Cosmic Castaways, a planetarium show created and produced at Youngstown State University, was first released in May, but John Feldmeier, an associate professor of physics and astronomy, is already raising money for another film.

On Thursday, Feldmeier and his colleagues will play host to past donors, including faculty; staff; supporters of the YSU College of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics; and local amateur astronomers.

The event consists of a reception in Maag Library, followed by speeches and a prescreening of Cosmic Castaways in the Ward Beecher Hall planetarium before the films official release on Friday.

Cosmic Castaways focuses on research by YSU astronomy professors on stars between galaxies; it was a national collaboration between YSU, Case Western Reserve University and Southern Illinois University Edwardsville.

Curtis Spivey and Annie Wilson, who both work in the planetarium, edited and improved the show. Feldmeier said about one-third of the show is new or improved from the original rough draft.

There were some scenes that we just kind of used as a placeholder, Spivey said.

They made the scenes more stunning and internally consistent, and also improved opening and closing scenes.

The fundraiser will be accented by a new lighting system in the YSU planetarium.

All the money raised will be used to fund the next planetarium show Feldmeier and his team hope to create.

The team who worked on Cosmic Castaways is tossing around three ideas for the next show. They are considering producing a show about asteroids, distant galaxies or John Wheeler, a world-renowned physicist who hailed from Youngstown and coined the term black hole.

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Astronomy professor looks to the stars