VALLEY CITY, N.D. (NewsDakota.com) – Valley City State University planetarium director Wes Anderson said we need some money to buy a new star lamp for the VCSU planetarium. $3595 to be exact, $4000 to round up nicely and cover any unforeseen additional expenses.
Anderson said the planetarium is 50 years old, that I’ve spent the last 30 years of that time with it I find hard to believe, but it is the technology that got us to the moon and it has performed admirably all these years and will continue to do so with proper maintenance.
This is the only planetarium in North Dakota. But lately, I’ve been having some technical difficulties, then the Spitz company that’s been maintaining it for the last 30 years discontinued its service in December of 2022 and we’ve had to go to a new company called Ash Enterprises. There has been a lingering problem that we’ve not been able to pin down and it has caused us to not have stars. A planetarium without stars is just a dark room. Like I tell my students, the star of the show are the stars on the dome!
But thanks to Chuck Mielke’s electrical work we were able to figure out what was NOT wrong with the machine and Ash sent me a new LED star lamp as the old one was xenon arc and whatever wasn’t working wouldn’t get it to light. The new LED works swell and I want to keep it. Xenon Arc lamps are no longer being made and there is a dwindling supply of them, the future is LED. The original plan was for us to pay in increments and eventually get a new LED lamp in a few years. The recent problems expedited matters and we have this one now on approval, but it is not paid for. So we need to pay for it or we will go back to the old arrangement. So, I have to ask for help to raise the necessary $3595/$4000 we need to keep the new LED lamp. So anyone interested in donating money to pay for the lamp is asked to contribute what they can by clicking on the attachment below. Anderson said your donations will be greatly appreciated.
VCSU Planetarium Director Wes Anderson said please donate to keep our stars!
Below is a list of former VCSU Planetarium Directors
Dr. Leonhardt Gunsch was the first director in 1973 followed by Judy Kemp, Joe Stickler, Eileen Starr 1992-2002, and Wes Anderson 2002 to the present.
The VCSU planetarium was installed for $62,000 back in 1973. VCSU was the first University or College in North Dakota to have a planetarium. Anderson said it’s the only operational planetarium in North Dakota.
