda said. “This is absolutely something that if you have a bunch of shows that a student can sort of guide everybody in from school, run the show, answer some questions.”

A statement from the university provost’s office on the planetarium’s website reads, “The planetarium has been closed since the start of the pandemic. The provost is working with the academic units to determine its future. A decision is expected this summer.”

Holwerda sees the potential reopening as a benefit to the university community and the public.

“It's also important to note that we would get students from the West End, it was sort of the great equalizer, people from church groups would come here, scouting groups,” Holwerda said.

In a brightly lit city, a clear view of the heavens can be a challenge. Holwerda said up-to-date planetarium shows allow people to see what they might in a remote desert sky, far from the nearest town.

“It's a good view of infinity. And so having something that can sort of give people an idea of that can be quite useful,” Holwerda said.

He’s heard from community members who conveyed their fond memories of the planetarium. More than 5,000 people have signed a change.org petition Holwerda created.

“I used to take my kids there and would love to take my grandkids. I think this is a great place for kids, families and field trips,” one signee wrote. “Closing this was a great loss to the community and it should be opened back up."