Zula Patrol
30 minutes
A research mission gone awry, an interplanetary villain and a tour of the solar system are all featured in this animated full-dome film based on the award-winning PBS television series. Viewers join the Zula Patrol as they gather samples of weather for scientist Multo’s research. As the Zula Patrol attempt to stop Dark Truder’s nefarious plan to become ruler of the universe, visitors will explore and compare the types of weather found on each planet in our solar system and discover the elements which combine to create weather.
Expedition Reef
35 minutes
Embark on a journey into the hidden world of coral reefs in this all-digital planetarium show exploring some of our planet’s most biodiverse—and critically threatened—ecosystems. Dive into the heart of the Academy’s iconic Philippine coral reef tank as thousands of tropical fish flutter by. Travel the globe to explore coral reefs teeming with life and learn how scientists are racing to develop sustainable solutions to protect these vitally important ecosystems for the future. Along the way, discover how corals live, breathe, and reproduce, supporting a quarter of all marine life on Earth and providing critical benefits to human communities in our ever-changing world.
Sunstruck
20 Minutes
Travel back to the beginning of time and experience the birth of the Sun. Discover how it came to support life, how it threatens life as we know it, and how its energy will one day fade away.
From Earth to the Universe
30 Minutes
The night sky, both beautiful and mysterious, has been the subject of campfire stories, ancient myths and awe for as long as there have been people. A desire to comprehend the Universe may well be humanity’s oldest shared intellectual experience. Yet only recently have we truly begun to grasp our place in the vast cosmos. This stunning, 30-minute voyage through space and time conveys, through sparkling sights and sounds, the Universe revealed to us by science. Viewers can revel in the splendor of the worlds in the Solar System and our scorching Sun. From Earth to the Universe takes the audience out to the colorful birthplaces and burial grounds of stars, and still further out beyond the Milky Way to the unimaginable immensity of a myriad galaxies. Along the way, the audience will learn about the history of astronomy, the invention of the telescope, and today’s giant telescopes that allow us to probe ever deeper into the Universe.
The Hot and Energetic Universe
30 minutes
The planetarium documentary “The Hot and Energetic Universe” presents with the use of immersive visualizations and real images of the achievements of modern astronomy, the most advanced terrestrial and orbital observatories, the basic principles of electromagnetic radiation, and the natural phenomena related to high-energy astrophysics. High-energy astrophysics plays a key role in understanding the universe. These radiations reveal the processes in the hot and violent universe. High-energy astrophysics probes hot gas in clusters of galaxies, the most massive objects in the universe. It also probes hot gas accreting around supermassive black holes in the centers of galaxies. Finally, high-energy radiation provides important information about our own galaxy, neutron stars, supernova remnants, and stars like our Sun, which emit copious amounts of high-energy radiation. Europe plays a leading role in high-energy astrophysics research. The XMM-Newton and the Integral missions are leading the exploration of the X-ray and gamma-ray universe. ESA‘s mission ATHENA, to be launched in 2028, will carry the most sensitive X-ray telescope ever, and it will be the flagship of all high X-ray missions.
The Dark Matter Mystery
38 minutes
What keeps Galaxies together? What are the building blocks of the Universe? What makes the Universe look the way it looks today? Researchers all around the world try to answer these questions. We know today that approximately a quarter of the Universe is filled with a mysterious glue: Dark Matter. We know that it is out there. But we have no idea what it is made out of.
This fulldome planetarium show takes you on the biggest quest of contemporary astrophysics. You will see why we know that Dark Matter exists, and how this search is one of the most challenging and exciting searches science has to offer. Join the scientists on their hunt for Dark Matter with experiments in space and deep underground. Will they be able to solve the Dark Matter Mystery?