Programs
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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 the celestial origins of Halloween and how it is an astronomical holiday.
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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 Yamaji people, Aboriginal Australians who have shared star stories for more than 60,000 years. Discover how much the scientific and ancient world have in common, for we all live under one sky – a shared sky, in Star Dreaming.
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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 the far away stars. Discover the African Stonehenge and Moon calendars made from bones over 40,000 years ago!
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Stars
Every star has a story. Some are as old as time, faint and almost forgotten. Others burn bright and end their lives in powerful explosions. New stars are created every day, born of vast clouds of gas and dust. Through every phase of their existence, stars release the energy that lights the Universe. Journey to the furthest reaches of our galaxy and experience both the awesome beauty and destructive power of stars.
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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 and more!
For ages 9 and up.
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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 the polar bears, musk oxen, wolves, golden eagles, and people who call this area home. Experience the adventure of The Arctic, and learn why this remarkable land deserves our protection. Narrated by Indigenous film producer Princess Daazhraii Johnson (Neet’saii Gwich’in) with National Geographic photographer Florian Schulz.
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The Artistic Universe
Artist have often gained their inspiration from viewing our skies! A starry night, the lovely Moon, and images taken through telescopes have inspired paintings, poetry, music, theatrical plays, science fiction and more. This month we dive into the connection
between art and science in several ways.
Oh, the space places you will go… Dance with the planets, find yourself inside van Gogh’s Starry Night painting and sing a science version of Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star! Fly through incredibly beautiful nebula and more!
Discover the many fascinating connections between art and science. Experience our Artistic Universe!
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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 family friendly program at the planetarium.
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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 out there. But we have no idea what it is made out of.
This planetarium show takes you on the biggest quest of contemporary astrophysics. You will see why we know that Dark Matter exists, and how this search is one of the most challenging and exciting searches science has to offer. Join the scientists on their hunt for Dark Matter with experiments in space and deep underground. Will they be able to solve the Dark Matter Mystery?
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The Great Solar System Adventure!
Explore the wonders and perils of our Solar System! Join “The Great Schiaparelli”; as he takes the audience on a space-time adventure within his wondrous Observatorium. From the sun-scorched surface of Mercury to the icy expanses of Pluto and beyond, prepare to be subjected to the myriad wonders of our Solar System, on a breathtaking tour that reveals just how precious our home planet Earth really is. Narrated by Adam Longworth.
Ages 8 and up
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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 magical journey through space and time during which they uncover the secrets of gravity and learn about friendship and imagination.
Watch the trailer here!
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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 gives them their vital Yumi-Plumi fruits. However, forests in their society are usually taken care of by robots.
With no knowledge of plant care or any means of contacting their elders, they are fortunate to be able to turn to the planetarium audience for help. All hope now rests on the Earth children, who help the Stellars discover what plants need to survive and to rescue their Yumi Plumi forest. There is a race against time – will the children be able to figure out the successive elements needed to nourish the plants?
Of course, they will, as we’ve prepared subtle clues, ensuring that everyone will be winners. However, to make sure it won’t be too easy, young viewers will have to travel together with our heroes to visit an ancient-growth forest on Earth, to search among the trees there, teeming with life. They will have to help launch the scout ship, navigate through space, locate the right spot on Earth – and then escape from an angry bear!
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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 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.
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Time
On a cosmic scale, time ceases to be a single, universal measure. TIME is an immersive journey through the nature of time – from daily rhythms of nature to its role in the structure of the Universe. It follows humanity’s attempts to measure time and explores modern physics, where relativity, entropy, and spacetime challenge our intuitive understanding of the present. In the end, the film turns to human perception, inviting viewers to reflect on how we choose to spend our time.
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To Space and Back
Space exploration, our greatest adventure, is having a big impact on our lives. It is helping us to discover a universe of unimaginable scale and beauty, and it is reaching down into our world and influencing the way we live.
To Space & Back takes audiences on an incredible journey from the far reaches of our known universe to our own planet. It is an extraordinary story of human ingenuity and incredible engineering, describing how the technology that transports us through space is paving the way for the devices and apps we use every day. What is happening above is coming back down to Earth!
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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 possible, how they work, and how to observe this unique phenomenon.
For ages 8 – 12
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Totality: Explore the Wonder of Eclipses
Explore the incredible phenomena of Eclipses, both Lunar and Solar. How and why do they occur? What can we observe and learn from these spectacular displays of nature? Take a look at how eclipses helped prove the theory of general relativity and look forward to upcoming eclipses learning where to see them. From spectacular space environments to the very human experiences that happen when you are caught in the shadow of the Moon and the Sun is plunged into a total solar eclipse, this program will help you understand these fascinating events. Take a special look back at the 2017 eclipse and learn about the upcoming total solar eclipse on April 8th, 2024. The program includes a tour of the night sky as viewed from Maine!
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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 at the Sun, watch the effects of gravity, see the Earth from space and watch meteors shoot across the night sky.
Ages 3 – 8
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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 20th century, with the arrival of rockets, it became possible to travel above the Earth’s atmosphere and observe X-ray and gamma ray radiation, evidence of a hot and violent Universe.
It’s not only light that provides information about the Cosmos. Neutrinos and cosmic rays reveal its secrets. More recently, the detection of gravitational waves from two merging black holes by the LIGO experiment, opened an entirely new window in astrophysics.
Enjoy spellbinding images of the Cosmos as revealed by all these unique messengers.
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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 way out to the edge of the known universe.
Narrated by Eva Rose.
