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Bellevue College is home to the Willard Geer Planetarium. William Geer moved to Bellevue in 1968, when BCC was just starting out, and found out that the planetarium had no instruments, so he tried to solve this issue. Friends of the Planetarium distributed posters to elementary students around the area, hoping to collect one dollar from each family. This was accomplished by Geer and his friend Lois Watson, but more money was needed. So Ed Wells, anonymously donated the rest of the money.

The planetarium has had a few upgrades over the years to different systems, the last one was done in 2007. Now, in 2024, we are upgrading to a new system once again, thanks to the support of the BC Foundation, that has donated the difference we needed to move on with this change and keep this historic place up and running.

Astronomy is the study of the Universe and objects in space. It deals with the nature and behavior of stars, planets, moons, nebulae, galaxies and more. It is among the oldest of sciences with prehistoric origins. Today it is the source of exciting discoveries ranging from other earth-like planets to massive black holes found on the visible edge of space and time.

Bellevue College’s Astronomy department invites you to experience the wonders of our solar system in our planetarium classroom, which is used on a daily basis. In our planetarium we are able to recreate the clear night sky, which enables students to explore the stars, constellations, planets and even galaxies during class.

Astronomy is one of five sciences that comprise our Earth and Space Sciences Program (the others are Meteorology, Geology, Oceanography, and Environmental Science).

Astronomy website manager: Dana Vukajlovich