“Ingram wanted the planetarium to continue the museum’s tradition of learning that is science-based, fun and interactive, this time with a focus on the broader natural universe. Located in Sunset Beach, just four miles away from the museum, it features an 85-seat domed theater that is 40-feet wide and has an amazing audio system. You’re immersed in the sound and action of what’s playing.

Most of the films have a space or physical science theme, including a daily 11 a.m. animated children’s show that runs about 45 minutes. However, in season on weekend evenings, we do laser shows. We started with Pink Floyd, and still do Floyd Fridays, and last year our Taylor Swift shows were sold out. You can lean back in your chair, and the lasers are backed by a star field or the Milky Way or a black hole. It’s essentially entertainment, but it provides an introduction to the planetarium.

A Way to Help
The Ocean Isle Museum Foundation supports the museum and the planetarium. Their Elevate Access campaign is raising funds to install an elevator in the museum, to provide access to the programming on the building’s second floor. Donate at Museumplanetarium.org.

Our Paul Dennis Science Hall, which is free to visit, has a dozen exhibits related to physical science, including one on black holes that was produced in part by the Clark Planetarium in Salt Lake City. It’s interactive, allowing you to gather matter as if your hand is a black hole, and has graphics that teach you things like ‘spaghettification’, which is a real term for what happens if you’re drawn into a black hole. Our virtual reality program features a Mission to Mars, and there are also NASA related streams that you can manipulate.

The grant we received from BEMC supports our vertical flyer exhibit. You manipulate paper cones by cutting, folding, whatever you can think of, to see if you can get them to hover in an air stream. You change your design to get it to fly better and have fun while learning. That’s the point of attending the shows and interacting with the exhibits – you leave a little more curious, and smarter, about our place in the universe, and that feels good. Come see us and catch the feeling!”