The UCLA Planetarium
The UCLA Planetarium is a unique and intimate setting where UCLA astronomy students, K-12 students from throughout Los Angeles, and the L.A. community at large learn about the Universe at shows presented primarily by astronomy graduate students. These shows are presented at no cost during the academic year.
The star projector, comprising a telescope and eyepieces, is at the heart of any planetarium, recreating the night sky on the inside of the dome.
UCLA’s Celestron telescope uses incandescent light bulbs and pinhole screens to produce stars. This gives audiences stunning views of lunar craters and mare, cloud patterns on Jupiter, Saturn’s rings, star systems, star clusters, nebulae, and galaxies.
Click on the arrows below to scroll through opportunities offered by this unique spot at UCLA
Our hopes for the future
Major philanthropic investment is essential to modernize the Planetarium and secure the future of this beloved campus landmark. While UCLA is a public university, state support provides the barest foundation for UCLA’s budget. This means that we rely on philanthropy to support our mission of teaching, research and service, and to keep us at the forefront of discovery.
Priority areas include:
- Ensuring wheelchair accessibility and ADA compliance
- Cosmetic improvements to the Dome
- Purchase of a smaller, state-of-the-art star projector to improve the viewing experience and increase seating capacity
- Replacing and upgrading equipment and improving network access
- Renovating 8th floor elevator to improve access and reliability
- Improving rooftop area surrounding the Dome to create a small event space
- Improving signage and wayfinding systems
- Creating an endowment for ongoing maintenance and technology upgrades
- Creating an endowment to support astronomy graduate students, and outreach and education programs.
Philanthropic investment in the Planetarium now will ensure its ability to inspire children, astronomy students, amateur stargazers, and professional astronomers for generations to come.