AVAILABLE FORMATS: FULL DOME

Living networks connect and support life forms large and small — from colonies of tiny microbes and populations of massive whales to ever-expanding human societies.

In the California Academy of Sciences’ 2015 original planetarium show, Habitat Earth, discover what it means to live in today’s connected world.

Through stunning visualizations of the natural world, dive below the ocean’s surface to explore the dynamic relationships found in kelp forest ecosystems, travel beneath the forest floor to see how Earth’s tallest trees rely on tiny fungi to survive, and journey to new heights to witness the intricate intersection between human and ecological networks.

Narrated by actor Frances McDormand, this 2015 show from the Morrison Planetarium features stunning visualizations of both biological and human-built networks (and of how they intersect), taking show-goers on an incredible, immersive journey through the interconnectedness of life on Earth.

“In Habitat Earth,” says Ryan Wyatt, Director of Morrison Planetarium, “we’re advancing the boundaries of traditional planetarium content, which focuses primarily on astronomy and space.”  Instead of looking solely to the stars, the Morrison team is using advanced digital tools and scientific data to tell stories that are uniquely Earth-focused.

The show details the ways humans fit into this ever evolving story of connection.  And along the way, audiences will learn more about what we can do to ensure that our cohabitation with the natural world leaves a healthy, sustainable planet for generations to come.

Misrepresented, maligned, and on the verge of extinction, the Great White Shark is an iconic predator: the creature we love to fear.  Great White Shark will explore the Great White’s place in our imaginations, in our fears, and in the reality of its role at the top of the oceanic food chain.

Eugene Milkman, nicknamed Milky, is an old robot – a small but strong man – who has been delivering milk for over 800 years on behalf of the company Galaktos.  Starting his new tour, he takes Craig McIntosh, a young internship who almost quit going to school, and they both take off for a journey through the Milky Way.  Milky evokes the memories of his career while Craig learn more about magnificent cosmic landscapes.  From stars to nebulas, this fantastic trip will drive them up to the dreadful black hole hidden at the center of our Galaxy!

Experience the challenges of the next generation of space exploration in this brand-new Planetarium show.  By using exciting real-life projects like NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope and the New Horizons mission to Pluto, the show highlights the extreme nature of spacecraft engineering and the life cycle of a space mission — from design and construction to the rigors of testing, launch, and operations.  Blast off and take the voyage with us!

Develop a renewed appreciation for our fragile planet through the lens of astronomy as Sigourney Weaver guides audiences on an immersive excursion that explores a universe filled with the possibility of life.

Fragile Planet starts with an astronaut’s view highlighting Earth’s unique regions.  The journey then continues to the Moon, Mars, and beyond the Milky Way to search for habitats that might host extraterrestrial life.  The show’s theme — that Earth is the only known haven for life, and thus is important to protect — echoes the themes of biodiversity and sustainability.

The foundation of the show lies in scientific visualization, utilizing observed data as the starting point for the imagery.  More than three dozen researchers and institutions provided data in support of Fragile Planet; their contributions range from high resolution satellite imagery of Earth to the positions of galaxies more than 50 million light years away.

From the three-dimensional terrain of Valles Marineris on Mars to the locations of extrasolar planetary systems in interstellar space, everything audiences see in Fragile Planet is based on astronomers’ best understanding of the universe.  Scenes requiring extrapolation from known observations were developed with the assistance of researchers with expertise in the relevant topics.

Fragile Planet was written and produced by the visualization studio of the California Academy of Sciences.  For two sequences in the show, they collaborated with the National Center for Supercomputing Applications (NCSA) at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.  The spectacular visuals are augmented by an evocative, multi-dimensional sound environment by renowned giant-screen composer Michael Stearns.

Fermentation is the theme of this work of dome art, produced with the help of choreographers and contemporary dancers. The phenomenon of fermentation is one in which tiny microorganisms, invisible to the naked eye, enable life to flower its hidden potential after death.  This work abstracts this invisible phenomenon through dance, and expresses the creativity and energy that lies beyond death.  If the living body of a dancer represents ‘life,’ the body of the dancer seen on film embodies ‘death.’  The body of the dancer, appearing amid the darkness of the dome, evokes not only death but also what lies beyond: the birth of a new life.

The impulse to strike out into the unknown, to see what’s over the horizon is as old as humanity.  Today, a whole new horizon beckons.  Scientists now believe that our galaxy is filled with solar systems, including up to 9 billion Sun-like stars with planets similar to Earth.

Astronomers are racing to find habitable worlds, including any that might exist in the neighborhood of our Sun.  But if we find one, how will we ever get there?  How long will it take?  What rocket designs might one day conquer the voids of space?

Faster Than Light! The Dream of Interstellar Flight will dazzle audiences with virtual rides aboard spacecraft of the future.  They are based on whole new technologies designed to achieve ultra-high speeds, using exotic next generation rocket fuels and breakthrough concepts in physics.  How far can our technology take us?

ExoPlanets: Worlds Of Wonder follows mankind’s first space probe as it journeys outside our solar system to the many new worlds astronomers are discovering beyond.  Audiences will visit gas giants caught in a deadly dance with their host stars, frozen rogue planets hurling through space, molten rocky worlds now known to science, and new planets drifting comfortably within the Goldilocks Zone.

ExoPlanets: Worlds Of Wonder covers the National Earth and Space Science Standards for grades K-9, not only educating about other worlds, but also teaching audiences about how special Earth and our solar system truly are.  It combines the best of hand-crafted animation with state-of-the-art visual effects to educate audiences in a fascinating way.

Dr. Geoffrey Marcy, world-leading astronomer in Extra Solar Planet Discoveries, described the screenplay as, “Absolutely glorious.  It artfully captures the science, the beauty, and the wonder of the new worlds we are discovering.”

Travel through space and time in a fulldome production that makes you look at Earth in a whole new way.

A sweeping geological journey, Earthquake: Evidence of a Restless Planet explores the forces that transform the surface of our planet.

Fly along the San Andreas Fault before diving into the planet’s interior.  Journey back in time to witness the 1906 San Francisco earthquake, and the break-up of Pangaea 200 million years ago.  Visit the sites of historical earthquakes from the Mediterranean Sea to the Pacific Ocean.

Learn how scientists and engineers collaborate to help society prepare for a safer environment — and a safer future.

Data-driven visualizations illustrate Earth’s story, revealing how subtle motions and sudden ruptures have shaped our planet over eons — and how geological activity influences the course of human history.

Earthquake: Evidence of a Restless Planet was written by Ryan Wyatt and produced by the visualization studio of the California Academy of Sciences.

Dynamic Earth explores the inner workings of Earth’s great life support system: the global climate.  With visualizations based on satellite monitoring data and advanced supercomputer simulations, this cutting- edge production follows a trail of energy that flows from the Sun into the interlocking systems that shape our climate: the atmosphere, oceans, and the biosphere.  Audiences will ride along on swirling ocean and wind currents, dive into the heart of a monster hurricane, come face-to-face with sharks and gigantic whales, and fly into roiling volcanoes.

Discover the mystery of flight with Leonardo da Vinci, Montgolfier brothers, Wright brothers and other inventors.  Experience the adventure and find out how this immense and challenging dream for which mankind has strived since the beginning of history came true.

Dream to Fly is a poetic story about the history of aviation.  The aim of the film is to present the development of aviation through the ages in an interesting an innovative way.  It presents the milestones on our route to conquering the skies – both in terms of technological breakthroughs, as well as our perceptions on flying itself.

Rich fulldome visuals, beautiful music composed for the show and a poetic narration makes this show an exceptional artwork.  The message to the viewers is to be open to new ideas and to pursue our dreams.

If it weren’t for a series of cataclysmic events; a comet impact being first on the list, our planet could still be the domain of dinosaurs.

Dinosaurs fascinate us so much, that many people wish they were among us.  Fortunately, Dinosaurs 3D will be the closest thing to actually being in the presence of these extraordinary creatures.  Deeply rooted in science, the film carries the audience back in time to witness these amazing beasts come to life.

Meet the largest living animals to have ever walked the Earth: the titanesque plant-eating Argentinosaur, and its nemesis, the Giganotosaur, a bipedal carnivore, that could easily challenge the famous T-Rex!

A learning adventure of a father and his teenage daughter Lucy, who share a fascination for all things that fly.  You’ll travel back in time to meet the pterosaurs and the ancestors of modern-day birds: the feathered dinosaurs.  Lucy and her father navigate from continent to continent, looking for clues about the origins of flight.  When time runs out they experience first-hand the cataclysmic “last day” of the dinosaurs.  Science content includes topics such as continental drift, proper motion of stars, asteroids and impacts, extinctions and the convergent development of flight among species.

Dinosaurs Alive is a global adventure of science and discovery – featuring the earliest dinosaurs of the Triassic Period to the monsters of the Cretaceous “reincarnated” life-sized for the giant IMAX ® screen.  Audiences will journey with some of the world’s preeminent paleontologists as they uncover evidence that the descendants of dinosaurs still walk (or fly) among us.  From the exotic, trackless expanses and sand dunes of Mongolia’s Gobi Desert to the dramatic sandstone buttes of New Mexico, the film will follow American Museum of Natural History (AMNH) paleontologists as they explore some of the greatest dinosaur finds in history.  Through the magic of scientifically accurate computer-generated animation, these newly discovered creatures, and some familiar favorites, will come alive … in a big way!

Beginning in the 1920s, AMNH scientist and adventurer Roy Chapman Andrews, who is believed to be the inspiration for the Indiana Jones character, led five expeditions to the Gobi Desert.  Andrews and his team found hundreds of dinosaur remains, many new to science, including the first Velociraptor, the first dinosaur nests with eggs, and fossils of early mammals that lived alongside dinosaurs in the Late Cretaceous Period.  Andrews also happened to take along a Hollywood cameraman with him to film the expedition’s discovery.  This rare and beautifully preserved footage, juxtaposed against the large-format footage of today’s expeditions, provides audiences with a unique perspective into field paleontology over time.

Following in the footsteps of Andrews, AMNH paleontologists, Mike Novacek and Mark Norell, have been making annual expeditions to the Gobi every summer since 1990.  Some of the greatest dinosaur fossils ever found have come from the Gobi.  Collapsing sand dunes quickly and completely covered whole communities of animals, preserving them until the skeletons are exposed today by erosion.  One of the most dramatic sequences in the film features a Velociraptor and a Protoceratops locked in mortal combat as a sand dune sweeps over them and kills them.  The famous fossil of these fighting dinosaurs shows that they died in a deadly embrace, claws and jaws still grasping at each other.  Great dinosaur moments like these, actual fossilized stories, are brought back to life through state-of-the-art CGI.

Dinosaurs Alive will also introduce audiences to the breakthrough discoveries taking place under the towering red sandstone buttes and rock chimneys in northern New Mexico.  Since the 1940s, AMNH scientists have uncovered excellent specimens at the mysterious Ghost Ranch, where erosion has cut down through the many levels of sediment to expose fossils of the earliest dinosaurs from the Triassic Period, some 230 million years ago.  At that time reptiles still ruled the earth and dinosaurs were actually modest in size—no larger than a cat, dog, or human.  Dinosaurs exploded in diversity and size during the later Jurassic Period.  Scientists have recently discovered a “monster” buried near Ghost Ranch.  It was a long-necked sauropod called Seismosaurus—meaning ‘thunder lizard’—that was a massive 121 feet long.  In the film, audiences will witness this behemoth thundering about on screen, in stark contrast to the more diminutive Triassic dinosaurs.

Finally, in an exciting development captured by our cameras, Novacek and Norell, travel to the site and inspect an extraordinary discovery made by AMNH graduate students — one of the oldest dinosaurs ever found in North America.  The film will show how the fossil was discovered, protected in a plaster jacket, carefully removed from the rock, and studied at the American Museum of Natural History in New York.  Dinosaurs Alive shows how new scientific insights are sometimes built from previous discoveries, and each new generation of paleontologists continues the legacy of people like Roy Chapman Andrews.

Dinosaur Passage to Pangaea is a stop-motion, 3D animated adventure explaining one of the greatest geological events in the history of the Earth: the separation of the supercontinent Pangaea.  When two children embark on a geology field trip back in time, they are thrown into a fantastic voyage where they witness incredible geological wonders and learn the mysterious process that created our present-day continents.  From racing across the landscape atop Dinosaurs to plummeting to the center of the Earth, Dinosaur Passage to Pangaea is the perfect educational glimpse at the tectonic forces that forged our world.  It is the ultimate field trip!

From the launch of the first artificial satellite Sputnik, to the magnificent lunar landings and privately operated space flights.  Be immersed and overwhelmed with this most accurate historic reconstruction of Man’s first steps into space.  Who were these Men and Women that took part in these death defying endeavours?  Witness their drive, their passion, and their perseverance to explore, in Dawn of the Space Age.

DarkStar Adventure is an engaging fulldome show for viewers of all ages.  After spending three years at her father’s astronomy research station on a dusty, dying planet, Subrah, a teenager bored by science, is excited about leaving – and not a moment too soon.

The planet’s sun is about to explode and it’s time to evacuate.  When a technical glitch launches Subrah’s father into space without her, she is faced with the biggest challenge of her life – making her own getaway and returning safely home again.

Join Subrah, and her robot helper Sweeps, on an unforgettable voyage of discovery as they unravel a cosmic riddle that points the way to planet Bekenal.  You’ll witness the awesome power of a supernova, explore the heart of a gaseous nebula, visit exotic pulsars and learn to keep a safe distance from a black hole!

With a cast of animated characters, an engaging “lost in space” storyline, roller-coaster ride special effects, and a winning combination of science and entertainment, DarkStar Adventure is fun for the whole family.

This full dome show is a story of a boy who wants to be an astronomer, dreams about an unbelievable Space Mission.  The aim of this Space Mission is to contact a Cosmic Civilization.  In the Spaceship, Chandragupta, the 123 astronaut men & women go on a journey of no return.  Long before the spaceship reaches its destination, the heroes would have spent all their lives in the space and the mission will be complete only by their descendants after many generations.  Watch this spectacular and immersive show to know more about this mission, nature of universe and cosmic civilization.

Cosmic Journey: A Solar System Adventure takes you on a a voyage to the outer reaches of our solar system in search of worlds that might support life.

Travel faster than the speed of light, from the limits of our solar system to the Sun, taking in the wonders of the planets and their moons.  Volcanoes tower 80,000 feet above a barren surface.  Monstrous hurricanes rage for over 400 years.  And multicolored rings float suspended in space.