Astral Weeks

Join the Louisiana Art & Science Museum May 11 for the 16th annual Astronomy Day. This anticipated museum event makes use of the planetarium and year-round space exhibits to offer a stellar day of astronomy education. General admission includes planetarium shows throughout the day, as well as hands-on activities in the museum atrium; live, educator-led stargazing; and Sky Tonight presentations throughout the day. Interactive experiments will show space fans of all ages how NASA scientists use what we know about the laws of physics to make new predictions and discoveries, study objects far away, and explain spectroscopy which uses the colors of lights to determine chemical composition of stars and other celestial objects. 

Also on view will be Astral Visions, an exhibition of deep space photography by Connor Matherne. The striking images of spatial phenomena are beautiful and thought-provoking in their own right, but also serve as a jumping-off point for discussions of the celestial structures they picture. Visitors will also be able to view the exact location in the Milky Way of each distant celestial phenomena included in Matherne’s photographs by using the OmniGlobe, the Museum’s newest state-of-the-art learning tool. Watch the Louisiana Art & Science Museum website for information on a future talk with the artist—a planetary scientist by day.

Later that day, two often-requested programs return to the planetarium. Rock the Dome brings laser shows Laser Beatles and The Pink Floyd eXperience to the planetarium. If you like classic rock or lasers—and really, odds are everyone likes at least one of them—you’re in for a multimedia treat. The Museum will close at 5 pm and reopen at 5:45 pm to sell tickets for Rock the Dome at $10 per show or $15 for both. Members are free!

Can’t wait? Swing by on Star Wars Day, May 4 (as in, May the fourth be with you) for a showing of The Worlds Within Star Wars, a planetarium show outlining the connections between Star Wars and real-world astronomy and science—included in the price of admission. (Astral Visions opens that day too.) For more details on Star Wars Day and Astronomy Day events at the museum, visit lasm.org.