Planetarium (K-12 Field Trips)

The Department of Astronomy & Astrophysics at Penn State has a small planetarium (15' dome) that can seat approximately 25-30 visitors. We offer planetarium shows year round to visiting K-12 classes and some community groups (for example, scouts and summer camps). Our planetarium is staffed by student and faculty volunteers and the shows are free of charge.

Each show is typically 25-45 minutes long. We often accompany the planetarium show with another activity, such as one of our popular 3D tours of Mars, the Milky Way, and the Universe beyond our Galaxy. These feature spectacular astronomical images from the surface of Mars, to dusty nebulae, to dazzling galaxies, rendered in three dimensions with the aid of special eyeglasses and projection screen. For younger visitors (K-2), we recommend the 3D tour of Mars, or one of our Phases of the Moon or Earth's Seasons demos.

The total time for the show and activity is 1 hour.

These programs can only be scheduled during open time slots between Penn State classes. We do our best to accommodate every group, but we may not be able to schedule your group in your first choice of time slot, so please be prepared to give 2 or 3 possible times that you would like to visit.

To schedule a show, please contact:
Chris Palma
814 865-2255
planetarium@astro.psu.edu

We do not currently offer shows for groups of children younger than kindergarten age. Also, we do not currently offer shows to private groups besides the exceptions noted above. However, our planetarium is open to the community during AstroFest (mid-July) and the Penn State Parents and Families Night (early fall).