The Sky Tonight
An interactive program led by the Astronomy Educator exploring the stars, constellations and planets visible in the sky tonight. Demonstrates daily motion of stars and planets, plus constellation stories. School program begins with apparent daily motion of the Sun and rotation and revolution of the Earth. Program content is geared toward students' grade level. Program length can be varied from 20 - 45 minutes and can be combined with either or both of the other 2 interactive programs.
Planets & their Orbits
An interactive program led by the Astronomy Educator exploring the planets and their orbits around the Sun. Includes facts and images of planets and their moons. School program begins with apparent daily motion of the Sun and rotation and revolution of the Earth. It may also include constellations visible tonight and daily star motion. Program content is geared toward students' grade level. Program length can be varied from 20 - 45 minutes and can be combined with either or both of the other 2 interactive programs. Covers Earth and Space TEKS for grade 3. We usually start with the seven-minute program Introduction to the Solar System; for Juniors. If time allows, we use an updated PowerPoint Presentation showing patrons and students updated photos of all the planets, including dwarf planets Pluto, Ceres and Eris!
Earth-Sun-Moon
An interactive program led by the Astronomy Educator exploring motions of the Earth, Sun and Moon, physical differences between Earth and Moon, plus phases and motion of the Moon. May include hands-on activities to help the students visualize how the Earth-Sun-Moon system moves, plus information on eclipses. School program begins with apparent daily motion of the Sun and rotation and revolution of the Earth. It may also include constellations visible tonight and daily star motion. Program content is geared toward students' grade level. Program length can be varied from 20 - 45 minutes and can be combined with either or both of the other 2 interactive programs. Covers Earth and Space TEKS for grades 4 & 5. If time allows, the last ten minutes of the planetarium show "Sunstruck" will be presented.
Science Night Short Program
Our Short Sky Tonight program is usually used for public events and science nights where the preference is to have people in the dome for no more than 20-30 minutes so that as many people can experience the planetarium as possible. This consists of a live program of about 10 minutes to show the evening sky, with constellations and any visible planets and the moon. This is followed by a short 7-10 minute planetarium show, such as Losing the Dark or Journey to the Center of the Milky Way.
Sunshine
Sunshine is a lovable cartoon sun and he doesn’t care if children get loud or excited: in fact he wants them to look around, raise their hands, sing and play along with his tricks. During the fun and games, the stars of the night sky are revealed and Sunshine explores some simple colours and counting. Self-contained, but a live presenter is recommended to get the audience interacting fully. Produced by NSC Creative. (21 minutes)
Space Shapes
There are many shapes in both the day and night sky. An examination of the Sun, Moon, and Earth will show that many things are round like a ball. However, not all things are round like a ball; some are round and like a pancake!
Within this short program aimed at young children, our narrator introduces his audience to the motions and shapes of objects that make up our Solar System.
Comparisons of these objects with questions like, "Is it round like a ball?" or, "Is it flat like a pancake?" are repeated to help children learn how to observe and group similar and unlike objects. Planetarium adaptation produced by participants of the 2011 Blender Production Workshop. (9 min.)
New Horizons for a Little Planet
This show is a lighthearted introduction to NASA’s New Horizons mission to Pluto and the Kuiper Belt, suitable for children ages 4 and up. Launched in 2006, the New Horizons spacecraft flew by Pluto and its moons in July of 2015. In the program, we "meet" Pluto, Charon, and the New Horizons spacecraft.
This is a free fulldome film produced by Hartnell College Planetarium, and distributed by Audio Visual Imagineering. (6 min)
Introduction to the Solar System for Juniors
Aayushi Fulldome Films presents a lovely experience of our Solar System for a young audience.
Our Show Incredible Introduction to the Solar system for Juniors is incredible in every sort.
It’s perfectly timed to engage the young audience and give about the right amount of knowledge with lovely visuals and Catchy tunes.
Learning about the solar system is an important part of every child’s education. This full-dome show for planetariums and digital dome theatres is perfect for kindergarten and early elementary school kids. (8 min)
Clockwork Skies
Clockwork Skies explores the patterns of motion and time in our skies. What is the meaning of a day, a month, a year? How do they relate to the motions of the Earth, Sun, and Moon? What about the other planets - are their "years" the same length as the Earth's? Especially good for elementary students.
The show was created by participants of the 2010 Blender Production Workshop, and distributed by Ott Planetarium. (5 min)
Sizing Up Space
How big is the distance between the Earth and the Sun - or between the Sun and the other planets?
Discover the Light Year, the very large 'ruler' that scientists use to measure the size of Space.
Be amazed by the ever-increasing distances to the nearest stars, to the edge of the Milky Way and to the farthest galaxies in the Universe..Planetarium adaptation produced by participants of the 2011 Blender Production Workshop. (13 min.)
Losing the Dark
This Show Can Be Combined With Our Interactive Shows! Starry skies are a vanishing treasure because light pollution is washing away our view of the cosmos. It not only threatens astronomy, it disrupts wildlife, and affects human health. The yellow glows over cities and towns - seen so clearly from space - are a testament to the billions spent in wasted energy from lighting up the sky. Produced by: Loch Ness Productions. (6 minutes)
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Two Small Pieces of Glass
While attending a local star party, two teenage students learn how the telescope has helped us understand our place in space and how telescopes continue to expand our understanding of the Universe. Their conversation with a local female astronomer enlightens them on the history of the telescope and how current astronomers use these instruments to explore the mysteries of the universe. While looking through the astronomer's telescope, the students, along with the planetarium audience, explore the Galilean Moons, Saturn's rings, and spiral structure of galaxies. (25 min)
We Choose Space
A planetarium show for audiences of all ages who dream of space and wonder about human spaceflight after Shuttle. It's a show filled with real adventures for the near frontier. Positive, possible, and exciting -- this is a promise we can make to our children, our future astronauts. Produced by: Houston Museum of Natural Science. (23 min.)
Journey to the Center of the Milky Way
What lies at the heart of our galaxy? For twenty years, ESO's Very Large Telescope and the Keck telescopes have observed the center of the Galaxy, looking at the motion of more than a hundred stars and identifying the position of an otherwise invisible object — the super-massive black hole at the center of our galaxy.
Embark on a Journey to the Center of the Milky Way and during seven minutes travel faster than light, from the driest place on Earth, the Atacama Desert in Chile right to the center of our own galaxy, where a black hole is consuming anything that strays into its path. 84 million stars will appear in front of your eyes, each hiding mysteries waiting to be solved. Are there planets around them, perhaps with moons? Do they have water? Could they harbor life?. Produced by: European Southern Observatory – ESO Supernova Planetarium (7 min.)
Star of Bethlehem
Journey back in time to see the night sky 2000 years ago. What was it that brought the Magi from the East to a little town in Palestine? Who were the wise men? Did they follow a visible star to Jerusalem? STAR OF BETHLEHEM takes you to the time of mystery, in a show that answers these questions and more, in a search for a celestial object that could have led the wise men to the Christ child.
Produced by: Houston Museum of Natural Science. (23 min.)
The Dark Matter Mystery
What are the building blocks of our universe? We’ve been trying to answer this question for centuries, but we haven’t found the ultimate answer. Approximately a quarter of the universe consists of mysterious dark matter. We know it is there, but we don’t know what it is made of.
This show takes you on the ultimate astrophysics quest. You’ll learn why dark matter exists. Join the scientists on their observations out in space and deep underground. Will they be able to reveal dark matter’s mystery? Produced by: Planetarium Laupheim. (39 min.)
From the Earth to the Universe
This stunning, 30-minute voyage through space and time conveys, through sparkling sights and sounds, the Universe revealed to us by science. Viewers can revel in the splendor of the worlds in the Solar System and our scorching Sun. From Earth to the Universe takes the audience out to the colorful birthplaces and burial grounds of stars, and still further out beyond the Milky Way to the unimaginable immensity of a myriad galaxies.
Along the way, the audience will learn about the history of astronomy, the invention of the telescope, and today’s giant telescopes that allow us to probe ever deeper into the Universe. Produced by: European Southern Observatory – ESO Supernova Planetarium
This beautiful show intertwines science and mythology to take the viewer on a poetic journey through how the Mayans viewed and understood the universe throughout their history. Explore 6 different Mayan archaeological sites and their connection to the universe. Produced by Frutos Digitales in collaboration with ESO and financed by the National Council of Science and Technology of Mexico (20 min.)
Hot and Energetic Universe
The planetarium documentary The Hot and Energetic Universe presents with the use of immersive visualizations and real images the achievements of the modern astronomy, the most advanced terrestrial and orbital observatories, the basic principles electromagnetic radiation and the natural phenomena related to the High Energy Astrophysics. High Energy Astrophysics plays a key role in understanding the universe. These radiations reveal the processes in the hot and violent Universe. This science also probes hot gas in clusters of galaxies, which are the most massive objects in the Universe. It also probes hot gas accretion around super-massive black holes in the centers of galaxies. Finally, high energy radiation provides important information about our own Galaxy, neutron stars, supernova remnants and stars
Out There: The Quest for Extra-Solar Worlds
For thousands of years, mankind thought that the Earth was the center of the Universe. Thanks to our curiosity, imagination and urge to explore, we now know that planets like our Earth are nothing special in the cosmos. The Sun is just one ordinary star among hundreds of billions in our galaxy, the Milky Way. With the world’s most powerful telescopes, we are able to explore more and more of the Universe. What we have found so far has surpassed even the wildest expectations of scientists as well as authors of science fiction. Most stars have planets — it turns out they are more common than we thought. Produced by: Verkehrshaus Planetarium (30 min.)
Phantom of the Universe: The Hunt For Dark Matter
The show reveals the first hints of its existence through the eyes of Fritz Zwicky, the scientist who coined the term “dark matter.” It describes the astral choreography witnessed by Vera Rubin in the Andromeda galaxy and then plummets deep underground to see the most sensitive dark matter detector on Earth, housed in a former gold mine. From there, it journeys across space and time to the Large Hadron Collider at CERN, speeding alongside particles before they collide in visually stunning explosions of light and sound while learning how scientists around the world are collaborating to track down the constituents of dark matter. Production was supported by the Department of Energy, the National Science Foundation, the ATLAS Experiment
Seeing
A full-immersion planetarium program, which will use hemispheric 2D and 3D animations and video to teach how human vision works. Imagery from all over the world including humanity, landscapes, skyscrapers, wildlife and of space are the backdrop for photo-realistic animations, which are used to create a story of a photons' journey through the eye and its conversion to an electro-chemical impulse that then travels the neuropathways of the brain to the various centers that create the image the brain sees. Produced by Koenig Films, Inc. (27 min.)
Sunstruck
Heliophysics is the main component of the Sunstruck planetarium show. It includes information on the sun, parts/layers, space weather and its impact on Earth. We used several NASA heliophysics missions including SOHO, IRIS, and SDO. The audience should gain an enhanced understanding of the Sun and how it impacts our world. Produced by the Michigan Science Center under a NASA grant. (21 min.)
The Nature of Science
The Nature of Science is intended to communicate what science is and how scientists work.
The show features interviews with Weber State University College of Science Faculty as they discuss their work. Planetarium adaptation produced by participants of the 2011 Blender Production Workshop. (21 min.)
Totality Over Texas
Two eclipses cross the US in 2023 and 2024 - an annular on October 14, 2023 and a total eclipse on April 8, 2024! Everyone in the continental US will experience at least a partial solar eclipse on April 8. Total solar eclipses are a rare and beautiful phenomena, and in this new planetarium show you will learn how eclipses happen, how to safely view one, and where these two eclipses take place. You will learn the history of eclipse watchers and how to observe safely. Produced by Houston Museum of Natural Science. Best for grades 4 and up. Available in both 10 minute and 24 minute versions.
PLUTO: The Solar System's New Horizon
Coming soon to the Mobile Dome! A full-length feature of the largest dwarf planet in the Solar System. Once hailed as the 9th planet, viewers will learn how Pluto got discovered, how it compares to the other planets and how it finds its place in the Solar System. Written and produced by Bobby Corley from Stars and Science Austin. This feature will also be sold on DVD and Blu-Ray. Coming soon! For grades 3 and up. (25 min.)