A new planetarium show called “Comets and Discovery: A Sky Hunter’s Quest” will play at the CHS planetarium on Dec. 6, according to Keith Turner, planetarium director and science teacher. The show will begin at 7 p.m. and run for about 45 minutes. Tickets are available at the CHS bookstore and will cost $4 for adults and $2 for seniors, children and CHS students. The show, according to Turner, will use new equipment supplied by a Carmel Education Foundation grant, including multi-screen software to control three new high-definition screens. Turner said this new equipment will enhance the quality of the new planetarium show.

“When you see the high-definition, everything’s a lot clearer,” Turner said. “It looks a lot better, and you can see a lot more details. The colors and contrast is much better, and it’s much sharper. It makes it seem like you’re actually out watching the stars, like you are actually in space.”

Celeste Cozzarelli, Astronomy club vice-president and senior, said she will attend the show and sell tickets. Cozzarelli said she, like Turner, thinks the new equipment will make the show a whole new experience for viewers.

“With the new equipment, the audience will definitely feel more of the night sky, planetarium experience,” said Cozzarelli. “It makes it seem more like you’re really in space.”

According to Turner, the new equipment will allow audience members to see how to find comet ISON, the inspiration for the show, more effectively. Turner said the comet will be visible from Earth from the end of November to the beginning of January and may be extremely bright.

“We show the audience how to find comet ISON,” Turner said. “It could be really bright, the brightest comet we’ll see for years, but we don’t know for sure.”

Turner said comet ISON’s possible brightness is not the only factor that makes it stand out.

“It’s going really fast, over a million miles per hour,” Turner said. “It’s going so fast that its momentum will shoot it right out of the solar system after it gets around the sun. It’s pretty cool just how fast these astronomical objects can go when compared to like a car going maybe 60 miles per hour on Earth. ISON also has a parabolic orbit and its trajectory will send it straight out of the solar system.”

Yanying Chen, Astronomy club president and senior, also said she will be attending and helping out with ticket sales. According to Chen, learning about comets and astronomy in general will affect the way students see the world.

“I hope students leave the show with more of an interest in the world that we live in and the tech world,” Chen said. “Sometimes I think we need to take a step outside and look up at the sky, so we can learn more about the universe and the world around us. We just need to stop and see what’s out there cause’ sometimes there are really beautiful things that we don’t notice until we actually make an effort to go out and see them. My hope is that students can take this into mind after the show and just be able to see the universe in a new light.”