Bronx Science Has a Planetarium on the Roof, and a Student Runs It

You can contemplate distances that break the human mind and still need to know which staircase.

The student paper, The Science Survey, described the room in 2023: dimmed lights, hushed whispers, shoes scuffing under narrow desks, a projector humming, and then the ceiling going from dark blue to gray to black, full of stars. The writer called it the most magical room in the building. She was also co-president of the Astronomy Club, so she was, by her own account, a little biased.

The club takes students from ninth through twelfth grade. Older members partner with younger ones and sometimes lead the presentations.

In March 2023 the paper profiled a senior who was the club's planetarium director. The job meant monthly trips to the planetarium for members and tours at events like open houses. His interest started in grade school, where each class got to visit an inflatable planetarium once a year. "That's what I looked forward to the most in school," he said.

The once-a-year inflatable planetarium. Then, a few years later, the job of running a real one. That is a straight line, which is rare in a childhood.

He was also co-captain of the swim team, which had won the city championship the year before, and a member of the debate team. Somewhere in there, he showed visitors the universe.

There is no title in our house as good as planetarium director. The closest is the middle one, who has an app on his phone that identifies the stars when you hold it up to the sky. On clear nights he stands on the back steps and holds it up and announces what everything is. Last week he identified a satellite, two planets and, with great confidence, an airplane.

The youngest asked if he was in charge of the sky. He said yes. She asked him to turn on more stars. He held up the phone, waited for a long time, and said the sky was loading.