Community

Planetarium

 

 

Thanks to the generosity and vision of the late John Drescher, Santa Monica College is the home to a computerized planetarium theater. At its heart is the Evans & Sutherland Digistar II planetarium projector, which was the first of its kind on the West Coast. Using digital technology, audiences can fly beyond the solar system and soar among the stars. We can transport you across our galaxy to the limits of spacetime. 

Planetarium this week

New free, live, virtual public shows!

The March 15 Night Sky and Feature Shows have been cancelled.

Zoom links for Friday Night shows - February/March

Invitation links to the live online events are generally posted the Thursday before. These programs are only available LIVE on Friday evenings, and on the occasional Matinee dates, normally Sundays. Clicking on the Zoom links at other times will not work.

Please scroll down beyond the calendar for notes on upcoming 8 p.m. programs

We also look forward to the expanded capabilities of the new planetarium and observatory SMC is building for opening in winter 2025.

Jim Mahon
Senior Planetarium Lecturer

Upcoming Planetarium Shows

See All
Shows are presented live online until further notice.
Mar 22
The Night Sky Show

The Night Sky Show

7 p.m. - 8 p.m. Online
Mar 29
The Night Sky Show

The Night Sky Show

7 p.m. - 8 p.m. Online

Comet NEOWISE over Mount Shasta

Weekly Night Sky Show

The Night Sky programs will last roughly 30 - 40 minutes, followed by a short question and answer period where guests can type questions into a chat box and we will answer as many questions as possible. There will be a short intermission at approximately 7:50 p.m. prior to the start of the Feature program at 8 p.m.

Feature Programs

Note that all 8 p.m. feature programs are preceded by the 7 p.m. “Night Sky” program described above.

Currently all presentations are online ONLY, with the exception of occasional observing programs. 

March 8:  The Great Observatories — Hubble Space Telescope (HST) is one of four space-based telescopes dubbed “The Great Observatories.” Tonight’s show looks at these pioneering instruments that gave us the first broad-spectrum look at space.

March 15:  Moon Landings: So Far — CANCELLED — Sorry!

March 22:  Solar System Exploration Survey: Neptune — Tonight's show continues the exploration of planets in the Outer Solar System with a look at the solar system’s lonely wanderer Neptune, the most distant of the ice giants. This cold, blue world has only been visited once by a human craft.

March 29:  Physics of Eclipses and Moon Phases — Gearing up for the April 8 solar eclipse, tonight’s show will take a closer look at Earth’s largest natural satellite and marvel at the fact that Earth is the only planet in the solar system that experiences total solar eclipses.

 

Location of Planetarium (Currently closed)

Drescher Hall, 2nd Floor
1900 Pico Boulevard
Santa Monica, CA 90405
Campus Map

The Drescher Planetarium is located in the middle of the second floor of Drescher Hall on the north side of the Santa Monica College campus. Drescher Hall is the three story brown building on the South East corner of Pico Blvd. and 17th Street. We are in Santa Monica, south of the 10 (Santa Monica) Freeway and west of the 405 (San Diego) Freeway.