BATON ROUGE, LA.- The Louisiana Art & Science Museum has opened Pinpointing the Stars in the Universe Gallery, featuring works from the permanent collection that highlight the planetarium’s history, the timeline of its development, and its focus on the stars. Pinpointing the Stars will be available to public through August 2024.

Pinpointing the Stars also features the star plates that were part of the Zeiss Model IV projector, used in the LASM planetarium between 1964-1985. That projector is on display downstairs in the Solar System Gallery along with the #21 Aquarius Star Plate.

LASM Interim Curator Tracey Barhorst used this exhibition to further her knowledge of the LASM, after being with the museum for only a few months. “Researching the history of LASM’s planetarium for our new exhibition Pinpointing the Stars was a terrific way to begin as curator,” states Barhorst. “I learned so much about the history of the museum and the planetarium, and I also gained knowledge and insight about the people who were instrumental in its founding.”

This exhibition reminds viewers that the LASM Irene W. Pennington Planetarium has been for decades a place where visitors can learn about the seasonal night sky and current celestial events, explore our solar system, and travel through the Milky Way and beyond to see the universe as never before, and it will continue to evolve and change with advances in technology and new scientific discoveries. It highlights the 20-year anniversary of the Planetarium that we will celebrate in 2023, and it will be on display until August of 2024.

“LASM is home to the largest and most technologically advanced planetarium in the state of Louisiana, and among the largest planetariums located in the southeastern United States,” states LASM President & Executive Director, Serena Pandos. “We are so excited to celebrate the twentieth anniversary of this ‘gem’ of Baton Rouge next year!”

The Louisiana Art & Science Museum's annual exhibition program, including the presentation of Pinpointing the Stars, is generously sponsored by Entergy.