Those who attend the opening weekend of the Kika Silva Pla Planetarium will find out what happened to the ex-planet Pluto.
Every weekend, beginning on Friday, the planetarium will open its doors to the public.
For the past year, the planetarium has only been open to special groups.
"Right now the planetarium has been used by Santa Fe classes, civic groups, school field trips and retirement groups," said Laurent Pellerin, the planetarium's new coordinator.
Also, according to the planetarium Web site, admission fees will be waived until January 2008.
Although there are planetariums in cities like Jacksonville, Tampa, Daytona and Orlando, the Kika Silva Pla Planetarium is the only one in North Central Florida open to the public.
Friday and Saturday beginning at 8:30 p.m. and ending at about 9:30 p.m., the planetarium invites everyone to come and learn about the solar system.
On Fridays, the planetarium will show the never-ending series, "Southern Nights."
"If people come regularly on Friday nights, they will know the stars," said Pellerin.
Each episode will be different and teach viewers how to identify constellations, planets, comets and meteor showers over North Central Florida.
"On Saturdays, the 'Planets in the House' series will last until Thanksgiving and will be a guided tour of the solar system," said Pellerin.
This series will consist of specific topics such as myths, eclipses and black holes.
The Kika Silva Pla Planetarium is located at SFCC's Northwest campus and was named after Kika Silva Pla, mother to John Pla, the largest donor to the planetarium.
The planetarium cost between ,1.3 million and ,1.6 million to build, Pellerin said.
The Kika Silva Pla Planetarium is also instituting FCAT standard shows for kindergarten through fifth grade students.
"They will teach all of the FCAT standards for space science," said Pellerin.
Other shows will be available for grades six through 12, according to the planetarium's Web site.
In the future, Pellerin will be looking for sponsors to show full dome movies on Saturday afternoons.
Also, Pellerin said that he would like to have music videos and host 21st century light shows to rock music concerts at 11 p.m. on Friday nights
"I hope to produce some of my own to jazz, blues or classical music for those who don't like rock," said Pellerin.
The Chronos planetarium projector, located inside the new Kika Silva Pla Planetarium completed in August 2006 on the SFCC campus, is set to dazzle people of all ages with its "Southern Nights" show when it officially opens to the public Friday at 8:30 p.m.
