Southworth Planetarium

I’m pretty sure one of the nerdiest things I’ve ever done was ask my husband, «HEY! Do you want to check out the planetarium at USM tonight?!».
Needless to say, we attended the IBEX (Interstellar Boundary Explorer) full dome show last Friday. We got there a few minutes early so we had time to look at some of the things at the small gift shop (hand boilers, space things, astronaut ice cream). Stepping into the planetarium, it made these two science nerds pretty happy. The old chalkboard and paintings at the front of the room made us feel like we were walking into a classroom at Hogwarts. Also, the «previews» they showed before the show were hilarious. Hilarious for those of us who love science and random factoids.
The show was educational and I enjoyed it, but I’m glad it was only 30 minutes. After the IBEX show, came the night sky tour which I enjoyed much more. I’m terrible at remembering how to find and identify constellations, so this was a great refresher. I loved the humor of the person running the show.
The Southworth Planetarium is definitely a fun, cheap thing to do in Portland!

Where in Portland can you see the best night sky sans light pollution while sitting in a super comfy chair with no ‘squitos attacking you? Southworth Planetarium!
I had the opportunity to attend a space-​themed birthday party (how appropriate, no?) here recently and was quite impressed with the whole set-​up of the place. For some reason, I wasn’t expecting to be essentially underground for the viewing. Once inside the domed-​room, though, I forgot entirely that I was even in a building to begin with. Actually, the first half of the show — which was entirely dedicated to learning the stars (the ten brightest, how to locate planets, the zodiac signs, etc.) — made me feel like I was outside. It was so soothing and peaceful and realistic that I started nodding off (in the «I’ve-never-been-more-comfortable» way, not the «I’m-bored-to-tears» way). Yum. What a wonderful way to relax after a stressful work week. I was a tad less impressed with the second half of the show — which was called «Eight Planets and Counting» — because it didn’t seem as captivating to me (probably because it was some screen projector displaying it from the back and not the fancy, schmancy star-​replicating-​gadget located in the middle of the room).
I’m not sure if it’s the same person presenting the show every time, but I so appreciated the dry, intelligent British-​style humor of the gentleman running the event. Though he made my mind feel all jumbled (the same kind of way it gets when I think too much about time travel and it’s consequences) when he would shoot back and forth «in space» with the projector to show us what the sky looked like from dusk to dawn. All those stars zooming by at what seemed like light speed?
Mind. Blurred.
I will absolutely come here again. It seems relatively cheap ($ 5.50ish for adults during matinees; $ 6.50ish for adults during evening shows) and unlike going to a «show» downtown, parking isn’t a problem at all!

In the deep, labyrinthian bowels of the USM Science Building lurks a celestial beast, a giant, dome-​backed cosmic soothsayer. Early peoples called this type of creature the Orrery* but today we know it as… the Southworth Planetarium!
I am so in love with the Planetarium and you should be, too. Besides the friendly, funny, nerdy staff that welcome you as soon as you enter the Planetarium’s darkened lobby, there’s the Cold War era décor, and the kid-​friendly shows. If you like to science, you can’t get much science-​ier than the Planetarium. My favorite part of the experience, by far, is the night sky tour that happens immediately after each show which has helped my own star-​gazing immensely and is peppered with all kinds of quirky, space-​geek jokes.
And if that weren’t enough, they have astronaut ice cream for sale in the lobby. So you can leave with dessert!
*The Southworth isn’t an orrery but uses a projector. So don’t go expecting giant planets overhead.