Health & Fitness
Eastern University’s Annual "The Star of Bethlehem" Planetarium Show Returns
Eastern University's "The Star of Bethlehem"
Eastern University in St. David’s PA is one of only a few Universities in the U.S. that has its own dedicated planetarium onsite. Every December this school displays its show to celebrate the Christmas season with “The Star of Bethlehem.”
According to the Eastern University website, “The show is based on a dialog between an astronomer and his five-year-old daughter (played by Biology Professor Maria Fichera’s daughter, Carina) who wants to know why we have Christmas traditions like mistletoe, candy canes, twelve days of Christmas, decorating houses with greenery, and the Star of Bethlehem. The show explains the origins of many of our Christmas customs and then investigates when Jesus might have been born. After narrowing down the date, the show takes the audience back to Jerusalem and Bethlehem around 3 BC and attempts to look into the sky and find something that might have been interpreted as the famous Star which led the Wise Men to the Christ child. Fascinating new historical clues have led to an interesting new twist to the story …but you’ll have to come and see for yourself to discover just what this new theory actually is!”
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The Julia Fowler Planetarium, which is located on the third floor of the McMcInnis Learning Center has a small and intimate setting with a limit of 35 people per showing. The cost of this experience under the stars is $5.00 per person. Children under the age of three are free.
According to Eastern University’s website, “The Planetarium has a 20-foot diameter dome housing a digital Spitz SciDome projector. This state of the art facility allows audiences to not only see accurate depictions of the night sky but also to travel and land on other planets! The Planetarium is used by astronomy classes as well as thousands of school children and other community groups each year.”
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According to Steven Sander, the Observation Coordinator, “a total of 700 people attend this 45-minute annual event,” which is held in the Julia Fowler Planetarium on Friday, and Saturday evenings. There are two viewing times are at 7 p.m. and 8 p.m.
To make a reservation for the Star of Bethlehem event, contact Mr. Sanders via email at
ssander2@eastern.edu or by phone at 610.341.1390. Make sure to indicate the number of people attending and the date and time you will be arriving.
