Planetarium

Chabot's 30-foot planetarium is one of the original facilities included in the construction of our campus in 1967. With seating for ~ 50 students, the planetarium is used for astronomy lecture and lab classes, campus school visits, and shared with other disciplines as a powerful audio-visual space.
 

The original facility was equipped with a Spitz A3-P opto-mechanical planetarium projector, installed and maintained largely through the significant efforts of Dr. Billy Smith, along with Dr. Larry Toy, both faculty emeriti of Chabot. Scott Hildreth joined the faculty in 1989, and along with Dr. Smith, oversaw the installation of even more advanced AV switching systems and one of its first webservers, providing Chabot College with one of its most powerful education venues, and leading to the creation of one of Chabot College's - and of the California Community College system's - first fully online class in 1995. With additional funds generously provided by local taxpayers through the Measure B Bond funds, Chabot's planetarium was upgraded in 2007-2008 to include a new Spitz SciDome 1200 digital projector system, and even more flexible AV switching capabilities.  We were able to upgrade the projector again in 2020 with Measure A Bond funds, installing an even more capable Spitz SciDome IQ-2400.

A Wonderful Video 
One of Chabot's Television Production Program students, Donald Wright, created a YouTube video in 2023 about the planetarium: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6vYaK99Ykmo . 


Our Role
Today Chabot's Planetarium is used year-round for classes and special events. More than 500 students enjoy the facility each year, along with numerous visitors. Although the College originally was able to provide support for faculty to host local schools and the public as part of the planetarium's mission, that funding was lost in budget squeezes in the early 1990's. We still try to host free public shows at least once or twice a year, and support local schools whenever possible.