Archives: Planetarium Programs

VAST: A Cosmic Journey through Space and Time

Space is unimaginably vast and incredibly beautiful. Thanks to our curiosity and quest for knowledge, we humans have been driven to explore space and learn more about the universe. There is still incredibly much left to explore. Join us on the journey, starting on Earth, venturing out in our solar system, and journeying all the […]

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Bébé Symphonique

Bébé Symphonique is an experience that draws on the richness and power of orchestral music to create special moments of connection between babies and their parents, while promoting infant neurological development.  Consisting of seven instrumental pieces to soothe and stimulate young children, Bébé Symphonique is a wonderful way for parents to connect with their children and relaxing classical […]

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God, Science, and Our Search for Meaning

Since the dawn of humanity, we have looked up to the skies in search of meaning. Even today, the mysteries of the cosmos inspire many of our most profound questions: Who are we? Why are we here?  How did all of this come to be?  God, Science, and Our Search for Meaning explores our oldest questions, offers exciting new possibilities, […]

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SPARK: The Universe in Us

From the oxygen we breathe to the uranium that warms our planet’s core, we owe everything to the stars. SPARK: The Universe in Us is about our deep connection not just to Earth, but to stars millions of light years away—and billions of years in the past. Discover the celestial origins of the elements we […]

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Global Soundscapes

Listen…can you hear that? It’s the sound of the Earth!  Take a sound safari to explore the health of our planet. Travel the globe to investigate the spectacular soundscapes of Costa Rica’s rainforests, Hawaii’s coral reefs, and Mongolia’s vast grasslands. Learn how animals use sounds to survive and communicate.  Experience sound in new ways through interactive […]

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Chemistry of Life: The Invisible Inside

Sometimes it’s the smallest things that matter the most. Join us on a journey into a seemingly invisible world – the world of molecules and nanoparticles. What does the cell structure of a leaf look like? What might the neural network in our brain be like and how do cells communicate with each other? Modern scientific […]

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The Stellars: Mission Green

Imani, Aki, and John are three friends from an alien solar system. While on a space exploration mission, something routine for their tribe, they distractedly neglect their onboard “chores,” leading their ship to crash on an unknown planet – Earth. The accident damages the life-support system that sustains the cherished forest they keep onboard, which […]

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Supermassive Black Holes

Explore the amazing environments of the strangest objects in our universe – Supermassive Black Holes! Leading observational and theoretical astronomers share the latest state-of-the-art observations and stunning computer simulations to shed light on the physics of black hole formation in the context of galaxy evolution. Travel inside a black hole, see how they shape galaxies […]

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The Arctic

The Arctic: Our Last Great Wilderness

Vast. Wild. Magical. The Arctic is not just one of the planet’s greatest natural spectacles, it’s a place with global ecological importance that has supported Indigenous communities and diverse ecosystems for generations. Follow the elusive Porcupine caribou herd as it migrates to the Arctic Coastal Plain, one of the longest animal migrations on Earth. Meet […]

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Total Eclipse: Chasers of the Lost Sleep

Kentucky, a sleepless hen, and star of social networks, finds out that animals fall asleep during total eclipses. With the help of her robot J.O.S., she travels through space-time in search of the perfect total solar eclipse, in the hope of finding sleep at last. On her journey, she discovers the conditions that make eclipses […]

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Moonbase: The Next Step

From the moment mankind first set foot on the Moon in 1969 we have dreamed of making a base there. In the next 10 years humans will return to the Moon with the Artemis missions and develop a sustained, strategic presence near the lunar South Pole. The Moon will become our first ‘staging post’ from […]

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5000 Eyes: Mapping the Universe with DESI

The Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (DESI) is creating the most detailed map of our nearby universe. Installed at Kitt Peak in Arizona, DESI’s 5000 independently operated robots can measure the light from thousands of galaxies at once. Dive into modern cosmology, and the scientific motivation for building a large map of galaxies. Join us as […]

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One Sky

One Sky is a collection of sky cultures around the world. It recognizes that all people around the globe share strong connections to the stars for navigation, time keeping, agriculture and storytelling.  As active exploration of our universe continues today, we honor the cultures who first looked up and dreamed about our place in the […]

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The Christmas Star

Over the years numerous people have tried to explain the appearance of the Star of Bethlehem, as described in the Bible and other historical texts of the time. What was the Christmas Star? Could it be explained as an exploding star, a comet or some other natural celestial phenomena?  Explore a variety of scientific explanations for the Star of Bethlehem in this […]

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Climate Change in Our Backyard

As humans develop a much larger picture about our Earth as a whole, we are beginning to see it as a complex, interconnected, remarkable world, and one that people have impacted directly. Explore the role of carbon dioxide in our atmosphere, the natural temperature variations that the Earth has experienced over millions of years, and […]

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Secrets of the Universe

Travel with scientist Manuel Calderon De La Barca Sanchez as he journeys to the largest machine ever built, the greatest scientific instrument ever created, the Large Hadron Collider (LHC). There, he joins a global team working to uncover another amazing breakthrough in this new world of technology-driven physics. We get an inside look at the […]

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Stargazers of Africa

From the dawn of time, African people have looked to the skies above for inspiration and guidance. Stargazers of Africa is a journey connecting the stars, Moon and planets to the people across this great continent—from long ago to the stargazers of today. Experience African tales from the Yoruba people and a Nigerian story about […]

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Unveiling the Invisible Universe

For tens of thousands of years humans have used their eyes to see light coming from the night sky. Today we use scientific instruments to observe the invisible Universe all around us. At the beginning of the 17th century, the invention of the astronomical telescope by Galileo revolutionized our knowledge of the Universe. In the […]

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Legends of the Northern Sky

For thousands of years, humanity has gazed up at the stars in wonder, searching for truth, understanding, and insight. Embark on a journey with the Indigenous peoples of the western plains of Canada and share in their wisdom conveyed by the stars. Alongside Ocek, the fisher, and his band of animal friends, audiences take an […]

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3-2-1 Liftoff!

Elon the hamster loves science and doing experiments!  One day Elon hears a crash. In his garden, he finds a crater with a damaged robot named 8 of 12 inside. How did it get here? Elon fixes the robot and finds out that it fell from a spaceship. Does Elon have the courage and wits […]

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Star Dreaming

Explore the mysteries of the universe with Max and Lucia as they travel deep into the Australian Outback to visit the site of the world’s largest radio telescope and the planet’s oldest living culture. Discover the SKA (Square Kilometer Array) radio telescope and the questions it hopes to answer.  Enter the Ancient land of the […]

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Living Worlds

Earth is a planet shaped by life. From the forests that help stabilize our climate, to the winds carrying life-sustaining water and oxygen to far-flung parts of the globe, the fingerprints of life are visible even from many light years away. Journey through space and time to examine life as an essential quality of our […]

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Rising Star: A South African Astronomy Journey

Take an astronomical journey from our beginnings through the development of astronomy research in South Africa, and discover what the future of astronomy holds for the country. Dive into multi-wavelength and multi-messenger astronomy with the many remarkable facilities such as Southern African Large Telescope (SALT) and the most powerful radio telescope in the Southern Hemisphere, […]

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Worlds of Ice

Journey to the farthest reaches of the solar system, traveling through the dimensions of ice from the remote territories of the arctic, to a scientific complex nested under the South Pole. Experience it all immersed in a kaleidoscopic igloo, be dazzled by the icy wonderland of the arctic, and explores the relationship between humans and […]

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Forward to the Moon

Forward to the Moon engages audiences in NASA efforts to send both humans and robots to the Moon and Mars. NASA’s 21st century Artemis program, named after the Greek moon Goddess and twin of Apollo, is the next step in our mission to explore the universe and land the first woman on the surface of the Moon. Jessica […]

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Worlds Beyond Earth

Take an exhilarating journey to the worlds that orbit our Sun and the unique conditions that make life on our planet Earth possible. Celebrate the extraordinary Age of Exploration carried out by robotic explorers, over the past 50 years with imagery from NASA, European Space Agency (ESA), and Japan Aerospace Exploration (JAXA) missions.  Audiences will […]

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We Are Guardians

Join us on a journey into, under, and around the many ecosystems across our planet. Discover how each component fits together, and how the health of each part is vital to the health of Planet Earth. Discover how, with the help of satellites and scientific study, we can understand the links between human activities and […]

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The Dark Matter Mystery: Exploring a Cosmic Secret

What keeps Galaxies together? What are the building blocks of the Universe? What makes the Universe look the way it looks today? Researchers all around the world try to answer these questions. We know today that approximately a quarter of the Universe is filled with a mysterious glue: Dark Matter. We know that it is […]

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Tycho to the Moon

Meet Tycho, a dog who doesn’t just howl at the Moon, but wants to go there. Blast off on an amazing ride into space with Tycho and his human friends, Ruby and Michael. Learn about day and night, space travel, the phases of the Moon and features of the lunar surface. Get a close-up look […]

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Cosmic Mashups

What do you see when you look up into the night sky? Stars. Planets. The Milky Way galaxy. They’re all up there and have been enthralling humankind for our entire existence. But there is more to the night sky that we can’t see. Uncover the awe of imploding stars, galactic collisions and the monstrous blackholes found […]

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Black Hole First Picture

Black Hole – First Picture

Black Hole First Picture features the human attempt to create the very first picture of a black hole with the Event Horizon Telescope – a network of 8 Radio telescopes at  remote locations in the world ranging from Europe, North and South America, Hawaii to Antarctica. For years, the Event Horizon Telescope has been staring into […]

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Mars: The Ultimate Voyage

Ever wondered what it will take for astronauts to travel to the Moon, Mars and beyond? On this long journey, what challenges will astronauts face? How will they stay motivated and healthy on their spacecraft so far away from Earth?  Discover how NASA research and training initiatives are preparing the next generation of astronauts who will […]

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ECLIPSE: The Moments of Wonder

Join us for an immersive view of eclipses, the most spectacular sights in the sky! Explore the nature of these special celestial alignments and get prepared to safely observe them.  Experience the awe and wonder with stunning images of both solar and lunar eclipses captured by a world-renowned astro-photographer from locations around the globe.   The […]

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Solar Superstorms

A fury is building on the surface of the Sun – high-velocity jets, a fiery tsunami wave that reaches 100,000 kilometers high, rising loops of electrified gas. What’s driving these strange phenomena? How will they affect planet Earth? Find the answers as we venture into the seething interior of our star. Travel into the tangle […]

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Expedition Reef

Explore the secrets of the “rainforests of the sea” and embark on an oceanic safari to the world’s most vibrant and endangered marine ecosystems – coral reefs.  Discover how corals grow, feed, reproduce, and support over 25% of all marine life on Earth — while facing unprecedented threats from climate change, habitat destruction, and overfishing.  […]

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Faster Than Light 16x9

Faster Than Light

The impulse to strike out into the unknown, to see what’s over the horizon… is as old as humanity. Today, a whole new horizon beckons.  Astronomers are racing to find habitable worlds, including any that might exist in the neighborhood of our Sun. But if we find one, how will we ever get there? How […]

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Habitat Earth

Living networks connect and support life forms large and small—from colonies of tiny microbes and populations of massive whales to ever-expanding human societies. Discover what it means to live in today’s connected world in Habitat Earth. Through stunning visualizations of the natural world, dive below the ocean’s surface to explore the dynamic relationships found in […]

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Mexica Archaeoastronomy: Between Space and Time

Through impressive immersive scenarios, Mexica Archaeoastronomy: Between Space and Time illustrates the important role played by astronomical observation for the evolution of pre-Hispanic cultures in central Mexico. The Mexicas used the calendrical and astronomical knowledge inherited by their predecessor cultures to found the capital of their empire: Tenochtitlan. Vibrant colors, shapes and sounds transport the viewer […]

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Incoming!

Asteroids and comets have collided with our planet throughout its history, changing the course of life on Earth and shaping the world we know today. Real-time data from current NASA missions help audiences explore the past, present, and future of our Solar System. Take a journey through the dynamic story of our cosmic origins. Discover […]

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Lucia: The Secret of Shooting Stars

Vladimir, a polar bear and James, a penguin, travel into space aboard the Polaris to study polar auroras.  Hit by a meteorite, they crash at the foot of a pre-Columbian pyramid and meet Lucia, a hummingbird who is passionate about rocks. She tells them about a legend evoking “stones of light”.  Meteorites, shooting stars, these […]

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Space Aliens: Looking for Life in the Universe

One of the oldest question’s humans have asked since looking at the sky has been if life exists beyond our planet.  Follow cosmic clues from the ocean floor to a journey across the galaxy!  What might extremophiles here on Earth tell us about the ability of life to thrive in other locations in our universe?   […]

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Spooky Space

Looking for cosmic fun this Halloween season? Would you like to meet the spectacular stars of Halloween? Monsters, zombies, and ghosts — and their far more terrible counterparts in space? Oh yes, space has its monsters: Black holes, zombie stars, and spectacular ghostly nebulae!  Explore these “spooky” wonders of the night sky here at the planetarium. Learn about […]

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Einstein’s Gravity Playlist

What are gravitational waves?  How are these ripples in space-time created?  Albert Einstein predicted there existence in 1916, and a century later, scientists detected these waves using incredibly precise laser technology here on Earth.  See the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO) and Lucia, a PhD student in physics, on an exploration of gravitational waves and […]

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Áróra: Tales of the Northern Lights

An immersive fulldome experience about the exquisite beauty of Auroras. Take a journey across time and space to understand the science behind the phenomena and to experience the stories of our ancestors. Guided by the lullaby of the Dawn Goddess, this cinematic adventure invites the audience to join the dance of these eerie lights over […]

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We Are Stars

What are we made of? Where did it all come from? Explore the secrets of our cosmic chemistry, and our explosive origins. Connect life on Earth to the evolution of the Universe by following the formation of Hydrogen atoms to the synthesis of carbon, and the molecules for life. Explore the lives and deaths of […]

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The Secrets of Gravity

Luke is interested in the universe and its secrets. He is fascinated by the stars, the universe, and the laws of nature. One night, he sneaks into the Albert Einstein Museum where he meets ALBYX3, a small, clever but rather quirky robot who knows all about Albert Einstein and his theories. ALBY takes Luke on a […]

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From Dream to Discovery

Join NASA’s engineers as they design, test, and launch today’s hottest missions into space. Witness the enormity of the new James Webb Space Telescope, the intensity of Goddard Space Flight Center’s testing facilities, and the excitement of the New Horizons mission to Pluto. From blueprint to blastoff, experience how robotic space flight is pushing the […]

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Big Astronomy – People, Places, and Discoveries!

Big Astronomy – People, Places, and Discoveries!  will take audiences to cutting-edge telescopes in the remote mountains of Chile and introduce the people who make sure these instruments operate day and night, unlocking the secrets of the universe.  Explore ALMA, VLT, and the new Vera Rubin Observatory (formerly LSST) and how these incredible facilities are changing […]

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EXO: Are We Alone?

Humankind has always sought to understand the mysteries of the Universe and speculated about the possibility of extraterrestrial life. Today we know of thousands of exoplanets — planets located outside our Solar System — that offer valuable information about our own planet, its origins and life on Earth. We’re on the cusp of making some […]

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Into the Polar Night

Take an epic expedition to the Artic Ocean to discover the importance ice for planet Earth!  The Arctic sea ice groans and creaks as a massive icebreaker slowly churns through. Scientists on an ice flow call out to each other in the dark as a chainsaw cuts through the ice, exposing open ocean below.  Journey with […]

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The Sun – Our Living Star

The Sun has shone on our world for four and a half billion years. The light that warms our skin today has been felt by every person who has ever lived. It is our nearest star and our planet’s powerhouse, the source of the energy that drives our winds, our weather and all life. The […]

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Magic Globe: A Story of the Seasons

On vacation at her grandpa’s, a little girl Mia accidentally discovers a mysterious piece of astronomical machinery. Edek, Mia’s eccentric uncle, tricks the girl into using the tool’s secret powers to change the world’s seasons. She quickly realizes the consequences of what they are going to do, but Edek doesn’t want to let the plan […]

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Natural Selection

Join the young Charles Darwin on an adventurous voyage of exploration circumnavigating the World with the HMS Beagle. In the 19th century in Victorian times many physical phenomena were already discovered and described by natural laws, but life’s most eloquent mechanism was still unknown: How could new species arise to replace those lost in extinction? […]

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Phantom of the Universe

From the journey of protons racing through the world’s largest particle collider to up-close views of the Big Bang and emergent universe, and the nearly mile-deep descent to an underground experiment, Phantom of the Universe immerses audiences in the search for dark matter. Explore this mysterious matter and how we are using discoveries at the Large Hadron Collider […]

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Mayan Archaeoastronomy: Observers of the Universe

The night is an eye, both dark and bright!  It forces us to look up and ask ourselves questions about our place in the Cosmos, our origins, and what is beyond the horizon.  Using spectacular visuals and stunning sound, audiences tour six ancient Mayan temples: San Gervasio, Chichen Itzá, Uxmal, Edzna, Palenque, and Bonampak. Along […]

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Cosmic Recipe

The famous astronomer Carl Sagan once said: “If you wish to make an apple pie from scratch, you must first invent the universe.”  Though that may sound crazy, Sagan was onto something BIG! Want to know what? Pull up a chair at our Planetarium’s Periodic Table and learn the cosmic recipes that created everything in our […]

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First Stargazers

Journey back in time to explore how the first stargazers experienced the sky above. Your guide is Nashira, a friendly time traveler who has visited Earth many times before.  Witness the very first stargazer making a Moon calendar out of animal bone 30,000 years ago. Discover the ancient pyramids of Giza and their alignment to […]

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Halloween: Celestial Origins

Vampires, Witches, Goblins, and other spooky creatures!  What do you associate with Halloween? Trick-or-Treating, costumes, or something more…  Be it ghoulish or ghostly, Halloween is an astronomical holiday!  Experience the history of Halloween and how it fits into the seasons as a “cross-quarter day.”  From Celtic roots around the harvest and bonfires to modern celebrations, […]

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Explore!

Mars… For centuries it’s been an object of human fascination. Once mysterious, soon this red world may become our new home. This became possible due to daring individuals like Johannes Kepler: fascinated with the world, striving toward discovery and embracing challenges it may bring. It is our duty to continue their work… Explore, Dream Discover.  […]

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Cell! Cell! Cell!

You are made of 70 trillion living cells. They work. They talk. They think. They are what make you alive. This is the story of the trillions of cells that form our bodies, from our beginnings as a single cell to the complexity of a whole body: it’s the story of who we are. Join […]

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