Photo: Humpback Whale from Whale Highway
Have you ever seen a whale swim across a 47-foot screen? Feel the immersion at Northern Arizona’s only planetarium.
Tickets are now on sale for Fall 2024 shows at the Jim and Linda Lee Planetarium, located on Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University’s Prescott Campus, in STEM Building 76, at 3700 Willow Creek Road. This season’s selection of presentations goes big and small, going far beyond space by inviting viewers to swim with the whales or explore the microscopic world.
“This will be the Planetarium’s most ambitious season yet,” said Eric Edelman, Jim and Linda Lee Planetarium and community outreach director, “Our Fall shows build off our success from the spring which brought over 2,200 visitors to the planetarium to be awed and inspired.”
The planetarium’s online ticketing system allows audiences to select their seats in advance for upcoming shows. All shows are open to the public and are held most Friday evenings and Saturday afternoons.
For details, or to reserve your tickets today, visit: https://prescott.erau.edu/planetarium.
Showtimes and dates for the Jim and Linda Lee Planetarium Fall 2024 season include:
Whale Super Highway
Friday, Sept. 13: 6 p.m. and 7 p.m.
Saturday, Sept. 14: 2 p.m., 3 p.m. and 4 p.m.
Whale Super Highway follows humpback whales and blue pygmy whales on their 4,000-mile migration down the coast of Western Australia to the freezing waters of Antarctica and back again. Whale Super Highway provides a stunning look at life in the waters of Western Australia. It reveals fascinating information about whales — while underscoring how much we still have to learn.
Rising Stars of Prescott
Friday, Sept. 20: 7 p.m. and 8 p.m.*
Saturday, Sept. 21: 2 p.m., 3 p.m. and 4 p.m.
Friday, Oct. 25: 6 p.m. and 7 p.m.
Saturday, Oct. 26: 6 p.m. and 7 p.m.*
*Sept. 20 shows will start later than normal to ensure dark skies for telescope viewing following the programs. Oct. 26 programs will be in the evening, as opposed to standard matinee times, to allow for further telescope viewing.
Are you interested in getting to know your night sky? This live planetarium program will show you what constellations, planets, meteor showers and more will be coming to the Prescott skies for your viewing pleasure. The content for this program changes every month. Telescope viewing will be available after the evening shows, weather permitting.
Uncovering Black Holes
Friday, Sept. 27: 6 p.m. and 7 p.m.
Saturday, Sept. 28: 2 p.m., 3 p.m. and 4 p.m.
From the collapsed cores of massive stars to the dark, unfathomable behemoths lurking at the centers of galaxies, we will explore the wealth of knowledge scientists have gathered about black holes across the universe. With the help of tools like the Event Horizon Telescope, we now know more about these mysterious objects than ever before, but how much can we truly discover about something that only offers one-way trips within its depths?
Across the Visible Universe
Saturday, Oct. 5: 2 p.m., 3 p.m., 4 p.m. and 5 p.m.
This show is all about the concept of size and scale in the universe. Starting at Earth, we will fly farther and farther away from home, encountering the incredible structures that populate the cosmos, traveling right to the edge of our visible knowledge of what surrounds us.
Tour of the Solar System
Friday, Oct. 18: 6 p.m. and 7 p.m.
Saturday, Oct. 19: 2 p.m. and 3 p.m.
This is the planetarium show we present to educational groups visiting for field trips. Aimed to provide an introductory perspective on our solar system, this show takes viewers to different planets, dwarf planets, moons and more within our local region of the universe. All ages interested in an educational experience about the solar system are welcome!
Our Friends, The Planets
Saturday, Oct. 19: 10 a.m. and 11 a.m.
Our Friends, The Planets is specifically made for young learners (6 and under) with their families and takes you on an interactive trip across the solar system. Throughout the show, we will be stopping by each of the eight planets, getting to see their unique features and learn their incredible stories. Also, look forward to special guest appearances made by the sun and our moon!
Mysteries of the Unseen World
Friday, Nov. 1: 6 p.m. and 7 p.m.
Saturday, Nov. 2: 2 p.m. and 3 p.m.
High-speed and time-lapse photography, electron microscopy and nanotechnology are just a few of the advancements in science that allow us to see a whole new universe of things. This technology gives researchers “superpowers” to see beyond the events, creatures and processes we previously never knew existed. Visually stunning and rooted in cutting-edge research, Mysteries of the Unseen World will leave audiences in thrall as they understand the enormity of the world they can’t see that exists in the air they breathe, on their bodies and in all of the events that occur around them minute-by-minute, nanosecond-by-nanosecond.
The Cosmic Webb
Friday, Nov. 15: 6 p.m. and 7 p.m.
Saturday, Nov. 16: 2 p.m., 3 p.m. and 4 p.m.
Explore the newest frontiers of space revealed to us by the James Webb Space Telescope. We will use the three movements of a London Symphony Orchestra recording of Rachmaninoff’s 2nd Piano Concerto to delve into three aspects of the universe that James Webb is investigating using the best technology humanity has sent into space. Billions of light-years of space and unfathomable eons of time have never been closer to our fingertips.
The Hummingbird Effect
Saturday, Nov. 23: 2 p.m. and 3:30 p.m.
Sunday, Nov. 24: 2 p.m. and 3:30 p.m.
Costa Rica’s motto is Pura Vida, meaning ‘Pure Life’, and this deceptively small country is bursting with some of the most spectacular wildlife and pristine ecosystems in the world. All this diversity thrives, in part, thanks to one surprising little creature: hummingbirds. Venture across Costa Rica’s wild and rugged landscapes, from volcanic peaks to coastal jungle and misty cloud forests, to discover the nation’s dazzling diversity of hummingbirds.
The Jim and Linda Lee Planetarium is the only Arizona planetarium north of Phoenix, capable of seating 116 students and visitors. The facility also contains multimedia learning software that can take viewers from the inner complexities of the human body to the farthest reaches of the known universe.
In addition to being an invaluable resource for the Embry-Riddle community, the Jim and Linda Lee Planetarium hosts events and programming open to the greater Prescott and Quad-City public year-round.
PLANETARIUM CONTACT: STEM Outreach Office, Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, Prescott, Arizona; (928) 777-3422; prstmout@erau.edu.
