If you want a full-on cosmic experience without venturing outside on a cold, dark night… our planetarium experience is for you!
As an educational resource, our Planetarium Shows are just the thing to support and enhance classroom learning. These are live, presenter-led shows using the very latest real-time, digital planetarium software, space films and animations. We can also live stream to several classes (or homes) at the same time, plus the audience gets the chance to ask lots of questions in every show.
Early Years Space Workshop
A gentle introduction to stars and planets
We cater for all children within the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) by delivering the simplest of live planetarium shows for the smallest of space explorers! Shows last between 15 and 45 minutes and focus on star patterns (triangle, zigzag) and planet shapes (sphere), counting (stars in The Plough), and learning bite-sized planet facts. Children are encouraged to say out loud new words like ‘constellation’ and ‘orbit’. And if there’s time, we can look at the amazing colours of stellar nurseries and explain that even stars are born, just like people! For longer shows, we’ll also include a little animated film.
£75 per Virtual Show (>30 mins)
£100 per Virtual Show (>60 mins)
£600 per day in per visit
Interactive Sky Tour
A live show featuring digital sky maps, orrery and simulations
Our Interactive Sky Tour is suitable for KS1 and above; it’s also a great choice for public shows, where we can take the audience on a tour of the current night sky. Our live shows often include new discoveries in astronomy, delivered in language that everyone can understand. We encourage questions, which work really well if participants prepare them in advance. These shows are perfect for supporting curriculum-based Space Topics and can help students to understand simple principles of space science like Moon phases and orbits. We incorporate constellations; introduce ‘star hopping’ to find the North Star; and show how Earth’s rotation makes the stars wander across the sky.
£75 per Virtual Show (>30 mins)
£100 per Virtual Show (>60 mins)
£600 per day in per visit
Solar System Experience
The perfect way to introduce our local space environment
Suitable for KS1 and above, our Solar System Experience gives the audience a good grasp of our nearest star – the Sun – and the planets and moons that surround it. We start by screening a short Solar System-themed film, followed by a live presentation describing the eight major planets, one by one. We use a digital orrery to show the planets orbiting the Sun, plus Moon phases, the Earth, and more. Planet facts and info are tailored to suit the age and ability of each group. Several classes can join in at the same time, with shows lasting 60 or 90 minutes with live Q&As..
£100 per Virtual Show (>60 mins)
£125 per Virtual Show (>90 mins)
£600 per day in per visit
Lunar Experience
Be a lunatic for a day and learn all about our natural satellite
We’re here to help with tricky-to-explain topics like Moon phases and how the Moon was made. Our Lunar Experience show is suitable for KS1 and above. It includes a short film called Back To The Moon For Good about early lunar exploration and unfolds in a documentary-style format, describing some of the current ideas for getting us back to the Moon. Then comes a live presentation looking at our own Moon and some other interesting moons in our Solar System… we’ll even discuss the possibility of life evolving on these distant worlds. This part of the show uses digital planetarium software, running in real time, but capable of moving forward and backward in time to show the phases of our Moon. The show concludes with live Q&As.
£100 per Virtual Show (>60 mins)
£125 per Virtual Show (>90 mins)
£600 per day in per visit
Cosmic Chemistry
A special show focusing on the chemistry of space
Suitable for Upper KS2 and above, this show delves into the origins of natural chemistry… guiding the audience through cosmic creation and recycling. From the lightest to the heaviest elements, we explain how atoms are forged in the hearts of stars, through the pulsing of planetary nebulae, and rapidly created in explosive events at the and of a giant star’s life. The show features the Periodic Table and helps to explain how new varieties of atoms are formed through the fusion process in hot, dense stellar cores. Also explored are stellar nurseries – molecular clouds containing enough molecular gas and dust to create thousands of new stars and planets. Shows can be any length from 15 minutes to one hour.
£75 per Virtual Show (>30 mins)
£100 per Virtual Show (>60 mins)
£125 per Virtual Show (>90 mins)
£600 per day in per visit
GCSE Astronomy Show
A fact-filled show for anyone studying GCSE Physics, Astronomy or Triple Science
Ideally suited to KS3, KS4 or anyone studying GCSE-level Astronomy and Space Physics as part of a Physics or Triple Science course. With our GCSE Astronomy Show, we’re here to support schools, home educators and centres for learning, who find teaching space modules a bit of a challenge. We can simulate the formation of the Solar System and its place within the Galaxy; explain redshift and the expanding Universe; and using examples of visible nebulae, show the life cycle of stars: topics shared between the AQA and Edexcel exam boards. And if you have a small group of students studying GCSE Astronomy, we can run two modules (one per exam paper), covering all topics from Planet Earth to Cosmology. This makes an excellent revision day to consolidate learning throughout the course.
£75 per Virtual Show (>30 mins)
£100 per Virtual Show (>60 mins)
£600 per day in per visit
“Thank you so much for the Virtual Planetarium Show today! The children loved it and it was so informative! It really brought it all to life for them and the Q&A was fantastic – the answers were so in depth and they found it truly fascinating.”