NOCTURNE·
The Planetarium Almanac · Latitude 41° N

Tonight, the sky
is on time.

Drag the heavens. Rest on a constellation and it will introduce itself.

The Moon's month

One stone, eight faces.

The Moon keeps the only calendar every culture has agreed on. Her next month, drawn to the minute for the dome's latitude.

Meteor calendar

Dust, arriving punctually.

A meteor shower is the Earth driving through a comet's litter. The debris keeps its lane for centuries — which is why we can promise you these dates.

Jan 03

Quadrantids

Six furious hours, then nothing. The year's most punctual extremist.

ZHR 120Boötes
Apr 22

Lyrids

Debris of Comet Thatcher, observed for 2,700 years and counting.

ZHR 18Lyra
Aug 12

Perseids

The crowd-pleaser. Warm grass, no moon if we're lucky, one wish per minute.

ZHR 100Perseus
Oct 21

Orionids

Halley's Comet, paying interest twice a century between visits.

ZHR 20Orion
Nov 17

Leonids

Mostly modest; once a generation, a storm of a thousand an hour.

ZHR 15Leo
Dec 14

Geminids

The year's finale — slow, bright, and faintly green. Dress accordingly.

ZHR 150Gemini
Tonight at the dome

Programmes under plaster stars.

19:00 · 45 MIN

First Light

For the youngest astronomers: how a photon spends four hundred centuries leaving the Sun, and eight minutes reaching your eye.

20:30 · 60 MIN

The Slow Waltz of Andromeda

Our neighbour galaxy approaches at 110 km per second. An hour on what four billion years of patience looks like.

22:00 · 50 MIN

Nocturne, Op. 9

Chopin under the winter sky, projector at full depth. The only show where we ask you not to point.