MHCC Planetarium Preview: Valentine's Day

Show Explores Relationships and Nuclear Fusion

Love. If you listen to what Demi Lovato has to say, you'd know love is like a giant ball of hydrogen and helium, burning at hundreds of thousands of degrees Fahrenheit and spinning millions of miles away in space. Or something like that.

This Valentine's Day, the Mt. Hood Community College Planetarium Sky Theater has something special for you – a one-day, one-time showing of “Romancing the Universe: An Exploration of Cosmic Beauty.” The show will delve into human connections and our relationship with the known universe, says Will Blackmore, astronomy and mathematics instructor at MHCC.

Blackmore describes the show as “an exploration of the nuclear furnaces where every atom in your body, and those of your loved ones, were once forged together in stellar fire.”

“You'll hear stories of great mythological romances written in the constellations of the sky,” he adds. “And we'll investigate the celestial dances that link us to our galactic neighbors.”

The special Valentine's Day performance certainly shouldn't eclipse the other great upcoming shows at the Planetarium though. On Feb. 7 and 10, planetarium director Pat Hanrahan will present “Sleeping Beauties and the White Dwarfs,” a retelling of an old classic and an exploration of Hubble images of stars nearing the end of their lifecycles. The nebulas that form around these dying stars have interesting names, like “Eye of God”, “Red Spider”, and “Hourglass.” Visit mhcc.edu/planetarium to learn more.