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Home Visit Planetarium Planetarium Show Descriptions

Planetarium Show Descriptions

Visitors candidly sitting down and enjoying one of our shows in the 70-foot full dome planetarium.

Fly through space in our Full-Dome Planetarium

Chabot’s full-dome planetarium shows let you to explore everything from Earth to the frontiers of the Milky Way Galaxy, all from the comfort of a climate-controlled theater. During general admission hours, enjoy planetarium shows every hour, on the hour.

Schedule is subject to change. 

This Month

Calendar of Events

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Waiting Far Away

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Phantom of the Universe

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Lunaverse

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Sunstruck

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Lunaverse

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Forward to the moon

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Einstein’s Gravity Playlist

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Waiting Far Away

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Phantom of the Universe

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Sunstruck

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Phantom of the Universe

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Big Astronomy 2021

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Lunaverse

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Phantom of the Universe

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Phantom of the Universe

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Lunaverse

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Astronaut

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Einstein’s Gravity Playlist

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Lunaverse

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Astronaut

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Lunaverse

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Phantom of the Universe

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Forward to the moon

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Astronaut

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Lunaverse

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Einstein’s Gravity Playlist

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Astronaut

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Phantom of the Universe

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Lunaverse

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Forward to the moon

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Waiting Far Away

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Astronaut

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Show Descriptions

NEW! Forward To The Moon

See it first at Chabot! Chabot Space & Science Center will host California’s first showings of ‘Forward To The Moon.’
Kari Byron from Crash Test World and MythBusters launches us on a journey beyond the Earth towards a sustainable future in space. 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.

Cosmic Dance

(35 min) Got restless feet? You’re in good company: the Sun, Moon, planets and stars also have those ants in their pants and can’t keep their feet moving to the beat of their ageless cosmic dance. Two-step, tango, break dance, and dosey-doe your way across the solar system in this live immersive show! We’ll cover a few basics of the dance of the planets, whose motions across the sky puzzled and bewildered Earthly onlookers for millennia,

Universal

(12 min) Fly through the heart of an ancient cluster of stars, and take a swing around the luminous remains of a dying star. Cruise by alien planets that orbit a nearby star, surf past the brilliant rings of Saturn, and more. ‘Universal’ is a quick un-narrated voyage through the universe that carries the viewer from the vast realm of intergalactic space to several stellar wonders of the Milky Way Galaxy through an intriguing and nearby extraterrestrial planetary system, and onward to home, to Earth. This show’s dialogue is all textual and is preferred for those hard of hearing.

The Home Galaxy

(35 min) It’s been called a river in the sky, a tree of life, a celestial spine, and even a spray of mother’s milk, but since Galileo made the telescopic discovery that is made up of countless hosts of stars and mysterious, dark, brooding clouds, we have come to know The Milky Way as our galactic home among the cosmos. Come and explore Via Lactea, The Milky Way, from its sprawling spiral arms to the ultimate heart of darkness-the supermassive black hole that resides at its center.

Astronaut

(25 min) What does it take to be part of this incredible journey? Experience a rocket launch from inside the body of an astronaut. 

NSC Creative

Big Astronomy

(26 min) Big Astronomy explores three observatories located in Chile, at extreme and remote places. It gives examples of the multitude of STEM careers needed to keep the great observatories working. The show is narrated by Barbara Rojas-Ayala, a Chilean astronomer.

California Academy of Sciences

Bay Aerial

(10 min) Take a supersonic spin around Bay Area skies! This ten-minute flight of fancy begins at our home port, Chabot, and covers a lot of ground……from the sky above! To Mount Diablo in the east, the Santa Cruz Mountains to the south, Point Reyes up north, and back home again across the East Bay. 

Cosmos 360

(30 min) With an expert guide and cutting-edge astronomical visuals, the Cosmos 360 series reveal the workings of the universe from a new perspective. At this show you will have the chance to see through the eyes of pioneers. Explore how astronomy and art intertwine, devastation and disaster, the dwarf planet Pluto and more! A brand-new show debuts in our digital-dome planetarium every three months. (Ask about this season’s show!) 

 Dawn of the Space Age

(40 min) Today we seem to hear about what people are doing up in space on an almost daily basis, particularly what’s going on in the International Space Station, but also of private space ventures and competitions, and of the work being done to prepare us for such epic journeys as a human trip to Mars. But the human adventure in space began over 50 years ago, before the ISS, before the clouds of artificial satellites that circle our planet constantly today. Sit back now and see it all happen again as it started decades ago, at the dawn of the Space Age.

Mirage3D

Einstein’s Gravity Playlist

(23 min) Einstein’s Gravity Playlist is an original planetarium show that explores the ripples in space-time known as gravitational waves. Albert Einstein first predicted the existence of gravitational waves in 1916, and a century later, scientists detected these waves using incredibly precise laser technology here on Earth. In this show, viewers follow Lucia, a PhD student in physics, on an exploration of how gravitational waves are formed, how they move through the universe, and how scientists like her work to hear them.

Phantom of the Universe

(25 min) An exciting exploration of dark matter, from the Big Bang to its anticipated discovery at the Large Hadron Collider. The show will reveal the first hints of its existence through the eyes of Fritz Zwicky, the scientist who coined the term “dark matter. This show is narrated by Tilda Swinton, a British actress. 

Lawrence Berkeley National Lab

Secret of the Cardboard Rocket

(30 min) Can you name the planets of our solar system? Have you ever wanted to go to them? Now’s your chance. Today, this planetarium will transport you, along with two young explorers, to the planets we all know so well, but have only seen in pictures. If you let yourself be carried along by the experience under this dome, you can also go to these exotic places. When you return to Earth at the end of the show, just be sure to wipe your feet before leaving the planetarium; we don’t want to track any space dirt onto the Earth….

Clark Planetarium

Solar Quest

(10 min) Short 10 min show about the lifecycle of the sun. 

 Buehl Planetarium

Sunstruck

(21 min) Explore the sun in all its glory in this fulldome show. Sunstruck takes us on a journey to discover the wonders of our magnificent sun and investigate how our star has supported life on Earth for millennia. This program includes information on the structure of our sun, the source of its energy, and how solar activity impacts our world.

Michigan Science Center

Tales of the Maya Skies

(35 min) Tales of the Maya Skies transports us to the jungles of Mexico, presenting the rich history and culture of the ancient Maya. 

 Chabot Space & Science Center

Two Small Pieces of Glass: The Amazing Telescope

(23 min) Two Small Pieces of Glass – The Amazing Telescope fulldome show follows two students as they interact with a female astronomer at a local star party. Along the way, the students learn the history of the telescope from Galileo’s modifications to a child’s spyglass — using two small pieces of glass — to the launch of the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope and the future of astronomy.

Waiting Far Away

(10 min) An explorer of the cosmos has traveled too far…and can’t find home. Become lost on a journey through the majestic, humbling, and solitary beauty of space and time reimagined. 

Charles Hayden Planetarium