Visit Your Local Planetarium
Discover a Planetarium near you!
Follow the link below and you’ll find a list of popular planetariums organized alphabetically and grouped by State. Locate a center near you and visit it’s ‘Need to Know’ page; here you’ll find information such as hours of operation, cost, directions, website links, an email address, and a phone number (if available).
Explore the Night Sky
Planetarium
Noun: a building in which images of stars, planets, and constellations are projected on the inner surface of a dome for public entertainment or education.
The Dome
The Projector
The View
A Brief Background
Modern Planetariums
Planetariums, as we know them, date back to the early 20th Century. A dominant feature of most planetariums is the large dome-shaped projection screen onto which scenes of stars, planets, and other celestial objects can be made to appear and move realistically to simulate the complex ‘motions of the heavens’.
The celestial scenes can be created using a wide variety of technologies, for example precision-engineered ‘star balls’ that combine optical and electro-mechanical technology, slide projector, video and full-dome projector systems, and lasers.
Whatever technologies are used, the objective is normally to link them together to simulate an accurate relative motion of the sky. Typical systems can be set to simulate the sky at any point in time, past or present, and often to depict the night sky as it would appear from any point of latitude on Earth.
Planetariums range in size from the 37 meter dome in St. Petersburg, Russia to three-meter inflatable portable domes where attendees sit on the floor. The largest planetarium in the Western Hemisphere is the Jennifer Chalsty Planetarium at Liberty Science Center in New Jersey (27 meters in diameter).
The Birla Planetarium in Kolkata, India is the largest by seating capacity (630 seats). In North America, the Hayden Planetarium at the American Museum of Natural History in New York City has the greatest number of seats (423).
Many Planetarium buildings also contain, or have access to a large telescope, most of which are also open to the general public.
Fun for the Whole Family!
Take the kids on a big adventure as you explore the universe in a planetarium near you. Fun and educational, you can’t go wrong as you look up at the stars and planets from the comfort of your chair, allowing your imagine to reach its own destination.
Most Planetariums vary their presentations on a monthly schedule, so you can go several times a year and have a unique educational experience every time.
Relatively inexpensive, visiting a planetarium near you can be a fun, rewarding experience for the whole family.
Do It Yourself
Home Planetariums
Did you know you can take the planetarium concept and project the night sky inside a room in your home? Yes, it’s true, you can project beautiful images of galaxies, stars, nebulous, and other night sky images on the ceiling and walls in your home.
There are many options to choose from, and like most things in life, you get what you pay for, so it’s best to stay away from the cheaper choices if that’s an option for you. The more expensive home projectors will offer more options with higher quality, more accurate images, many displaying the motion of the stars.
If your child is curious about the evening sky, this is a wonderful way to encourage that curiosity, using this technology as an educational tool. Who knows, this one item could be the reason your child decides to become a scientist, perhaps even an astronomer.
Some of the higher quality projectors available include the ‘Sega Toys Homestar Flux Home Planetarium Star Projector’, the ‘Smithsonian Optics Room Planetarium’, and the more affordable ‘Uncle Milton In My Room Star Theater Pro Home Planetarium Projector’.
These projectors are typically not too difficult to set up, some come with an app for easy control, many have timers and focus adjustment capabilities. Which ever projector you choose, we’re sure you and your children will experience hours of fun as you explore the night sky in the comfort of your home.