Educational Visits to the MCC Planetarium

We have several planetarium shows that portray a range of topics in astronomy. See our show listings for information about each show.

In addition to planetarium videos, our all-digital planetarium system is also capable of displaying the planets, moons, and stars of the night sky in many ways. For example, the Planetarium can display:

• phases and motion of the Moon
• daily rotation of the starry sky
• annual motion of the Sun
• motions of the planets
• constellations and bright stars
• Milky Way, clusters of stars, bright nebulas
• other galaxies throughout the Universe

We can customize planetarium visits to a lesson plan and give students a visual astronomy feast! We also have outside space in the Astronomy Plaza in front of the Planetarium for hands-on activities and demonstrations.

Some of the hands-on activities we can provide are:

• Kitchen-Table Comets - make a "toy comet" from common household chemicals.
• Star Wheels - make a star wheel to find constellations in the night sky.
• Moon Wheels - make a Moon wheel to see how the Moon's appearance changes.
• Impact Cratering - make impact craters in flour and compare them to photos.
• Scale Solar System - see the real separations between the planets with a paper strip.

The Planetarium is directly accessible from the driveway off Dobson Road. A parking circle is available for buses or vans carrying students for drop-off  at and pick-up from the Planetarium.