Outreach: AstroSphere Portable Planetarium

Can't make it to the South Carolina State Museum for a field trip? Let our educators come to your classroom with our portable planetarium program, sponsored by Boeing.

Grades: Recommended for all ages 

2014 SC Academic Standards for Excellence: 1.E.3A; 4.E.3A, 4.E.3B  

SC College- and Career-Ready Science Standards 2021: 1-ESS1-1, 1-ESS1-2; 5-ESS1-1, 5-ESS1-2  

Next Generation Science Standards: 1-ESS1-1, 1-ESS1-2; 5-ESS1-1, 5-ESS1-2 

Maximum Capacity:  25 smaller students (3rd grade and below) can fit in the dome at once. About 20 older students can fit in the dome at once. 

Cost: $150 for the first program, $100 for each additional program within the same day. A maximum number of 4 programs can be done in a single day.

Days: Monday through Friday 

Dates: September 19 – December 13, 2023; January 9 – May 24, 2024 

Times: Educator-led programs are 45-min long, blocked into 1hr time periods to allow for proper resetting and safe entering and exiting of the dome. Our outreach coordinator will work with you to determine the best schedule for your school. 

Accessibility: Please let us know ahead of time if you’ll have an ASL interpreter or if you have any accessibility accommodation concerns.  

Step inside the AstroSphere and be transported through the solar system and beyond! Our portable planetarium is an inflatable dome featuring a star projector that brings the experience of the State Museum to you and your school! A trained SCSM educator will set the AstroSphere up and guide your students on a celestial journey covering a variety of topics that may include: basic navigation, star colors/brightness, constellations, asterisms, Earth’s rotation and axis tilt, and a brief viewing of the solar system or the Moon if time allows.

Room Requirements:

The following must be met in order to have the AstroSphere come to your location. These requirements are strict and are in place for quality and safety reasons. 

• The AstroSphere must be setup in an indoor location. 

• 24ft of cleared floor space and 10ft ceiling clearance (including light fixtures) is required. 

• We will need two easily accessible, working outlets to inflate the dome and run the projection system. 

• A totally silent space is required. The AstroSphere must be totally and completely isolated for all other noise and activities. It should be the only thing happening in the room at any given time. No sound or other activities can be in the room while programs are going on. This includes gathering, “walkthroughs," or just staff and personnel walking by. The dome is simply a thick piece of fabric in a round shape. All sound passes through and is actually amplified due to the shape of the dome. 

Please email outreach@scmuseum.org for more information and to register!