Planetarium San Jose Near Me

4worldlovers:
Immerse yourself in the stars! Explore the universe at the De Anza College Planetarium!



Thanks to the FHDA Foundation for captioning on our live event above.

Gayle Tanaka's "Blue Print" series charts her grandparents' emigration from Japan to California, and their later experiences as farmers in Watsonville, shopkeepers in San Francisco and wartime internees in Wyoming and Arizona. The series maps family constellations of immigration, incarceration and assimilation.

"I have long been drawn to astronomical and astrological charts and maps," says Tanaka. "As a child, I loved to find the constellations in the sky. We are all actually a part of at least one fundamental personal constellation, our family. My grandparents and parents, beneath the ancient constellations, acted out their lives, creating myths for me. But unlike the ancient constellations, my position and meaning is not yet fixed. Against the backdrop of the stars, I enact my own becoming."

Come to a Planetarium show and see these works in person.

The De Anza College Planetarium is one of the largest school planetariums west of the Rockies. Join us at this unique community resource for:

See more of our campus video tour on the Video Tour webpage.

We host hundreds of field trips every year from schools all over the Bay Area and beyond. Each program is tailored to NGSS standards and hosted live by the Planetarium staff. Audience questions are always welcome during these presentations.

Field trip shows are available for booking Monday–Friday from September - June. This school year field trips will be held in-person. Programs run an hour and 10 minutes for in-person shows. Visit the Field Trips webpage for more details.

Astronomy shows are offered to the public on most Saturdays from October through May. Each presentation includes a featured fulldome show, plus a live tour of the night sky and space, conducted by our trained presenters. Audience questions are always welcome during these presentations.

Our rotating schedule features different shows each week—and you can learn about a different set of constellations during each season of the year. Check our calendar for show titles and admission prices.

Immerse yourself in vibrant images and music! Our cutting-edge Laser Fantasy system uses sophisticated software and multiple projectors to create dazzling aerial beams and captivating, colorful laser graphics on the interior of our 50-foot dome.

Each show is built around the music of a favorite artist or genre—from Pink Floyd to Michael Jackson, EDM and more! Laser shows are live events, conducted by our professional laser operators, which means each night’s performance is unique.

The Planetarium is located on the De Anza College campus, behind the Science Center building near parking Lot E.

We recommend parking in Lot E for weekend shows. Please allow time to park and purchase a parking permit before the show begins.

To book a field trip or a special event, please contact the Planetarium Office between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m., Tuesday–Friday. Planetarium shows are offered to the public most Saturdays, October–May, between 2 p.m. and 9 p.m.

4worldlovers: The old UCO web pages have been updated and now can be found at:

4worldlovers:
The Astronomy Department at Foothill College offers lecture and laboratory classes with astronomy professor Dr. Geoff Mathews. Courses in solar system and stellar astronomy provide you with a non-technical introduction to the worlds with which we share our solar system, the life and death of stars, the formation of galaxies, and the evolution of the universe.

Dr. Mathews leads the Foothill AstroSims project, which aims to sustain the existing pool of astro-education simulations as well as developing new simulations covering previously unaddressed topics. Our long-time faculty member Andrew Fraknoi retired in June 2017.

We do not offer a degree or certificate program in Astronomy. However, the astronomy courses meet general education requirements for other degrees offered.

Located on the main campus near the Krause Center for Innovation, the observatory provides students and community members with the opportunity for first-hand exploration of the wonders of the universe.

The observatory is open each Friday night from 9 to 11 p.m., and Saturdays from 10 a.m. to noon.

Founded in 1999, the Silicon Valley Astronomy Lecture Series lectures are presented on six Wednesday evenings during each school year at Foothill College. Speakers over the years have included Nobel-prize winners, members of the National Academy of Sciences and many other well-known scientists explaining astronomical developments in everyday language.

The series, moderated by Foothill College Astronomy instructor emeritus Andrew Fraknoi, is sponsored by the Astronomical Society of the Pacific, the SETI Institute, the University of California Observatories, and Foothill College. Topics range from the exploration of the planets to the speeding up of the expanding universe; from planets around other stars to black holes at the centers of distant galaxies.

Lectures are free to the general public, and video versions of the lectures (starting February 2013) are available on the lecture series YouTube Channel. Free audio files (podcasts) of the lectures are available as well through Buzzsprout.

The Peninsula Astronomical Society operates the Foothill College Observatory, and conducts other events throughout the south Bay Area.