Friday night shows and a family matinee will highlight current space missions, night sky viewing and solar system wonders.
The Santa Monica College Planetarium will present a series of live-hosted shows in August exploring Mars exploration, space telescopes, eclipses and the sun, along with regular updates on what’s visible in the night sky.
The planetarium’s Friday evening programs begin at 6 p.m. with “The Night Sky Show,” followed at 7 p.m. by a featured topic. A Sunday Family Matinée is scheduled for Aug. 16, with the same format starting at 1 p.m. and 2 p.m. Each show runs about 40 minutes and ends with a short audience question-and-answer session with Planetarium Lecturer Sarah Vincent. No children under age 3 are permitted at Friday shows.
“The Night Sky Show” uses the planetarium’s 4K Digistar projection system to cover the latest astronomy and space exploration news while offering a virtual tour of constellations and other celestial highlights for the coming evenings. It is scheduled for Aug. 7, 14, 21 and 28 at 6 p.m., and Aug. 16 at 1 p.m.
The featured programs include:
“Mission Close-up: Curiosity” on Friday, Aug. 7, at 7 p.m., which examines the Mars rover’s more than decade-long exploration of the Red Planet, its current location and future plans.
“The Great Observatories” on Friday, Aug. 14, at 7 p.m., and Sunday, Aug. 16, at 2 p.m., which looks at the four major space-based telescopes, including the Hubble Space Telescope, that have provided a broad-spectrum view of the universe.
“Physics of Eclipses and Moon Phases” on Friday, Aug. 21, at 7 p.m., which prepares audiences for the partial lunar eclipse on Aug. 27 and discusses the unique geometry that allows Earth’s moon to perfectly eclipse the sun, a phenomenon not seen elsewhere in the solar system.
“Solar System Survey: Sun” on Friday, Aug. 28, at 7 p.m., launching a new series with an exploration of Earth’s star and what makes it special as the center of the only known planetary system supporting life.
All shows take place in the SMC Planetarium, Room MSB 126 of the Mathematics + Science Building on the main campus at 1900 Pico Blvd. Free parking is available on campus for attendees.
Tickets are available at smc.edu/tickets, with a small service fee. Pricing is $10 for adults and $7 for children ages 3-12 for individual shows. A combo ticket for both “The Night Sky Show” and the feature program costs $16 for adults and $10 for children.
More information is available at smc.edu/planetarium
