Discovering the Cosmos: A Guide to Orange Coast College Planetarium Shows

The Orange Coast College (OCC) Planetarium offers a diverse range of shows and events designed to ignite curiosity and passion for space science and astronomy in audiences of all ages. Public programs are a cornerstone of the Planetarium's mission, providing captivating experiences for astronomy enthusiasts, curious minds, and those eager to explore the mysteries of the cosmos. The best time to visit the Planetarium is during our public shows, offered every Saturday and most Tuesday nights.

Engaging Shows and Events

Speaker Series

In our monthly speaker series, special guests bring the most relevant topics in space science and astronomy to the Planetarium, offering insights into the latest discoveries and research.

Sky Viewing Events

The Planetarium and OCC Astronomy Department offer regular sky viewing events, free of charge! Planetarium staff, astronomy students, and real professors operate an array of amazing telescopes to let you see the wonders of the cosmos with your own eyes! Viewing may be canceled due to weather conditions.

STEM Explorers Programs

Embark on an interstellar journey with our Planetarium's STEM Explorers programs, designed to ignite curiosity and passion for science among various age groups.

LAZERDOME

The OCC Planetarium presents LAZERDOME! Elton John has sold over 300 million records over 6 decades in show business, making him one of the biggest selling artists of all time. Laser Elton John celebrates his larger than life persona, bringing the Rocket Man’s powerful music to life in gorgeous laser light.

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The Great Solar System Adventure

Come one, come all, for the most extraordinary ride of a lifetime! Join us as we take a journey with the Great Solar System Adventure! From the scorched surface of Mercury to the cold atmosphere of Neptune, the Solar System is a terrifying but beautiful place. Join showman extraordinaire "The Great Schiaparelli" as he takes the audience on a death-defying space-time adventure within his wondrous Observatorium. From the sun-scorched surface of Mercury to the icy expanses of Pluto and beyond, prepare to be subjected to the myriad dangers and wonders of our Solar System, on a breathtaking tour that reveals just how precious our home planet really is. Be warned though, the Observatorium isn’t just for show. It will transport the audience right to the heart of some of the deadliest locations in our slice of the heavens. It’s going to take some fancy flying to get everyone back in one piece! Recommended ages: 6 and up. The Great Solar System Adventure Trailer.

Live Guided Tours

Join one of our planetarium experts on a live guided tour of the stories, sights, and other wonders in the night sky. Stick around after the show for a live Q&A with our presenter!

Full-Dome Programs

Any of the full-dome programs below can be chosen for viewing during field trips or private rentals.

Big Bird's Adventure: One World, One Sky

Explore the night sky with your favorite friends from Sesame Street in Big Bird's Adventure: One World, One Sky.

Magic Tree House: Space Mission

Travel with the brother-sister duo Jack and Annie in their Magic Tree House as they learn about how scientists uncover the mysteries of the universe. With the help of a real astronomer, astronaut, and of course, a pile of books, Jack and Annie are taken on a wondrous journey of adventure and learning to the edges of the universe.

Earth, Moon, & Sun

Earth, Moon, & Sun is a fun and exciting full dome exploration of a huge range of heavenly phenomena. Lunar phases, eclipses, day and night, the sun and seasons are all explained with the help of a very confused and troublesome coyote, straight from Native American folklore.

Dynamic Earth

Dynamic Earth explores the inner workings of Earth’s great life support system: the global climate.

Habitat Earth

Living networks connect and support life forms large and small-from colonies of tiny microbes and populations of massive whales to ever-expanding human societies. In the California Academy of Sciences’ latest original planetarium show, Habitat Earth, discover what it means to live in today’s connected world.

Dark Matter

What keeps Galaxies together? What are the building blocks of the Universe? What makes the Universe look the way it looks today? Researchers all around the world try to answer these questions. We know today that approximately a quarter of the Universe is filled with a mysterious glue: Dark Matter. We know that it is out there. But we have no idea what it is made out of. Join the scientists on their hunt for Dark Matter with experiments in space and deep underground. Discover the mysterious presence of dark matter through the eyes of Fritz Zwicky, the scientist who coined the term “dark matter.” Witness astral choreography with Vera Rubin in the Andromeda galaxy and then plummet deep underground to see the most sensitive dark matter detector on Earth, housed in a former gold mine. From there, journey across space and time to the Large Hadron Collider at CERN, speeding alongside particles before they collide in visually stunning explosions of light and sound, while learning how scientists around the world are collaborating to track down the constituents of dark matter.

Big Astronomy: People, Places, Discoveries

In Big Astronomy: People, Places, Discoveries, journey to three world-class observatories in Chile’s rugged Andes Mountains and arid Atacama Desert- remote, extreme regions that happen to have the perfect conditions for astronomical research.

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CAPCOM GO! The Apollo Story

CAPCOM GO! On July 20th 1969, 600 million people around the world gathered to witness a historic moment of human achievement broadcast live from the Moon. The world celebrated as the astronauts made that "giant leap for mankind". But few people were aware of just how huge an effort it had taken to get them there. These Apollo 11 astronauts were just 2 of nearly 400,000 people who had worked over ten years towards this goal. But how did they do it? Watch CAPCOM GO!

We Are Aliens!

Are we alone? For now, that answer may be yes, but scientists across the globe are working hard to understand just what life on other planets may look like. We Are Aliens! explores the possibilities, taking a look at what we know now, and how our understanding may change in the near future. Watch We Are Aliens!

Origins of Life

What are we made of? Where did it all come from? Explore the secrets of our cosmic chemistry and our explosive origins. Connect life on Earth to the evolution of the Universe by following the formation of Hydrogen atoms to the synthesis of Carbon, and the molecules for life. Out of devastating events in the cosmos comes new creation. When giant stars explode as “supernovas,” they seed the galaxies with heavy elements that make planets and life possible. Some collisions we’re only just now starting to understand. For example, when Black Holes collide, they can throw off some of the most energetic particles known, ripping and warping space as they go. But other “explosions” have profound effects as well, such as the beauty and power of supervolcanoes which have contributed to the transformation of our world into the life bearing oasis we now enjoy. As the universe has transformed into the structure we live in now, even the most elementary particles have endured.

The Sky Tonight

The sky has been an object of fascination for as long as humans have walked the earth. The movements of the spheres are ingrained in every culture on earth and have created mythologies, superstitions, and legends many people still recognize. Today we turn our scientific tools toward the heavens to get a new perspective of the universe and our place in it. Scientists now believe that our galaxy is filled with solar systems, including up to a billion planets roughly the size of our own. The film employs advanced, data-driven, cinematic-quality visualizations to explore some of the greatest questions in science today: How did Earth become a living planet in the wake of our solar system’s violent birth?

Low-Mass Galaxies in the Local Universe

Low-mass, or ‘dwarf’ galaxies, are the smallest and most abundant galaxies in the Universe. They are crucial for understanding how galaxies form and evolve, constraining the properties of dark matter, and testing different cosmological models. Although dwarf galaxies are very common, astronomers have only observed a small portion of the expected population. The next generation of sky surveys, with facilities such as the Vera Rubin Observatory and the Roman Space Telescope, will enable systematic searches for faint, low-mass galaxies in unprecedented detail. In this talk, we will explore the discovery space for dwarf galaxies in the local Universe, drawing on insights from both galaxy simulations and current observations.

The Sun: Our Living Star

The Sun has shone on our world for four and a half billion years. The light that warms our skin today has been felt by every person who has ever lived. It is our nearest star and our planet’s powerhouse, the source of the energy that drives our winds, our weather and all life. The passage of the Sun’s fiery disc across the sky - day by day, month by month - was the only way to keep track of time for countless past civilizations. Don’t be fooled by the terminology; although it is a typical dwarf star, the Sun consumes 600 million tons of hydrogen each second and is 500 times as massive as all the planets combined.

Planning Your Visit

Ticketing and Admission

Tickets for regular public programs are available online or during regular hours at the ticket office. If you are a student or faculty/staff, please login before continuing. For all public shows, please arrive 15 minutes before your scheduled show begins. **The Planetarium adheres to a strict No Late Admittance policy. Once the doors have closed, the show is underway and must not be interrupted.

Age Recommendations

We advise against bringing children younger than 5 years old to planetarium programs. The planetarium theater gets very dark and the visuals can be alarming to young children.

Parking

Parking on-campus is $5 for the day, 24 hours/day, 7 days a week and is run by Passport Parking. The parking permit is linked to your car's license plate number. Be aware that this is a digital parking pass.

Etiquette

Cell phone use and photography are encouraged in the planetarium lobby (especially if you tag us on Instagram!), but please keep your phone in your bag/pocket during presentations in the dome theater.

Support the Planetarium

Support our planetarium to help us upgrade our technology and programming to deliver even more captivating experiences! Contributions from our community help achieve the Planetarium's mission. This holiday season, inspire someone special with the wonders of the universe! Whether it's for an astronomy enthusiast, a curious mind, or someone eager to explore the mysteries of the cosmos, our gift certificates are a stellar choice. Important Note: The certificate’s balance will remain in the buyer’s name. Gift certificate balances can be checked by the recipient by providing a Planetarium Crew member with either the gift certificate number or the 6 letter order number. Gift certificates cannot be used in our gift shop at this time.

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