The planetarium, located at Marquette Senior High School, was built in 1965, so some of the equipment is aging. To kick off the campaign, MSHS hosted a luncheon/informational talk about what the planetarium needs.

“We’re the only active planetarium in the Upper Peninsula,” planetarium Director Becky Simmons said.

That means the planetarium often is in demand. In fact, its shows often are sold out. According to its Facebook page, for instance, no more tickets are available for its Campfire Under the Stars show scheduled for Tuesday.

There are limitations, however, with staffing and equipment.

At right is the facility’s MS-8 Minolta star projector, which is aging. (Journal photo by Christie Bleck)

“With additional equipment, we can increase our income and potentially look at offering more to the public, more to other other groups,” said Simmons, who noted the priority now is for the Marquette Area Public Schools.

She noted a new entrance to accommodate people in wheelchairs recently was added.

“We do try out best to keep this facility in tip-top shape,” Simmons said.

However, the planetarium’s focus is education, and the MS-8 Minolta incandescent star projector is becoming obsolete, she said, with parts being difficult to find.

At the top of the needs list, though, is a digital projector that’s an improvement from what’s in the planetarium now.

“If we switch over to digital projection, those work with light, just like your television,” Simmons said.

Most planetariums use both methods to show things such as videos as well as the night sky.

“That’s kind of why you would have both, so you can do more with your planetarium,” Simmons said.

To upgrade equipment, a public crowdfunding campaign has neen launched for the effort, which can go several ways depending on the type of equipment purchased.

It’s not cheap; a digital projector costs between $350,000 to $800,000.

“On the upper end is looking a much higher quality projection system, having a really black night sky,” Simmons said.

She pointed out that if the planetarium loses the MS-8, a great night sky still could be shown if the upper-end projector were available.

Additional amenities for the planetarium include lighting and chairs for $80,000, a laser system for $50,000 and replacement for the MS-8 for $760,000.

In development are a young astronauts program and a summer laser camp — “lots of active learning opportunities,” she said.

“What we get will depend on the funding that we find and what we decide is the pathway we want to take,” Simmons said.

The donation link for the new campaign can be found at https://chuffed.org/project/shiras.

An excerpt from that site reads: “A planetarium brings a sense of excitement and wonder about the possibilities beyond our own small planet, the same sense of wonder that motivated all great explorers of the past and will challenge all great explorers of the future.”

Many people might agree with that sentiment.

As of Thursday, a total of $101,250 had been raised toward the $800,000 goal, with $100,000 coming from the Shiras Institute.

Laura Reilly, a member of the board of directors of the Shiras Institute that has been instrumental in supporting the planetarium since its beginning, spoke at Thursday’s event.

“It’s a natural fit for the Shiras Institute to continue to support it,” Reilly said.

Reilly, who attended elementary school in the Marquette school district, has memories of the planetarium.

“I was always so excited, blown away as a little girl in a small town like this, that I could get a glimpse, reach to the stars, in my very own school district,” Reilly said. “It is so rare for a town the size of Marquette to have a resource like this.”

The crowdfunding campaign runs through 1:30 p.m. Nov. 25.