Fifth grade and up

5000 Eyes

Grades: 5 and up

Fulldome Presentation

The Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (DESI) is creating the most detailed map of our nearby universe. Installed on the Mayall telescope on Kitt Peak in Southern Arizona, DESI's 5000 independently operated robots can measure the light from thousands of galaxies at once. Join us as we explore the science, instrument, and people behind this global endeavor.

Show Guide

Big Astronomy: People, Places, Discoveries

Grades: 5 and up

Fulldome Presentation

It takes many people with diverse backgrounds, talents, and skills to run a world-class observatory. Meet a few of these people as they share the wonder of the sky—and the excitement of discovery. Explore the world-class observatories nestled in northern Chile’s mountains and learn why Chile, with its beautiful mountain ranges and clear, cloudless skies create an ideal environment for studying the cosmos. This show is available in English and Spanish.

Show Guide

Cosmic Mashups

Grades: 5 and up

Fulldome Presentation

Supermassive black holes are found in most galaxies and we're beginning to uncover how the merging of galaxies activate galactic centers. This engaging fulldome film was produced by Fiske Planetarium in collaboration with APS Professor, Dr. Julie Comerford and former graduate student Dr. Becky Nevin through support from an NSF award.

Show Guide

Dawn of the Space Age

Grades: 4 and up

Fulldome Presentation

From the launch of the satellite Sputnik to space flights and lunar landings, humans have wanted to travel to the stars. Witness the drive, passion, and perseverance of the men and women that took part in the death defying endeavor to explore space travel. You will be immersed and overwhelmed with this historic reconstruction of our first steps into space.

Show Guide

Einstein's Gravity Playlist

Grades: 5 and up

Fulldome Presentation

Albert Einstein first predicted the existence of the ripples in spacetime known as gravitational waves in 1916. In this show, viewers follow Lucia, a Ph.D. student in physics, on an exploration of how gravitational waves are formed, how they move through the universe, and how scientists like her work to hear them. Einstein’s Gravity Playlist was created through a collaboration between four Montana State University institutions: the eXtreme Gravity Institute, the Department of Physics, the School of Film and Photography, and the School of Music.

Show Guide

Europe to the Stars

Grades: 5 and up

Fulldome Presentation

Discover the European Southern Observatory in a story of cosmic curiosity, courage, and perseverance; a story of observing a universe of deep mysteries and hidden secrets; and a story of designing, building, and operating the most powerful ground-based telescopes on the planet. The movie focuses on the essential aspects of an astronomical observatory, while offering a broader view of how astronomy is done. This show is available in English and Spanish.

Show Guide

Expanded View

Grades: 5 and up

Fulldome Presentation

Expanded View introduces the electromagnetic spectrum and multi-wavelength observation with examples from Hubble, Spitzer, and Chandra. Audiences learn how images are captured and what the colors tell us about composition of deep sky objects. Expanded View is intended to illustrate the importance of multi-wavelength observation by describing how NASA’s Great Observatories work together.

Show Guide

Expedition Reef

Grades: 5 and up

Fulldome Presentation

Learn the secrets of the “rainforests of the sea” as you embark on an oceanic safari of the world’s most vibrant—and endangered—marine ecosystems. Along the way, 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. Produced by the California Academy of Sciences, narrated by Lea Salonga, and licensed thanks to support from the Friends of the Staerkel Planetarium.

Show Guide

Forward! to the Moon

Grades: 4 and up

Fulldome Presentation

Kari Byron from Crash Test World and MythBusters launches us on a journey beyond the Earth towards a sustainable future in space. 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. Produced by the Fiske Planetarium.

Show Guide

From Earth to the Universe

Grades: 5 and up

Fulldome Presentation

The night sky 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, a new fulldome show from the European Southern Observatory. This show is available in English and Spanish.

Show Guide

Hot and Energetic Universe

Grades: 5 and up

Fulldome Presentation

The Hot and Energetic Universe presents the achievements of modern astronomy, the most advanced terrestrial and orbital observatories, the basic principles electromagnetic radiation and the natural phenomena related to high energy astrophysics.

Show Guide

IBEX: Search for the Edge of the Solar System

Grades: 5 and up

Fulldome Presentation

IBEX follows the creation of the Interstellar Boundary Explorer satellite and its search for the boundary of our solar system. Narrated by two inquisitive teenagers, the show focuses on the mission and the significance of this boundary. Along the way, we are treated to an amazing visual tour of the our planetary system. Produced by the Adler Planetarium.

Show Guide

Mayan Archaeoastronomy: Observers of the Universe

Grades: 5 and up

Fulldome Presentation

The viewer goes on a poetic journey through how the Mayans have viewed and understood the Universe throughout their history. The story is populated with vivid characters, including the Sun God Kin, who controls the cycle of life, Kukulcán, the feathered serpent who gives the Mayans time itself, and Balam, the jaguar who carries the stars on its skin. The visuals are stunning, giving the viewer the impression of being inside a beautifully stylistic painting. This artistic interpretation of the Universe makes for a journey that will not be forgotten. The show was produced by Frutos Digitales in collaboration with the European Southern Observatory and financed by the National Council of Science and Technology of Mexico, and is available in English and Spanish.

Show Guide

Mexica Archaeoastronomy: Between Space and Time

Grades: 5 and up

Fulldome Presentation

Mexica Archeoastronomy artfully intertwines science and mythology, delving into how the Mexicans used the calendrical and astronomical knowledge of previous cultures to found the capital of their empire, Tenochtitlan. Vibrant colors, shapes and sounds transport the viewer to a culture that, to this day, still lives on in the hearts of the Mexican people. The show was produced by Frutos Digitales in collaboration with the European Southern Observatory and financed by the National Council of Science and Technology of Mexico, and is available in English and Spanish.

Show Guide

Niyah and the Multiverse

5 and up

Fulldome Presentation

Follow Niyah, an imaginative Chicago preteen, on a visually stunning Afrofuturist journey through the multiverse! If there are countless other universes out there, where does Niyah fit in? What about you? Find out what shape your shadow matter might take and get inspired to dream up multiverse theories of your own. Produced by the Adler Planetarium, and licensed thanks to support from the Friends of the Staerkel Planetarium.

Show Guide

Out There: The Quest for Extrasolar Worlds

Grades: 5 and up

Fulldome Presentation

For thousands of years, humanity thought that Earth was the center of the universe. Thanks to our curiosity, imagination, and the urge to explore we now know that planets like ours are nothing are nothing special in the cosmos. The Sun is just one ordinary star among hundreds of billions in our galaxy. With powerful telescopes, we search the skies for other worlds. What we have found so far has surpassed even the wildest expectations of scientists as well as science fiction authors. Most stars have planets – it turns out there are more common than we thought! A huge diversity of worlds is out there, just waiting to be discovered. But the big question remains – is there other life out there?

Show Guide

Phantom of the Universe

Grades: 5 and up

Fulldome Presentation

From the journey of protons racing through the world’s largest particle collider in Europe to up-close views of the Big Bang and emergent universe, and the nearly mile-deep descent to an underground experiment in South Dakota, this planetarium show is designed to immerse audiences in the search for dark matter. The hunt is on! Narrated by Tilda Swinton.

Show Guide

Rising Star: A South African Astronomy Journey

Grades: 5 and up

Fulldome Presentation

Rising Star takes you on an astronomical journey from our beginnings through the development of astronomy research in South Africa and looks at what the future of astronomy holds for the country. In addition to introducing multi-wavelength and multi-messenger astronomy, it highlights the many remarkable facilities hosted in South Africa along with some of their latest results. This includes unrestricted views of the 10-metre class Southern African Large Telescope and the most powerful radio telescope in the Southern Hemisphere, MeerKAT.

Show Guide

Secrets of the Sun

Grades: 4 and up

Fulldome Presentation

Take an intimate look at the role the sun plays in our solar system. From the nuclear forces at the heart of the sun to the mass ejections of solar material in surrounding space, you will experience the power of the sun and its impact on the planets and life on Earth. Secrets of the Sun traces the life cycle of the sun itself, from beginning to its eventual death.

Show Guide

Seeing! A Photon's Journey Across Space, Time, and Mind

Grades: 5 and up

Fulldome Presentation

Follow the journey of a single photon as it is produced in a distant star, before travelling across the vast expanse of space to land on someone's retina. This fulldome planetarium show explores some of the fascinating processes of the cosmos, from astrophysics to the biology of the eye and brain. Funded through a generous grant from ZEISS, the show is narrated by astronomer and science communicator, Neil deGrasse Tyson.

Show Guide

Skywatchers of Africa

Grades: 5 and up

Digital Remaster

Originally produced by the Adler Planetarium in Chicago, Skywatchers of Africa is a celebration of many diverse African cultures and their observations and explanations of the yearly cycles of the heavens.  Africa has many vibrant cultures thriving today, as well as countless past civilizations that continue to speak to us through their sky lore across time.

Show Guide

Solar Superstorms

Grades: 5 and up

Fulldome Presentation

A fury is building on the surface of the Sun - high velocity jets, fiery tsunami waves reaching 100,000 km high, rising loops of electrified gas. What is driving this strange phenomena and will it affect Earth? Find out in this new production, featuring scientific visualizations from the National Center for Supercomputing Applications (NCSA) on the UIUC campus. Peer into the Sun using the latest scientific data.

Show Guide

Spirits from the Sky, Thunder on the Land

Grades: 5 and up

Digital Remaster

Come with us on a never-before-seen journey into the culture of the Pawnee Native American Nation, who lived in what is now Nebraska and northern Kansas from the 1600’s to 1876. Their culture grew of out their legends and lore of skywatching. The program takes you inside a Pawnee earth lodge through the development of the agricultural calendar and the Pawnee creation legend.

Show Guide

Sunstruck

Grades: 5 and up

Fulldome Presentation

The Sun is humanity’s star! But what is it made of and how does it shine? Travel back to the beginning of the solar system and experience the birth of the Sun. Discover how it came to support life, how it also threatens life as we know it, and how its energy will one day fade away. Produced by the Michigan Science Center and NASA. 

Show Guide

The Dark Matter Mystery

Grade: 8 and up

Fulldome Presentation

What keeps Galaxies together? What are the building blocks of the Universe? What makes the Universe appear the way it looks today? 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 consists of. Join us on the biggest quest of contemporary astrophysics as we explore evidence for Dark Matter both in space and deep underground.

Show Guide

The Planets

Grades: 5 and up

Digital Remaster

Take a breathtaking tour of our own planetary system, including some of the latest discoveries. See how our solar system may have formed and visit planets in other star systems. The show originally written and distributed by the Southeastern Planetarium Association and is narrated by Kate Mulgrew of Star Trek: Voyager fame.

Show Guide

The Stargazer

Grades: 5 and up

Fulldome Presentation

Come along on a journey to the stars with University of Illinois Astronomer James B. Kaler in an exciting program written and produced by the Great Lakes Planetarium Association. Nichelle Nichols (from the original "Star Trek") and Dr. Kaler narrate this personal look at gravity, light, and the spectrum and how they help us decipher the lifestyles of the stars. The Stargazer has been updated and adapted for fulldome video!

Show Guide

The Sun, Our Living Star

Grades: 5 and up

Fulldome Presentation

The Sun has shone on our world for four-and-a-half billion years. Our nearest star is the source of the energy that drives all life. The passage of the Sun across the sky each day, month, and year was the only way to keep track of time for past civilizations. This typical dwarf star 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.

Show Guide

Totality!

Grades 5 and up

Fulldome Presentation

Show Guide

Unveiling the Invisible Universe

Grades: 5 and up

Fulldome Presentation

Humans have long observed light coming from the night sky, and the invention of the telescope revolutionized our knowledge of the universe. Rockets allow us to go above Earth’s atmosphere and observe x-ray and gamma radiation which are marks of the hot and violent universe. Aside from light, neutrinos and cosmic rays also provide vital information about the cosmos. Finally, the detection of gravitational waves from two merging black holes opened a new window in astrophysics. This video presents images of the cosmos as revealed by all these different messengers.

Show Guide

Violent Universe

Grades: 5 and up

Fulldome Presentation

Comets, asteroids and meteoroids hurtling through space; stars collapsing under their own gravity; infernos of nuclear energy releasing their deadly radiation across the universe! Witness the raw power of the cosmos in this thrilling new show that gives you a front-row seat to watch as worlds collide.

Show Guide