Calendar of Events

The Little Star That Could
2025-06-26 11:00 - 12:00, 2025-06-27 11:00 - 12:00 (America/New_York) | Southworth Planetarium — Science Building, 70 Falmouth St, Portland, ME, 04103, United States
A little yellow star travels through the galaxy in search of planets that will give it its special name. During his journey, this star learns about the many types of stars that live in the galaxy. Hot blue stars; cool red stars; double stars, large stars and much more.
Produced by the Audio Visual Imagineering Company and based on the popular planetarium show of the same name, “The Little Star That Could” is an engaging and fun show that introduces your child to the wonders of stellar astronomy.
A splendid star show for the entire family!
This omni-dome show uses the entire dome as the screen for a visually immersive experience.
(Presented in the memory of Steve Innes 1955-2011)

Dinosaurs at Dusk
2025-06-26 13:00 - 14:00, 2025-06-27 13:00 - 14:00, 2025-06-28 13:00 - 14:00 | Southworth Planetarium — Science Building, 70 Falmouth St, Portland, ME, 04103, United States
A whirlwind time travel adventure back to the epoch of the dinosaurs!
We have to tell you that we’ve been waiting aeons to announce that we have a full dome, computer animated dinosaurs show! A larger than life extravaganza rife with roaring monsters from the ancient age: bounding, stomping, flying, hunting, and foraging frenetically above us.
Well, by heavens, now we can tell the world that the dinosaurs have arrived at the Southworth Planetarium!
Propel yourself back through the epochs toexplore an Earth teeming with Pteradons, Triceratrops and, of course, the ferocious -and therefore wonderfully marketable- T-Rex!
And, if we can say so, this is NOT your great great great grandfather’s dinosaur show with slides and lethargic Sunday afternoon nature special narration. Instead, we’re embarking on a causality violating adventure through time to discover a planet dominated by the largest land animals that ever set claw to topsoil.

The Sun Our Living Star
2025-06-27 19:00 - 20:00, 2025-06-30 13:00 - 14:00 | Southworth Planetarium — Science Building, 70 Falmouth St, Portland, ME, 04103, United States
The Sun has shone on Earth for four and a half billion years. Consuming 600 million tons of hydrogen each second, it is the source of energy that drives our winds, our weather, and all life. Experience images of the Sun’s violent, fiery surface and discover the secrets of our star. Show length: 25 minutes

Mysteries of Your Brain
2025-06-30 11:00 - 12:00, 2025-07-01 11:00 - 12:00, 2025-07-02 11:00 - 12:00 | Southworth Planetarium — Science Building, 70 Falmouth St, Portland, ME, 04103, United States
A curious girl and her crow companion take an adventure into the human brain, exploring how it works and what makes it so special. Zoom along neurons to see how your brain makes you you and how we each have the power to change our brains. An Bell Museum Production. Made possible through support from the Richard M. Schulze Foundation and Boston Scientific.

From Earth to the Universe
2025-06-30 14:00 - 15:00 | Southworth Planetarium — Science Building, 70 Falmouth St, Portland, ME, 04103, United States
The night sky, both beautiful and mysterious, has been the subject of campfire stories, ancient myths and awe for as long as there have been people. A desire to comprehend the Universe may well be humanity’s oldest shared intellectual experience. Yet only recently have we truly begun to grasp our place in the vast cosmos. To learn about this journey of celestial discovery, from the theories of the ancient Greek astronomers to today’s grandest telescopes, we invite you to experience From Earth to the Universe.

The Sun Our Living Star
2025-07-01 13:00 - 14:00, 2025-07-02 13:00 - 14:00 | Southworth Planetarium — Science Building, 70 Falmouth St, Portland, ME, 04103, United States
The Sun has shone on our world for four and a half billion years. The light that warms our skin today has been felt by every person who has ever lived. It is our nearest star and our planet’s powerhouse, the source of the energy that drives our winds, our weather and all life.

Super Massive Black Holes
2025-07-02 14:00 - 15:00 | Southworth Planetarium — Science Building, 70 Falmouth St, Portland, ME, 04103, United States
Leading scientists, industrial experts, and professionals in science dissemination come together to combine state-of-the-art observations, simulations and innovative tools to compare theory with observation, and shed light on the physics of black hole formation in the context of galaxy evolution.

Dinosaurs at Dusk
2025-07-03 11:00 - 12:00, 2025-07-05 11:00 - 12:00 | Southworth Planetarium — Science Building, 70 Falmouth St, Portland, ME, 04103, United States
A whirlwind time travel adventure back to the epoch of the dinosaurs! A larger than life extravaganza rife with roaring monsters from the ancient age: bounding, stomping, flying, hunting, and foraging frenetically above us. Show length: 43 minutes

Imagine the Moon
2025-07-03 13:00 - 14:00, 2025-07-05 13:00 - 14:00 | Southworth Planetarium — Science Building, 70 Falmouth St, Portland, ME, 04103, United States
The moon has inspired humanity scientifically, philosophically, mathematically and poetically. This new planetarium program takes us to see the moon up close! We explore its terrain, understand its origin and learn how it has influenced us throughout human history.

Tilt
2025-07-07 11:00 - 12:00, 2025-07-09 11:00 - 12:00 | Southworth Planetarium — Science Building, 70 Falmouth St, Portland, ME, 04103, United States
When the seasons go crazy it’s up to Annie and Max to set things right. But fixing this will take something extraordinary, and a little help. Come on a whirlwind adventure as the siblings learn just how the seasons work, and discover that sometimes, all we need is a new angle on the world.

Natural Selection
2025-07-07 13:00 - 14:00, 2025-07-08 13:00 - 14:00, 2025-07-09 13:00 - 14:00 | Southworth Planetarium — Science Building, 70 Falmouth St, Portland, ME, 04103, United States
We join Darwin on his voyage to the Galapagos Islands where he was inspired to develop his theory of transmutation by natural selection.
From the comfort of Down House, Darwin himself will explain the mechanism of natural selection to the audience, and support it by showing examples in nature.

Super Massive Black Holes
2025-07-07 14:00 - 15:00 | ME

Sunstruck
2025-07-09 14:00 - 15:00 | Southworth Planetarium — Science Building, 70 Falmouth St, Portland, ME, 04103, United States
Travel back to the beginning of time and experience the birth of the Sun. Discover how it came to support life, how it threatens life as we know it, and how its energy will one day fade away.

Lars the Little Polar Bear
2025-07-10 11:00 - 12:00, 2025-07-11 11:00 - 12:00 | Southworth Planetarium — Science Building, 70 Falmouth St, Portland, ME, 04103, United States
What happens when a frisky little polar bear named Lars ventures out on the first day of spring? He explores his Arctic home, meets new friends, and saves some endangered whales.
Lars the Little Polar Bear is the beloved star of a children’s book “Little Polar Bear and the Whales” authored by Hans de Beer in 2008.

The Hot Energetic Universe
2025-07-10 13:00 - 14:00, 2025-07-11 13:00 - 14:00, 2025-07-11 19:00 - 20:00 | Southworth Planetarium — Science Building, 70 Falmouth St, Portland, ME, 04103, United States
High Energy Astrophysics plays a key role in understanding the universe. These radiations reveal the processes in the hot and violent Universe. This science probes hot gas in clusters of galaxies and accreting around supermassive black holes in the centers of galaxies. Learn about our galaxy, neutron stars, supernova remnants and stars like our Sun.
