The Acheson Planetarium, supported by the Michael and Adele Acheson family, at Cranbrook Institute of Science is an intimate theater that allows you to immersively explore and experience the universe in rich color and detail.
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Visitor Tips
- Programs begin promptly. We suggest you arrive an hour before showtime. Always leave yourself enough time to park the car, purchase tickets, check your coats and strollers, visit the restrooms, etc.
- Planetariums are not like movie theaters. Planetariums are too dark to allow audience members to come and go as they please (it is dangerous and disruptive). Latecomers can not be admitted.
- Visit the restrooms before the program begins. Once the lights go down, visitors can leave but are not permitted to reenter (see above).
- Planetariums are great places for kids, but to recreate a nighttime environment the planetarium theater has to be dark. Note that strollers are not permitted.
- Please turn off cell phones and other noisy electronic or light-emitting devices while inside the theater.
- No children under the age of 16 are permitted in the planetarium unless accompanied by a parent or guardian.
- Note: food and drink are not permitted in the planetarium.
Tickets are required for all programs in the planetarium in addition to museum admission. They can be purchased at the museum entrance desk.
Planetarium Tickets (in addition to museum admission where appropriate)
- Adults: $5 per program
- Seniors 65+ & Children ages 2 - 12: $5 per program
- All CIS Standard Members $4 per program
- Children under 2 years: $1 per program
- CIS Enhanced Members FREE
Public Planetarium Programs
Time travel like never imagined! Explore ancient civilizations. Witness the birth of the universe. Journey to the edge of a black hole. In Tales of a Time Traveler, you will discover that time is not so easily defined. Time is illusive, impossible to hold. It can't be owned. It can't be stopped. Time travel surrounds you – from the biological clock in your brain and the changing shadows on a sundial, to the history of life on Earth. Then the story expands to the lives of stars, the time scale of the Big Bang, and the distortion of time by gravity. Narrated by David Tennant.
Recommended for 5 years old and up.
Join us at the Acheson Planetarium for an entertainment show like no other - The Dark Side of the Moon. The eighth album by the English rock band Pink Floyd. Originally released on 1 March 1973, on the label Harvest, it built on ideas explored in the band's earlier recordings and live shows, but departs from instrumental thematic by founding member Syd Barrett. The album explores themes including conflict, greed, the passage of time, and mental illness, the latter partly inspired by Barrett's deteriorating mental state.
This program is usually available every Friday evening at 9pm. Please check out our daily planetarium schedule for specific show times and dates.
This is not a laser show.
This program contains explicit lyrics. Parental discretion is advised.
Some portions of our planetarium programming appear courtesy of:
