2nd Grade & Up
15 minutes + show selection
Unavailable in May

Add this live discussion to your selected show. Take a look at what is visible in this evening’s sky including: planets, constellations, moon phase, basic motion of the sky, and any special celestial event.

Additional $1.00 fee per guest plus standard planetarium fees.

Pre-K & Kindergarten
18 minutes

Designed for young viewers, this traditional show is a fun and friendly exploration of the sky including the motions of the sun, stars, and Earth, daytime and nighttime, and the constellations. Join Dudley the duck on his first day outside the barn.

Educator’s Guide: Don’t Duck, Look Up!

Pre-K to Grade 1
20 minutes

Designed for our youngest viewers, this traditionally-styled show helps viewers use their imaginations to see pictures in the sky, learn about constellations, basic movements of the Earth and stars, and discover animals that can be found in Pennsylvania and in the night sky.

A Production of The Planetarium at The State Museum of Pennsylvania

Pre-K to Grade 1
24 minutes

While on a routine fossil-hunting expedition, The Zula Patrol turns up evidence that the villainous Deliria Delight has been traveling back in time to Earth’s prehistoric past to illegally dump her company’s toxic trash. The Zula Patrollers must find and catch her, before her actions cause catastrophic consequences. In the process, our heroes learn all about the formation and development of Earth, and the life forms who call it home. Based on the hit TV series, The Zula Patrol, now reaching 200 million households worldwide.

Trailer: Down to Earth

Pre-K to Grade 1
25 minutes

For our younger viewers, this fully animated cartoon, narrated by Aesop the owl and Socrates the mouse, takes a light-hearted look at the myths and stories associated with the winter constellation Orion, the great hunter and his companions in the night sky.

Trailer: Orion
Educator’s Guide: Orion

Pre-K to Grade 1
20 minutes

Perseus and Andromeda is a fun-filled retelling of the age-old tale of the beautiful, but unfortunate, Princess Andromeda, who in divine punishment for her mother’s bragging, is sacrificed to a sea monster and rescued by the Greek hero Perseus.

Trailer: Perseus and Andromeda

Pre-K to Grade 2
20 minutes

I have many names. I can be mysterious. People say I’m shy. Sometimes you can see me, sometimes you can’t. I always look right at you, but don’t always show my face. Most people just ignore me, but your life would be very different without me. Who am I? I’m the Moon! Come learn all about me.

A Production of The Planetarium at The State Museum of Pennsylvania

Kindergarten to Grade 2
20 minutes

For our younger viewers, join two friendly robots as they explore the planets. Find out what makes each planet unique. Come learn all about our solar system.

A Production of The Planetarium at The State Museum of Pennsylvania

Grades 1 – 5
26 minutes

Coyote has razor-sharp wit, but he’s confused about what he’s seeing in the sky. In his quest for answers, Coyote will help audiences discover the truth behind common astronomical misconceptions. This delightful,  humorous production tackles many of the most baffling concepts associated with the Earth-Moon-Sun system including: eclipses, lunar phases, the seasonal changing of constellations, and the physical nature of the Sun and the Moon.

Trailer: Earth, Moon & Sun
Educator’s Guide: Earth, Moon & Sun

Grade 3 and up
25 minutes

The exploration of space is the greatest endeavor that humankind has ever undertaken. What does it take to part of this incredible journey? What does it take to become an astronaut? Explore the amazing worlds of inner and outer space. Discover the perils that lurk in space as we subject our test astronaut to everything that space has to throw at him.
Narrated by Ewan McGregor

Trailer: Astronaut

Grade 3 and up
25 minutes

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. They learn about the history of the telescope, see how telescopes work and how the largest observatories in the world explore the mysteries of the universe.

Trailer: Two Small Pieces of Glass
Educator’s Guide: Two Small Pieces of Glass

Grade 4 and up
22 minutes (Video: 7 min + Live presentation: 15min)

We are losing the night sky at the speed of light. Take a closer look at how light pollution is destroying out view of the night sky and the things we can do to keep the stars visible. This brief introduction is followed by a live presentation of The Sky Tonight taking a look at the current constellations, planets, and moon phase with a brief discussion on how to find your way around the sky.

Trailer: Losing the Dark

Grade 4 and up
27 minutes

Experience one of the most momentous times in history. Discover the small steps and giant leaps made by the astronauts of Apollo 11 as they land on the Moon’s surface for the first time.

A Production of the Jenks Planetarium

Grade 4 and up
25 minutes

What are constellations? How were they created? These are just two of the questions covered about these images in the night sky. Learn about what a constellation really is, who is responsible for creating them, and see what images we find around the globe. Explore each season and find out the basic constellations you can find in the Pennsylvania night sky.

A Production of The Planetarium at The State Museum of Pennsylvania

Grade 4 and up
26 minutes

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 powers the Universe. Journey to the furthest reaches of our galaxy and experience both the awesome beauty and destructive power of stars.
Narrated by Mark Hamill

Trailer: STARS
Educator’s Guide: STARS

Grade 4 and up
20 minutes

This exhilarating flight through a precise, virtual re-creation of our universe is an astounding visual adventure through space. Travel through our Solar System, out of our galaxy, and deep into intergalactic space to answer the question, “Where are we in the universe?”
Narrated by Academy Award winner Tom Hanks

Trailer: Passport to the Universe
Educator’s Guide: Passport to the Universe

Grade 4 and up
26 minutes

What are we made of?
Where did it all come from?
Explore the secrets of our cosmic chemistry, and our explosive origins. Connect the evolution of life on Earth to the formation of the Universe by following the building of Hydrogen atoms to the synthesis of Carbon, and the molecules for life.
Narrated by Andy Serkis

Trailer: We Are Stars

Grade 4 and up
25 minutes

We Are Astronomers reveals the global collaboration, technology and dedication required to answer the unresolved questions of the Universe. Learn about the upcoming James Webb Telescope Mission, and explore the electromagnetic spectrum. Take a flight through the Large Hadron Collider in Cern, Switzerland.
Narrated by David Tennent

Trailer: We Are Astronomers

Grade 4 and up
25 minutes

Are we alone in the Universe? Are there other worlds like ours? These are just a few of the questions challenging astronomers. Gain an understanding of what types of habitable environments support life. Explore the latest research on Mars and take a closer look at how scientists are discovering extrasolar planets and determining if they are habitable. We may truly be part of a galactic community, and to them, we are the aliens.
Narrated by Rupert Grint

Trailer: We Are Aliens

Grade 4 and up
24 minutes

Is Earth the only water world in our Solar System? Take an exciting space flight through our Solar System in search of water and water worlds like Earth. This trip to the planets includes the latest scientific theory on the formation of the solar system and planets as well as the most recent astronomical research and exploration, including data from robot explorers.

Trailer: Oasis in Space

Grade 4 and up
24 minutes

Explore the inner workings of Earth’s climate system. With visualizations based on satellite monitoring data and advanced supercomputer simulations, this cutting-edge production follows a trail of energy that flows from the Sun into the interlocking systems that shape our climate: the atmosphere, oceans, and the biosphere.
Narrated by Liam Neeson

Trailer: Dynamic Earth
Educator’s Guide: Dynamic Earth

Grade 5 and up
29 minutes

We all know we have changes in our seasons, but why does this happen? Explore the causes for Earth’s change in seasons and the surprising role seasonal change plays in our life and history.

A Production of The Planetarium at The State Museum of Pennsylvania

Grade 6 and up
24 minutes

A fury is building on the surface of the sun, high-velocity jets, a fiery tsunami wave that reaches 100,000 kilometers high, and rising loops of electrified gas. What’s driving these strange phenomena? How will they affect planet Earth? Find the answers as we venture into the seething interior of our star.
Narrated by Benedict Cumberbatch

Trailer: Solar Superstorms
Educator’s Guide: Solar Superstorms

Grade 6 and up
32 minutes

Our ancients learned the sky is not just a thing of beauty, but also our window for the position of our planet. Understanding how our planet is aligned with the distant stars allows anyone to use the sky as a compass, a calendar and a clock. This traditional show explores how mankind has used the sky to tell time, track yearly cycles, and find direction.

A Production of the Jenks Planetarium

Grade 6 and up
25 minutes

The impulse to strike out into the unknown, to see what’s over the horizon, is as old as humanity. Today, whole new horizons beckon. Astronomers are racing to find habitable worlds, but if we find one, how will we ever get there? What rocket designs might one day conquer the voids of space? How far can our technology take us?
Narrated by Sean Bean

Trailer: Faster Than Light

Grade 6 and up
30 minutes

This stunning voyage through time and space conveys, through an arresting combination of sights and sounds, the Universe revealed to us by science. 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.

Trailer: From Earth to the Universe

Grade 6 and up
25 minutes

Discover how a revolution in one of the most basic of all human enterprises, making of maps, is shedding new light on our planet’s evolution in the wake of rising global temperatures. Using stunning, latest-generation imagery from space, view the dynamic processes causing coastal glaciers in Greenland and Antarctica to melt, and explores how rising seas could threaten coastlines the world over. These striking new images are produced by the confluence of satellites and supercomputers, revealing Earth in a degree of precise detail scarcely imagined a generation ago.

Trailer: Atlas of a Changing Earth

Grade 6 and up
24 minutes

Black Holes uses the latest discoveries and observations to help us view the formation of the early universe, star birth and death, the collision of giant galaxies, and a simulated lighting to the super massive black hole at the center of our own Milky Way Galaxy.
Narrated by Liam Neeson

Trailer: Black Holes the Other Side of Infinity
Educator’s Guide: NASA
Educator’s Guide: DMNS 

9th Grade & Up
16 minutes 

Explore the H-R Diagram, from the history of its creation to the practical use it has for astronomers today. Take an in-depth look at the brightest stars we see from Earth, then fly-through space to the locations of the closest stars to the Sun – using the HR diagram along the way.

Produced by The Ritter Planetarium at The University of Toledo

All Ages (Available in December Only)
40 minutes

This traditionally styled holiday show takes a look at astronomy and holiday traditions. Explore the reasons humans are so fascinated with lighting up our lives during the December holiday season. Although it is the coldest and darkest of seasons, this time of year also holds some of the warmest and brightest celebrations of the year.