Object 9 | Inflatable Planetarium

As one of the first institutions founded in Pasadena more than a century ago, the Carnegie Science Observatories is woven tightly into the city’s community fabric. From the beloved spring Astronomy Lecture Series to the annual Open House that draws nearly a thousand visitors to the historic Observatories building each fall, public outreach is part and parcel with our standing as community members. 

These programs bring the same wonder of the cosmos on which our astronomers have built their careers to local learners of all ages, abilities, and interest levels. One of the most beloved of our educational initiatives, however, has the smallest footprint of all, fitting into the trunk of a car. For that reason, the Inflatable Planetarium is the ninth featured item in our #Carnegie125 historic objects campaign. We sat down with Carnegie Science Outreach Coordinator Jeff Rich to learn more about the inflatable planetarium’s origins and how it’s come to be our most requested outreach initiative. 

Q: Thanks for chatting with us, Jeff. Can you tell us about the origins of the Observatories’ Inflatable Planetarium?

Rich: In order to understand the true origins, we have to go back to a time before I came to Carnegie. I got my doctorate and master’s degree at the Institute for Astronomy at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa and while I was there, I volunteered for the graduate outreach program. They had a more rudimentary version of the kind of inflatable planetariums that are available today, but when we took it around to schools, the kids were so excited to go inside of it and learn about space. During one of our outreach trips, we visited the same school two days in a row and on the second day, a student approached me and said that he’d looked for one of the constellations we talked about the day before in the sky that night. He was really excited that he was able to see the real thing after seeing the projection of it the day before. It was the first time that I realized how quickly we could make an impact with this tool and, because the planetarium was portable, we could take it to a lot of different places and reach a lot of kids who otherwise wouldn’t have had access. 

Q: So how did you make the leap from that experience to Carnegie having its own planetarium?

Rich: The Observatories takes its position in the Pasadena community very seriously and we’re always looking for new ways to get kids interested in astronomy. When the Pasadena Community Foundation announced that they had grants available for public education programs, we thought an inflatable planetarium was an excellent way to take the work we do at the Observatories out into neighborhoods and meet our neighbors where they are. Luckily, the PCF agreed and gave us a grant to cover the majority of the cost of the equipment. The Observatories’ leadership agreed to cover the remaining expense and we’ve been using it regularly for almost 10 years now. It’s impossible to say how many students we’ve reached, but it’s safe to say we have more than 1,000 students come through every year. 

Q: What’s a typical planetarium experience like?

Rich: Planetarium “shows” usually take 30 to 40 minutes and we can fit an entire elementary school class into the dome when it’s fully inflated. It stands about 12 feet tall, but it’s so flexible, you’d be surprised at some of the spaces we’ve been able to accommodate. I start the show by introducing myself and talking about Carnegie, especially our history in town. The age range varies pretty widely. Sometimes we have kindergarteners, other times we have high school students, but I tailor what we talk about to their grade level so they can understand what I’m talking about while still learning something new. We begin by looking at what the sky should look like that night. The software we use allows us to project the sky from any location in the world across hundreds of thousands of years in the past or future. The sky looks different depending on where you are in the world at any given time, so I like to show them photos of the Las Campanas Observatory in Chile and demonstrate how clear the skies are there versus in Pasadena where we have a lot of light pollution. That’s a good excuse to talk about why dark skies are important environmentally and scientifically. They always get excited when I show them our telescopes because, for most, it’s the first time they’ll see an instrument that’s not the backyard tube model. The software also allows us to “fly” around the solar system, so I usually pause there to talk about our Earth and Planets Laboratory colleagues and the work they’re doing. And all along the way, I try to remind them that we’re their neighbors and that some day they could have careers as astronomers too. My dream is that some student walks into the planetarium with an amateur interest in astronomy, but walks out wanting to become a professional scientist. After the show and the kids leave, all we have to do is turn off the fan, fold up the dome, stick it in the car, and we can return to the Observatories. 

Q: Do you only take it to schools?

Rich: Schools in Pasadena are our primary audience, but we’ve gotten lots of mileage with scouting troops and science festivals, too. We’ve also partnered with Jessie Christiansen at Caltech/IPAC to take it to children's hospitals to reach those kids who may be a little more limited in what they can access. It’s really cool that we’re able to bring the sky inside to them.

Q: What’s the biggest challenge with the planetarium?

Rich: The biggest challenge is it’s so popular we can’t meet all of the demand. But we’re working on it. I’m always thinking about how we can reach more people and one of our goals is, in a few years, we will be on track to reach every student in the Pasadena Unified School District at least once by the time they graduate. Maybe that’s a planetarium show experience. Maybe that’s a lecture at the school. Who knows? But there’s clearly an appetite among K-12 students and educators for astronomy education and with such a deep well of talent at the Observatories, we are the best organization to meet it. We just need the time and resources to do so. The inflatable planetarium provides some proof-of-concept for that, as did our multi-day outreach program with the Perot Museum in Dallas during the Great North American Eclipse in 2024. In an ideal world, Pasadena students would be able to experience the planetarium a few times throughout their schooling so we could build on what they’re learning regarding how celestial objects shape our life on Earth.

Q: If someone wanted to host a planetarium showing, how can they do that? How can someone support the public outreach programs?

Rich: Any school administrators or student group leaders can request a show, which we offer for free, by emailing me directly. I’m really grateful to the Pasadena Community Foundation and Carnegie Science for making this program possible for the past nine years. We’d love to keep expanding our impact and reach in both Pasadena and Washington and would welcome donations from foundations and individuals who want to help us. If someone wanted to support that work, they should connect with Chief Development Officer Jeanine Forsythe.