Spooky stories at Scare-olina Skies teach the community about stars and constellations

Children, parents and UNC students alike learned about stars and constellations during Scare-olina Skies on Sunday. 

Scare-olina Skies, the Halloween-themed version of the Morehead Planetarium and Science Center’s live star show, offered showings geared toward adults and teens on Friday night, as well as a family showing on Sunday. Carolina Skies, the traditional live star show, features a simulated projection of the night sky on the dome of the Planetarium, while cultural star stories are told. For the Halloween version, they added a spooky twist. 

Amy Sayle, astronomy educator at Morehead, said the planetarium has special editions of Carolina Skies a few times during the year. She said she enjoys doing the themed shows because the organization of the material encourages better audience engagement. 

“I focus more on the storytelling than I might otherwise," Sayle said. "I’ve picked out two stories from different places in the world that, I don’t think they’re going to really scare anybody, but I picked them because they have a little more murder and mayhem than your average cultural star story. And what’s really great is that one of them involves all of the major fall constellations."

Sunday's family show consisted of stories based on Ancient Greek and Native Kiowa traditions, while the adults and teens show on Friday included the “slightly racier version” of the same myths, and the creepier Arikara tale involving mass slaughter, Sayle said. Both showings included a virtual tour through the universe. 

Sayle said she enjoys the adults and teens showing because she can have more fun with storytelling. 

“There were a number of college students there, and I love having UNC students in the audience,” Sayle said. “They bring good enthusiasm, and just willingness to sit and learn. I mean, you’ve got to love a crowd that chooses to celebrate Halloween by going to a science center.” 

Senior Molly Irwin brought her friend to the family version of Scare-olina Skies after attending a Carolina Skies show over the summer. She said she enjoyed both showings, but thought the telling of spookier stories at the Halloween edition was a unique approach. 

“It’s kind of entertaining because they definitely approach the stories in a way that’s kind of fun and more interactive, but it’s also educational because these stories are part of a lot of cultures that are historically important,” Irwin said. “My favorite part is where they go out into the galaxy and show you how small you are – it’s kind of mind-blowing to think about how our place is so tiny compared to the whole realm of experience.” 

Raleigh resident Heidi Hobler brought her daughter’s Girl Scout troop to the event as a fun way to celebrate Halloween. Hobler, her daughter and another Girl Scout agreed that their favorite part of the show was the stories Sayle told about the constellations. 

“Overall, I thought it was really interesting,” Hobler said. “I didn’t know a lot about all the constellations and moving and whatnot, and I thought she did a really nice job storytelling as well.” 

Sayle said the cultural star stories help people make emotional connections to nature, allowing them to engage with what they’ve learned at the planetarium after leaving. 

“My goal in general when people come to live star shows is for them to actually connect with the real sky – to inspire them to go out later and look at the real thing, and maybe try to find some things they learned about,” Sayle said. “I try to encourage a little bit of interaction between the families – trying to foster an environment for people to learn together about nature, the night sky and astronomy.”

university@dailytarheel.com