Astronomy nights at MCC look a bit different  – Mesa Legend

Attendees of free planetarium nights at Mesa Community College will now have to learn about all the universe has to offer on different nights than in the past.

In previous semesters, free MCC astronomy nights occurred on the first Friday of every month. During this time, half of the 56 theater seats were sold, and the other half were given out for free on a first- come, first-served basis, according to James Enos, the planetarium director. 

Yet, this semester, they have announced a change. Free showings will occur every other Wednesday at 4:00 p.m. and 5:30 p.m. and every other Saturday at 10:00 a.m. and 11:30 a.m. Those who want to attend must also join a waitlist, which will assign a designated date and time to those who put in their information. 

Friday astronomy nights still exist, but it is now a ticketed-only event with four evening showings starting at 5 p.m.  These nights became extremely popular after the City of Mesa highlighted them on Instagram, according to Enos.

“So, when people show up and they’re trying to get free tickets, I’ve got about a hundred to give away throughout the course of an entire evening and I had something like 500 people show up,” Enos explained. “It was very stressful and a lot of angry people that we had to just push away. So we decided to kind of change the way we’re doing things.”

Planetarium shows include a 20-30 minute presentation and then a free-form conversation with Enos himself. From questions about aliens to why Pluto is not a planet, he uses jokes and his astrophysics knowledge to answer any space related questions that he can. Although, he will answer what his favorite color is: teal, but more blue than green. 

Enos believes that it is important to continue to have free planetarium nights for the community and for all ages. 

“It helps us understand our place in the universe. Something we call the cosmic perspective in the industry,” Enos said. “Here is when we’re faced daily with how big the universe is, and how small we are in the grand scheme of things.”