John Drescher Planetarium

Best planetarium show I’ve been to. Jim, the host, is an amateur astronomer with a ton of passion for the subject. It’s more substantial information than you get at Griffith and other major planetariums’ scripted shows, so if you’re an enthusiast, this is for you. He went through some current events in space exploration for about 20 minutes and then moved into the usual night sky scenes. Although he discussed the constellations, it was not mythology-​heavy, which I really appreciated because most big planetariums spend too much time on the zodiac.
We saw pretty standard demos on star positioning through the seasons and around the globe, as well as moon phases. Finally, very cool graphics of our rotating galaxy and a dizzying black hole gravity simulation. Very interesting stuff.
Lots of kids at the show. On the bright side, it’s wonderful to see children excited about space! On the other hand, many of them were very distracting throughout the show, whispering and fidgeting. Kids should come if they’re interested, of course. Parents, keep them under control around the expensive telescopes… many were running and playing very close to the equipment during the viewing.
Every few weeks they do a viewing through some personal telescopes provided by Jim, another host, Bill, and his son Samuel. We didn’t see much beyond the moon and a star cluster at my show because of the light pollution, but it was still fascinating. Samuel and Jim were happy to geek out with me a bit and answer my questions. If you can’t already tell by this review, I’ve been into astronomy since I was a kid, but my knowledge is basic, so it was great to chat with these very smart guys.
Highly recommended for night sky lovers who want a little more meat to the traditional type show and those who want some one on one with people who love talking astronomy.
The show is in two parts every Friday at 7pm («traditional» show followed by special viewing or lecture), $ 11 for the pair or $ 6 for one.