The John C. Wells Planetarium is located on the campus of James Madison University in Harrisonburg, Virginia. The planetarium first opened at JMU in 1956 under the direction of Dr. John C. Wells, head of the Physics Department. The facility was then moved to Miller Hall and renovated in 1975, later named in honor of Wells on the occasion of his retirement in 1980.[1]
The planetarium seats 72 individuals within a 30-ft dome. It features a GOTO Chronos star projector together with Evans & Sutherland Digistar 5 digital projectors.[2] The John C. Wells Planetarium also employs students enrolled at James Madison University to operate the system and host shows to the public.
In the early years of the Miller Hall Planetarium, not yet named after John Wells, all laboratories in the General Studies astronomy course met in the planetarium as well as other astronomy classes such as "Controversies in Astronomy" and "Planetary Astronomy".[1] As the planetarium grew older, it began scheduling astronomy instruction for off-campus groups. It also hosts regular public shows and special events such as Starry Nights Harrisonburg, Space Explorers Camp, and Bad Science Movie Nights.[3]