Transit of Venus

On Tuesday, June 5 beginning at 6:04pm, Venus will transit the solar disk. This will be the last opportunity in our lifetime to observe the event that established the absolute size scale of the Solar System, and the distance between the Earth and the Sun! The next transit is not until 2117. More details.

A five-minute full-dome planetarium show about the event will be shown before the start of each of our Saturday matinée shows.

Legends of the Night Sky: Orion

Legends of the night sky: Orion is the world's first traditionally animated full dome movie. Legends takes a fun-filled and imaginative look at the stories and legends about Orion, the great hunter of the winter sky. Legends: Orion is an ideal show for family audiences and younger viewers. Greek mythology will never seem the same once you've seen all this production from AudioVisual and Spitz Creative Media. (24 minutes)

FREE, Saturdays at 2:30 p.m.

Universe

An historical look at how we have envisioned the universe though the ages. We visit some of the ancient sites where our ancestors erected great structures with special astronomical significance. Finally we look at the universe through the eyes of today's science and space explorers to build up a spectacular overview of the heavens. (20 minutes)

FREE, Saturdays at 3:30 p.m.

Free Shows For The Public on Saturdays

The Wells Planetarium offers free shows for the public on Saturdays during the fall and spring semesters at 2:30 p.m. and 3:30 p.m. Seating begins 10 minutes before showtime on a first-come, first-seated basis. The first show is geared toward families with young children while the second show appeals to older children and adults.

Each show is followed by a 25-minute "star talk" that provides visitors with updates about the night sky, including constellations, planets and any comets that might be visible.

School Groups

For information and to make reservations for school groups, send e-mails to planetarium@jmu.edu.