- Welcome! -
Our Story -
On October 23, 2021, the Kennedy Middle School planetarium was officially opened for the first time. The opening included a dedication ceremony with ribbon cutting, featuring guest of honor Edward Jameson, for whom the planetarium is named.
Mr. Jameson was a former Natick High School teacher who retired in 2001 after 35 years teaching. He was a popular science teacher who specialized in physics and astronomy and was known for driving a wooden car. His astronomy classes were taken by 100s of students over the years. He also had a knack for incorporating literature and popular culture with astronomy in his classes. He even would open up the planetarium for a yearly spring theater in the round by the Natick High School drama club, as well as yearly performances of “Our Town” by the humanities classes.
Mr. Jameson enjoyed learning about astronomy at an early age. So, it was no surprise that he was given the task of running the planetarium at Natick High School - the second of three planetariums to exist in the public schools. Using one of the original projector systems from the Boston Museum of Science, the Natick High School planetarium became a popular field trip destination. With the help of high school students, called planetarium aides, Mr. Jameson used to put on yearly shows for fourth and fifth graders in Natick and surrounding communities. His shows included “Mythology and Astronomy,” “The Night Sky,” and “Seasons of the Year.” The shows would often end with a special slide seen crossing the nighttime sky projected on the dome such as the ever popular alien waving from a flying saucer.
Mr. Jameson continues to pursue his interests in astronomy to this day. He has worked with the Museum of Science and Broadmoor Wildlife Sanctuary on astronomy programs. And, as an expert photographer and an amateur scuba diver, he even led an expedition scuba diving during a solar eclipse.
Our vision is to ensure all of the Natick School community is able to enjoy the Planetarium and learn about Astronomy, the study of everything in the universe beyond Earth's atmosphere. That includes objects we can see with our naked eyes, like the Sun, the Moon, the planets, and the stars . It also includes objects we can only see with telescopes or other instruments, like faraway galaxies and tiny particles.
UPCOMING EVENTS
About the Planetarium -
The planetarium at Kennedy Middle School utilizes the EMERALD™ FIXED planetarium projection systems. These systems are created for a variety of planetarium domes including our fixed dome projection system. The system utilizes a Laser Phosphor planetarium projection system to project stars and images to audiences. According to Emerald Planetarium, the company that installed the project, “This apparatus captures and uses sharp detailed images of the space and sky, while sending the live deep space data directly into the planetarium dome….EMERALD™-FIXED planetarium Laser projection systems display high-resolution imagery to fit the dome's geometry; presenting bright, colorful & sharp content. The result fills the dome with stunning images for a truly immersive experience.”
The system allows us to project stars of the nighttime sky from any location in the United States. We can travel backward in time or forward in time to see how constellation patterns change. We can see the constellations enjoyed by other cultures. We can also watch movies on the planetarium dome as well, including a series of movies included as part of the projector package. These movies are updated yearly.
This system is designed for educational and entertainment purposes, and is used throughout the world. You can find Emerald Projectors in schools, colleges, and universities worldwide. We continue to find new uses for it at Kennedy Middle School, where most of the students in our building have had a chance to experience it.
