Brazosport Planetarium and Nature Center
400 College Drive, Clute, Texas 77531
| 8:30 am | Social and snacks |
| 9:00 am | General Meeting Approved for 1.00 hour volunteer time. |
| 9:30 am |  Program: "The Fall Sky"Speaker: Judi James, Director, Brazosport Planetarium Fee: $5.00 Approved for Advanced Training credit. Approved credit hours will be announced at the meeting, and will be available after the meeting at
 Interior of the Brazosport Planetarium |
The Brazosport Planetarium is one of the gems of the Brazosport area. The planetarium includes a 30-foot diameter dome and a dual projector system along with displays, interactive, educational terminals, and a live feed from NASA. Audience seating under the dome accommodates 72 visitors. Incorporated as the Nature Center and Planetarium of Brazosport in 1976, the facility also includes wildlife displays and a nature trail along Oyster Creek.
At the center of the dome stands the Spitz Model 4A planetarium projector capable of projecting images of approximately 2000 stars and five naked-eye planets (Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn). The projector is of excellent optical quality and shows the sky so well that NASA astronauts learn the night sky here as part of their training program. Click here for a description of the projector.
A full dome video projector was recently purchased to show high resolution digital video across the full diameter of the dome. NASA's model of the shuttle (used in wind tunnel tests) is on permanent display at the planetarium.
Weekly programs are presented on Tuesday nights at 7 pm with the program changing monthly. Judi James, planetarium director, also teaches astronomy classes for BISD.
There is an active astronomy club that presents periodic "star gaze" programs to the public at the planetarium and school events onsite for students and parents.
—Tom Morris
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