Sky-Skan’s Fulldome Clips

Add fulldome scientifically accurate CG animations or stunning timelapse photography into your shows.

All clips available in 4K resolution. A selection of clips available in 3D.

Clip titles: Asteroid, Asteroid Belt, Asteroid Survey, Big Bang, Black Hole, Caltech Submillimeter Observatory (3D), Deep Impact Comet, Electron Pressure, Exoplanet Orbit, Galaxy, Gemini North Exterior, Gemini North Interior (3D), Hydrogen Fusion, Inward Outward Forces, James Clerk Maxwell Telescope, Keck Observatory (3D), Maunakea Valley Lasers (3D), Orion, Saturn Rings, Space Time Distortion, Spectroscopy, Star Evolution, Sun, Super Nova to Pulsar, United Kingdom Infrared Telescope (3D), and Virgo Cluster.

Produced by Sky-Skan.

Most clips are one minute.

Clips are sold separately.

To Space & Back

Space exploration–our greatest adventure–is having a big impact on your life. Not only is it helping discover a universe of unimaginable scale and beauty, it’s reaching back down into our world and influencing the way we live.

To Space & Back takes you on an incredible journey from the far reaches of our known universe to our own planet. The technology that transports us through space is paving the way for the devices and apps we use every day. What’s happening above and beyond is coming back down to Earth!

Discover how space exploration is shaping your world...

Theatrical and immersive. Coming in 2013 in 2D and 3D stereo.

Produced by Sky-Skan in association with The Franklin Institute.

Solar Storms

A Tale of Twin Spacecraft

Available in both 3D stereo and standard 2D mono fulldome formats

Solar Storms are a hot topic in 2012/13 as the Sun reaches solar maximum!

From Earth, the Sun cannot be looked at with human eyes. Solar Storms gives the audience the opportunity to see the Sun up close. Stand above the arctic circle and witness the most brilliant auroras on Earth; take a ride on a solar blast from Sun’s surface to Earth Magnetosphere, and come to a deeper understanding of what this vast sea of fire means to life here on Earth.

For Sky-Skan’s exclusive fulldome version, the original 3D animation files have been accessed, adding spherical stereo cameras and re-rendering each scene to take full advantage of the fulldome environment.

Produced by Melrae Pictures in association with K2 Communications

Developed with the assistance of NASA and the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum

Fulldome version produced by Sky-Skan

Approximate running time: 20 minutes

Available in both 2D and 3D stereo

Awesome Light

Discoveries From the Telescopes of Maunakea

Available in both 3D stereo and standard 2D mono fulldome formats

Three Episodes In the Series!

Open the doors of the world’s most famous observatories to your audiences. Produced over three years with exceptional access to the telescopes and in close cooperation with the principal investigators. Discover the latest stories from the cosmos in this unique planetarium series!

For general audiences. Features PI’s data and astronomical simulations rendered in DigitalSky 2 with stunning time-lapse footage from Maunakea.

For general audiences. Features PI’s data and astronomical simulations rendered in DigitalSky 2 with stunning time-lapse footage from Maunakea.

Available exclusively from Sky-Skan in both 3D stereo and standard 2D mono fulldome formats

Produced by Sky-Skan for ‘Imiloa Astronomy Center of Hawai‘i

Available in both 2D and 3D stereo

Episode 3 available later in 2011

Cosmic Journey

A Solar System Adventure

Explore the wonderful worlds that circle our remarkable sun

Volcanoes tower 80,000 feet above a barren surface. Monstrous hurricanes rage for 400 years. And multicolored rings sit suspended in air. In Cosmic Journey: A Solar System Adventure, you’ll travel through our Solar System faster than the speed of light, taking in the wonders of the planets and their moons.

Cosmic Journey: A Solar System Adventure takes you on a voyage to the outer reaches of our Solar System in search of worlds that might support life. Especially popular with school age children and teachers, Cosmic Journey: A Solar System Adventure is one of the Denver Museum of Nature & Science’s most successful programs and is suitable for all ages.

Produced by the Denver Museum of Nature & Science

Running time: 23 minutes

Written by James Manning

Undiscovered Worlds

Undiscovered Worlds: The Search Beyond Our Sun explores a timeless question: Do other planets like Earth exist?

Through the discovery of exoplanets—the hundreds of planets that have been found orbiting stars beyond the Sun—we have learned that our solar system is not alone in the universe and have had to redefine our understanding of planets and solar systems. With rapidly improving technology and recent endeavors like the Kepler Telescope, the discovery of exoplanets represents one step closer to the possibility of finding an Earth-like world. How will this change how we view our place in the universe?

Co-written with Alan Lightman, this show features an original orchestral score.

Produced by the Museum of Science, Boston

Running time: 30 minutes

Suitable for family audiences and school groups

Educator’s guide available

Available in both omnidirectional and unidirectional versions

Wildest Weather in the Solar System

Available in both 3D stereo and standard 2D mono fulldome formats

Join National Geographic on a spectacular journey to witness the most beautiful, powerful, and mysterious weather phenomena in the solar system. From a storm the size of a 100-megaton hydrogen bomb, to a 400-year-old hurricane, to a dust tempest that could engulf entire planets, you'll be glad you live on Earth!

Audiences will fly through the thick atmosphere of Venus, magnetic storms on the sun, liquid methane showers on Titan, and anticyclones whirling at hundreds of miles per hour on Jupiter. Packed with eye-popping visuals, high-end CGI, and cutting-edge science, Wildest Weather in the Solar System is now available for your digital fulldome theater!

Website: WildestWeatherShow.com

Educational materials: Click here

Produced by National Geographic

Available in both 2D and 3D stereo

Sea Monsters

A Prehistoric Adventure

Available in both 3D stereo and standard 2D mono fulldome formats

Sea Monsters: A Prehistoric Adventure brings to life the extraordinary marine reptiles of the dinosaur age in both 3D and 2D. Eighty million years ago, the American Midwest lay under a great inland sea where colossal creatures ruled the waves. From giraffe-necked Styxosaurus and sea birds with teeth to the T-Rex of the ocean—the 40-foot super-predator Tylosaurus—these wondrous beasts defy imagination. In a remarkable journey, National Geographic immerses audiences in this unexplored world of the “other dinosaurs,” delivering the fascinating science behind what we know and a vision of history’s grandest ocean creatures brought to life in fulldome.

Visit the Sea Monsters promotional site from National Geographic

Produced by National Geographic

Transformed from giant-screen film by Sky-Skan

*Transform coverage is truncated from fulldome

Approximate running time: 40 minutes

Available in both 2D and 3D stereo

Forces of Nature

Closer Than You’d Ever Want To Be

Witness the awesome power and the unimaginable destruction of explosive volcanoes, ground-buckling earthquakes, and deadly tornadoes as you head into the field with scientists who risk their lives exploring the origins and behaviors of these fearsome natural disasters.

• Venture to the brink of an erupting volcano on the Caribbean island of Montserrat.
• Crisscross the Midwest’s infamous “Tornado Alley” with storm-chasers racing to unlock the secrets of monster twisters.
• Discover how the history of massive, city-leveling earthquakes in Turkey is helping scientists predict where and when the next quake will strike.

It’s a spectacular, up close glimpse of the Earth’s most destructive forces! Narrated by Kevin Bacon.

Produced by National Geographic and Graphic Films, Inc.

Transformed from giant-screen film by Sky-Skan

*Transform coverage is truncated from fulldome

Approximate running time: 40 minutes

Bugs!

A Rainforest Adventure

Available in both 3D stereo and standard 2D mono fulldome formats

Get a view of the fascinating universe of insects magnified up to 250,000 times their normal size in A Rainforest Adventure - Bugs! Become immersed in a miniature world, where a leaf weighs as much as a car and a single raindrop can quench the largest thirst. Highlighting the extraordinary world of insects, A Rainforest Adventure - Bugs! focuses on the life cycles of a praying mantis and a butterfly from their birth to their inevitable encounter in the tropical rainforest of Southeast Asia, where predator meets prey.

Narrated by Dame Judi Dench

Teaching materials available

Transformed from giant-screen film by Sky-Skan

*Transform coverage is truncated from fulldome

Produced by Principal Large Format and SK Films

Available in 25 or 40 minute versions

Suitable for family audiences

Available in both 2D and 3D stereo

The Heart of the Sun

The Heart of the Sun, a fulldome digital presentation by John Weiley—maker of multi-award winning Imax films including Antarctica, SolarMax, and the hit 3D production Imagine!—shows us the Sun as it has never been seen before.

New space-based telescopes, along with a new generation of terrestrial instruments, capture both the fine surface detail and the vast eruptions of the corona with unprecedented clarity and for the first time take us right inside a living star. The Heart of the Sun delivers new breathtaking, high-resolution motion pictures never before seen in a fulldome theater.

From the Neolithic sky watchers of Europe to the solar observatories and blood sacrifice of Mesoamerica to the sun gods of the Egyptians and Greeks and the dawning of Aristotelian science, The Heart of the Sun reveals how the development of our whole cosmology has been informed by our struggle with this oldest of mysteries. Experience the story that shows how that process continues today as the sheer strangeness of our nearest star continues to challenge our imagination.

Produced by Heliograph Productions

Running time: 22 minutes

Suitable for family audiences

Evolution

With the general theme of evolution this fulldome production takes its audience on a 13.7 billion year whirlwind journey. The audience will realize that the universe continuously evolves and so do the stars. Yet, the death of a star is not just an end but also a new beginning because the exploding supernovas enrich space with heavier elements that lead to the birth of new stars and new planetary systems. This is the same way that our own Solar System was born some 4.6 billion years ago and then our planet evolved through the continuous geotectonic activities that shaped the Earth’s surface. Simultaneously the Earth became the cradle of biological evolution that led eventually to the development of our own human civilization that is still evolving.

Produced by Eugenides Foundation and Eyelead Software

Running time: 25 minutes

The Earth and Me

The past few years we have come to realize that Human activity has a detrimental effect on the Earth’s systems (climate, ecosystems, biodiversity). Its impact can be seen not only on nature itself, but also in the food we eat, the drugs we use, even on our health. This show, without being alarmist, treats each of these complex topics by presenting scientific facts, in order for the audience to reflect on individual responsibility and action. We act as if our planet belongs only to us, probably without even realizing it. Perhaps it is time to reconsider the way we live.

Produced by Eugenides Foundation and The Animonautes

Running time: 26 minutes

Tales of the Maya Skies

Immerse yourself in the beauty of Chichén Itzá, Mexico, the “seventh wonder of the modern world.” Listen to the story of the ancient Maya civilization. Experience Tales of the Maya Skies.

With unprecedented realism Tales of the Maya Skies immerses us in Maya science, art and mythology, using fulldome digital technology to transport us back into the world of the Maya.

Produced by Chabot Space & Science Center, Tales of the Maya Skies inspires and educates through its description of the Maya’s accurate astronomical achievements and how astronomy connected them to the Universe.

Grammy Award winner and Oscar nominee, Lila Downs, narrates, as Tales of the Maya Skies brings us back to the ancient jungles of Mexico, where the Maya built cities and temples aligned to movements of the Sun, Moon, and planets. Over many years they observed and documented astronomical events with great accuracy.

The Maya made sense of an ever-changing world by observing, recording and predicting natural events such as solstices, solar eclipses, weather patterns, and planetary movements. These observations, in combination with a sophisticated mathematical system, allowed them to develop a precise calendar system; their measurements of the length of the solar year were more accurate than measurements the Europeans used as the basis of the Gregorian calendar. The Maya also predicted eclipses, were able to forecast seasonal change and developed the concept of mathematical zero, enabling them to predict events into the future.

Recent deciphering of the Maya hieroglyphics is providing archeologists with new and exciting discoveries. Using three dimensional laser scanning and advanced graphic techniques, the virtual reconstruction of architecture in Tales of the Maya Skies also supports these archeologists in interpreting the ancient sites, and contributes to their conservation.

Funding for the production of Tales of the Maya Skies was provided by the National Science Foundation and the Instituto Politécnico Nacional. It is the first fulldome digital show highlighting a Latin American culture.

Produced by Chabot Space & Science Center

Approximate running time: 35 minutes

TAO

Chile, South America, Atacama Desert, TAO project team of Tokyo University has been constructing the huge infrared telescope on the peak of Mt. Chajnantor. The show merges CG space scenes with powerful and beautiful live-action images including scenes of severe desert and local town San Pedro. The story unfolds as an astronomer working on the project meets a boy Sherpa. Together they watch the stars, trace the constellations and discover a pure fascination for the stars. Based on the interviews for the TAO project members, the story lively depicts the enthusiasm of the astronomer for the stars.

Produced by KONICA MINOLTA PLANETARIUM CO., LTD.

Approximate running time: 26 minutes

Black Holes: Journey into the Unknown

Narrated by Academy Award winning actor Geoffrey Rush and presenting the latest scientific information, this new planetarium show brings to life all that is fascinating and extreme in the world of black holes. Witness what would happen if you got too close to one and see how a black hole is able to warp time and space. No longer the stuff of science fiction, the discovery of the black hole has been a triumph of modern science, an incredible journey from imagination to reality.

Produced by Melbourne Planetarium, Scienceworks Museum, Museum Victoria

Approximate running time: 25 minutes

Suitable for family audiences and school groups

Our Living Climate

Our Living Climate is an engaging fulldome primer about the history of climate change on Earth.

This quality production deals with 3 key themes:

• The Earth’s climate is a complex system that has changed over time
• The Earth’s atmosphere sustains life and has been built by life
• There are important similarities and differences between Earth and other planets

Visually dramatic and documentary in style, it includes comparisons of Earth and its nearest neighbors, the Moon and Venus. It highlights their histories and the delicate atmospheric balance required to support life. We are then immersed in the story of Earth’s climate, traveling through time to view the dependent interaction between climate and life during the evolution of our planet. A mass extinction event, an ice age and the advent of the industrial revolution are described in detail.

The presentation helps audiences to understand how scientists study constant climate change and how we, as humans, have the opportunity to impact the climate, for better or worse.

Our Living Climate – the greatest scientific challenge of our time.

Produced by Melbourne Planetarium, Scienceworks Museum, Museum Victoria

Approximate running time: 28 minutes

Suitable for school groups ages 10-16 and general audiences

TILT

It’s a crazy day when snow starts falling and it’s the middle of summer! But sometimes crazy days are just what you need to discover something new.

Join Annie and Max for a whirlwind adventure as they explore a new angle on the world and find out how the seasons work. It’s surprising what a new angle on the world can do.

Produced by Melbourne Planetarium, Scienceworks Museum, Museum Victoria

Hayabusa: Back to the Earth

On May 9, 2003, Hayabusa, a Japanese space probe, was launched aboard the M-V Launch Vehicle to collect samples from the near-Earth asteroid Itokawa (1998 SF36). A sample, if Hayabusa can bring one home, is believed to be a key to find out the secrets of our solar system; the birth of the Earth and solar system born some 4.6 billion years ago. Such old material is nonexistent on Earth but it is believed that an asteroid such as Itokawa may well possess it as a record of our solar system.

Hayabusa attempted to land on Itokawa after traveling approximately 2 billion kilometers (1.25 billion miles). However, its landing was no easy task. The probe body was suspected of having deep mechanical troubles. But there is no going back.

Re-positioning once again, Hayabusa dives in for a second landing attempt. It looked as though it was successful but turned into the worst crisis. Can Hayabusa return home? This show is a full CG image fulldome feature presentation with highlights of this spacecraft overcoming a series of obstacles along the journey.

Produced by Live Company Ltd. and GOTO INC.

© HAYABUSA Dome-movie Production Committee.

Approximate running time: 43 minutes

We Are Astronomers

Today’s astronomer is not the lone observer of past centuries. We Are Astronomers reveals the global collaboration, technology, and dedication required to answer the unresolved questions of the Universe.

Produced by NSC Creative

Approximate running time: 25 minutes

Suitable for family audiences and school groups

Available later in 2011 in both 2D and 3D stereo

Astronaut

Available later in 2011 in both 3D stereo and standard 2D mono fulldome formats

The exploration of space is the greatest endeavor that humankind has ever undertaken. What does it take to be part of this incredible journey? What does it take to become an astronaut?

Astronaut, the latest immersive planetarium show created by the National Space Centre, takes you from Earth into space…and beyond. Experience a rocket launch from inside the body of an astronaut. Explore the amazing worlds of inner and outer space, from floating around the International Space Station to maneuvering through microscopic regions of the human body.

Discover the perils that lurk in space as we subject “Chad,” our test astronaut, to everything that space has to throw at him.

Presented in stunning high-definition 360-degree fulldome video and explosive surround sound, Astronaut is an experience like nothing on Earth.

Produced by NSC Creative

Approximate running time: 23 minutes

Suitable for family audiences and school groups

STARS

Every star has a story. Some are as old as time, faint and almost forgotten. Others burn bright and end their lives in powerful explosions. New stars are created every day, born of vast clouds of gas and dust. Through every phase of their existence, stars release the energy that powers the Universe. Journey to the farthest reaches of our galaxy and experience both the awesome beauty and destructive power of STARS.

The stunning animation highlighted by astronauts, spacecraft, telescopes, nebulas, clusters, and more, was created by the talented team of the National Space Centre (Leicester, UK). This dramatic program features the voice talent of Mark Hamill. The Nashville Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Albert-George Schram, resident conductor, performed part of the STARS soundtrack.

More than 225 planetariums have presented classic shows produced by the Sudekum Planetarium at the Adventure Science Center. Now, fulldome theaters can enjoy similar Stellar Experiences from the Sudekum Planetarium.

Produced by Sudekum Planetarium and NSC Creative

Running time: 26 minutes

Suitable for family audiences

BIG

BIG. One of the most asked questions about the universe is “How big is it?”—and that’s one of the hardest to answer.

BIG has been produced to tackle the question and does so by taking the audience on an immersive journey to the far reaches of the universe that we are currently able to observe. Along the way, the audience is introduced to the concept of the speed of light, and they meet a huge range of objects to spark their imagination.

Unlike any show you have seen before, BIG combines a light-hearted storytelling style with computer animation, stop-motion character animation (clay animation), laser graphics, and a surround sound musical score to bring a really big subject down to Earth.

Narrated by Sir Richard Attenborough

Produced by NSC Creative

Approximate running time: 20 minutes

Suitable for ages 5 and above and school groups

MARS

What happened to Mars? What happened to the water? Was there once life? Could there still be life…somewhere?

Featuring spectacular high-definition 3D graphics, the awe-inspiring history of the planet unfolds to the space age and the dusty, cratered world we know today. Join in the latest discoveries from the Global Surveyor and Mars Odyssey. Contemplate the potential of a new generation of space craft, such as Mars Express and the landers Spirit and Opportunity, in the race to find liquid water and life. Finally, take a speculative look into the future—and the presence of humans on the planet. Take your seat for a 4.5 billion-year story.

Narrated by Miriam Margolyes

Produced by NSC Creative

Approximate running time: 25 minutes

Suitable for family audiences and school groups

The Planets

Presented in the style of a game show, The Planets tests people’s knowledge of the nine planets in our Solar System. The audience find themselves transported from planet to planet, immersed in spectacularly different environments. Great fun, the show also has enough facts and concepts to provide real educational value.

Narrated by Ben Jackson

Produced by NSC Creative

Approximate running time: 25 minutes

Suitable for ages 5 and above and school groups

S.E.T.I.

The prospect that we may not be alone in the universe is taken as a fact by the movies, writers, and a great many scientists. As yet, we have no hard evidence of another living thing outside Planet Earth.

S.E.T.I.—The Search for Extra Terrestrial Intelligence—is a show that explores all sides of this topic, from the planets we are finding around other stars, to the feasibility of travelling to the stars, and what aliens might actually be like, to the possibility that UFOs have been visiting and the various methods that scientists are using to get in touch. Will we make contact in our lifetimes? This stunning immersive show guides you through the myriad of ideas to a surprising conclusion.

Narrated by Hugh Laurie

Produced by NSC Creative

Approximate running time: 25 minutes

Suitable for ages 5 and above

Natural Selection

Available in both 3D stereo and standard 2D mono fulldome formats

Join the young Charles Darwin on an adventurous voyage of exploration circumnavigating the world with the HMS Beagle.

In Victorian times many physical phenomena were already discovered and described by natural laws, but life’s most eloquent mechanism was still unknown:

How could new species arise to replace those lost in extinction ?

It was time for someone to stand up and come forth with a naturalist explanation of this mystery of mysteries.

Witness the thrill of scientific discovery by seeing the world through Darwin’s eyes, make observations of the most beautiful natural scenery and let the pieces of the scientific puzzle slowly but surely fall into place.

Allow Darwin himself to reveal this simple and most beautiful mechanism that explains the evolution of all life on Earth: natural selection, the single most wonderful idea anyone has ever had.

Produced by Mirage3D

Running time: 40 minutes

Suitable for family audiences and school groups

Available in both 2D and 3D stereo

Dawn of the Space Age

Available in both 3D stereo and standard 2D mono fulldome formats

Re-live the excitement of the early days of space exploration, from the launch of the first artificial satellite to the magnificent lunar landings and privately operated space flights.

Be immersed and overwhelmed with this most accurate historic reconstruction of man’s first steps into space.

Who were these men and women that took part in these death-defying endeavors?

Witness their drive, their passion, and their perseverance to explore, in Dawn of the Space Age.

Produced by Mirage3D

Available in 30 or 40 minute versions

Suitable for family audiences and school groups

Available in both 2D and 3D stereo

Origins of Life

Origins of Life deals with some of the most profound questions of life science: the origin of life and the human search for life beyond Earth. Starting with the Big Bang, in chronological order, the show deals with prebiotic chemistry in the universe, the formation of stars, formation of solar systems, and the first life on Earth. Furthermore, Origins of Life covers the great extinctions as well as our search for (primitive) life beyond planet Earth.

Origins of Life is a motivational journey through time and a celebration of life on Earth. It features many recent discoveries related to life science, demonstrating to the youth that if there was ever a time that science made it greatest advances, it would be right now! Narrated by Lord Robert Winston.

Produced by Mirage3D

Running time: 24 minutes

Suitable for family audiences and school groups

Journey to the Stars

Our journey to the stars spans billions of years, beginning on Earth and extending beyond our galaxy and into the future before returning home. More than 13 billion years ago there was only an invisible substance called dark matter, along with hydrogen and helium gas. The stars that formed quickly exploded in supernovas, blasting out new elements, the raw materials for building new stars and planets. The gravity of dark matter collected gas into galaxies– including our own Milky Way. Moving forward to about 4.5 billion years ago, we see a tightly packed group of stars, called a star cluster, in which stars of many different masses and colors are formed, including our Sun. The most massive stars lived only briefly, and exploded in gigantic supernovas. Less massive stars were flung out of the cluster—some, like our Sun, with planets already formed and orbiting around them.

We move on our present day Sun to see how stars work – from its outer layer where a million-degree corona blasts out a solar wind, to its core where atomic nuclei fuse together to release immense amounts of energy. Jumping to the future, five billion years from now, our Sun at the end of its life expands into a red giant and sheds its outer layers, leaving a white dwarf, the hot dense remnant of the Sun’s core.

Returning to the present, we explore stars in our galactic backyard that are going through all these processes now—being born, ejected from star clusters, slowly dying, and shedding matter that may someday form other stars and planets. A short trip back home shows us the familiar night sky, and the morning light of the rising Sun reveals what stars have made possible.

Produced by American Museum of Natural History

Approximate running time: 26 minutes

Suitable for family audiences

The Search for Life: Are We Alone?

For as long as humans have contemplated the cosmos, we have wondered if we are alone in the universe. Ancient mythologies and contemporary science fiction have presented imaginative answers, but how does modern science approach this question? Narrated by Harrison Ford and created in collaboration with NASA, the American Museum of Natural History’s The Search for Life: Are We Alone? explores this intriguing question, taking visitors on a fascinating journey through time and space. From the depths of the Earth’s oceans to the outer reaches of the cosmos, The Search for Life explores the links between life on Earth and the potential for life on other planets.

The Search for Life uses breathtaking visualizations based on cutting-edge data from a multitude of astrophysicists, researchers, and institutions to create a real view of the science portrayed. Using the most advanced technology available, The Search for Life transforms our view of the cosmos to reveal countless worlds that may harbor life.

Produced by American Museum of Natural History

Approximate running time 20 minutes

Suitable for family audiences

Passport to the Universe

Every day, as new scientific discoveries reveal answers to cosmic mysteries, we wonder how we fit into this vast universe. Taking audiences on an unforgettable voyage of billions of light years, Passport to the Universe, produced by the American Museum of Natural History and narrated by Tom Hanks, is an incredible journey from our home planet and the Milky Way galaxy to the edge of the universe. Audiences fly beneath the rings of Saturn, into the heart of the Orion Nebula, to the edge of the observable universe, and back to Earth through a black hole, experiencing these and other stunning cosmic destinations as never before possible.

Created in collaboration with NASA, Passport to the Universe relies on AMNH’s Digital Universe, an unprecedented database containing over three billion stars, and on data and visualizations from the world’s top astrophysics and research institutions. The combination of these incredible resources results in an immersive experience that educates and inspires, taking audiences on a virtual tour to the limits of the universe and back again.

Produced by American Museum of Natural History

Approximate running time 20 minutes

Suitable for family audiences

Cosmic Collisions

Produced by the American Museum of Natural History (AMNH) and narrated by Robert Redford, AMNH’s third space show illustrates that cosmic collisions are a universal force of nature, both destructive and creative. Dynamic and dazzling, they have created many things we take for granted—the glowing Moon, the sun’s warmth and light, our changing seasons, waves washing up on a sandy shore. They’ve ended the age of the dinosaurs and changed the very map of the cosmos, reforming galaxies and giving birth to new stars and new worlds. Produced in partnership with NASA, Cosmic Collisions relies on AMNH’s Digital Universe, an unparalleled database containing over three billion stars, and on data and visualizations from the world’s top astrophysics and research institutions. Cosmic Collisions provides an unprecedented and extraordinary view of these catastrophic and constructive events that have shaped our world and universe.

Produced by American Museum of Natural History

Approximate running time: 23 minutes

Suitable for family audiences

Life: A Cosmic Story

Life takes audiences on an immersive, all-digital journey, featuring visualizations based on the latest scientific data.

“The show’s core concept is that all life on Earth is related, having evolved from a common ancestor,” says Ryan Wyatt, Director of Morrison Planetarium and Science Visualization. “Taking an even longer view, we see that life’s origins begin with dark matter and the first stars — our pedigree is actually 13.7 billion years in the making.”

Narrated by two-time Academy Award winner Jodie Foster, Life begins in a grove of towering redwoods, majestic emblems of Northern California. From there, the audience “shrinks” dramatically as it enters a single redwood leaf and then a redwood cell, learning that despite their unique appearance, redwoods are composed of the same basic molecules as all other organisms on Earth. After this opening statement of shared ancestry, the audience launches on a journey through time, witnessing key events since the Big Bang that set the stage for life. The first stars ignite, galaxies coalesce, and entire worlds take shape. On the early Earth, two scenarios for the dawn of life are presented — one near a turbulent, deep-sea hydrothermal vent, and the other in a primordial “hot puddle” on a volcanic island. From these microscopic beginnings, life transformed the entire Earth as it evolved and diversified: filling the atmosphere with oxygen, turning the continents green, and altering global climate patterns. The 25-minute show ends with a review of geological evidence and the connectedness of all living things on Earth.

To ensure that the show is as scientifically accurate and up-to-date as possible, the Academy drew on the expertise of several advisers who are leaders in their fields:

Dr. Jill Tarter, Director of the Center for SETI Research at the SETI Institute in Mountain View, California, consulted on the show with her extensive knowledge of astrobiology and the search for extraterrestrial intelligent life. Tarter provided the real-life inspiration for Jodie Foster’s character in the 1997 film Contact, and she is also a Fellow and Trustee of the California Academy of Sciences.

Three scientists from the NASA Astrobiology Institute (NAI) in Mountain View provided expertise as well: Dr. Carl Pilcher, Director of NAI; Dr. David Des Marais, Principal Investigator of NAI’s Ames Research Center team; and Dr. Tori Hoehler, Research Scientist with the NAI Ames team. Their collective research efforts focus on the origins, evolution, distribution, and future of life in the Universe. Des Marais, who is heavily involved in the current Mars missions, gave insight into the possibility of life on Earth’s next-door neighbor. Pilcher, Des Marais, and Hoehler are all Fellows of the Academy.

Dr. David Deamer of the University of California, Santa Cruz, consulted on the chemical origins of life, especially for the “hot puddle” scenario depicted in the show.

The Academy also drew on its own scientists to ensure that even the tiniest details were accurate: botanically sound depictions of the redwood leaf and leaf interior; a realistic computer-generated ant along with its zig-zag walking pattern; and an appropriate selection of birdsongs for the redwood grove, taken from recordings made by former Academy curator Luis Baptista.

To produce the show’s complex imagery, the Academy’s Visualization Studio collaborated with Stanford University and the National Center for Supercomputing Applications. In May 2010, the Academy’s Visualization Studio was one of four recipients of the international FullDome Award of Excellence for its inaugural production Fragile Planet. The collective experience of its staff in the visual effects industry totals more than 120 years, including work at Industrial Light & Magic, Pixar, and Lucasfilm Animation.

Produced by the California Academy of Sciences Visualization Studio

Approximate running time: 25 minutes

Narrated by Jodie Foster

Fragile Planet

Travel 120 million light years to rediscover home

Original all-digital production combines scientific visualization with movie-making magic; highlights Earth’s special place in the Universe as the only known haven for life.

Fragile Planet gives audiences an astronaut’s view of Earth, highlighting Earths unique regions. The journey then continues to the Moon, Mars, and beyond the Milky Way to search for habitats that might host extraterrestrial life. The show’s theme — that Earth is the only known haven for life, and thus is important to protect — echoes the themes of biodiversity and sustainability.

The visual foundation of the show lies in scientific visualization, utilizing observed data as the starting point for the imagery in the program — more than three dozen researchers and institutions provided data in support of Fragile Planet. Their contributions range from high-resolution satellite imagery of Earth to the positions of galaxies more than 50 million light years distant. From the three-dimensional terrain of Valles Marineris on Mars to the locations of extrasolar planetary systems in interstellar space, everything audiences will see in Fragile Planet has a basis in astronomers’ best understanding of the Universe. Scenes that required extrapolation from known observations were developed with the assistance of researchers with expertise in the relevant topics.

Fragile Planet was written and produced by the Academy’s visualization studio, staffed by a team whose collective credits include work at the American Museum of Natural History, Industrial Light & Magic (ILM), Pixar, and Lucasfilm Animation. For two sequences in the show, the Academy’s visualization studio collaborated with the National Center for Supercomputing Applications (NCSA) at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and separately with San Rafael-based digital studio element FX. Additional associations make Fragile Planet a truly international endeavor. The Swedish software developer SCISS AB provided support for creating accurate renditions of planets based on current NASA data, and the company teamed with Academy technical directors to create a reliable interface between their specialized astronomy software and tools used by computer animators. Display specialists from U.K.-based Global Immersion also partnered with the Academy’s visualization studio to refine techniques for planetarium production, and technical consulting was provided by U.K.-based Visual Acuity.

The spectacular visuals are augmented by an audio environment that is as immersive as the imagery. Composer and sound designer Michael Stearns has composed for numerous large-format films, including Chronos, Ring of Fire, and To the Limit, as well as for traditional theatrical releases including Baraka and Titanic. Stearns brings particular expertise in creating soundscapes for immersive environments, having worked in both planetariums and “ride films,” such as Back to the Future at Universal Studios and Star Trek: The Experience for Paramount.

Produced by the California Academy of Sciences Visualization Studio

Narrated by Sigourney Weaver

Running time: 25 minutes

The Celestial Railroad

Get aboard this fantasy train in the stars. The Celestial Railroad is the fantastic journey of a boy, Giovanni, in the dreamscape created by colorful fulldome CG animation imagery and scored with exquisite music. Based on a story written in the early 20th century, artist KAGAYA has breathed new life into the unique imaginary world using all of his creative energy and precise astronomical knowledge. The starry sky is depicted full of color, yet with scientific accuracy as the Celestial Field made up of a river, silver grass fields, flowers, birds, survey towers, signals, and other figures. Across this amazing and beautiful scenery, the Celestial Railroad runs along the Milky Way. This unforgettable trip will be a feast to the eyes and ears of all audiences. Children can enjoy science and fantasy, and adults will be entertained with its elegant artistry and profound implications.

Produced by KAGAYA Studio

Available in 28 or 38 minute versions

Suitable for family audiences

Kaluoka’hina, the Enchanted Reef

The vastness of our planet’s oceans guards unimaginable secrets. One of its most precious is Kaluoka’hina, the enchanted reef whose magic protects it against humans finding it. Kaluoka’hina’s colorful inhabitants have thus always lived in peace…until the volcano erupts, and the spell is broken.

Now it’s up to the young sawfish Jake and his paranoid pal Shorty to restore the magic of Kaluoka’hina. Their only lead: the ancient legend that tells of touching the moon…

But how is a fish supposed to touch the moon? This is just one of the intriguing puzzles that Jake and Shorty have to solve on their most exciting adventure ever: the quest to save their beloved reef.

See what many are hailing as “the most ambitious and professional production for the dome to date.” In a production that sets a new standard for fulldome shows, Kaluoka’hina is all that and more. As much a technological marvel as it is a wonderfully entertaining and visually captivating show.

Produced by Softmachine

Running time: 32 minutes

Suitable for family audiences

Realm of Light

A journey to the origins of space and our life.

The award winning fulldome show tells in breathtaking pictures the story of the universe and the Earth–from the big bang to the onset of modern man.

Produced by Softmachine

Approximate running time: 24 minutes

Suitable for family audiences

Attack of the Space Pirates

Clark Planetarium presents its first action adventure space show, one that is sure to appeal to the whole family, including young adults!

Hidden somewhere in the vast reaches of space is an alien technology so powerful that it threatens the very galaxy itself. A gang of rogue pirates will stop at nothing to find that technology and unleash its awesome power against the rest of the universe. Now, only one valiant ship stands between the pirates and their total domination of space. It’s a race against time for the Starship Intrepid as it seeks to find the alien technology first while defending itself against the attack of the space pirates!

This show is rendered in a stunning photo-realistic style, one that will not only transport you into the stars, but to the very edge of the galaxy itself. Embark on a thrilling adventure that has something for everyone: alien planets, exploding stars, black holes, evil villains and a series of space battles that will keep you on the edge of your seat. If you think our other shows put you into the action, wait until this one grabs you!

Sound by Skywalker Sound

Produced by Clark Planetarium

Available in 24 or 35 minute versions

Suitable for mid-elementary and above school groups and family audiences

Secret of the Cardboard Rocket

One of the most popular space journeys for children and their families has been The Secret of the Cardboard Rocket. Thanks to new tools and talent at the Clark Planetarium, you’ll see and feel the highest levels of detail and animation of any planetarium in the world.

In the most dynamic fashion possible, the young star travelers are back to show you what could only be dreamed of before. From the boiling surface of the sun to the icy rings of Saturn, children of all ages will be mesmerized by the incredible scenery in motion. Discover the wonder of discovery in The Secret of the Cardboard Rocket.

Produced by Clark Planetarium

Available in 30 or 40 minute versions

Black Holes

A completely original Clark Planetarium production, Black Holes takes you on a journey through one of the most mystifying, awe-inspiring phenomena in the universe: a black hole. Where do they come from? Where do they go? How do we find them? Is there one on Earth’s horizon?

Clark Planetarium invites you to explore with us the science and mystery of Black Holes.

Produced by Clark Planetarium

Available in 23 or 37 minute versions

Saturn

It’s one of the most beautiful and magnificent planets in the solar system...a symbol of all that is exotic and wonderful about the universe.

Once, it was the most distant planet we knew of...a mysterious world seemingly beyond our reach. But now, using sophisticated spacecraft, we have finally been able to reach out to this great ringed giant. We’ve sailed by the trillions of chunks of ice that make up its glorious rings...we’ve uncovered the bizarre faces of its unique moons...and we’ve peered down into its turbulent atmosphere through massive and violent hurricanes.

Thanks to new scientific information, we can present this planet, its moons and its rings in a 3-dimensional environment encompassing the entire dome.

Produced by Clark Planetarium

Running time: 35 minutes

Extreme Planets

For centuries, humanity has wondered whether we are alone in the Universe.

Now, we are finally one step closer to knowing the answer. With the discovery in 1995 of the first planet orbiting another star, we now know that planets are not unique to our own Solar System. In fact, these “extrasolar” planets now appear to be quite common.

In our newest original production, we’ll explore what makes a planet “Earth-like” in the first place and take a fulldome tour of several worlds that just might fit the conditions we’re looking for. From water worlds to molten landscapes, inhabitable moons to planets with multiple suns, these exotic worlds aren’t just science fiction anymore!

Produced by Clark Planetarium

Available in 23 or 32 minute versions

The Big Picture

The Big Picture is a roller coaster ride exploring the history of telescopes and how people have used them to discover celestial bodies within our solar system and beyond. It explains how telescopes take us places we can never go, show us phenomena that exist outside the visual spectrum, and transport us back in time. The Big Picture also shows how each discovery has expanded our picture of the universe.

Produced by Raging Pixel Productions

Approximate running time: 22 minutes

Suitable for family audiences

Cosmic Dimensions

The world in which we live, is familiar to us. We can estimate everyday distances, we know how long we will need to perform our daily work, and we know how it feels when it is very hot or very cold.

The world out there though, is alien to us. When we hear of distances expressed in light years or when we hear that our solar system was formed billions of years ago, it defies our imagination.

Cosmic Dimensions vividly makes distances and time periods comprehensible. To understand distance, we reduce the Earth to the size of an apple — how big are then the Sun and Moon? how far away are the other planets of the solar system? Hard to believe, but even if all the planets shrink to the size of fruit and vegetables, our cosmic home is still the size of a great city!

In order to explain unimaginable periods of time, we reduce the complete history of our universe to a normal working day — it’s then fascinating to see that the entire development of mankind, our cultural and scientific background, fits into just a few split seconds before the end of the day!

Cosmic Dimensions makes the universe a reality — for one working day we follow the employee Max. On the basis of his daily life, we shed light on space and time from fresh perspectives and make the unimaginable, imaginable.

Produced by INTERMEDIA

Suitable for family audiences

Approximate running time: 41 minutes

Available in German language only.

Across the Universe

Let us take you to one of the most thrilling journeys mankind ever made. A journey like this is possible only about every 176 years. Be close to witness the complete mission of both of the Voyager Twins and explore regions mankind never saw before!

Answers to questions such as:

• How does a probe work?
• Why are probes built as they are?
• How you can control a probe?
• How does the probe find its way in space?
• How was it possible to build a probe like this 30 years ago?

Produced by PROKYON Movie Produktions GmbH and Sign STUDIOS

Approximate running time: 30 minutes

Suitable for family audiences

Cosmic Dance

Cosmic Dance is a feast for your eyes and an inspiration for your mind: the award-winning Immersive Cinema movie features the parallels between modern quantum- and astro-physics and Indian Vedic knowledge.

On an adventurous dance through India the young Canadian physics student Leela discovers in a discourse with international scientists that the entire universe and all life are connected, matter and spirit are not separated and divine energy reigns in all of us. Hindu faith, modern science, and universal thinking are no contradiction but one reality.

Documentary and fictional scenes shot in India combined with Bollywood-like dancing creates a breathtaking Immersive Cinema experience.

Produced by LivinGlobe for the Canadian Museum of Hindu Civilization

Running time: 45 minutes

TimeSpace

Join us for an adventure through Time, as we explore the past and imagine the future of the cosmos. Witness the birth of the Universe, the doom of the dinosaurs, and be there for the first landing on the moon! Each TimeSpace travel story is presented as a destination to be experienced as if you are there.

TimeSpace Travel Stories

The Big Bang: Back to the beginning of time and immersed within the Universe during the first minutes of its creation. Based on current research, the audience will watch the creation of all matter unfolding into the Cosmos, climaxing with the birth of the first stars.

Doom of the Dinosaurs: Evidence suggests that the age of the dinosaurs ended when a giant asteroid collided with the Earth. The impact plunged the Earth into chaos and life itself was challenged. For the dinosaurs, this visitor from outer space eventually doomed them to extinction 65 million years ago.

Comet in the Yucatán Sky: In 1222AD, on the Yucatán Peninsula, the Mayan civilization had reached its zenith. Chichén Itzá was a great cultural center that had thrived for centuries but, was now in decline. How would the population and the astronomer-priests react to the sudden appearance of “a star that smokes.” Why would the gods send so special a sight into the sky?

Apollo 11—One Small Step: In July of 1969, people in America and around the world watched this epic accomplishment “live” on television. TimeSpace will recreate the Moon landing experience from a unique perspective for a new generation.

IBEX—The Interstellar Boundary Explorer Mission: In 2508 The inhabitants of a busy space transportation outpost celebrate the 500th anniversary on NASA’s Interstellar Boundary Explorer mission. IBEX was the first space craft to measure and map the edges of the solar system, defining for the first time exactly where the solar wind comes to a stop when it faces the interstellar medium.

To Boldly Go Forth: Imagine the future a thousand years from now. In the next millennium, humans may live and work in the outer solar system. Tomorrow’s pioneers will call an orbiting space-nation home and bold explorers might glimpse Saturn peeking through the methane clouds of Titan.

Narration by Laurie Anderson

Produced by Adler Planetarium

Approximate running time: 28 minutes

Suitable for family audiences and school groups

Infinity Express

Infinity Express takes the audience on an exciting journey of discovery, from the search of the solar system to the mapping of the universe. Some of the best space visualization agencies from around the world, including the Space Telescope Science Institute and the Centre for Astrophysics and Supercomputing at Swinburne University of Technology, contributed to the production, interpreting the script developed between the writer and experts from the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum.

…and the universe is slowly offering up its secrets

Infinity Express is a 20-minute immersive experience for fulldome theaters. Laurence Fishburne (The Matrix) elegantly narrates the production, a remarkable blend of science, art, and entertainment that dramatically communicates the latest breakthroughs in our quest to understand the universe.

With truly stunning visual sequences and a 5.1 surround soundtrack that rumbles the theater, Infinity Express promises an unforgettable experience for audiences.

Produced by Sky-Skan

Approximate running time: 23 minutes

Suitable for family audiences

LIMIT: Expedition to the Edge of the World

Seafaring was once one of the most dangerous adventures. Fear always sails with the seafarers: the fear of falling off the edge of the world!

The earth has an edge. We live on this edge and look out into boundless expanses! Boundless? Is the cosmos really boundless? Has the Universe no edge? Let’s start the search! Our take-off speed is 300 million times faster than a beam of light! The theater makes it possible!

4,000 times farther away than the galaxy of Andromeda, we detect still more galaxies with our telescope. The most distant light detected in the infrared region has been on its way to us for over 13 billion years. It shows galaxies in the process of formation—these are primeval gas clouds with young stars in their midst. The light from the edge of the world comes from the very first stars with no planets. We are looking into the most distant past. The power of imagination is the only suitable means of travel in space. Our brain brings us to the edge of the world with no loss of time. Let’s go there in our imagination!

Produced by Verkehrshaus der Schweiz

Approximate running time: 30 minutes

Suitable for family audiences and school groups

Stella Nova

Stella Nova focuses on our origins and the evolution of matter. Stella Nova covers a fascinating topic, and takes visitors on a thrilling journey of discovery deep into space. Our destiny and our origins are intimately linked to the birth and death of the stars. But what is a star? How do stars “work?” How do they end? Stella Nova offers some very interesting answers to the questions surrounding our origins!

Produced by Verkehrshaus der Schweiz

Suitable for family audiences

Earth’s Wild Ride

Humans have colonized the moon. Looking down on Earth during a solar eclipse, a grandfather tells his two grandchildren, born on the Moon, about Earth. Stories about water, clouds, and ice—things they have never experienced on the Moon—with a historical perspective involving dinosaurs, mammoths, volcanoes, and the forming of great canyons.

Produced for the Houston Museum of Natural History/Rice University Immersive Earth Project by Carolyn Sumners and Home Run Pictures

Approximate running time 20 minutes

Suitable for family audiences and school groups

The Voyager Encounters

The definitive summary, recapping all of Voyager’s encounters with Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune in one convenient, thorough documentary. It can fill the niche for “basic Solar System show” in any planetarium's schedule as the real “meat and potatoes” of planetarium shows—a factual yet entertaining trip to the outer planets. Narrated by Patrick Stewart, Captain Jean-Luc Picard of “Star Trek.”

Produced by Loch Ness Productions

Running time: 43 minutes

Suitable for family audiences

HUBBLE Vision 2

A fascinating tour of the cosmos—from Earth orbit to the limits of the observable Universe, featuring planets, star birth, supernovae, galaxy collisions, black holes, and more! Bring the Space Telescope’s exciting discoveries to audiences of all ages. HUBBLE Vision 2 is a factual journey through the Universe, as seen through the unblinking eye of one of the world’s premier telescopes. Narrated by Wren Ross.

Produced by Loch Ness Productions

Running time: 30 minutes

Suitable for family audiences and school groups

MarsQuest

A tour of the Red Planet and humanity’s fascination with it, presented in a theatrical style “three-act” form (with an epilogue). The show presents Mars through history, details the Mars of our time, and examines the subject of future colonization. The show ends with a view from a future perspective, tracing the efforts that led to our first footsteps on the Red Planet. Narrated by Patrick Stewart, Captain Jean-Luc Picard of “Star Trek.”

Produced by Loch Ness Productions

Running time: 41 minutes

Suitable for family audiences and school groups

The Cowboy Astronomer

From way out West comes a unique planetarium show! The basic premise of The Cowboy Astronomer is simple: we’re in the Western outdoors, listening to star legends and cowboy tales around the campfire. Our cowboy astronomer gives us his perspective of the night sky and the things he’s found out over a lifetime of stargazing. He talks about star colors and temperatures; we find the Andromeda Galaxy by hitting a first-base foul out of the park of the Great Baseball Diamond In The Sky; we learn about young stars and supernovae and what various cultures called the Pleiades; we hear two Native American star tales, see the Anasazi pictographs of the 1054 supernova, and Sirius rising over Wyoming’s Medicine Wheel. The show ends in a thoughtful, philosophical manner, as our cowboy muses about the constellation where he wants to head when he departs this Earth. Narrated by cowboy poet and humorist Baxter Black.

Produced by Loch Ness Productions

Running time: 37 minutes

Suitable for family audiences and school groups

Sky Quest

Come along with a young woman on her personal quest to find a special place in the night sky, from her childhood adventures on Mars (via a cardboard rocket), to the discovery of her “birthday star” that led her to become an astronomer and build a mountain observatory to further her lifelong fascination with the heavens. She shares her telescope views of the Moon, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn with us; points out stars and constellations; and encourages everyone to make the time to look up, even if stargazing in urban areas with light pollution. Narrated by Roxann Dawson (B'Elanna Torres of “Star Trek: Voyager”).

Produced by Loch Ness Productions

Available in 20 and 24 minute versions

Suitable for family audiences and school groups

Oceans In Space

Oceans In Space is a journey of exploration that seeks out places where conditions are favorable for life to exist. This original and thought-provoking presentation highlights the search for extrasolar planets and an understanding of the conditions necessary to form and sustain life. Inspired in part by the goals of NASA’s Origins Program—an effort to answer the enduring questions that spur space exploration—this program introduces audiences to the diversity of life on our home planet even as humans embark on the search for life in the Universe. Narrated by Avery Brooks (Captain Benjamin Sisko of “Star Trek: Deep Space Nine”).

Produced by Loch Ness Productions

Running time: 30 minutes

Suitable for family audiences and school groups

Light Years From Andromeda

Light Years From Andromeda is a show about cosmic distances, light speed, history and evolution presented as a journey between two galaxies that spans light years.

A beam of light leaves the Andromeda Galaxy and travels across the void of intergalactic space. On a planet located in a nearby galaxy, intelligent life evolves. As the light speeds across the light years, over the course of centuries, the primitives on the planet form cultures and civilizations—and begin to wonder about the Universe surrounding them. Their awareness of the night sky increases as the beam of light draws nearer to their planet. When the light reaches the Earth, some of the descendants of the early hunters have just escaped the bonds of their world’s gravity and visited the Moon. In modern times, scientific study of space help the planet’s current inhabitants to understand the properties of light and the ways that understanding shapes our further knowledge of the Universe. Narrated by Michael Dorn, Worf of “Star Trek.”

Produced by Loch Ness Productions

Running time: 30 minutes

Suitable for family audiences and school groups

Magellan: Report From Venus

With a plethora of Magellan radar images, audiences will learn about the volcanism, tectonism, and cratering that shapes our nearest neighboring planet. Magellan: Report From Venus is a documentary look at the cloud-shrouded Venus and the Magellan radar mapping mission.

Produced by Loch Ness Productions

Running time: 29 minutes

Suitable for family audiences and school groups

Our Cells, Our Selves

In Our Cells, Our Selves you are invited to a science bedtime story with 7-year old Sylvie, a recently diagnosed diabetic, who is discovering the wonders of the immune system. Sylvie’s mother tells a story that takes us back hundreds of millions of years to explore how the balance between access to food and immune protection evolved into the modern human immune system. Learn that under rare circumstances, things can go wrong, leading to auto-immune diseases like Type 1 Juvenile Diabetes. The story closes with a look at the future of medicine and the potential for cures!

Produced by Regenerative Medicine Partnership in Education.

Approximate running time 15 minutes.

Suitable for ages 5 and up, families, and school groups.

Dr. Allevable’s Unbelievable Laboratory

Dr. Allevable and Regenerobot invite you into their laboratory as they investigate the new and exciting field of regenerative medicine! The human body is vulnerable to injuries—bone breaks, skin burns, and heart attacks, and regenerative medicine can help us heal faster by enhancing the ways that the body heals itself.

Produced by Regenerative Medicine Partnership in Education.

Approximate running time 23 minutes.

Suitable for ages 5 and up, families, and school groups.

Nanocam

The show that shrinks you down to the size of an insect and flies you through the eye of a needle

Nanocam is a microscopic joyride into the five kingdoms of living things. With the latest 3D animation technology it offers a unique, motivating, didactic and funny approach to living things that has never been seen like this before. The perfect show to celebrate United Nations Decade on Biodiversity, stimulate interest into science and evoke an investigative spirit among young people.

Nanocam is an invitation to think about what life is

Nanocam website: NanoCam.es

Produced by El Exilio

Approximate running time: 27 minutes

Suitable for school groups and family audiences

One World, One Sky

Elmo and Big Bird live in the United States and Hu Hu Zhu lives far away in China, but they discovered that they still see the same stars at night!

Produced by Sesame Workshop, the Beijing Planetarium, Adler Planetarium, and Liberty Science Center with major funding provided by the National Science Foundation

Approximate running time: 27 minutes

Molecularium

Welcome to the Molecularium: a magical, musical adventure into the world of molecules!

Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute’s Molecularium is an exciting new animation, in a planetarium setting, created to spark interest in the atoms and molecules that constitute our world.

The show follows a cast of characters, based on atoms, as they move throughout the universe from the perspective of a magical ship, also called the Molecularium. The ship can view matter on both the human and molecular levels.

The Molecularium project is part of the educational and outreach program of RPI’s National Science Foundation (NSF) funded Nanoscale Science and Engineering Center for Directed Assembly of Nanostructures.

Produced by Nanotoon for the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute

Approximate running time: 25 minutes

Suitable for ages 5 and up and school groups

The Problem with Pluto

The IAU defined the term “planet” on August 24, 2006, creating a need for new material to explain the IAU’s decision. The Problem with Pluto is the most up-to-date educational resource for fulldome theaters to educate the public in an engaging and entertaining way about what defines a planet.

The Problem with Pluto is a fully immersive production that is enjoyable for all ages, but especially structured for 8-14 year olds. Through the experiences of the intrepid character Lucy Leavitt, we are taken on a journey to examine the question “When is a planet not a planet?”

This question is posed by Lucy, who, along with her scientist mother Lillian, is on board a research craft heading to the outer limits of the Solar System. This trip (taken around the time of Lucy’s birthday) is to gain data to silence recent debate questioning Pluto’s status as a planet. We examine some of the new information about our Solar System and discuss how Pluto is different to the other planets in the Solar System. We investigate where Pluto belongs in the overall structure of the Solar System and highlight the difficulties of defining what makes a planet.

Show Features

A fun comparison of the planets in the solar system, including major characteristics and orbits of each.

A voyage through Saturn’s rings, where chunks of rock and ice as large as houses whiz by, then to Neptune, where diamonds rain from the sky.

A look into the unique and amazing history of the discovery of Pluto.

An update of our traditional view of the Solar System to include the Kuiper Belt and Oort Cloud.

Spectacular journeys through the Asteroid Belt and the Kuiper Belt, including a comparison of these amazing regions.

A subtle reminder of the scientific method, including a respect for evidence and openness of mind, and information regarding how we know what we do about the universe.

Produced by Melbourne Planetarium, Scienceworks Museum, Museum Victoria

Running time 30 minutes

Suitable for ages 8 and up and school groups

Tycho to the Moon

Kids love Tycho! The dog that doesn’t just howl at the moon—he goes there!

See the planetarium’s favorite dog like never before with stunning new fulldome visuals. Blast off on an amazing ride with Tycho and his young American friends, Ruby and Michael.

Learn about night and day, space travel, phases of the Moon, and features of the lunar surface. Take a close-up look at the Sun, see Tycho play in zero gravity, witness Earth from space, and watch meteors shoot across the night sky. Includes the much-loved singalong song “Don’t Touch!”

Produced by Melbourne Planetarium, Scienceworks Museum, Museum Victoria

Running time 21 minutes

Suitable for ages 7 to 10

Tycho merchandise available

Magic Tree House Space Mission

Since its debut, the beloved Magic Tree House® book series has been a perennial best-seller. Published in more than 30 countries and 29 languages, the series focusing on the exploits of the brother-sister team of Jack and Annie has sold more than 70 million books in North America alone.

Now, UNC Morehead Planetarium and Science Center, in partnership with authors Will Osborne and Mary Pope Osborne, brings the blockbuster Magic Tree House® franchise to fulldome theaters for the first time ever.

In Magic Tree House® Space Mission, a mysterious “M” sends the intrepid Jack and Annie on a fun-filled journey to discover the secrets of the Sun, Moon, planets, space travel and more. Aligned with early elementary information skills learning objectives, this beautifully-produced show is a winner with Magic Tree House® fans of all ages and school audiences alike.

An original UNC Morehead Planetarium and Science Center production, written by Will Osborne, co-author of Space, the non-fiction companion and research guide to the Magic Tree House® book Midnight on the Moon.

Running Time: 30 minutes

Audiences age 5-10

Solar System Odyssey

Now Available! Go on a futuristic journey through our Solar System. With Earth’s resources being rapidly depleted, a tycoon sends our hero, Jack Larson, on a mission to discover a new home to colonize.

This character-driven show is perfect for middle-school field trip groups and aligns with science curriculum objectives!

An original production of UNC Morehead Planetarium and Science Center. Primary grant funding provided by NASA. Written by Will Osborne.

Running time: 27 minutes

Audiences age 10 and up

Earth, Moon & Sun

Coyote has a razor-sharp wit, but he’s a little confused about what he sees in the sky.

Join this amusing character (adapted from American Indian oral traditions) in a fast-paced and fun fulldome show that explores lunar phases, eclipses and other puzzles.

Engaging and immersive, Earth, Moon & Sun also examines how humans learn through space exploration. Audiences age 5-11.

Produced by UNC Morehead Planetarium and Science Center

Running time 26 minutes

Moles: What Is Out There?

Antares FullDome Productions and Mediúscula present the fulldome cartoon film MOLES, for digital planetariums. MOLES integrates traditional storytelling with digital media in order to entertain children, and awaken their interest for astronomy and nature. With MOLES, children will learn basic concepts about science while having a great time.

Produced by Antares FullDome Productions and Mediúscula

Available in two segments or as a full 35 minute show

Suitable for school programs, family audiences, and children ages 4-8

Astronomy: 3000 Years of Stargazing

The sky, and everything that happens there, has always aroused the interest and curiosity of the human race. Eclipses, the regular cycle of the seasons, the motion of the stars… The ruins of Stonehenge and Machu Picchu bear witness to how these phenomena were studied with a view to predicting them.

In the learned company of a cartoon Einstein, we’ll be revisiting the major astronomical milestones of the last 3000 years, from the cosmological models of antiquity, through the Ptolemaic system and the epicycles, to the contributions of Copernicus, Galileo, Kepler, Newton and Herschel, amongst others. We’ll also be reviewing the discoveries made possible by the use of technology, from the first telescope, designed by Galileo, to the modern ones in use both on earth and in space, which have revealed the wonderful objects contained in the cosmos to us: nebulae, pulsars, black holes…

Only by looking back, and learning about sciences’ great triumphs in the past, can we hope to catch a glimpse of what its future findings might be. Meditating on the future of astronomy, all we can know for certain is that, happily, our curiosity will always be moving a few steps ahead of the reach of our telescopes.

Produced by Antares FullDome Productions

Approximate running time: 34 minutes

Suitable for general audiences and school groups

Chronicle of a Journey to Earth

An intergalactic traveler reaches our part of the galaxy looking for somewhere to settle and as he moves towards the Sun, he examines the bodies that cross his path.

First the outer comets and the dwarf planets, then the giant planets, the asteroids, the rocky planets, amongst them the Earth, which of these has by far best environmental conditions to encourage the development and evolution of living organisms. Following the traveler’s path, the spectators see close up what today’s science has discovered about each of the components of our Solar System.

Produced by Antares FullDome Productions

Approximate running time: 22 minutes

Suitable for general audiences and school groups

The Birth of the Solar System

How did our Solar System originate? What chain of events led to its creation? The film takes us through the phases of its creation, from the condensation of the initial cloud of gas and cosmic dust, to the final formation of the universe. How can we know it happened this way and not through any other mechanism?

Just as detectives look for traces of evidence to clarify the circumstances surrounding a crime, astronomers analyze the prints of the event from which the Sun and the planets originated. These footprints are the impact craters that are found in almost all the bodies of the Solar System, including the Earth, which show that the creation was violent and that what today is a relatively quiet place was in another era the setting for the bombardment of rocks from space.

Produced by Antares FullDome Productions

Approximate running time: 21 minutes

Suitable for general audiences and school groups

Field Trip to the Moon

Field Trip to the Moon is a virtual journey created using NASA engineering models and scientific data. Like NASA’s astronauts, you will come face-to-face with the challenges and excitement of traveling through space to land on the Moon. Along the way, you'll discover some of the differences between the Earth and the Moon and what makes our planet unique and habitable.

Field Trip to the Moon was developed by the American Museum of Natural History in collaboration with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).

Produced by American Museum of Natural History and NASA

Approximate running time 30 minutes

Suitable for school groups

Sunshine!

Sunshine is a loveable cartoon Sun, and he doesn’t care if the children get loud or excited: in fact, he wants them to look around, raise their hands, sing, and play along with his tricks. Adults have to join in too!

During the fun and games, the stars of the night sky are gently revealed and Sunshine explores some simple colors and counting.

Sunshine is self contained, but a live presenter is recommended to get the audience interacting fully.

Produced by NSC Creative

Approximate running time 20 minutes

Suitable for ages 5 and under

Larry Cat In Space

Take off on a lunar adventure with a curious stowaway cat! Larry Cat In Space is a playful, imaginative cartoon presentation about an inquisitive cat who takes a trip to the Moon. Through Larry’s eyes, we observe his human family, a group of enthusiastic sky watchers.

Larry Cat In Space is primarily targeted at grades 1-3, although everyone loves an entertaining, fun story! Parents and children alike will enjoy the show and learn something about the Moon, too!

Produced by Loch Ness Productions

Running time 30 minutes

Suitable for family audiences and school groups

Special Spanish version available as Fito Gato En El Espacio

Secret of the Dragon

Come take a ride on the back of a dragon and explore the mysteries of the universe. This magical story whisks two youths through the Universe at great speed. From their perch on the back of a secretive dragon, the youths learn about worlds beyond theirs and a bit about themselves in the process.

Secret of the Dragon touches on fundamental astronomical science while remaining entertaining enough for children and makes for a wonderful family-oriented show. This “magical ride through the Universe” is a perfect length to accompany a presenter-led live star session or as an add-on to a feature session.

Produced by Sky-Skan

Approximate running time 11 minutes

Suitable for family audiences and school groups

SpacePark360

Welcome to SpacePark360, a modular fulldome feature experience! This state-of-the-art fulldome program combines entertainment with an out-of-this-world immersive experience. Viewers will be transported to surreal vistas and experience the most thrilling amusement park rides the solar system has to offer.

Seen from the rider’s perspective, SpacePark360 takes the state-of-the-art technologies of fulldome systems and combines them with heart pounding thrill rides to create a unique entertainment show never seen before on the dome. From the tops of Jupiter’s clouds to the icy depths of Neptune’s moon Triton, each location serves to heighten the thrilling experience.

Mastered at 4K, SpacePark360 is a revolutionary approach to fulldome entertainment, in that the show can be modular. Theaters can purchase the entire SpacePark360 show (consisting of nine rides, interstitial scenes, sound effects, and programming) or elect to purchase individual rides. If individual rides are purchased, the full purchase price of the rides may be applied to the cost of the full show. Additional options include the Geodesium Edition featuring a custom 5.1 score by Geodesium.

SpacePark360 and SpacePark360: Geodesium Edition are available. SpacePark360 allows theaters to select or produce their own sound tracks to accompany the visuals*. SpacePark360: Geodesium Edition consists of an accompanying sound track with all performance rights included.

* For SpacePark360, music purchase and performance license (eg. ASCAP/BMI) are the responsibility of the performing institution; images only supplied. Geodesium Edition includes licensed music.

Produced by Dome3D LLC.

Approximate running time: 38 minutes for the full show.

Space Opera

Space Opera is a virtual interplanetary journey created for the 360° fulldome environment. The discovery of a flying disc beneath the Earth allows passengers to take off and visit the solar system in less than 40 minutes. An alien spaceship’s interior provides the ambience with a narrator providing information on each galactic stop.

The journey in Space Opera is designed and harmonized with Gustav Holst’s The Planets. Holst did not write scores dedicated to Earth, the Sun, or the Moon (and neither on comets, nebulas, or the Milky Way), so the corresponding tracks have been remixed to cover the entire passage of Space Opera’s journey. Space Opera: an artistic, philosophic, scientific, and cinematic experience all at the same time!

Produced by timeline360

Approximate running time: 40 minutes

Coral Rekindling Venus

An extraordinary journey into a mysterious realm of fluorescent coral reefs, bioluminescent sea creatures and rare marine life, filmed in the oceans most threatened by climate change.

Visit the Coral website for more information: CoralRekindlingVenus.com.

Produced by Felix Media.

Running time: 45 and 20 minute versions.

SonicVision

NEW visuals-only version now available, ready for your own music!

The American Museum of Natural History in collaboration with MTV2 and Moby, one of the world’s best known musical artists, has created SonicVision, a groundbreaking, virtual-reality alternative music show.

SonicVision takes audiences on a mind-warping musical rollercoaster ride through vivid 3D graphic environments. The visuals are perfect for an upbeat soundtrack of your own choosing!

Using next-generation technology to create this one-of-a-kind visual experience, SonicVision fills the dome and surrounds the audience with an unforgettable immersive experience.

Produced by American Museum of Natural History.

Running time 36 minutes.

SonicVision is distributed as visuals only; licensee responsible for audio selection and licensing

Fractal Zooms!

Since 2006, The Fractal Foundation sells out shows with its award-winning fulldome fractal shows. Fractals are never-ending patterns representing algebraic equations. Once animated, these equations provide the opportunity to take audiences on a dazzling journey into infinity. All ages will love the dramatic immersive experience of zooming into patterns smaller than atoms or bigger than the universe! A stunning original musical score in 5.1 surround accompanies the visuals.

Produced by Fractal Foundation

Approximate running time: 25 minutes

Also available as 9 independent clips

Educator’s guide explaining the science behind fractals is available

Birthday Cake

An amazing fireworks display spreads out in the dome over the heads of the visitors.

A great short for birthdays and functions!

Produced by Verkehrshaus der Schweiz

Running time 2 minutes

Suitable for family audiences

Voices In the Dark

Enter a magical world. Dare to believe your eyes. Nothing here is just what it seems at first glance: a postcard as a portal to a lost city, tarot cards which come to life or floating ballet dancers in virtual worlds. A symphony of sounds, pictures and emotions takes you away to a mysterious universe.

Produced by Dramatico and Mindgames Productions

Approximate running time 43 minutes

Alien Action

Invasion! Terrifying invaders from space! A bitter struggle for existence! Alien Action is fifty minutes of thrilling excitement and stunning effects in 360°. Experience an exciting mixture of design, music, cartoon and science fiction as an artistic and ironic interpretation of the classic sci-fi theme “Invasion from space!” Pop art meets science fiction!

Produced by Tilt Design Studio

Approximate running time 46 minutes

R+J

An artistic show exploring the dome format as a medium for film and stories, which offers a modern and somewhat surrealistic version of the Shakespeare classic Romeo and Juliet performed by a group of young people amidst a party atmosphere.

Produced by LivinGlobe

Running time 20 minutes

DomeFest

DomeFest is a juried show of some of the best and most innovative fulldome experiences ever created. Topics range from art and entertainment to science visualization and educational show outtakes. DomeFest includes works by some of the most prestigious fulldome producers as well as excellent examples of individuals’ and students’ experimental work in fulldome. DomeFest is designed to demonstrate fulldome’s full potential and to entertain and inspire local audiences and producers to support the theaters that screen it. Each DomeFest year’s show reel is sold separately.

Available for conferences, festivals, short-term screening programs, and other special events

Produced by Lodestar Astronomy Center/University of New Mexico

Years available (sold separately): 2004, 2005, 2007, 2008, 2009

Also available (single show): Best of years 2004 through 2009

Seasonal STARGAZING

16 shows in one! Every planetarium theater needs a good basic stargazing program that teaches audience members how to find things in the night sky and gives them a taste of some of the most beautiful objects in astronomy. With Seasonal STARGAZING, you receive a flexible package of four seasonal shows, each with a mini (7 min.) and full (14 min.) length version. Not only that, each variation is recorded with male or female narration, allowing for the ultimate in choices for your needs! Each of the 16 star talks acquaints viewers with the starry night, using simple-to-follow starhopping directions and descriptive constellation tours.

Produced by Loch Ness Productions

Approximate running time 14 minutes for full versions, 7 minutes for mini versions

Suitable for family audiences and school groups.

Season of Light

An elegant, sophisticated non-denominational presentation for the winter holiday season. Naturally, there is some astronomy in Season of Light. We catch a few Northern winter constellations, illustrate why we even have seasons, and explore the possible astronomical explanations for a “star over Bethlehem” in the last quarter of the show. Narrated by National Public Radio’s Noah Adams.

Produced by Loch Ness Productions

Approximate running time 35 minutes

Suitable for family audiences

The Star of Bethlehem

The Star of Bethlehem takes us back to the little town of Bethlehem of long ago where the birth of Jesus was announced to the humble shepherds by “a multitude of the heavenly host” and to the people of Israel by the arrival of the Wise Men. Guided by the light of the “star that they saw in the east” they traveled far from their lands to “come and worship him.” In our endeavor to investigate what this “star” might have been, we present all the historical and scientific facts we have today in order to unravel this 2,000-year old enigma in a special audiovisual show that fills the audience with a sense of wonder and an air of innocence.

Accompanied by the music of the best known Christmas Carols of the Season the narration guides the audience through the various historical and astronomical information of the Christmas story along with the various facts concerning our calendar in order to guide them to make their own conclusions as to what this “wonder” star was all about.

Produced by Eugenides Foundation

Running time: 25 minutes

The Christmas Story

The Planetarium brings the traditional Christmas Story to life for you and your family. You accompany Mary and Joseph from the Annunciation by the angel Gabriel in Nazareth to the search for a room in overcrowded Bethlehem. Stand before King Herod in his great palace, alongside the three Wise Men from the East. Visit the shepherds and their flocks in a field and, in a stable, find the child in a manger.

Produced by Verkehrshaus der Schweiz

Running time 30 minutes

Suitable for family audiences

The Biggest Screen In the World

The grandiose spectacle of the polar auroras turn the firmament, when seen from high latitudes, into a gigantic screen onto which their beautiful hypnotic images are projected, just as cathode ray tubes form images on our television sets. Charged particles from the solar wind follow a path determined by the Earth’s magnetic field and then interact with atoms in the atmosphere like the electrons in the TV set that are aimed by a powerful electromagnet to form images on the screen as they hit its phosphor layers.

Add value and extend your theater presentations with this film short that encompasses popular space and astronomy topics.

Produced by ILUSA MEDIA

Running time: 7 minutes

Crossing Worlds

A visual tone poem designed for the fulldome planetarium format but encompassing terrestrial subject matter, Crossing Worlds utilizes spherical photography from the American desert west to immerse the viewer in a transcendent spectrum of austere landscapes. Innovative xRez Studio’s first fulldome film, Crossing Worlds won a coveted “Domie” for “Best Design in a Dome” at DomeFest 2009. The meditative soundtrack was provided by Marconi Union in the UK, written by Richard Talbot and Jamie Crossley and published by Just Publishing.

Produced by xRez Studio

Length: 5 minutes

Suitable for general audiences

Walk-In Clips From Thinktank

Program a walk-in sequence to create an experience from the moment your audience enters the theater.

Produced by Thinktank in the U.K., a choice of three fulldome science visualization sequences are now available for license. Ideal for theaters presenting more than just space and astronomy content.

Clip titles and descriptions:

Animal Cell

Simple but scientifically accurate fulldome video illustrating a fly-through the animal cell, with audio. Running time 98 seconds.

Particle Physics

Four sequences illustrating atomic sizes and noteworthy experiments in particle physics. Running time 6 minutes 20 seconds.

Atmosphere Atoms

Animation describing the molecules that make up the atmosphere and their various proportions. Running time 58 seconds.

Plant Cell

Simple but scientifically accurate fulldome video illustrating a fly-through the plant cell, with audio. Running time 110 seconds.