Every weekend, The Edelman Planetarium fills up with people. The small room starts off dark and quiet and the chairs lean back, keeping the audience focused on the rounded ceiling. Suddenly, colors begin dancing across the ceiling, forming all sorts of shapes and imagery.

The planetarium is not only used for astronomy and education. Recently, the room has been lighting up with 2-D shapes set to Pink Floyd music, for a show titled  “Laser Floyd: The Wall.”

All of the shapes are created out of a single laser line. This line creates objects ranging from brick walls to airplanes to human faces. Not only are recognizable shapes replicated, but the lasers also display intricate pulsating shapes that spin all around.

“The past few years, the projector has been broken, so we haven’t done shows like this in a few years,” explained senior physics major Benjamin West.

West ran the show this past Friday and noted Rowan’s new state-of-the-art projection system from Laser Fantasy.

“Now we have shows like this every weekend,” West said.

The projector used for the Pink Floyd show differs from the one used for typical astronomy shows.

The one for Pink Floyd uses only single beams of light to create images on the screen and sits in the back of the room, up high. The astronomy projector sits in the middle of the floor and is more closely related to a movie projector.

The planetarium shows are yet another unique way of showcasing the advanced technology Rowan is continually acquiring for education, as well as entertainment.

“The show was a great thing to do on campus,” said Cassie Presto, a sophomore at Brookdale Community College. “My friends and I didn’t feel like driving too far to do something to kill a little time, so this was really interesting and I can’t wait to see what they do next.”

There was not a single dull moment during the hour-long show. The music was constant, along with the multicolored lasers.

At first, there were only primary colors. Then, the colors began to change into every color on the spectrum. At one point, the lines formed into the outline of a fire, going from bright reds at the bottom up to an intense yellow. The fire started out slowly and finally took up the whole screen.

Sophomore political science major Liam Rogers enjoyed the show and its unique setting.

“It’s really cool because it’s in a planetarium,” he said. “I didn’t know Rowan had this stuff until recently. I would definitely do this again.” 

“Laser Floyd: The Wall” costs $3 with a Rowan ID. Additionally, “Laser Michael Jackson” is currently showing.