Show Descriptions

Runtime: 26 minutes

Suitable for: Any age

Created and hosted by cosmically curious teenagers from urban Milwaukee schools, this unique cosmic experience will take you on a dynamic journey across the universe and through time.

Explore the origins and fate of the universe, black holes and our Sun. Witness stunning full dome animations video scripted, story boarded and narrated by our inspiring young adults.

Runtime: 25 minutes

Suitable for: Any age

The show opens with the first era of space exploration in the late 1960s and early 1970s. We see what that era of landers and orbiters taught us about our nearest neighbor including the discovery of the Moon's origin, composition, structure and the accessibility of raw materials on its surface.

The Google Lunar XPRIZE is designed to democratize space and create new opportunities for eventual human and robotic presence on the Moon. We see the engineering and innovation steps taken by the internationally distributed teams competing to land a spacecraft on the Moon and vie for additional prizes. We highlight the human spirit of competition and collaboration as teams take on this audacious challenge. Who will win the $30 million Google Lunar XPRIZE? The audience is taken through a successful launch, landing and lunar surface travel. The show ends with a stunning glimpse of a plausible scenario for our future on the Moon.

Runtime: 25 minutes

Target Audience: 6+

While Celeste is fighting off sleep in her room by reading a book on astronomy she receives an unexpected visit from Moon. Together, they will enjoy a journey through the Universe to discover what exoplanets are and how they can be detected.

They observe rogue planets, oceanic worlds and super-Earths. Moon tells her about exoplanet hunters, who observe the sky in search of planets like Earth. Many adventures are yet to come. But first, she needs some rest. Celeste drops off to sleep waiting for the next visit of Moon.

Runtime: 45 minutes

Target Audience: 11-13

Narrated by Barbra Rojas-Ayale; Big Astronomy explores three observatories located in Chile, in extreme and remote places. This show includes examples of the many of STEM careers needed to keep the observatories open and running

A great deal of astronomy is done in the nation of Chile, due to its special climate and location, which creates stable, dry air. With its high, dry, and dark sites, Chile is one of the best places in the world for observational astronomy. The show takes you to three of the many telescopes along Chile’s mountains.

Runtime: 24 minutes

Target Audience: 14+

“Birth of Planet Earth” is a planetarium fulldome show that tells the twisted tale of our planet’s origins.

Scientists now believe that our galaxy is filled with solar systems, including up to a billion planets roughly the size of our own.

The film employs advanced, data-driven, cinematic-quality visualizations to explore some of the greatest questions in science today: How did Earth become a living planet in the wake of our solar system’s violent birth? What does its history tell us about our chances of finding other worlds that are truly Earth-like?

Produced by Spitz Creative Media, NCSA’s Advanced Visualization Lab, Thomas Lucas Productions, Inc., in association with Tellus Science Museum. This project has been made possible with support from the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the Greater Philadelphia Film Office; funded in part by the National Science Foundation.

Runtime: 37 minutes

Target Audience: 6+

Black Holes takes you on a fully immersive journey through one of the most mystifying, awe-inspiring phenomena in the universe: a black hole. Where do they come from? Where do they go? How do we find them? Is there one on Earth's horizon? What was Einstein's connection to them?

Runtime: 30 minutes

Target Audience: 14+

Deep in the ice at the heart of Antarctica, IceCube, the biggest and strangest detector in the world waits for mysterious messengers from the cosmos. Scientists are using tiny and elusive particles called neutrinos to explore the most extreme places in the universe. These ghostly neutrinos give us an exclusive way to study powerful cosmic engines like exploding stars and black holes.

Runtime: 28 minutes

Target Audience: 14+

The study of our universe is as old as time, yet our understanding of the origins and nature of the universe is less than 100 years old.

This planetarium program, written and produced by high school and college students is an overview of the science of cosmology. From our earliest theories about the size of the universe to the big bang theory, this show details how our understanding has evolved over time.

Runtime: 20 minutes

Target Audience: 10+

The search for dark matter is the most pressing astrophysical problem of our time – the solution to which will help us understand why the Universe is as it is, where it came from, and how it has evolved over billions of years – the unimaginable depths of deep time, of which a human life is but a flickering instant. But in that instant, we can grasp its immensity and, through science, we can attempt to understand it.

Runtime: 52 minutes

The night sky is a view of infinity. Does alien life exist out there? Nothing we can ask about the universe is so important for our understanding of the world. In the show we examine the conditions for a habitable zone starting the journey in our own solar system. Then we imagine a tour to some of the recently discovered exoplanets orbiting other stars in the Milky Way. What might be essential for life on distant moons or planets and how could we detect it? We get an impression of the importance of telescopes, Mars rovers like “Curiosity” and space probes for these challenging studies.

Runtime: 30 minutes

Target Audience: Adults

A Casper Planetarium Full Dome Production about planets outside of our solar system and the methods used to find them.

Runtime: 30 minutes

Suitable for: Any age

Out of devastating events in the cosmos comes new creation. Explosive phenomena are responsible for the way we see the universe today, and not all of them happen on a grand scale.

When giant stars explode as “supernovas,” they seed the galaxies with heavy elements that make planets and life possible. Some collisions we're only just now starting to understand. For example, when Black Holes collide, they can throw off some of the most energetic particles known, ripping and warping space as they go. But other “explosions” have profound effects as well, such as the beauty and power of supervolcanoes which have contributed to the transformation of our world into the life bearing oasis we now enjoy. The smallest of explosions, such as the forced impact of atoms, can echo the foundation events of the early universe.

As the universe has transformed into the structure we live in now, even the most elementary particles have endured. This show follows the path of one of these “particles,” a proton, as it participates in nature's astounding events of rebirth and renewal.

Runtime: 30 minutes

Suitable for: Any age

Starting from ancient times, learn about the history of planetary discovery, especially that of Pluto, and how it has led to an amazing mission to explore the Kuiper Belt. A basic overview of the whole Solar System is included. Typical to the educational purpose of Bays Mountain Planetarium, this program includes a live section midway to engage your audience in an interactive activity to increase understanding and retention. The activity is a fun demonstration of the blink comparator that Clyde Tombaugh used to discover Pluto.

The audience is asked to find Pluto shift among thousands of stars. Of course, to have some fun and to show how difficult it was to search for Pluto, a red herring is thrown in to make things a little difficult. But, that red herring is important. It illustrates other objects, those that were closer to us in our Solar System, that Tombaugh discovered along his quest.

Runtime: 32 minutes

Suitable for: Any age

For centuries, humanity has wondered whether we are alone in the Universe. Now, we are finally one step closer to knowing the answer. With the discovery in 1995 of the first planet orbiting another star, we now know that planets are not unique to our own Solar System. In fact, these “extrasolar” planets now appear to be quite common.

This show explores what makes a planet “Earth-like” in the first place and take a tour of several worlds that just might fit the conditions we're looking for. From water worlds to molten landscapes, inhabitable moons to planets with multiple suns, these exotic worlds aren't just science fiction anymore!

Runtime: unknown

Suitable for: Any age

This 30-minute multi-media show from the Children's Museum of Indianapolis introduces children and families to the science, technology, and history of flight.

The show features NASA’s research and the advancements that have made space travel possible, along with the important role that models have played in flight development. NASA resources include images and experts.

Runtime: 30 minutes

Target Audience: 14+

The night sky, both beautiful and mysterious, has been the subject of campfire stories, ancient myths and awe for as long as there have been people. A desire to comprehend the Universe may well be humanity's oldest shared intellectual experience. Yet only recently have we truly begun to grasp our place in the vast cosmos. To learn about this journey of celestial discovery, from the theories of the ancient Greek astronomers to today's grandest telescopes, we invite you to experience From 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 splendour of the worlds in the Solar System and our scorching Sun. From Earth to the Universe takes the audience out to the colourful 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.

Runtime: 13 minutes

Target Audience: 14+

An Introduction to galaxies.

Runtime: 30 minutes

Target Audience: 6+

A fascinating tour of the cosmos — from Earth orbit to the limits of the observable universe, featuring planets, star birth, supernovae, galaxy collisions, black holes, and more!

27 minutes

Target Audience: Any Age

Join scientists who are investigating the boundary between our Solar System and the rest of our galaxy in IBEX: Search for the Edge of the Solar System.

Designed for visitors with an appreciation for the challenges of space science and a desire to learn more about science research, the show follows the creation of NASA’s Interstellar Boundary Explorer (IBEX). Audiences will get an in-depth look at the mission and how IBEX is collecting high-speed atoms to create a map of our Solar System’s boundary.

Narrated by two inquisitive teenagers, audiences will hear from the scientists and engineers that developed the IBEX mission and created the spacecraft, and get the latest updates on the mission’s discoveries.

Runtime: 7 minutes

Suitable for: Any age

What lies at the heart of our galaxy? For twenty years, ESO's Very Large Telescope and the Keck telescopes have observed the centre of the Galaxy, looking at the motion of more than a hundred stars and identifying the position of an otherwise invisible object — the supermassive black hole at the centre of our galaxy.

Embark on a Journey to the Centre 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 centre 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 harbour life?

Runtime: 30 minutes

Suitable for: Any age

Light Years From Andromeda teaches the concepts of light speed, the light year and how astronomers use them to measure distances to some familiar celestial objects — the Moon, the Sun, the planets, nearby stars, and galaxies. Early cosmosThe show briefly touches on the properties of light that help determine a star's age and temperature, and gives a fascinating look at how light and distance allow us to "look back" further in time as we gaze farther into space.

Runtime: 6 minutes

Suitable for: Any age

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 testament to the billions spent in wasted energy from lighting up the sky.

Losing the Dark is a “public service announcement” planetarium show, a collaboration of Loch Ness Productions and the International Dark-Sky Association. It introduces and illustrates some of the issues regarding light pollution, and suggests three simple actions people can take to help mitigate it.

The show gives planetarium professionals a tool to help educate the public about the problems of light pollution. Planetarians are uniquely positioned to teach audiences ways we can all work together to implement responsible use of lighting.

Runtime: 23 minutes

Suitable for: Any age

MAGNETISM demonstrates how the Earth's magnetic field protects our planet from energetic particles from the Sun and galaxy, and how the magnetic field also protects the water in our atmosphere from being swept away by the solar wind.

It shows the first aurora seen simultaneously from the ground and from the ISS, and tells about the MMS mission (Magnetospheric Multiscale) and its quest to understand the magnetic connection between the Earth and the Sun.

Runtime: 19 minutes

Suitable for: Any age

The film introduces the cosmovision of this ancient culture based on elements of the cosmos like the Sun, Venus, the Moon and the stars, following their position they defined much of its planning for the construction of their cities, plus their astronomical knowledge lasted by generations, forming the pillars of their Culture that nowadays we are still learning to listen.

Runtime: 20 minutes

Suitable for: 14+

In a feast of colours and sounds, Mayan Archaeoastronomy: Observers of the Universe makes a tour of 6 Mayan temples: San Gervasio, Chichen Itzá, Uxmal, Edzná, Palenque and Bonampak where the spectator dives into a Mayan world of knowledge about the importance of the orientations of its temples in relation to the movement of some stars like the Sun, the Moon and Venus.

Mayan Archaeoastronomy: Observers of the Universe is the first movie for fulldome completely animated made in Mexico. It is narrated in 4 languages English, Spanish, Portuguese and Chinese. It is a film financed by the National Council of Science and Technology of Mexico, produced by Frutos Digitales with the support of the European Southern Observatory.

Runtime: 20 minutes

Suitable for: Any age

New film for planetariums dedicated to the Apollo mission realized for the 50th anniversary of the moon landing. The history of the programm, the launch, the activity on the moon’s surface and the return to Earth.

Runtime: 35 minutes

Suitable for: Any age

The show starts with our own Moon, and explores its birth in a violent collision between infant Earth and a Mars-sized object some 4.5 billion years ago.

The Moon has contributed not only to Earth's stability, but possibly even to the conditions making our planet habitable for early life. Today we explore the Moon remotely, with landers and orbiters. But, one day soon, people will return to the Moon to live and work.

Runtime: 30 minutes

Target Audience: 6+

For thousands of years, mankind thought that the Earth was the centre 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. A huge diversity of different worlds is out there, just waiting to be discovered.

Runtime: 35 minutes

Suitable for: Any age

Imagine the ultimate space vacation. Discover our solar system through a different set of eyes – a family from another star system seeking the perfect vacation spot. Fly over the surface of Pluto, our best known Dwarf Planet. Dive over the ice cliffs of Miranda.

Sail through the rings of Saturn. Feel the lightning storms at Jupiter. And walk on the surface of Mars. Which destination would you choose? This is the solar system journey for space travelers of all ages.

Runtime: 28 minutes

Target Audience: 6+

Phantom of the Universe is a new planetarium show that showcases an exciting exploration of dark matter, from the Big Bang to its anticipated discovery at the Large Hadron Collider. The show is offered to planetariums worldwide free of charge.

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.

Runtime: 35 minutes

Suitable for: Any age

Light up the cold dark season with a warm and bright holiday show!

Season of Light explores the reasons humans are so fascinated with lighting up our lives during the December holiday season.

This very popular show is an exploration of the astronomical meanings behind seasonal traditions, including the “Star over Bethlehem”.

Runtime: 14 minutes

Suitable for: Any age

Find out more about "what's up tonight" in just a few minutes than some people do in a lifetime! Hop through constellations, learn cool star names, and groove to planetarium space music in this fulldome audiovisual experience.

Runtime: 23 minutes

Target Audience: 10+

“SEEING!” follows a photon's creation and journey across the galaxy to a young stargazer's eye. The viewer follows the photon into the girl's eye, learning the structures of the eye and their functions, prior to taking a ride on the optic nerve. Dramatic fulldome imagery from around the globe featuring humanity, landscapes, skyscapes, wildlife and space will be used to create the story. Along the way the program examines how the eye works, how technology has enabled us to restore vision and prevent a variety of diseases that affect sight.

Runtime: 33 minutes

Suitable for: Any age

Turn back the pages of time and witness the ancient wonders of the world as they appeared thousands of years ago.

Explore the Great Pyramid, stand in the shadow of the towering Colossus and experience the rest of the world's Seven Wonders. We will investigate the theories of how these wonders were created, and get a glimpse of some of the universe's greatest wonders.

Runtime: 40 minutes

The interior of an alien spaceship is recreated which is capable of transporting spectators/passengers on a 40-minute journey into the Cosmos to the music of “The Planets” by Gustav Holst. The show is more artistic than scientific, but beautiful scenes of the solar system are shown. Narrated by Ottavia Piccolo. Produced in 2010.

Runtime: 21 minutes

Target Audience: 10+

Travel back in time to experience the birth of our Sun and solar system. Discover how the Sun came to support life, how it threatens life as we know it, and how its energy will one day fade away.

Runtime: 30 minutes

Target Audience: 6+

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 accreting around supermassive black holes in the centers of galaxies. Finally, high energy radiation provides important information about our own Galaxy, neutron stars, supernova remnants and stars like our Sun which emit copious amounts of high energy radiation.

Runtime: 17 minutes

Target Audience: 6+

Discover the mysteries around Calakmul, a Maya city lost for a thousand years under the jungle, be guided through relationships between the starry sky and the architecture as well as about the biodiversity wealth of the jungle in Campeche state, Mexico, through incredible timelapses, 360° video, drone shots, computer-generated animations of 3D models and direct jungle audio in 5.1 channels.

Runtime: 25 minutes

Suitable for: Any Age

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 passage of the Sun’s fiery disc across the sky — day by day, month by month — was the only way to keep track of time for countless past civilizations. Don’t be fooled by the terminology; although it is a typical dwarf star, the Sun consumes 600 million tons of hydrogen each second and is 500 times as massive as all the planets combined.

Discover the secrets of our star in this planetarium show and experience never-before-seen images of the Sun’s violent surface in immersive fulldome format. Our team has worked with some of the most talented planetarium producers to bring you this visually striking planetarium show about the most important star in our lives.

Runtime: 25 minutes

Suitable for: Any age

This program is all about eclipses – from lunar to total solar. We cover how they occur and what happens when they do. We look back to the proof of general relativity and look forward to upcoming eclipses and where to witness them. Our production includes a variety of wonderful styles – from spectacular space environments to humorous pop-up books.

A very special part of the show relates, in a very human way, what happens when you are caught in the shadow of the Moon and the Sun is plunged into a total solar eclipse. Your audience will love this program. And so will your audience of most any age.

Runtime: 23 minutes

Target Audience: 14+

Two Small Pieces of Glass – The Amazing Telescope fulldome show follows two students as they interact with a female astronomer at a local star party.

Along the way, the students learn the history of the telescope from Galileo's modifications to a child's spyglass — using two small pieces of glass — to the launch of the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope and the future of astronomy.

Aiming to engage and appeal to audiences of all ages, the show explores the wonder and discovery made by astronomers throughout the last 400 years.

A fulldome show for planetariums and digital dome theaters.

Runtime: 33 minutes

Target Audience: 14+

From the edge of space and time, through vast fields of wondrous galaxies, to the majesty of our solar system, this show will take audiences on a grand tour of the universe and let them experience its most provocative secrets.

The show is a three dimensional journey from the edge of the universe through space and time to reach our home planet, witnessing the major components of the cosmos along the way.

Runtime: 38 minutes

Target Audience: 6+

A tour of the objects in our solar system from the sun out to the Kuiper belt.

This fulldome show includes the latest info from various observatories and robotic space probes. A science-rich show recommended for general audiences and school groups grade 4 and up.