Down in Flagstaff, Arizona, the Lowell Observatory stands as a working monument to the power of a well-constructed telescope. On many weekends, long lines of star gazers stand in 1-2 hour long lines waiting for a chance to look through a telescope in the observatory where former planet (now dwarf planet) Pluto was discovered.
Well . . . the College of Southern Nevada's observatory is not that observatory. It's much smaller. And the planetarium is much smaller. That said, we all know that we sacrifice some things to live in Las Vegas. One of those appears to be a spacious planetarium and strong academic interest in astronomy.
But I don't fault the CSN planetarium for that. In fact, it's a really nice place to have in a public-funding strapped state like Nevada. They offer some great programs on how to identify stars and seasonal programs discussing special events in the stars. It's a good educational early evening event for families. And, an underrated and imaginative idea for the beginning to a date night.
And if you head there on a clear night, the observatory may offer you the chance to look at a planet through one of their larger telescopes (well, larger for Vegas).