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Movies and Sky Talks

Thank you for your interest in visiting The Robert J. Novins Planetarium! Below is a list of the movies and sky talks that we offer on our public schedule and for private groups. To view trailers of our movie selections, please visit the Robert J. Novins Planetarium YouTube Channel.

Please see this document for information on booking a Private Group visit. School and Group show times are booked Tuesday-Friday at 10:00 a.m., 11:30 a.m., or 1:00 p.m. Other times may be available upon request.

Pricing can vary based on group size, show selection, and time. If you are unsure which show you’re interested in or want to request a custom show or time, please contact us.

*Curriculum Standards Addressed are listed as the stated age-range appropriate Disciplinary Core Ideas within the New Jersey/Next Generation Science Standards that align with the show’s content. Teachers may have to complete additional activities and assessments to fully meet individual performance expectations. (http://www.state.nj.us)

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Full Dome Movies

Pre-K and Elementary Movies

Join Sesame Street’s Big Bird and Elmo as they explore the night sky with Hu Hu Zhu, a Muppet visiting from China. They will take children on a journey of discovery and imagination about the Moon, the Earth, bright stars and constellations.

Recommended for Pre-K to Grade 1.

*Curriculum Standards Addressed: ESS1.A, ESS1.B, PS2.A, PS3.B

Little Star is an average yellow star in search of planets to protect and warm.  Along the way, he meets other stars, learns what makes each star special, and discovers that stars combine to form star clusters and galaxies. Will Little Star ever find planets? Join us for this adorable fulldome production and find out!

Recommended for Grade 1-4.

*Curriculum Standards Addressed: ESS1.A, ESS1.B, ESS2.C, PS1.A, PS1.B, PS3.B, PS3.D, PS4.B

Join two adventurous children as they use their imaginations, a refrigerator box, and a helpful animated astronomy book to take a tour of the solar system. Travel with them to the planets and learn how each one is unique.

Recommended for Grade level 1 through 4.

*Curriculum Standards Addressed: ESS1.A, ESS1.B, ESS1.C, PS2.A, PS2.B, PS4.B

Join Jake and Shorty, two adventurous and humorous fish, on a quest to protect their reef from destruction.  In order to restore the reef’s magic they must learn to “touch the moon”! Journey through a diverse underwater world full of adventure, danger, and riddles.

Recommended for Grade level 1 through 4.

*Curriculum Standards Addressed: ESS1.A, ESS1.B, ESS2.C, ESS3.C, PS2.B, LS2.D, LS4.C, LS4.D

See dinosaurs and asteroids like never before!  Did a space rock six miles wide slam into the Earth 66 million years ago and wipe out 75 percent of all species alive, including the dinosaurs? Explore impacts and cosmic collisions across the Solar System in this dynamic show.

Recommended for grade level 3 and up.

*Curriculum Standards Addressed: PS2.A, PS1.B, PS2.B, PS3.A, PS3.B, PS3.C, ESS.1.B ESS.1C, ESS.2.A, ESS3.B, LS1.C, LS2.A, LS2.C, LS4.A, ETS.1

Meet Apollo Aurora, host of the Planetarium Channel’s universally loved gravity news source. With robot correspondents Apple 1-6-8-6 and EGR-1, Apollo and her team explore rocket power, gravity on other planets, monstrous black holes, and even what keeps us grounded here on Earth! Tune in to this full dome show and uncover the mysteries of gravity!

Recommended for grade level 3 and up.

*Curriculum Standards Addressed:  ESS1.A, ESS1.B, PS1.A, PS2.A, PS2.B, PS3.B, PS3.C

Middle and High School Movies

Join alien “experts”- Hopeful and Skeptical – as they weigh the evidence on whether or not life exists beyond the Earth. Follow their astrobiology arguments from the ocean floor to a journey across the galaxy, then decide for yourself!

Recommended for grade level 5 and up.

*Curriculum Standards Addressed: ESS1.A, ESS1.B, ESS2.A, PS2.B, LS2.A, LS2.C, LS4.A 

Created and hosted by cosmically curious teenagers from Milwaukee schools, this show is a dynamic journey across the universe and through time. Explore black holes, cosmology, the sun, Earth’s history, and water origins and chemistry.   Many NASA resources were used in this production including the Hubble Deep Field galaxy images.

Recommended for grade level 5 and up.

*Curriculum Standards Addressed: ESS1.A, ESS1.B, ESSS2.B, ESS2.C, ESS3.A, ESS3.C, ESS3.D, PS1.A, PS1.B, PS2.B, PS4.A, PS4.B, PS4.C, LS1.A, LS1.C, LS2.C, LS4.A

Cosmic Colors will take you on a wondrous journey across the entire electromagnetic spectrum. Discover why the sky is blue and why Mars is red. Take a tour within a plant leaf and journey inside the human eye. Investigate x-rays by voyaging to a monstrous black hole and then back at your doctor’s office. You will even see the actual color of a dinosaur-based on recent evidence. Get ready for an amazing adventure under a rainbow of cosmic light!

Recommended for Grade level 5 and up.

*Curriculum Standards Addressed: ESS1.A, ESS1.B, PS1.A, PS3.D, PS4.A, PS4.B, PS4.C, LS1.A, LS1.D, LS4.A

Travel back to the beginning of time and experience the birth of the sun. Discover how it came to support life, how it threatens life as we know it, and how its energy will one day fade away. This show was funded by NASA and has accompanying materials.

Recommended for grade level 5 and up.

*Curriculum Standards Addressed: ESS1.A, ESS2.A, ESS2.C, LS1.C, LS2.B, PS1.A, PS3.A, PS3.B, PS3.C, PS4.A, PS4.B, PS4.C

Follow the journey of a single photon as it is produced in a distant star, before travelling across the vast expanse of space to land on someone’s retina. This fulldome planetarium show explores some of the fascinating processes of the cosmos, from astrophysics to the biology of the eye and brain. The show is narrated by astronomer and science communicator, Neil deGrasse Tyson.

Recommended for grade level 6 and up.

*Curriculum Standards Addressed: ESS1.A, ESS1.B, LS1.A, LS1.D, PS1.A, PS3.A, PS3.B, PS4.A, PS4.B

The famous astronomer Carl Sagan once said: “If you wish to bake an apple pie from scratch, you must first invent the universe.” Sagan was onto something BIG!  Pull up a chair at the Planetarium’s Periodic Table and discover how the Big Bang cooked up everyday elements such as the calcium in your teeth, the silicon in our smartphones, and even the carbon in our apple pies! Features Tom Lehrer’s “The Element Song”.

Recommended for Grade level 6 and up.

*Curriculum Standards Addressed:  ESS1.A, ESS1.B, ESS2.A, PS1.A, PS1.B, PS3.A, PS3.B, PS3.D, LS1.C

Were the Apollo visits to the Moon a hoax? Have aliens landed on Earth? Can you tell your future by the stars? Prepare to debunk and tackle pseudo-science! Join us as we take a critical look at popular myths and misconceptions to show you how science can be used to evaluate questionable claims. This fascinating show is based on the popular book and website by Phil Plait, The Bad Astronomer.

Recommended for Grade level 6 and up.

*Curriculum Standards Addressed: ESS1.A, ESS1.B, PS1.A

Journey back in time with your guide Nashira to learn how we’ve interacted with the night sky through history. Witness the very first stargazers making a Moon calendar out of animal bone 30,000 years ago. Discover the ancient pyramids of Giza and their alignment with the skies. See stunning digital re-creations of the Pantheon, Alexandria Library, Stonehenge, and the Abu Simbel Temple. Be inspired by the first stargazers who laid down the foundations of modern- day astronomy.

Recommended for grade level 6 and up.

*Curriculum Standards Addressed: ESS1.A, ESS1.B, PS2.B

Eclipses, the regular cycle of the seasons, and the motion of the stars have fascinated us since our earliest ancestors looked up to the sky. In the learned company of a cartoon Einstein, tour the major astronomical milestones of the last 3,000 years- from the cosmological models of antiquity to the contributions of Copernicus, Newton, Hubble, and many others. Come along for an exploration of nebulae, pulsars, and black holes, and 3,000 years of astronomy exploration!

Recommended for Grade level 6 and up.

*Curriculum Standards Addressed: ESS1.A, ESS1.B, PS1.A, PS1.B, PS2.A, PS2.B, PS4.B

Explore the truths and mysteries of Egypt’s legendary queen, Cleopatra. Experience the life and times of Cleopatra in dramatic fashion as your audiences travel back in time to see stunning recreations of Alexandra’s Library, Cleopatra’s Palace, and the Pharaoh’s Lighthouse.  Discover the powerful Greek and Roman influences on the world of Cleopatra. You will also see Eratosthenes figure out the size of the Earth.

Recommended for Grade level 6 and up.

Relive both the Russian and American ventures into the cosmos from the launch of Sputnik to the American Gemini, Apollo, and Shuttle programs, missions to Mars and the outer planets. Learn about the International Space Station, private space exploration ventures and the possible future of human exploration.

Recommended for Grade level 9 and up.

*Curriculum Standards Addressed: ESS1.A, ESS1.B, PS2.A, PS2.B

World 2 War is an action packed fulldome documentary that combines cinematic battle scenes with informative overviews of the battlefield and historic reference from photos and videos. World 2 War will put you right in the middle of World War 2’s biggest battles! World 2 War is the only true fulldome full length documentary about the Second World War.

Recommended for Grade level 9 and up.

Art meets science in an immersive experience that sweeps visitors on a journey through space and time. Accompanied by a mesmerizing soundtrack composed by Philip Glass, this non-narrated film echoes the scale of the Universe in a spectacular transformation from the infinitely large to the infinitely small!

Recommended for grade level 3 and up.

*This show has an accompanying sky talk that explores the imagery and scale
presented in the movie.

*Curriculum Standards Addressed: ESS1.A, ESS1.B, ESS2.A, PS1.A, PS4.A, PS4.B, LS1.A

Enjoy a thrilling and immersive expedition to Mars. You’ll dive into the depths of seemingly bottomless canyons and brave the violent winds sweeping across the Red Planet’s icy dunes. Learn about the red planet while traveling across a 360-degree landscape photographed by rovers and probes, and animated using
remote sensing data. Set to original music by Dumas, One Day… on Mars brings you to a world that humans may well visit in just a few decades.

Recommended for grade level 5 and up.

*Curriculum Standards Addressed: ESS1.A, ESS1.B, ESS2.C, PS1.A, LS2.B


Live 60 Minute Sky Talk

Join one of our presenters for a live journey through the current night sky!  We are happy to work with you to customize live star talks to your curriculum needs, please specify when booking.

This customizable immersive experience illustrates the role of the sun, atmosphere, and weather on the earth, including a passing rainstorm.  After sunset, visit the planets and constellations visible in the current seasonal sky, including a trip to a distant star!

Content adjusted to age range, please specify grade level when booking.

*Curriculum Standards Addressed: ESS1.A, ESS1.B, ESS2.C, ESS2.D, PS2.A, PA2.B, PS4.B

Take a trip from the Equator to the North Pole and back to the Jersey Shore to explore the reasons for the seasons. From sunrise to sunset, students will learn about the Sun and its effects on the Earth. Once darkness falls, we will explore some of the season’s constellations, bright stars, and planets.

Please specify grade level when booking.

*Curriculum Standards Addressed: ESS1.A, ESS1.B, ESS2.A, ESS2.C, ESS2.D

To celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 mission and the moon landing, we are once again offering a full sky talk about our nearest neighbor. Learn about the phases and orbit of the moon, its effects on the earth, and both the history and future of moon exploration. Please specify grade level when booking.

*Curriculum Standards Addressed: ESS1.A, ESS1.B, ESS2.C.

Contact Us!

Box Office: Wednesday – Saturday from 12 p.m. – 5 p.m.*

Email: planetarium@ocean.edu

Call: 732.255.0343

*The Planetarium is a theater experience and access to the dome is only available during scheduled show times. Box Office hours do not indicate show times. Please visit tickets.ocean.edu for an up-to-date show schedule and to buy tickets.

Visit Us!

GPS Location:
1 College Drive
Toms River, NJ 08754

Use Parking Lot 2 near the Grunin Center and walk up the ramp. The Planetarium will be on your left.

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