2025 International Day of Light Celebration

2025 International Day of Light Celebration

Join us Sunday, June 1 at the Flandrau Science Center & Planetarium for free planetarium programs for all ages! First come, first seated!

No Registration Required!

Optics and photonics are the science and engineering of light used by everyone, everywhere, every day.

This free, family-friendly STEM event, presented by Optics Valley, offers a captivating experience for all ages. Mark your calendars and get ready to explore the wonders of light with us!

Attention Teachers and Students: This event is a great learning opportunity! 

Program:

• 1:00pm – 5:00pm:  Fun with Optics!

Explore basic optics principles with local experts and enthusiasts at the free, hands-on activity tables inside Flandrau’s lobby area.

• 2:00 pm:  We Are Stars! [Full-Dome Show]

We follow a group of Victorian time travelers as they learn about the origins of atoms. We witness the formation of the first hydrogen atoms after the Big Bang and then watch how those hydrogen atoms gather into galaxies and stars. We learn how the stars forged all the atoms needed to make life. We see the creation of planet Earth and follow the atoms and molecules through evolution, back to where the time travelers started their journey. Seating is limited to first come, first seated.

Olivia Fehlberg from Ruda Optical is the program host for this full-dome film.

Doors open at 1:45 pm and the show will last from 2:00 pm until 2:50 pm

• 3:30pm: Black Holes: The Other Side of Infinity [Full-Dome Show + Live Speaker]

Experience striking, immersive animations of the formation of the early universe, star birth and death, the collision of giant galaxies, and a simulated flight to a super-massive black hole lurking at the center of our own Milky Way Galaxy. Narrated by Liam Neeson. This full-dome show will followed by a live talk with Dan Marrone, UA Professor of Astronomy and Steward Observatory Astronomer. Seating is limited to first come, first seated.

Lukas Gruber from Leonardo Electronics is the program host for this full-dome film.

Doors open at 3:15 pm and the show will last from 3:30 pm until 4:20 pm.

Location:
Flandrau Science Center & Planetarium, 1601 E University Blvd, Tucson

Parking:
CLICK HERE for Flandrau weekend parking info. Weekend parking is free in the Cherry Garage, south of Flandrau.

Cost:
The 2:00pm planetarium show, 3:30pm planetarium show + speaker, and hands-on activities in the lobby area are free to the public. Planetarium shows are first come, first seated.

Registration:
None!  The planetarium shows are free and first come, first seated.

Sponsors:
Sponsorship opportunities available now! Click HERE to download for more details.

Questions?
Contact us at [email protected].

About the International Day of Light

The International Day of Light is a UNESCO global initiative to celebrate light and the role it plays in science, culture and art, education, and sustainable development and in fields as diverse as medicine, communications, astronomy, and clean energy. May 16 marks the anniversary of the first successful operation of the laser in 1960 by physicist and engineer, Theodore Maiman.