Feature Shows
Approximate Length: 60 minutes
Big Astronomy: People+Places+Discoveries
Age Level: Grades 6 to 8
Area of Study: Earth and Space Sciences
To study the vastness of space, you need extra-large equipment. Join us for a quick trip to visit three world-class observatories in Chile's rugged Andes Mountains and the Atacama Desert — remote, extreme regions that have the perfect conditions for astronomical research.
Big Astronomy: People+Places+Discoveries also highlights the diverse people and variety of roles they play to make groundbreaking discoveries possible at these amazing observatories in Chile.
In the most remote locations on the planet, people are working to uncover mysteries throughout the universe… and most are not astronomers.
Big Astronomy: People+Places+Discoveries is set in Chile where the dry, dark sky and observatories’ remoteness create an ideal site to observe the universe. By the year 2022 it is expected that nearly 70% of the world’s ground-based observing infrastructure will be located there, and the US and other countries are investing billions of dollars in astronomy in Chile. Big Astronomy introduces audiences to the wide variety of personnel involved in advancing astronomical discovery. “When people think of astronomy they often imagine astronomers peering through telescopes,” says AUI President Adam Cohen. “They are unaware of the STEM village it takes to make exploration of the cosmos possible.” Big observatories today employ electrical and mechanical engineers, technicians, data analysts, machinists, heavy equipment operators, maintenance personnel, artists, cooks, and many more professionals. Each of these individuals plays an important role in making astronomical discoveries possible.
Beyond the fascinating places and people involved in astronomical research, the show includes the fruits of the research itself. “We are excited by the opportunity this project presents to both formal and informal STEM educators,” explains Tim Spuck, AUI Director of Education and Public Engagement and Principal Investigator (PI) for Big-ACT, “Astronomy excites learners of all ages. We can use the power of astronomy to help individuals understand that they can be part of amazing science and discoveries without necessarily becoming a PhD astronomer. We want every person attending the planetarium show to be able to connect the people they see to someone they know or someone they themselves can one day become.”
The Education Web Portal through includes learning activities, interviews with observatory personnel, and a schedule of live virtual sessions with those working at the observatories.
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Cosmic Colors: An Adventure Along the Spectrum
Age Level: Grades 4 & Up
Area of Study: Earth and Space Sciences
Discover why the sky is blue, Mars is red and why things appear the colors they do.
Then step into the invisible universe to investigate the electromagnetic energy all around us from the infrared light of a roaring fire to the x-rays emitted by a black hole.
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Teacher's Guide - Comic Colors
This downloadable teachers’ guide for is provided by the Great Plains Planetarium Association. Over the next few months, the staff of the Cernan Center will begin updating and customizing these resources for Illinois residents. If you should find faulty internet links or have suggestions, please address your comments to cernan@tidybio.net.
Dawn of the Space Age
Age Level: Grades 4 & Up
Area of Study: Earth and Space Sciences, Physical Science, Social Studies
Dawn of the Space Age covers space exploration from Sputnik to the Space Shuttle and into the beginning of the ISS and commercial companies.
There are several sequences referencing events in the Soviet space program and the Space Race.
This program covers a lot of history but could not include everything. Good for adults but also enjoyable for young people who weren't born when the last shuttle flew in 2011.
Dinosaurs at Dusk: The Origins of Flight
Age Level: Grades 4 & Up
Area of Study: Earth Science and Life Cycles
Dinosaurs at Dusk is a whirlwind adventure back in time to explore the Earth when it was teeming with Pterosaurs and other feathered dinosaurs, the ancestors of modern-day birds.
Join Lucy and her father as they fly through the Triassic, Jurassic and Cretaceous eras, soaring above cliffs and canyons; all the while chasing, and sometimes running away from, a wide variety of dinosaurs.
Dinosaurs at Dusk is suitable for flight fans and dinosaur devotees of all ages, meaning children are welcome to attend.
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Dream to Fly
Age Level: All Ages
Area of Study: Earth and Space Sciences
Have you ever dreamt you could fly?
Come and discover the history, mystery, and allure of flight when the Cernan Earth and Space Center presents Dream to Fly.
Guided by Leonardo da Vinci, the Montgolfier brothers, the Wright brothers and others, visitors will witness success and failure as these pioneers seek to overcome the immense challenges required to make their dreams a reality. Dream to Fly is a poetic story about the development of flight through the ages presented in an innovative way.
Dream to Fly highlights the most important milestones en route to humanity conquering the skies - from technological breakthroughs to our perceptions of flying itself from gliding among the clouds to reaching for the stars.
Produced by The Heavens of Copernicus Productions in Warsaw, Poland, Dream to Fly's rich fulldome visuals, beautiful music, and poetic narrative makes this an exceptional immersive experience.
Eclipse: The Sun Revealed
Age Level: All Ages
Area of Study: Earth and Space Sciences
ECLIPSE: The Sun Revealed takes audiences on a journey to explore the history and cultural view of eclipses, the unique geometry that causes eclipses, how to safely view an eclipse and to share a first-hand account of one eclipse chaser's experience during a total solar eclipse.
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Forward! To the Moon!
Age Level: All Ages
Area of Study: Earth and Space Sciences
Forward! To the Moon! introduces NASA’s efforts to send both humans and robots to the Moon and Mars. NASA’s 21st century Artemis program, named after the Greek moon Goddess and twin of Apollo, is the next step in our mission to explore the universe and land the first woman and person of color on the surface of the Moon.
Kari Byron, from Crash Test World and MythBusters, launches us on a journey beyond Earth toward a sustainable future in space.
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From Earth to the Universe
Age Level: Grades 6 & Up
Area of Study: Earth and Space Sciences
Take a journey of celestial discovery from the theories of ancient Greek astronomers to today’s most powerful telescopes, as humanity strives to grasp our place within this vast cosmos.
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Habitat Earth: Living in a Connected World
Age Level: Grades 3 & Up
Area of Study: Earth and Space Sciences, Life Cycles
Dive below the ocean’s surface, travel beneath the forest floor and journey to new heights to witness the intricate intersection between human and ecological networks.
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One Sky: Many Cultures
Age Level: All Ages
Area of Study: Earth and Space Sciences
One Sky: Many Cultures is a collection of stories about the night sky from around the world. While avid stargazers may be familiar with constellations such as Andromeda, Cassiopeia, and Ursa Major, this show provides a whole new way of looking at and thinking about the night sky. The stories featured in One Sky: Many Cultures come from Japanese, Hawaiian, Greek, Navajo, and Innu traditions.
These shorts were produced by the One Sky Project, an international collaboration focused on increasing understanding about cultural and indigenous astronomy, its historical and modern applications, and how One Sky connects us all. These stories touch on the topics of finding patterns and building tools that foster connection to the sky and leverage astronomical phenomena to advance societal goals.
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One World, One Sky: Big Bird's Adventure
Age Level: Pre-K to Grade 1
Area of Study: Earth and Space Sciences
Join Big Bird, Elmo and Hu Hu Zhu, their friend from China, as they learn about the Big Dipper, the North Star and the Moon.
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Teacher's Guide - One World, One Sky
This downloadable teacher's guide is provided by the Sudekum Planetarium at the Adventure Science Center in Nashville, Tennessee. Over the next few months, the staff of the Cernan Center will begin updating and customizing these resources for Illinois residents. If you should find faulty internet links or have suggestions, please address your comments to cernan@tidybio.net.
Our Place in Space
Age Level: Grades 1 to 3 *
Area of Study: Earth and Space Sciences
Discover the cause of day and night, learn about the Sun, the Earth, our Solar System and the stars while solving a crossword puzzle about the sky.
* Second semester third graders often prefer Rusty Rocket's Last Blast.
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Education Guide - Our Place in Space
This downloadable educator guide is provided by the Sudekum Planetarium at the Adventure Science Center in Nashville, Tennessee. Over the next few months, the staff of the Cernan Center will begin updating and customizing these resources for Illinois residents. If you should find faulty internet links or have suggestions, please address your comments to cernan@tidybio.net.
Phantom of the Universe: The Haunt for Dark Matter
Age Level: Grades 6 to 8
Area of Study: Earth and Space Sciences
From protons racing through the world’s largest particle collider in Europe to up-close views of the Big Bang to nearly a mile below ground experiment in South Dakota, audiences of all ages will explore and join the search for the dark matter.
Narrated by Tilda Swinton
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Rusty Rocket's Last Blast
Age Level: Grades 1 to 4
Area of Study: Earth and Space Sciences, Physical Science
Join Rusty Rocket as he leads a class of rookies on their first tour of the solar system to explain basic rocket science and the great distances between the planets.
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Education Guide - Rusty Rocket's Last Blast
This downloadable educator guide is provided by the Sudekum Planetarium at the Adventure Science Center in Nashville, Tennessee. Over the next few months, the staff of the Cernan Center will begin updating and customizing these resources for Illinois residents. If you should find faulty internet links or have suggestions, please address your comments to cernan@tidybio.net.
Seeing: A Photon's Journey Across Space, Time and Mind
Age Level: Grades 3 & Up
Area of Study: Earth and Space Sciences
Follow a photon of light across the galaxy and into the eye of a young stargazer.
Once inside the eye, the audience will explore how the human eye works before taking a ride on the optic nerve.
Images of people, wildlife, landscapes, and outer space from around the globe tell the story of the photon's journey before we ‘see’ the image ourselves.
Narrated by Neil Tyson
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Space Aliens: Looking for Life in the Universe
Age Level: Grades 4 & Up
Area of Study: Earth and Space Sciences
Join our alien “experts” – Hopeful and Skeptical – as they try to convince each other whether or not life exists beyond the Earth.
Follow their astrobiology arguments from the ocean floor to a journey across the galaxy!
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Stars of the Pharaohs
Age Level: Grades 5 & Up
Area of Study: Earth and Space Sciences, Social Studies
Discover how ancient Egyptians studied the skies to tell time, create calendars and align gigantic monuments.
Explore the connections they felt with the stars and other astronomical phenomena.
Narrated by John Rhys-Davies
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Education Guide - Stars of the Pharaohs
This downloadable educator guide is provided by the Sudekum Planetarium at the Adventure Science Center in Nashville, Tennessee. Over the next few months, the staff of the Cernan Center will begin updating and customizing these resources for Illinois residents. If you should find faulty internet links or have suggestions, please address your comments to cernan@tidybio.net.
STARS: Powerhouses of the Universe
Age Level: Grades 4 to 8
Area of Study: Earth and Space Sciences
Witness the explosive end of massive stars and the dramatic formation of others.
Use the electromagnetic spectrum to see how stars create and release the energy that powers the universe.
Narrated by Mark Hamill
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Education Guide - STARS: The Powerhouses of the Universe
This downloadable educator guide is provided by the Sudekum Planetarium at the Adventure Science Center in Nashville, Tennessee. Over the next few months, the staff of the Cernan Center will begin updating and customizing these resources for Illinois residents. If you should find faulty internet links or have suggestions, please address your comments to cernan@tidybio.net.
THE SUN: Our Living Star
Age Level: All Ages
Area of Study: Earth and Space Sciences
Follow the story of our nearest star – our planet’s powerhouse.
The Sun IS the source of all energy that drives Earth’s winds and weather and makes the very existence of life possible – and usually comfortable.
To Worlds Beyond
Age Level: Grades 4 & Up
Area of Study: Earth and Space Sciences
From the fiery surface of the Sun to the icy realm of comets, travel to worlds with enormous volcanoes, vast canyons, dazzling rings, and storms that would swallow the Earth. Audiences will also explore the rest of the planets including Mercury, Venus, Neptune, and even Pluto.
This spectacular Solar System tour was directed by the Donetsk Planetarium Studio.
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Teacher's Guide - Comic Colors
This downloadable teachers’ guide for is provided by the Great Plains Planetarium Association. Over the next few months, the staff of the Cernan Center will begin updating and customizing these resources for Illinois residents. If you should find faulty internet links or have suggestions, please address your comments to cernan@tidybio.net.
Two Small Pieces of Glass: The Amazing Telescope
Age Level: Grades 4 & Up
Area of Study: Earth and Space Sciences
More than 400 years ago, Galileo was the first person to use a simple telescope to explore the night sky.
Trace the history of the telescope from Galileo's stunning discoveries to the modern day and take a brief tour of tonight's evening sky.
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Unveiling the Invisible Universe
Age Level: All Ages
Area of Study: Earth and Space Sciences
For thousands of years humans observed the light coming from the night sky with just their eyes. In the beginning of the 17th century, the invention of the telescope revolutionized our knowledge of the Universe.
Finally, in the 20th century with the advent of rockets, it became possible to reach above Earth’s atmosphere and observe X-ray and gamma ray radiation which are the markers of the hot and violent Universe.
But it is not only light that gives information about the cosmos.
Neutrinos and cosmic rays also provide vital information. Finally, the detection by the LIGO experiment of gravitational waves from two merging black holes has opened a new window in astrophysics.
This program presents images of the cosmos as revealed by all these different messengers.
Wonderful Sky
Age Level: Pre-K to Grade 1
Area of Study: Earth and Space Sciences
This live, participatory program allows your youngest students to explore the daytime and nighttime skies in the unique, multi-sensory environment of the planetarium.
Education Guide - Wonderful Sky
This downloadable educator guide is provided by the Sudekum Planetarium at the Adventure Science Center in Nashville, Tennessee. Over the next few months, the staff of the Cernan Center will begin updating and customizing these resources for Illinois residents. If you should find faulty internet links or have suggestions, please address your comments to cernan@tidybio.net.
World 2 War
Age Level: Grades 5 & Up
Area of Study: Earth and Space Sciences, Social Studies, World History
World War II began in 1939.
World 2 War combines fulldome, cinematic battle scenes with informative overviews and historic imagery.
World 2 War sets the stage for the conflict and puts the audience in the middle of World War II’s most crucial events!