Morrison Planetarium

Seriously great experience. Immersive experience, best planetarium I’ve ever been to. Top notch production. A must see!

I love the Academy of Sciences. I love their unique Thursday night events for 21+ lovers of science and a night on the town. I love how dedicated their employees are, how well-​taken-​care-​of all the animals in each exhibit are, and how you can easily spend a day in the Academy and not get bored.
I don’t, however, love the Planetarium. It’s clear a lot of money, love, and time went into the creation of it, as well as the enthusiasm and wit of the show’s MC, as it were.
I just don’t see how you can call it a planetarium when the show presented doesn’t touch upon astronomy or the night sky, even once. I agree with other comments that it should be more accurately named.

«A planetarium (plural planetaria or planetariums) is a theatre built primarily for presenting educational and entertaining shows about astronomy and the night sky, or for training in celestial navigation.»
— a multi-​referenced definition on Wikipedia
The Morrison «Planetarium» is no longer a planetarium. It is an life sciences movie theater. There are no more displays in the Academy about our solar system, its other planets, and beyond. Astronomy has become a foot note to feature films about life science and are often more sensationalizing astronomy rather than involving viewers in the science of it.
The young man who introduced the last show I saw explained to me that since the renovation the Academy has purposefully become more focused on life science. And this, all while the US is falling behind in the space race and our children learn little to nothing in school about the fascinating Universe around them. Thanks to the Academy they know how to recycle their plastics and prepare for earthquakes. Wonderful and Important, for sure. But why must this preclude space science?
Please make the Morrison Life Sciences Theater a planetarium once again… or at least properly rename it. You might even want to rename the entire effort: California Academy of Life Sciences.

Very Very crowded and the Show was super SHORT (JUST 15 — 20 minutes). But I reckon that is because I went on Sunday and it was slammed with Tourists.
Ive experienced better Planetariums with more impressive shows. Surprising considering this is at the Academy of Art Sciences in San Francisco. There is a lot of space and room for improvement.
Seems they are more focused on getting volumes and volumes of people stuffed in to the room and getting lots of sales as opposed to putting on a quality show. I really wanted to enjoy it but sadly It finished before it even got started.

Get your tickets to get in! It’s included in your admission ticket and I would definitely recommend checking out this show at least once.
The showing was about Habitat Earth and there were pretty awesome graphics since the screen is literally the entire room. A bunch of projectors shown together to show a large screen. They warn you that you might get motion sickness (it’s kinda like being on the Disney’s California Adventure — Soarin’ Over California ride), so just close your eyes and you’ll be fine.
¾ people in our group ended taking a nap during this show — it’s 30 minutes long. The beginning of the show was awesome and it showed the animals of the Bay Area over the Port of Oakland. Once it started getting to a granular level, it was a little harder to follow. All in all, pretty cool!
P. S. The porpoises came back to the Bay! :)

Do try the spring rolls at the courtyard adjacent to the planetarium. The chef puts whole deveined shrimp in them and the peanut dipping sauce has a slight heat to it.

I’m gonna keep this short. Found this place to be ok but the main reason was to show my son the space show they have. When we got there, we were told that they don’t allow kids under 6. Wish we knew that before driving 55 miles. Website no easy to navigate with an iPhone. The marine life was cool and my son did love that. Only issue is getting information on their site. I thought it was worth the trip even with is issue.

Only one thing to say: I’d get a membership to the Academy just so I can visit this planetarium everyday.

I lined up early enough to get a pick at where I wanted to sit and sat down right smack in the middle.
They warn you ahead of time that you might feel a little motion sickness or feel dizzy while watching the show. I did get a little dizzy, but was ok after closing my eyes for a few seconds.
The screen was blurry and distracted from the show. The seat are comfortable and besides the screen being blurry, it is actually interesting. I did fall asleep though some parts of it because it was so calming.

Had a great time! Say both shows, Dark Universe was my favourite. I found the narration a bit dry and monotone, but the dome made up for it. I really felt like I was in space. The seats are ridiculously comfortable. I challenge you to not fall asleep! We went during the week and it wasn’t busy at all. The idea of standing on the living roof wasn’t optimal for stargazing (windy and not a lot of places to sit) so we went home and did it from our own roof. Awesome experience though. We will be regulars now for sure.

The dark universe, narrated by NDT is great, but the chair was so comfortable that I may have fell asleep a bit. So now I have to go home and Wikipedia the dark matter and the dark energy.

Gotta say, growing up seeing planetarium shows that employ the Zeiss projector, the use of digital projectors just don’t cut it. The stars we’re blurry and the dialogue dry. I wasn’t transported to the universe, I was in front of my standard TV at home.

A good friend of mine and an outstanding amateur astronomer (my mentor!) and I decided to go over to the planetarium at the California Academy of Sciences. We had a great time — not an empty seat in the house — but it was fun and we talked with the planetarium operators until the next showing – even got a tour of the planetarium projector, as well.
The show was great — a good reminder that working with the public to excite them about astronomy requires not only being knowledgeable as a scientist, but being a gifted speaker and part showman as well. We had a lot of fun and if I lived closer, I’m certain that I’d be a spectator more often.

After visiting several times, we decided to become a member. I love coming to the Academy of Sciences and watching the shows at the planetarium. I have always been fascinated with the stars and outer space so I always enjoy the show. The cosmic collision show is better in my opinion than the earthquake show but I liked both. With the dome shaped screen, I really feel like part of whatever I am watching such as traveling through space and even time. The digital images projected onto the dome are pretty clear and of great qualities. Overall, it’s usually a good experience for me every time I come to the planetarium.
It’s best to go on the week days if possible because you can get the best seat when it’s less crowded. I like sitting in the middle of the row and toward the back as it is less straining for your neck. Trust me, you feel it after a half hour show. We typically try to get our tickets for the shows first and then plan the visit around that.