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 Summer series, which has been a popular feature over the past few years,” said Dr. Beau Hartweg, TJC science center director.
From May 27 through Aug. 30, science center operating hours will be 11 a.m.-4:30 p.m. Tuesdays-Saturdays. The center will be closed for the Friday, 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 $100 flat rate.
The science center is located at 1411 E. Lake St., on the TJC main campus. Parking is free.
Laser Summer series
In June and August, the science center will feature Laser Summer, a series of high-energy laser dome shows set to rock and country music.
• Saturday, June 21
7 p.m. — Laser Queen
• Saturday, Aug. 16
7 p.m. — Laser Country Hits
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.
• “Great Barrier Reef” (noon) — 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.
• “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.
• “Cosmic Journey: A Solar System Adventure” (2 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.
• “Space: The New Frontier” (3 p.m.) — 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.
• “Mayan Archaeoastronomy: Observers of the Universe” (4 p.m) — In a feast of colors and sounds, this exciting show offers an in-depth look at six Mayan temples: San Gervasio, Chichen Itzá, Uxmal, Edzná, Palenque and Bonampak. Viewers dive into the Mayan world to understand the importance of the orientations of its temples in relation to the movement of the Sun, the Moon and Venus.
For more information, or to purchase advance tickets, go to sciencecenter.TJC.edu.