Weston Families Special Events

WESTON FAMILIES TELESCOPE NIGHT

Weston Families please join us for this special evening for your children in grades 4 and up. On a typical evening we will turn our large 12" diameter telescope toward the moon, planets, stars, space station, and other objects in the night sky.

This event is free for Weston Families on this night.  Children must be supervised by parents at all times. Optional: BYO binoculars, warm jacket, hand sanitizer, bug repellent.

Other Public Telescope Nights

Weather permitting, we will try to open on select Friday or Saturday evenings in the spring, summer, and fall. Start and end times may vary according to sunset times and astronomical events, generally 8-9 pm. See the Events Calendar for specific dates and times.

Additional Activities

Depending on staff availability, we may offer inside astronomy activities as well, such as planetarium shows, touching a rock from outer space (70 lb meteorite!), weighing yourself on the moon and planets, viewing the 3D astronomy displays, selfies with the R2D2 robot, operating the Mars robotic arm to pick up Mars rocks, and more.

Weather

WESTON FAMILIES PLANETARIUM SHOW

We offer free IN-HOUSE Public Planetarium shows on special occasions. Watch the Events Calendar for them. NOTE: We can also bring a planetarium to your school - see the Traveling Outreach Planetarium page.

Student Preparation

The 4-meter diameter inflatable dome is in a room with many astronomy and space science artifacts, meteorites, and NASA memorabilia. Students and adults will sit on the floor on small yoga mats or small beach chairs. Students must be at least 8 years old and not afraid of the dark or enclosed spaces. Students must have good balance to step through the vestibule doorways and be well behaved and quiet when inside.

Dome Capacity

Assuming a class with 1 teacher, there is room for approximately 12 elementary school children, 10 middle school children, or 8 high-schoolers or adults. The dome has a double door vestibule for easy access while standing up.

Dome Equipment

The dome is kept inflated by a large box fan, so fresh air is always flowing through. An HD video projector, amplified speakers, and a computer, make up the projection equipment. The dome is made of a fire retardant material and easily flipped up and over the group for emergency exit.

Shows

We have a variety of multimedia shows about planets, asteroids, eclipses, NASA missions, telescopes, etc. (See complete list of shows here.) We also have several "short" shows which are combined with a “live show” about constellations and the night sky using a star planetarium software to fill a typical half-hour experience. Most shows are geared toward grades 4 and up.

Additional Options

When you visit our planetarium, we often also show other educational items if time allows, such as meteorites, a dinosaur egg, pieces of NASA space gear, or something pertinent to the topic you request. This could round out your visit to a full hour and add extra interest to your visit.