Explore the cosmos – without leaving the city – at the AGO’s new Pop-Up Planetarium. Discover the amazing and unexpected landscapes found within our solar system and throughout the universe by visiting the planetarium in the Gallery School. This unique interactive experience was created especially for the AGO by astronomer Dr. Ilana MacDonald.

“Visitors will sit inside an inflatable dome,” explains MacDonald, “while a powerful projector displays astronomical images onto the dome’s walls. Our software allows us to not only show the night sky, but to explore our solar system, galaxy, and the rest of the universe. We will be exploring various astronomical mystical landscapes, from the surface of Mars to the supersonic gas of the Calabash Nebula.”

Tours of the visiting planetarium are led by members of the Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics at the University of Toronto. Following this interactive visual experience, visitors of all ages are invited to transform the Weston Family Learning Centre and create stars, planets and galaxies of all shapes and sizes. “There is so much about the universe that we still have to learn,” says MacDonald, “and it definitely inspires a sense of awe to think of how small our own place is in the cosmos.”

The Pop-Up Planetarium will run daily from December 26, 2016 to January 8, 2017, from 11 am to 3 pm with presentations every thirty minutes. Timed-entry tickets are on sale now and are $5 for adults, $3 for youth ages 6-17 and free for children under five.