With all this rain we've be getting lately, Fleischmann Planetarium & Science Center is a perfect place to go to. I've been coming to the Fleischmann Planetarium & Science Center since 1985. Here is another jewel in the crown of UNR. I worked here while I was in college at UNR. It's been updated and parking is now just a high walk across in the newer parking garage. Fleischmann Planetarium is part of the University of Nevada, Reno and Extended Studies. It has outstanding shows for all ages. Outstanding exhibits. Outstanding customer service. Outstanding school field trips. It's available for cool get-togethers like a birthday party or business event. Bathroom is clean. Remember to get your parking ticket validated. Or, take Sierra Spirit and walk into it. Has comet and asteroid and moon and sun eclipse watching groups so check the schedule often. Here is where I come right after Thanksgiving for Christmas presents for family and friends although if I see something cool during my several times a year visits, I buy it and stash it away for also birthday gifts.

Public telescope viewing is scheduled at the Fleischmann Planetarium between 8 and 10 p.m. on these dates (weather permitting; please call ahead):

June 7 June 28 July 5 July 26 Aug. 2 Aug. 23 Sept. 6 Sept. 27 Oct. 4 Oct. 25 Nov. 1 Nov. 22 Dec. 6 Dec. 27

The Fleischmann Planetarium & Science Center has a very cool history.

"The Fleischmann Atmospherium Planetarium was built in 1963 on the University of Nevada, Reno campus. It was the first planetarium in the United States to feature a 360-degree projector capable of providing horizon-to-horizon images and through time-lapse photography showing an entire day's weather in a few minutes.

Both the design and function of the planetarium reflect the futuristic focus of the space age during which it was built. Its Populuxe style of architecture is characterized by designs that depict motion, such as boomerangs, flying saucers, atoms, and parabola. Reno architect Raymond Hellman designed a striking hyperbolic paraboloid structure in which form follows function.

Max C. Fleischmann, a yeast and gin industry tycoon, moved to Nevada from California in 1935. Following his death in 1951, through 1980, the Max C. Fleischmann Foundation funded over $19 million in building projects on campus, including the planetarium, named in honor of Fleischmann's parents according to his wishes."