Planetarium offers Mars updates with astronomy shows

Still image taken from animation of Curiosity landing on Mars.
Still image taken from animation of Curiosity landing on Mars.

The successful landing of the Mars Science Laboratory — the rover named "Curiosity" — last week is already producing images and information from the red planet.

Curiosity is the largest vehicle ever landed on Mars and audiences can experience the landing in a fulldome animation in Mueller Planetarium at the University of Nebraska State Museum in Morrill Hall along with a live update featuring the latest information and images. These updates are presented with each public astronomy program on the schedule.

The current astronomy show schedule at Mueller Planetarium is: "A Starry Tale," 2 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays; and "Forces of Nature, 7 p.m. Thursdays and 3 p.m. Sundays. For more information, go to http://www.museum.unl.edu.

Admission to Morrill Hall is free (with a valid NCard) for faculty, staff, students and immediate family. Mueller Planetarium tickets are sold in addition to museum admission. Tickets are $3 for adults and $2.50 for children 18 and under and are sold at the museum's front desk the day of the show.