The holiday season has arrived at the TJC Earth and Space Science Center featuring Hudnall Planetarium.
During Thanksgiving Week, Nov. 25-30, center hours are 10 a.m.-4:30 p.m. Monday-Wednesday and 11 a.m.-4:30 p.m. Saturday, with closures on Thanksgiving Day and the day after, Nov. 28 and 29.
From Dec. 2 to 21, center hours are noon-4:30 p.m. Tuesdays-Fridays and 11 a.m.-4:30 p.m. Saturdays.
During Christmas Week, Dec. 23-28, center hours are 10 a.m.-4:30 p.m. Thursday-Saturday, Dec. 26-28, with closures Monday-Wednesday, Dec. 23-25.
During New Year’s Week, Dec. 30- Jan. 4, center hours are 10 a.m.-4:30 p.m. Monday, Dec 30, and Thursday-Saturday Jan. 2-4, with closures Tuesday and Wednesday, Dec. 31 and Jan. 1.
Dome show info
Dome shows, mostly with a holiday or winter theme, will be presented through Jan. 4, including:
• “Let It Snow” (11 a.m. Saturdays only) — This 30-minute show features a variety of festive music classics visually enhanced with animation, laser imagery, special effects, and all-dome scenery.
• “Season of Light” (Noon) — This show 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 looks at a few of the more light-hearted seasonal traditions: from gift giving and kissing under the mistletoe to the custom of decking the halls with greenery and candles. Saint Nicholas, Sinterklaas, Kris Kringle, Father Christmas, and Santa Claus all drop by as well.
• “Space: The New Frontier” (1 p.m.) — The center’s latest dome show that takes audiences on a journey through the stars. In the quest to make human spaceflight accessible within in a decade, not a century, and ultimately affordable to ordinary citizens, leading innovators, entrepreneurs, engineers, and daredevils are locked in a race into the unknown. From self-assembling habitats, commercial space stations, launching rockets without fuel to building the Lunar Gateway to deep space, history is in the making as we speak.
• “Mountain Adventure: Out of Bounds” (2 p.m.) — Follow Olympian Torah Bright as she journeys through the world’s longest chain of mountain ranges extending from Antarctica all the way to Alaska. Along the way, Torah will ride with backcountry legend Jeremy Jones and free-skiing superstar Sammy Carlson. Together, they will encounter penguins, polar bears and other wildlife, and meet with scientists and environmentalists to uncover a deeper understanding of our mountain ecosystems.
• “Mystery of the Christmas Star” (3 p.m.) — Journey back more than 2000 years to Bethlehem for scientific explanation for the star the wise men followed to find the baby Jesus.
• “Extreme Auroras” (4 p.m.) — Created by award-winning photographer Ole Salomonsen, “Extreme Auroras” is a visual feast. Join Salomonsen as he journeys through northern Norway, Finland and Sweden in pursuit of his passion to film nature’s wildest and most spectacular light show: the aurora borealis, or northern lights. Filmed with fisheye lenses that capture the whole sky and then projected in the full-dome theater, you will feel as though you are immersed in the arctic wilderness, witnessing this awe-inspiring natural phenomenon.
Special holiday events
The center will host an outdoor Star Party from 8 to 9:30 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 7. where telescopes will be available for visitors to view the night sky.
On Saturday, Dec. 21, the center will host a special “Rock the Dome” holiday edition, with “Laser Holidays” show at 7 p.m.
“We have a lot of great shows lined up for the holiday season,” said Dr. Beau Hartweg, science center director. “Plus, we have science center memberships available that would make great stocking stuffers!”
Admission is $7 for adults, $5 for children, students and seniors (ages 65 and over). Day passes are available for $12 for adults and $9 for children and seniors.
The science center is located at 1411 E. Lake St., on the TJC main campus. Parking is free.
For the complete list of shows or to purchase advance tickets, go to sciencecenter.TJC.edu.