Full Dome Planetarium Shows
Choose from the exciting list of Immersive Fulldome Planetarium Shows below for your group tour experience. Each featured planetarium show is complemented by a 15 to 20-minute interactive seasonal star show. Following this, you’ll embark on a tour of our facility, including a demonstration of the operation of Indiana’s largest telescope. The seasonal star show is designed to captivate audiences of all ages. For those bringing younger visitors, we recommend “The Little Star that Could” due to its engaging story and captivating visual effects. Additionally, educators’ guides are available for many of the shows.
On April 8th, 2024, Indianapolis will be graced with its first total solar eclipse in over 800 years. This is an unparalleled and awe-inspiring event that promises to leave a lasting impression on all who experience it. In light of this momentous astronomical occasion, we strongly encourage group tours to select our planetarium program, “Eclipse: The Sun Revealed.” This program provides comprehensive insights into this remarkable celestial event, ensuring that your group is well-prepared to appreciate the magnitude of the Great American Eclipse of 2024.
Choose your fulldome planetarium show from the list below.
Get ready for the biggest astronomical event to come to Indianapolis in over 800 years, a total solar eclipse! On April 8, 2024 the skies will go dark in Indianapolis as the Moon completely covers the Sun for nearly 4 minutes. The planetarium show ECLIPSE: The Sun Revealed takes you on a journey through the historical and cultural view of eclipses, the geometry that gives us eclipses, how to safely view the upcoming eclipses. Hear first-hand accounts of witnessing a total solar eclipse and witness immersive visualizations that re-create this stunning event. Learn how eclipses revealed aspects of solar science that otherwise remained hidden. This program will tell you all you need to know about the most impressive wonder the sky has to offer and will have audiences ready for the Great American Eclipse of 2024.
ECLIPSE GLASSES can be purchased by visitors at a cost of $2 per pair.
INTENDED AUDIENCE: Ages 9 and up, though all ages welcome!
PRODUCED BY Sudekum Planetarium at the Adventure Science Center.
TOPICS: eclipse safety and viewing, solar and lunar eclipses, solar system, astronomy
LENGTH: 27 minutes
EDUCATORS’ GUIDE: Solar Eclipse viewing and the 2024 Total Eclipse
This popular and well-loved story has been updated with accurate astronomical information. Great science, a great story, and easily understood by nearly all ages. The Little Star That Could tells a story about Little Star, an average yellow star in search for planets of his own to protect and warm. Along the way, he meets other stars, learns what makes each star special, and discovers that stars combine to form star clusters and galaxies. Eventually, Little Star finds his planets. Each planet is introduced to audiences with basic information about our Solar System.
Created by the Saint Louis Science Center and reproduced by Audio Visual Imagineering, Abrams Planetarium, Brevard Community College, and Rowan University.
INTENDED AUDIENCE: Highly recommended for Pre-K through 6th grade.
TOPICS: Planets, Stars, and the Galaxy.
From the launch of the first artificial satellite Sputnik, to the magnificent lunar landings and privately operated space flights. Be immersed and overwhelmed with this most accurate historic reconstruction of Man’s first steps into space. Who were these Men and Women that took part in these death defying endeavors? Witness their drive, their passion, and their perseverance to explore, in Dawn of the Space Age.
INTENDED AUDIENCE: Grades 4 and up
AWARDS: 2007 Albuquerque Sony 4K award DomeFest
2011 Tokyo Audience Choice Award, second place International Festival of Scientific Visualization
TOPICS: Spacecraft and space exploration.
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 ESO Supernova Planetarium
INTENDED AUDIENCE: Grades 6 and up
TOPICS Astronomical, Observatories, History of Astronomy, Solar System, Space Exploration, Telescopes
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 the discoveries these wonderful tools have made. The students see how telescopes work and how the largest observatories in the world 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. During their conversation with the astronomer, they also learn about the discoveries of Galileo, Huygens, Newton, Hubble and many others.
INTENDED AUDIENCE: Grades 4 and up
PRODUCED BY ESO Supernova Planetarium
TOPICS Astronomical, Observatories, History of Astronomy, Solar System, Space Exploration, Telescopes
From the journey of protons racing through CERN’s Large Hadron Collider, to up-close views of the Big Bang and emergent universe, to the mile-deep descent to an underground experiment in South Dakota, Phantom of the Universe immerses audiences in the search for dark matter. Evidence suggests that dark matter makes up 85 percent of the total mass of the universe, yet has so far been detected only through its gravitational effects on cosmic objects that can be seen. Share in the story of how scientists around the world are collaborating to track down the constituents of dark matter in our universe
Narrated by Academy Award winner, Tilda Swinton with sound by an Academy Award winning team at Skywalker Sound.
INTENDED AUDIENCE: Grades 8 and up
EDUCATORS’ GUIDE Discover free educational resources about dark matter here. Check out the fun ABCs of Particle Physics, as well as the short educational video What is Dark Matter and Dark Energy?
PRODUCED BY ESO Supernova Planetarium
TOPICS Astronomical Observatories, History of Astronomy, Solar System, Space Exploration, Telescopes
It 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. High Energy Astrophysics 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. Europe plays a leading role in high-energy astrophysics research. The XMM-Newton and the Integral missions are leading the exploration of the X-ray and gamma-ray universe. ESA`s mission ATHENA, to be launched in 2028, will carry the most sensitive X-ray telescope ever and it will be the flagship of all high X-ray missions.
PRODUCED BY Integrated Activities in the High-Energy Astrophysics Domain (AHEAD).
A unique among planetarium shows, intertwining science and mythology to take the viewer on a poetic journey through how the Mayans have viewed and understood the Universe throughout their history. 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.
INTENDED AUDIENCE: Grades 4 and up.
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 planet; it turns out they are more common than we thought. A huge diversity of different worlds is out there, just waiting to be discovered.
This presentation traces the history and development of many of the world’s most endearing holiday customs, all of which involve lighting up the winter season — from the burning Yule log, sparkling Christmas tree lights and candles in windows, to the lighting of luminarias in the American Southwest and the traditional ritual of the Hanukkah Menorah.
The show also recounts the historical religious and cultural rituals practiced during the time of winter solstice — not only Christian and Jewish, but also Celtic, Nordic, Roman, Irish, Mexican and Hopi. It also takes a look at some of our more light-hearted seasonal traditions: from gift-giving and kissing under the mistletoe, to songs about lords a-leaping and ladies dancing, and the custom of decking the halls with greenery and candles. St. Nicholas, Sinterklaas, Kris Kringle, Father Christmas, and Santa Claus all drop by as well.
Naturally, there is some astronomy in Season of Light. Audiences learn a selection of Northern hemisphere winter constellations, and find out why we even have seasons, as we demonstrate the Sun’s path across the sky throughout the year, and the Earth’s tilt and orbit around the Sun. And of course, the program explores the possible astronomical explanations for a “Star over Bethlehem” in the last quarter of the show: comets, meteors, novae and supernovae, and planetary conjunctions.
Season of Light is visually rich, culturally inclusive, musically satisfying, and soothing as a warm drink on a cold winter’s night — and the perfect program for that end-of-the-year program slot!
Age recommendation: 8+
This reveals the impact our star has on every aspect of our lives here on Earth. Explore the Sun’s role in allowing and maintaining life, from photosynthesis to humanity. Discover how the Sun dictates our days, seasons and years. Delve into the history of the Sun’s impact on human religion and culture. Learn about the Sun’s dynamic nature what appears as a flat disk in the sky is in fact a violent and evolving celestial body, burning 600 million tons of hydrogen every second. The Sun, Our Living Star allows viewers to experience the Sun in a new way, with never-before-seen images of its turbulent surface in immersive fulldome format, revealing its power and variability in breathtaking detail.
INTENDED AUDIENCE: Children ages 8 and older and their families.
A short feature that demonstrates how the Sun and Earth are interconnected and that we are “Living with a Star.” High quality animations display solar phenomena such as fusion and light energy as well as solar surface features and events. Granules, solar flares and coronal mass ejections are highlighted. The show discusses the impacts of space weather and how the Earth`s atmosphere and magnetic field protects all life on Earth. “Solar Quest” features the role of the Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) and how scientists are using it as a way to help identify and predict sever space weather. Actual videos of the Sun from SDO are used where the audience can actually see the large amount of energy being released.
TOPICS: Sun, Solar Storms, the Sun`s interaction with Earth, Auroras, spacecraft
Travel back to the beginning of time and experience the birth of the sun. Discover how it came to support life, how it threatens life as we know it, and how its energy will one day fade away. 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
TOPICS: Sun, Solar Storms, the Sun`s interaction with Earth, Auroras, spacecraft