Located just minutes from the Belmont Lake Preserve new home community, at 270 Gay Street in Rocky Mount, Cummins Planetarium offers an array of fun-filled, educational special events that children of all ages and adults likewise have been enjoying since they first opened their doors in the Spring of 2006.
Upon its opening, Cummins Planetarium, which is housed inside the Imperial Centre for the Arts and Sciences building, became the very first planetarium in North Carolina to feature a full-dome video projection system. In addition to this, the incredible 30-foot dome at Cummins Planetarium sets tilted slightly forward to allow for a maximum viewing audience of up to 50 people per show.
Giving visitors both young and old a consistent and divers variety of shows, Cummins Planetarium runs four different shows monthly, with each being having a showing once daily every Tuesday-Saturday. One of the upcoming featured shows at Cummins Planetarium is called “Solar Superstorms,” which takes a dramatic look at the sun and the solar system. “The Amazing Telescope,” is also running at Cummins Planetarium and will take detail how observatories use telescopes to bring you on an exploration of some of the universe’s great mysteries including the ring’s of Saturn, the spiral structures of the galaxies, and the Galilean moons.
The two other shows at Cummins Planetarium are more specifically aimed at different age groups, with one that is sure to have the youngsters smiling from ear to ear and a second that will get the parents in the family tapping their toes and maybe even reminiscing of some great music from the past.
A can’t miss showing for the young ones this month at Cummins Planetarium is , “One World, One Sky,” is advertised as “a magical musical journey into space for families with kids ages 3-6 years old. Featuring all your children’s favorite characters from the show “Sesame Street,” this is “Big Bird’s Adventure,” and he and many of his pals take you and the kids on a fun-filled journey to the moon and back. For the older generation, “Laser Classic Rock” will bring them back to the days of stadium-sized rock and roll from the late 1960’s and 70’s as this show is set to the tunes of some of the greatest classic rockers of all time, including, Led Zeppelin, Jimi Hendrix, the Beatles, Queen, Pink Floyd, and many more.
For more information on the other upcoming shows and special events at Cummins Planetarium for this month and the remainder of 2016, visit their website at museum.imperialcentre.org.
