The Tyler Junior College Earth & Space Science Center featuring Hudnall Planetarium has announced a slate of new dome shows — plus special operating hours during spring break.
For the week of March 18-22, the science center will be open 11 a.m.-4:30 p.m. Tuesday- Saturday.
Admission to individual dome shows is $7 for adults and $5 for children, students and seniors (ages 65 and up). Multi-show Day Passes are also available for $12 for adults and $9 for children, students and seniors.
Tickets are on sale at sciencecenter.TJC.edu.
The science center is located at 1411 E. Lake St., on the TJC central campus. Parking is free.
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.
• “Space: The New Frontier” — Noon
The dome show 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.
• “Serengeti” — 1 p.m.
Life happened in the Serengeti on an unprecedented scale. It’s home to most of Africa’s most iconic animals and hosts one of the world’s greatest natural events — the annual wildebeest migration. Nature has orchestrated a perfect symphony in which every species has a very distinct role to play in a larger story — the balance of an entire ecosystem. A film for all ages, audiences will follow the newest members of the animal cast as they imitate their parents and embark on their life’s journeys. Prepare to be awed by this immersive Giant Screen film about how nature works in one of the world’s greatest ecosystems.
• “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.
• “Great Barrier Reef” — 3 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.
• “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.
For a complete listing of TJC science center shows or to purchase tickets, go to sciencecenter.TJC.edu.