Show Schedule

PHM Planetarium & Air/Space Museum
Public Show Schedule

2007-2008 Academic Year

All shows are $2 Adults, $1 Kids except for "Breakfast With Santa" ($6.50 Adults, $5.50 Children, and Laser Light Show which are $5 per seat.

All shows run between 30 and 45 minutes

BEGINNING ASTRONOMY PT.1 September 16 Sunday 1:00 pm

If you ever wanted to become acquainted with the night sky this is the show to see. This live presentation featuring Planetarium Directors Linda Mark and Art Klinger will cover many aspects of the current naked eye visible night sky. It will include planets, constellations, apparent sky motion and circumpolar constellations viewed from Northern Indiana , the North Pole and the Equator. This is an audience friendly show, which allows for many questions and hopefully a few answers.

BEGINNING ASTRONOMY PT.2 September 23 Sunday 1:00 pm

Another set of Astronomy lessons with Linda Mark and Art Klinger reviewing the concepts covered in Astronomy Pt. 1, plus: more constellations, reasons for the seasons and lunar phases. This is an audience friendly show, which allows for many questions and hopefully a few answers.

SPUTNIK October 4 Thursday 6:30 pm

Regionally renowned Astronomy Lecturer, Mr. Rick Pirko, from Youngstown State University will present an event that shook the world on October 4, 1957 . On this date the former Soviet Union launched the world’s first satellite demonstrating technology and rocket power that no other country had at that time. This was the trigger for the “Space Race” that took place between the U.S. and the U.S.S.R. This race prompted America to eventually land the first men on the Moon. Mr. Pirko will cover the events of that fateful day, the details of the “race” and the benefits we have received from all the technology that was invented during this time.

OUR PLACE IN SPACE October 7 Sunday 1:00pm

This show is designed for Kindergarten students on up. It features such things as how and why the Sun moves across the sky; the turning Earth, day and night, planets and stars in general. This is a great program for young kids as well as adults.

ADVENTURES ALONG THE SPECTRUM October 21 Sunday 1:00pm

Professor Photon takes us on a humorous adventure along the energy spectrum also known as visible and invisible light. By comparing and contrasting sound waves from a piano (which he plays very poorly) to the energy spectrum the audience will be able to understand that the universe is made up of energy we can see and can't see....and what we can't see is very exciting.

VANISHING NIGHT SKY November 4 Sunday 1:00 pm

Regionally renowned lecturer of Astronomy, Mr. Chuck Bueter will present and demonstrate the affect of light pollution on our night sky. Light pollution not only diminishes our view of the night sky it costs us billions in wasted energy. He will detail how we can save money by conserving our energy output.

THE WEATHER MACHINE November 11 Sunday 1:00pm

This exciting program is divided into several segments that answers such questions as: What causes weather? How are tornadoes and hurricanes formed? What is lightning and why is it so dangerous? And, can we predict the weather by observing the Moon and stars? Between these Earth weather segments, actual television weather casters present not the weather of Earth, but the weather of the other eight planets. These forecasters discuss the heat of Venus, the storms of Jupiter, and the frozen atmosphere of Pluto...making "The Weather Machine" a first-class weather and solar system program.

BREAKFAST WITH SANTA December 8 Saturday 9:00AM

Enjoy a fabulous breakfast in the Bittersweet Elementary cafeteria with Santa. Following breakfast, you will enter the Planetarium to see our 25 minute presentation titled: "A Star For Santa's Tree." Tickets must be purchased in advance from the PHM Community Education Office located at the ESC.

Cost: $6.50 Adult, $5.50 Child

A STAR FOR SANTA'S TREE December 9 Sunday 1:00 pm

This 45 minute show contains: three short stories, two sing-along songs and a grand finale. It is loaded with special effects, slides, and music. The Planetarium is decorated with moving: elves, Santa Claus and Mrs. Claus; electric train, moving lights, Christmas trees, etc.

TIS THE SEASON... December 17 Sunday 1:00 pm

The show traces the development of many of the world's endearing holiday customs, and how they involve lighting up the winter season-from the burning Yule log and sparkling Christmas tree lights to the lighting of the Menorah and luminarias.

From Egyptians and Celts to Hopi's and Romans learn about the rich variety of religious and cultural rituals practiced during the winter solstice. Light-hearted, seasonal traditions are also examined including gift giving, kissing under the mistletoe, and decking the halls with greenery and candles. St. Nicholas, Santa Claus, Sinterklaas, Kris Kringle and Father Christmas will each make a personal appearance. Finally, a lesson in astronomy explains how and why we have seasons along with identifying constellations, comets, meteors and supernovae.

WONDERS OF THE NIGHT SKY January 13 Sunday 1:00pm

We will peer deep into space through the eyes of the orbiting Hubble Space Telescope and travel back billions of years in time to witness the birth of the Universe. You will see the formation of galaxies and stars as well as exploring some of the most wondrous nebulae and astronomical structures yet discovered.

WSKY: RADIO STATION OF THE STARS January 27 Sunday 1:00pm

Two cosmic DJ's: Moondog Matt Midnight and Stella Sunspot will welcome you to our special broadcast at WSKY. This show will examine a potpourri of Astronomy topics with such personalities as: Dr. Cosmos, who answers call-in astronomy questions; Meteorologist Sunny Skyler, who will give the current weather on various planets; "Lift-off" Larry Lunar who will give a detailed traffic report from the Asteroid Belt.. Also included are three songs, one of which is a clever rap song called "City Stars," commercials and "just-in" news bulletins. We think WSKY is the planetarium program your kids will want to tune into.

RUSTY ROCKET'S LAST BLAST February 10 Sunday 1:00 pm

Instructor Rusty Rocket takes a class of rookies on a tour of the Solar System by discussing basic rocket physics, recounting great moments in space exploration, pointing out unique planetary features, and emphasizing the great distances that separate the planets. Rusty encourages his audience to seek answers to their own questions about the universe as he explains how long it would take to deliver a pizza to Pluto.

LASER LIGHT SHOW $5/seat Beatles February 22 Friday 7:00pm

Vinyl February 22 Friday 8:00pm

Zeppelin February 23 Saturday 7:00pm

Pink Floyd February 24 Saturday 8:00pm

Dark side of Moon

Potpourri February 24 Sunday 1:00pm

Pop February 24 Sunday 2:00pm

This is a full dome professional laser light show utilizing not only a laser projection system, but many of the special effects projectors in the PHM Planetarium as well. The entire 35-40 minute show is set to music. Show titles are subject to change, please check with the Planetarium Director in advance of the show.

HISTORY OF HUMAN SPACE EXPLORATION March 9 Sunday 1:00pm

This 60 minute presentation details the main events of Manned Space Flight. This program is segmented so that about every 90 seconds we stop the video to point to the related artifacts in our Space Museum .

COSMIC SAFARI March 23 Sunday 1:00pm

The search for life in the Universe begins as we travel to yet undiscovered planets in the far reaches of our galaxy as well as the Universe. You’ll see that different environments yield different creatures. What will intelligent beings look like? Probably not like us. This show will explain why

THE SUMMER SKY April 24 Thursday 6:30pm

We will present the current night sky as well as the sky for the entire summer. Weather permitting we will examine the sky with our telescopes.