Waubonsie Valley Planetarium’s Big Blue Guy, a special projector that has been shining stars, planets, and other celestial bodies since it opened in 1976.

Seven-year-old Jackson Blue is studying outer space in his first grade class, so he and his dad, Matt, found the perfect place to spend a recent Friday night.

They went to see the stars at Waubonsie Valley High School’s planetarium.

“Everybody loves the stars,” said Stephanie Rybka, planetarium director since 2006.  “They love seeing the night sky.”

Jackson and Matt, who also serves as a Waubonsie Valley teacher, settled into comfortable  reclining chairs for the first of three sold-out family shows aimed at providing a glimpse of our solar system’s night sky.

The recent shows were part of a packed schedule of programs serving  families, youth groups, class field trips and the public. The star is the planetarium’s Big Blue Guy, a special projector that shines stars, planets, and other celestial bodies on the ceiling of the high school planetarium.

The level of light pollution in this area makes it  difficult to see night skies filled with stars. Not so inside the planetarium.

“We can sit in the dome and see concepts that may take 24 hours to see outside or otherwise are covered by clouds,” said Rybka, only the fourth planetarium director since it opened in 1976. “It is a memorable experience when people come and see our night sky.  I always get an ‘ooh’ and ‘aah’ reaction whenever people see the stars for the first time. The littlest visitors all the way to adults can appreciate the beauty.”

Waubonsie’s planetarium is one of just 13 in Illinois. Elgin School District U-46 has the only other one associated with a high school. It was built by the now-defunct Elgin Watch Co. and donated to that district in the 1960s.

Several junior colleges—Joliet, Triton, and Parkland—have planetariums. Others can be found at Illinois State University’s Felmley Hall of Science as well as at Olivet Nazarene University.

Waubonsie’s planetarium was part of the original plans for the district’s first high school after Indian Prairie School District 204 was formed in 1972.

When the school opened  the main entrance had been on the southwest corner of the building near the planetarium, Rybka said. Today, the front entrance of the school has shifted to Eola Road leaving many area residents — like Naperville’s Julie and Tom Noesen — unaware of the planetarium.

Despite living in the area for about five years, the Noesens just recently learned about it.

A self-professed space lover, Julie Noesen said, “I follow NASA on Instagram. I love everything about this kind of stuff.”

On a trip to Sedona, Ariz., a tour guide took out his telescope and ever since then, Noesen makes frequent trips to local planetariums when she isn’t glued to NASA-TV.

The Noesen family made the trek last summer to St. Louis for a better vantage point for the eclipse.

Waubonsie students “come down regularly” to visit the planetarium for classes in earth sciences and cosmic journeys, Rybka said.

The planetarium also is incorporated into other classes through interdisciplinary programs. For example, Spanish students come and learn about Mesoamerican and the Aztecs.  Orchestra students who are studying the works about the solar system by English composer Gustav Holst also visited the planetarium recently, Rybka said.

“We listened to one his pieces called Jupiter in the dark doom with the stars overhead,” Rybka said.

The  next family night features “Summer Stargazing” on April 12. The Naperville Astronomical Association will set up telescopes outside the planetarium.

The telescope viewing is free and does not require a ticket to the family night program.

Tickets for the family night program are $2 and available beginning April 1 online at http://planetarium.ipsd.org/Default.aspx