Information about English Planetarium Shows in Stuttgart
The Stuttgart Planetarium offers three types of planetarium shows in English:
- Fully live lecture featuring basic astronomical concepts on the current night sky
- Taped planetarium show with additional live explanation of stars and constellations
- Fulldome video presentation utilizing digital motion picture capability
The fully live lecture begins with a simulated dusk scenery. We will see the stars as they would appear on the real sky at the present date. The famous Big Dipper will guide us to other constellations of the season (e.g. Lion and Bear-Watcher in springtime, Hercules and Swan in summer, Pegasus and Andromeda in autumn, Orion and Taurus, the Bull in winter). Depending on seasonal visibility, interesting deep-sky objects such as the famous Pleiades star cluster in Taurus or the spiral galaxy in Andromeda will be pointed out and are explained with additional media.
The lecture will proceed with a description of the astronomical distance scale. Depending on their current visibility, we will have a close look at the moon and planets. The live lecture concludes with the night passing in time lapse and ends with the beginning of a new day.
The taped show is actually a hybrid presentation including a half hour long audio-visual presentation of the various capabilities of the planetarium (motion of the moon and planets, change of latitude, constellations of the southern sky), complemented by a 20 minutes live explanation of the current evening sky with its major constellations and relevant objects.
In addition to its "classical" planetarium programs, the Stuttgart Planetarium also offers "Fulldome shows" (immersive motion pictures spread across the whole dome by digital video projection). Please watch the English Language download section on our Homepage www.planetarium-stuttgart.de for detailed information. Click "Programme" and then "PDF-Files".
We also encourage the students to ask questions after the lecture or show. Upon request we can also provide a short laser show feature (about 7 minutes) as an addition to the planetarium visit, free of charge.
General Information
The planetarium offers lectures and star shows for schools on request, e.g. Tuesday to Friday morning or afternoon. We try to find out a convenient date for foreign language presentations. When setting up an appointment by phone, fax or mail, please give us the following information:
- Name of group or school or institution
- Number of participants
- Grade(s) or age(s) of participants
- Name, institutional address and phone or fax or e-mail of person in charge
Office hours are Monday-Friday 8:00 a.m. till noon and 2:00 till 4:00 p.m.
The best way to contact us is by e-mail or fax. This can be done in English or German.
In case that you have special requirements or desire a certain content in the planetarium lecture, please let us know and contact the office of the planetarium director Dr. U. Lemmer.
Admission fee for schools is a flat rate of € 400.00 per show. Maximum capacity is 275 seats.
Each planetarium presentation will last approx. 1 hour in total. Questions at the end of the lecture are welcome, so you should expect a total duration of your visit of about an hour or little more depending on motivation and curiosity of the students.
Food, drinks, and laser pointers are not allowed in the star theater of the planetarium. Cellular phones shall be switched off during the show. Students may leave their bags and coats at the checkroom area in the main lobby. Please plan to arrive at least 15 minutes before the scheduled show time to allow sufficient time for seating and dark adaptation.
Bus parking is possible at Willy-Brandt-St. close to the planetarium (fee is € 7.50 for 3 hrs.) Stopover for leaving and entering the bus is free. If you go by bus, please take into account busy traffic on Stuttgart's main roads around the city center. If there is a foreseeable delay in your arrival time, we would appreciate a telephone message to our office (phone no. +49 (0) 711-21689015).
The planetarium is located in a nice park area of Middle Schlossgarten which can be used for recreation or quick meal - weather permitting.