Burke Baker Planetarium

I was so excited that the newly updated planetarium was open. The seating is comfortable. The sound and projection systems are good.
Unfortunately the current short films (I saw the one about black holes) do not take advantage of the new hardware. It was like watching a VHS on an HD TV. The graphics were underwhelming and not worth the ticket price.
Wait until new films with better graphics are premiered to visit.

I have never been so disappointed in a planetarium/​museum experience in my life. If I could give it zero stars, I would! My family and I saw the Starry Night Express on March 14^th. It was as though the planetarium just grabbed a guy off the street and said, «Hey, can you come in here and mumble for 20 minutes about space-​type stuff?» He clearly had no script. He started off by saying, «We can barely see like a couple dozen stars cuz we’re just stuck here on earth.» His «speech» was composed primarily of the words «like» and «um,» and the phrases «like I mentioned» and «like I said» comprised about half of this laughable presentation. To point out something on the ceiling/​screen, he used a laser pointer which he spun in circles on top of whatever item he was speaking about, completely obscuring the item for the entire time he was speaking about it. Finally, after 20 minutes of this truly painful experience, a narrated movie started. Relieved, we thought the real planetarium show was finally starting. It ended four minutes later, and the terrible live narrator told us to have a great day. I was embarrassed for the presenter, the planetarium, and the entire museum. I was angry that I had wasted my time and money on such a truly crappy experience. I will dedicate the near future to warning people away from this gigantic failure of a planetarium. It’s really sad that a city like Houston can’t come up with anything better than this. AWFUL, AWFUL, AWFUL!

I went to see the Black Holes showing here on a weekday and practically had the planetarium to myself, which was awesome!
The staff was very accommodating as I arrived just as the show was getting ready to start, they quickly processed my ticket purchase and I think because it was so empty, they were able to seat me just as the lights were going down.
The planetarium is your standard domed screen, but I gotta say the projections were very crisp! It seriously felt as if the room was moving at times! And the visuals really do encompass your entire peripheral!
The show itself was fantastic and informative! I am a space nerd and am fascinated by black holes, so the fact that this showing virtually takes you into one, is just awesome, event horizon and all!
My only gripe would be the running time, it was super short (I think the run time came in just under 30mins), but I am biased because I could watch something on the exploration and theory of black holes for hours!
Parking can be hit or miss (there are street parking spots right in front of the HMNS if you are lucky enough to snag one!
I only came for the Black Holes showing, but the rest of the Museum looks great and I’d love to come and explore it thoroughly on another visit!
I think the next show I will come see here is their Pink Floyd Dark Side of the Moon, it looks like an amazing experience!

Pink Floyd is a TRIP! They are not playing around with those effects.
Black holes and starry night express are also pretty awesome! Definitely not something you want to miss out on!

The laser light show here is fantastic. Bring a date, bring your kids, they’ll all love the experience. I have had some great experiences at the HMNS planetarium in past years. I remember seeing Isaac Asimov’s «The Last Question» in the 1980s and it has stuck with and inspired me ever since. I have been back a few times and recently saw the Mayan Prophecy program. It was informative but so-​so. I understand it may be harder to come up with programs that compete with new media like 3D/​4D movies, but really, it seems like they have just been playing Pink Floyd for the last 20 years. A new soundtrack now and then would not be too much to ask. And programs about cosmology and black holes just spout the establishment ritual views that are getting old and tired and I’m beginning to think maybe they are not even right, because no one is really putting forward alternatives to test them critically

This place is Out of This World! (pun intended) I drove 35 minutes just to see one of the shows at the Planetarium. It is located within the Houston Museum of Natural Science (Which is AMAZING) and has its own admission price/​ticket. There are many different shows throughout the day to see, all of which are scheduled and located on the website or at the ticket booth. I went to see the Cosmic Collisions show and I was very impressed. If you’ve ever seen a planetarium show, you know how cool they are! Sit towards the back so you can take everything in. It’s like a 3D, but circular, movie theater where you lean your chair back and enjoy the show. The shows are about 15 minutes long but well worth it!

Excellent and more than interesting venue located in the Hiuston Museum of Natural Science.
Imagine a semicircle ampitheatre type seating with the very large screen being on the ceiling. The chairs recline with a built in cushion for your neck so there’s no need to worry about neck strain. With this type of layout you get the sensation that you are actually moving as if through space.
There are several film presentations to choose from. «The Black Hole» was fascinating and very Intriguing to experience. I added a new, cool word to my vocabulary: spaghettification. The process of spaghettification occurs when an object (or you by some chance) get to close to a black hole. The intense gravity of the black hole pulls an object from its lowest point with stretching continuing until the object is pulled apart at the molecular level and elongated, resembling a piece of spaghetti. This spaghettification (pulling apart) continues until the atoms are absorbed by the black hole. The film was a good lesson in science and imaginative. Being narrated by John de Lancie (Q of the Star Trek the Next Generation series) makes it even cooler.
The Planetarium also hosts the Pink Floyd Laser Light Show. It’s a vibrant visual with colorful laser light projections to some chillin’ tunes.
I will definitely go back to see other showings here. Please note that it is chilly in here and a light sweater or jacket comes in handy.

My husband and I saw Experience the Aurora yesterday. During the 20-​min video he fell asleep and I sat there admiring the visuals and tried to ignore the musty smell of the place and the view of the dingy chairs I had when I first entered. The video was ok but not enough to capture my attention for the full time. They have a few other interesting vids playing but I don’t think I’ll be back until the Planetarium gets a face lift.

The Planetarium is so fun and so interesting! It’s a fun thing to do at the science museum and is a definite must-​see! There’s many different shows to choose from and all of the shows run about 20 minutes long. It’s a cool thing to do to get out of the summer heat and to sit down and relax under the «stars» in the A/​C.

I hadn’t been here in years when I rolled up with Meredith N. and Ricki L. this past Saturday night. Aurora Picture Show and the CAM were doing a joint venture here, and seeing as admission was free it was a no-​brainer to check it out. As a nerdy kid who had parents who encouraged that sort of thing, I remember going to the planetarium at least once a year thanks to our family’s museum membership. I thought it was the absolute coolest, though that might have just been due to the black light in the hallways.
Experiencing this place as an adult just made me sad. The planetarium is in desperate need of a re-​do. It hasn’t changed since I’ve been a kid – and I don’t need brand new displays every five years, but the stuffing in the chairs has dwindled to nearly nothing. Initially when I sat down I stood right back up because my poor bum was bitten by a painful metal bar hiding inside the seat. Seeing as «sitting» is 95% of your planetarium experience, I would say that’s a pretty egregious thing to overlook. Luckily once I settled into the chair I was able to take advantage of its remaining cushion.
The sound and picture is fine – and this particular showing was a really great collaboration between three nonprofits. It was neat to see the planetarium used as a video art venue, and I hope it’s used in that way again. Just please replace the seats, HMNS! It’s the least you can do to say «we like you» to your patrons’ hinders.

I LOVE science… I mean really love science. I enjoy visiting the Houston Museum of Natural Science whenever I get a chance. I bring out of town guests, go with my husband, and even organize field trips for my high school students.
I enjoy our museum, the IMAX, butterfly center, etc… One of my favorite things to do is to go to a Planetarium. I just really wish the Burke Baker Planetarium was more modern and up to date. I went here yesterday with my husband and a friend. We paid $ 8 a person to view a 20 minute show. The seats are very close together and once people are in the row, it is impossible to get by them. The shows (I’ve seen several) vary in quality. Passport to the Universe was pretty good. I enjoyed that Tom Hanks was the narrator, especially knowing his love of space and space travel. Some of the other ones aren’t as good. I brought my students here and they saw one on the human body, Body Code. It was silly and bored them.
The part I was most disappointed with was the constant white pentagon shape on the ceiling. It looks like the place just needs to be updated. The pentagon shape appeared to be made by the projection system. The place is still cool, but I’d like to see some changes to update it.
Shows take place every 30 minutes.

It was friday night and I wanted to go watch a movie so I pulled up my iPhone app to see what movies were showing and my default search is set up to sort by closest theaters first. Well from where I live the IMAX at the natural science museum is the closest, but none of those shows were currently open but that got me to thinking.
I had heard that they have late night shows at the Planetarium so I decided to check out their website and sure enough they had a Pink Floyd Light Show playing at 10 pm.
There was another light show at about 9 PM that my gf wanted to see but I had my heart set out on the Pink Floyd one. We had arrived early enough to catch the 9 PM show but we couldn’t find parking!!! It was one of the last weeks that they were hosting Mixers and Elixers at the museum and there was a show at the Miller Outdoor Theatre so the area was packed. So sure enough we had barely missed the 9 PM show and had the longest possible wait until the show at 10 PM. So what is there to do while you wait?
DRINK! Since mixers and elixers was going on they had a cash bar in front of the museum. Got to talking to the guy and he was telling me how he loves this job because its easy money and the women are HOT! We were laughing it up and the next thing you know I had like 6 doubles… my gf didn’t want to drink hers so I was downing them too.
Anyways it’s finally 10 PM and time to enter the planetarium, no drinks allowed, so finish up outside!
I got seated towards the back center so you can lean back and gaze the whole room. It’s an awesome experience, especially buzzing.
The whole show is just TRIPPY. It’s 45 minutes. Short for the price but great sound quality and a definite change of pace from your basic movie.
Impress a date, show her you have some culture.

Starry Night Express — this was my first experience at the Burke Baker Planetarium.
I’d been in the Museum of Natural Science many times but had never fit in a visit to the Planetarium. I never really understood their schedule or what might be in store for me if I just picked a show and went in for a viewing. One day I decided to just take a chance on it (everything else in the museum is so great and I figured this couldn’t be any different).
We filed in with the group and took seats in the theatre and the show began with a little background from the narrator. I had no idea how little I knew about the night sky that enveloped us each day as the sun set. On the domed ceiling we got a short but interesting tutorial about what we might see when we gaze up at the stars and how to find the constellations.
The feature was really a great learning experience for my daughter and me. We had a lot to talk about after we left and I instantly felt the urge to buy a telescope to see what we could find in the night sky.
I look forward to catching more shows at the Burke Baker Planetarium. They have so many intriguing topics that change throughout the year. Try it for an interesting date night out.