John C. Wells Planetarium

The John C. Wells Planetarium is located in Harrisonburg, Virginia at James Madison University and is a $2 million, state-of-the-art hybrid facility. It hosts both an Evans & Sutherland Digistar 5, an ultra-high resolution digital projection system, and a Goto Chronos opto-mechanical star projector that provides visitors with a superior and realistic night sky.Full dome movies are open to the public throughout the year, alongside a star talk in which the two systems work together to project the multi-wavelength universe on the dome as well as an authentic night sky for any location on the Earth’s surface, displaying the stars, planets and constellations seasonally. The John C. Wells Planetarium also employs students enrolled at James Madison University to operate the system and host shows to the public.HistoryTimelineLate 1940's: James Madison University, then Madison College, purchased its first planetarium to be installed in the attic of Burruss Hall1956: Planetarium first installed on JMU’s campus by Dr. John C. Wells (Professor in the James Madison University Physics Department (1947–1979), Physics Department Head (1955–1974), and Planetarium Curator (1950–1979)) in the attic of Burruss Hall during the fall semester. The cost of the installation was $500 for the Spitz Model A star projector, and about $850 for the 20-ft fabric dome. Dr. John Wells built the console at the cost of approximately $100. Usage mainly for school groups and college classes.1975: Moved to Miller Hall, where it is still currently located. A Goto II star projector replaced the obsolete equipment in Burruss, manufactured in Japan and installed at a cost of $47,000 by Planetariums Unlimited, a branch of Viewlex Audio-Visual, Inc. The cost of $47,000 was considerably lower than the other two bids offered by Minolta and Spitz because Viewlex was preparing to cease marketing GOTO planetarium projectors in the country. Spitz is now the U.S. GOTO representative. The old Spitz Model A, the dome, and console were given to the Augusta County School Division in hopes that it would be installed at the county educational center at Fishersville, VA.