With a full lineup of dome shows and a laser rock series, the TJC Earth and Space Science Center featuring Hudnall Planetarium is sure to be one of the summer’s coolest places.
“We have an exciting slate of dome shows — plus we’re bringing back our Laser Rock Summer series, which was very popular last year,” said Dr. Beau Hartweg, TJC science center director. “It’s going to be a great summer.”
From now through Aug. 31, science center operating hours will be 11 a.m.-4:30 p.m. Tuesdays-Saturdays. The center will be closed for the Thursday, July 4, holiday.
Admission is $7 for adults, $5 for children, students and seniors (ages 65 and over). Day passes are $12 for adults or $9 for children, students and seniors.
Private group and field trip reservations will be available from 9:30 to 11 a.m. Tuesdays through Fridays. Admission for a private group or field trip of up to 30 visitors is a $75 flat rate.
The science center is located at 1411 E. Lake St., on the TJC main campus. Parking is free.
Laser Rock Summer series
In June and August, the science center will feature Laser Rock Summer, a series of high-energy laser dome shows set to rock music by artists such as U2, Madonna, The Beatles, David Bowie and more.
• Saturday, June 29
7 p.m. — Laser American Spirit
• Saturday, Aug. 17
7 p.m. — Laser David Bowie
Admission is $5 per show.
Dome shows and times
• Children’s show (11 a.m.) — The planetarium offers a variety of shows for children ages 10 & under, including: “Accidental Astronauts,” “The Little Star That Could,” “From the Blue Planet to the Red Planet,” “Earth, Moon & Sun: The Secret of the Cardboard Rocket” and “Dinosaur Passage to Pangaea.” A different show will be selected each day.
• “Dinosaurs: A Story of Survival” (noon) — Like almost all children, Celeste is fascinated with dinosaurs. She is preparing a talk for her class about how they went extinct when Moon, a very wise and magical character, poses a tantalizing question: what if I told you that there are still dinosaurs among us? Celeste will join Moon in a journey through time. An exciting adventure that will show them the Earth as it was in the very, very distant past.
• “Sea Lions: Life by a Whisker” (1 p.m.) — Between a jagged cliff and a roaring ocean lives a colony of Australian sea lions. In an environment as equally harsh as it is beautiful, viewers are immersed in a classic coming-of-age tale guided by one of Australia’s most unique, intelligent and playful animals.
Narrated by actor Sam Neill (“Jurassic Park”), the film looks inside a colony of creatures where a life of closeness, tenderness and clumsiness sometimes gives way to great sacrifice and bravery. Dive into the world of a rare Australian sea lion pup — and meet the people who are trying to save her species.
• “Great Barrier Reef” (2 p.m.) — Narrated by acclaimed actor Eric Bana, “Great Barrier Reef” captures the natural beauty and exquisite strangeness of the world’s largest living wonder and introduces audiences to the visionaries and citizen scientists who are helping us better understand and protect this awesome, bizarre and vibrant living world.
• “Cosmic Journey: A Solar System Adventure” (3 p.m.) — Audiences will voyage to the outer reaches of our solar system in search of worlds that might support life.
Travel faster than the speed of light, from the limits of our solar system to the Sun, taking in the wonders of the planets and their moons. Volcanoes tower 80,000 feet above a barren surface. Monstrous hurricanes rage for over 400 years. Multicolored rings float suspended in space.
• “5000 Eyes: Mapping the Universe” (4 p.m.) — Enjoy this full-dome, documentary film about the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (DESI), which is creating the most detailed map of our nearby universe using a unique instrument capable of measuring the spectra of many galaxies at once.
Experience the largest structures in the universe as never seen before by flying through a portion of DESI’s initial data. Dive into modern cosmology, plus the scientific background and motivation for building a large map of galaxies. And take a trip to Kitt Peak National Observatory in Southern Arizona, to see footage of the telescope in action while getting to know the amazing collaborators from all over the world making this research possible.
For more information, or to purchase advance tickets, go to sciencecenter.tjc.edu.