Stars Around the World is our newest live star show in the McDonnell Planetarium. This program aims to give audience members the experience of traveling to different parts of the world and observing the changes visible in the sky overhead.

The exciting thing about this show is that guests get to observe sights they would not otherwise see from here in the Midwest. Stars Around the World explores constellations of the southern hemisphere, deep sky objects not visible in St. Louis like the Magellanic Clouds, and even phenomena like the aurora borealis.

More than simply showing people new sights, we also get to explore how different cultures may interpret the same stars we see in St. Louis in a different way. Stars around the World brings together science and culture as we take guests on an adventure from pole-to-pole!

While we often focus on the St. Louis sky and arming guests with tools to explore space from their own backyard, our Planetarium is an immersive environment capable of transporting us anywhere across the globe. We wanted to create a program that would take full advantage of our ZEISS Mark IX star projector and its ability to recreate a beautifully accurate night sky from any location on Earth.

Producing this show has also been a great opportunity for our talented presenters to broaden their knowledge of the southern hemisphere. It is not something we get to talk about a lot, so being able to focus on learning new constellations and deep sky objects has been a great experience for everyone. Exploring different culture’s interpretations of the sky has also been extremely interesting.

Stars Around the World may focus on what changes in the sky as we travel the Earth, but the program is really centered on the idea that the sky is something we all share. We might see different parts of the sky or even interpret the same stars differently, but the fundamental idea of looking up is constant across oceans, continents, and cultures
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We want audience members to remember when they leave that there are stars all around the world, and that looking up is one way we can always come together.