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The Smith Planetarium has 92 seats and includes a 40’ dome that has at its center a new "Konica-Minolta MediaGlobe II Planetarium Projector". The planetarium building is handicapped accessible. Various audiovisual special effects enhance the presentations. |
Mission of the Smith Planetarium: To use the night sky to motivate students, sparking their wonder and curiosity.
To provide students with an opportunity to see and experience the night sky as realistically as possible while learning about science with an expert staff person who can answer questions.
The primary purpose is to motivate the learner to seek new knowledge and to create an awareness of the cosmos, encourage creative and critical thinking, and spark wonder and curiosity about our world. The Smith Planetarium is focused primarily upon students in Walker County Georgia and secondarily upon the public as a whole.
The planetarium provides live educational programs that help learners grasp concepts that are best understood in a three-dimensional environment. A planetarium experience affords an opportunity for learners to become immersed into a place of enchantment, under a star-filled sky.
About the Smith Planetarium: The Smith Planetarium has 92 seats and includes a 40’ dome that has at its center a new "Konica-Minolta MediaGlobe II Planetarium Projector". The planetarium building is handicapped accessible. Various audiovisual special effects enhance the presentations.
Presentations are informal and flexible. Complexity may be adjusted up or down depending upon the maturity of the audience. Teachers should specify the desired program when making reservations. Otherwise, groups will be given a program at the discretion of the planetarium educator. The planetarium operates from October 2nd through December 13th and from January 14th through May 14th.
The planetarium experience requires approximately one hour including time for check-in, restroom use, etc. Programs last 35-50 minutes and program length is dependent upon grade level and attention span. Most days have three programs scheduled for: 9:15 AM, 10:30 AM, and 12:00 PM. Public programs are presented on the first Sunday afternoon of each month at 2:30 PM and on the last Tuesday evening of each month at 7:30 PM, unless the date falls during a time period of vacation or there is inclement weather. Check with the planetarium staff before coming.
Note: The planetarium is closed if Walker County Schools are closed due to a vacation break or due to an emergency, such as weather
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| Brief History of the Smith Planetarium |
James Alonzo Smith was the founding director of the first planetarium in Walker County. It opened in March 1967 and closed in 1998 to make way for the new Rock Spring Elementary School. At that time, the school board hoped to relocate the planetarium to another site. That has now happened with the construction of this new planetarium.
The most prominent supporters of a new planetarium were the voters in Walker County. They went to the voting polls on three separate occasions over a 12-year period and voted every time in favor of a special one-cent sales tax in E-SPLOST referendums. The Planetarium was listed on these ballots as a proposed project. Walker County citizens in all three referendums approved it. In 2005, grant funding from the Space Telescope Science Institute/NASA was secured in the amount of $50,000 for Mission Discovery: Project StarWalker. This funding helped clinch the local decision to rebuild a new planetarium in Walker County.
At least 60 individuals worked to complete this planetarium with a 40’ (12.2-meters) dome and a Konica-Minolta MediaGlobe II digital planetarium projector. Dr. Wayne Robinson and James “Jabo” Sims are the two individuals who worked continuously on re-establishing this planetarium. Dr. Robinson served as the Director of the Walker County Science and Technology Center and as the first Director of the Smith Planetarium until his retirement in June 2011.Kim McCroskey followed Dr. Robinson as head of the Walker County Science & Technology Center and Mr. Carl B. Allen, Jr. was the first “planetarium educator” in the new facility. The Smith Planetarium was named in honor of two retired educators: James Alonzo Smith and his wife, Shirley R. Smith on May 4th 2011.
Normal operations were delayed by a tornadic (Gustnado) storm on June 18th, 2011. Michael Tipton followed Kim McCroskey as Coordinator of Instructional Technology and Internet Services. The planetarium is a part of Mr. Tipton’s responsibilities. James A. Smith is the current planetarium educator. Weekly Telescope Viewing - Fridays following Sky Over Macon
After the show, see the real night sky through our telescopes! The largest telescope can offer well over 100 times magnification. As winter progresses, we will offer spectacular views of the Orion Nebula, the Pleiades Star Cluster, and much more! |
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| Observatory |
Programs last 35-50 minutes and program length is dependent upon grade level and attention span. Most days have three programs scheduled for: 9:15 AM, 10:30 AM, and 12:00 PM.
Public programs are presented on the first Sunday afternoon of each month at 2:30 PM and on the last Tuesday evening of each month at 7:30 PM, unless the date falls during a time period of vacation or there is inclement weather. Check with the planetarium staff before coming. Telephone: 706-375-8001
Note: The planetarium is closed if Walker County Schools are closed due to a vacation break or due to an emergency, such as weather
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| Contact, Address and Website |
| Phone: Telephone: 706-375-8001, (fax: 706-375-8028) T - Address: Walker County Science and Technology Center, 409 Pond Springs Road, Chickamauga, GA 30707. - James A. Smith Planetarium Website |
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Visit:
 Georgia Planetariums & Observatories
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