Astronomy

Planetariums in Louisiana: Where to Go and What It Costs

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TLDR

Louisiana has five planetariums you can reasonably plan a trip around: Baton Rouge, Lafayette, Shreveport, Luling and Ruston.

  • Best all-around: the Irene W. Pennington Planetarium in Baton Rouge. Biggest dome, most variety, and shows are included with museum admission.
  • Best for kids under 8: the Lafayette Science Museum, where shows are short and the museum is small enough to finish in a morning.
  • Best for north Louisiana: the Sawyer Space Dome at Sci-Port in Shreveport, with 30-minute shows and a live Q&A at the end.
  • Cheapest: the library-run dome in Luling. Past listings show free admission.
  • Hardest to plan: Louisiana Tech in Ruston. Call ahead.

Almost every museum dome is closed Monday and Tuesday, so build your trip around Wednesday through Sunday.

Baton Rouge: Irene W. Pennington Planetarium

Geodesic dome at the Dragão do Mar Center in Fortaleza, Brazil.

Where: Inside the Louisiana Art & Science Museum, 100 S. River Road, Baton Rouge, LA 70801.

The Pennington is the one to beat. It has a 60-foot dome, a 4K fulldome video system and a 15,000-watt surround sound setup, and it seats about 170. The programming is also the widest in the state. Along with the standard tours of the night sky, the solar system and the Milky Way, it runs laser shows, holiday screenings and music-driven programs that have nothing to do with astronomy. Current titles on the museum’s planetarium page include “Apollo 11: First Steps Edition” and “Cosmic Mashups.”

Tickets: Planetarium shows are not sold separately in the usual way. Museum admission covers unlimited shows: $16 for adults, $13 for children 3 to 12 and for seniors 65 and over, and free for members. Admission is free on the first Sunday of each month, which also means the longest lines. Active-duty military and veterans’ families get free general admission through the Blue Star Museums program.

Showtimes: Shows start on the hour during museum hours. Those are Wednesday through Friday 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., Saturday 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Sunday 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. The last entry on weekends is 4 p.m., which is also the last show. Closed Monday, and open to the public only for school groups on Tuesday.

Ages: The museum suggests ages three and up. Call 225-344-5272 for age guidance on a specific show, since laser and music programs are louder and darker than the sky tours.

Status: Open.

Lafayette: Lafayette Science Museum

Where: 433 Jefferson St., Lafayette, LA 70501, in the downtown core.

The Lafayette Science Museum has a smaller dome than Baton Rouge, and it uses it more often. The museum’s homepage lists five planetarium programs a day, at 11 a.m. and then at 1, 2, 3 and 4 p.m. Sky tours like “The Sky Tonight” explain what’s overhead that week, and the schedule rotates family-friendly features.

Tickets: Admission is $15 for adults (16 to 59), $12 for seniors (60 and over), $10 for kids 2 to 15, and free for under-2s and members. The museum says planetarium shows are included with regular admission. Older listings show separate show pricing, so check the museum’s calendar for the program you want before you pay.

Showtimes: The museum is open Wednesday through Friday 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., Saturday 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Sunday 1 p.m. to 6 p.m. Closed Monday and Tuesday. Late entry to a show isn’t possible once it starts.

Ages: Young children do fine here. Kids under 2 get in free, and the museum is small enough to finish in a morning.

Status: Open.

Shreveport: Sawyer Space Dome at Sci-Port

The Saturn V rocket at Davidson Center for Space Exploration, Huntsville, AL.

Where: The Dayna and Ronald L. Sawyer Space Dome Planetarium, inside Sci-Port Discovery Center, 820 Clyde Fant Parkway, Shreveport, LA 71101.

Sci-Port built its dome as part of a 25,000-square-foot Space Center addition that opened in 2006. It runs on a 12-meter curved screen with a laser projection system and Digistar 3 software. That software matters because it lets the presenter fly through a 3D map of the universe in real time, instead of playing a canned video. Some shows hand control to the audience through kiosks.

Showtimes: Wednesday through Saturday at 11 a.m., 1 p.m. and 3 p.m. Sunday at 12:30, 2:30 and 4:30 p.m. Shows run about 30 minutes and end with audience questions. Weekend times can shift for birthday parties, so confirm on the Sci-Port planetarium page. Closed Mondays.

Tickets: Sci-Port doesn’t list a separate dome price on its planetarium page, and whether the dome is bundled with a given ticket type varies, so check at purchase. Phone: 318-424-3466.

Ages: The shows are built for families. The Q&A rewards kids who are old enough to ask real questions, roughly 6 and up.

Status: Open.

Luling: St. Charles Parish Library Planetarium

Where: West Regional Library, 105 Lakewood Drive, Luling, LA 70070. Phone: 985-785-8471.

This is the oddest dome in the state: a planetarium run by a public library. It opened alongside the West Regional Library in 1977, and by the library’s own account it seats about 42, which makes it the most intimate show in Louisiana. Programs have included “Black Holes” and “Planets of the Solar System,” typically on weekday evenings and Saturdays. In 2017 a solar eclipse event here drew hundreds of people.

Tickets: Free, per past library listings. Treat the schedule as variable. Check the library’s calendar or call, because showtimes have changed from year to year.

Ages: Fine for school-age kids. With 42 seats and an in-house presenter, it’s easier to ask questions here than anywhere else.

Status: Open, with an irregular schedule.

Ruston: Louisiana Tech University Planetarium

A breathtaking view of a clear starry sky with a meteor streak above a silhouetted mountain landscape at night.

Where: 305 Wisteria St., Ruston, LA 71272. Phone: 318-257-2866.

Louisiana Tech’s planetarium dates to 1967 and has been remodeled in phases since. It’s a campus teaching facility first and a public attraction second, and that’s the catch. Unlike the museum domes, it doesn’t publish a regular public schedule that we could find. Call before you drive, and ask whether a group or open show is running.

Tickets: Not published. Ask when you call.

Status: Open, call to confirm.

Louisiana planetariums side by side

Planetarium City Admission Typical showtimes Best for
Irene W. Pennington Baton Rouge $16 adult, $13 child/senior, includes shows Hourly, Wed-Sun Families, variety, laser shows
Lafayette Science Museum Lafayette $15 adult, $10 child, includes shows 11, 1, 2, 3, 4 Young kids, short visits
Sawyer Space Dome (Sci-Port) Shreveport Check at purchase 11, 1, 3 (Wed-Sat); 12:30, 2:30, 4:30 (Sun) Live Q&A, north Louisiana
St. Charles Parish Library Luling Free per past listings Varies Small groups, budget visits
Louisiana Tech Ruston Not published Call ahead Students, campus visits

Which planetarium in Louisiana should you pick?

One dome, one day, no constraints: Baton Rouge. The 60-foot dome, the wider show list and the art museum in the same building make it the safest choice.

Toddlers and preschoolers: Lafayette. Short shows and a small museum mean you won’t be hauling a tired four-year-old through a building too big for them.

Kids who ask a lot of questions: Shreveport. A presenter flying the dome live and taking questions at the end beats a recorded film.

Tight budget or a scout troop: Luling. Free and small, but call first.

Teachers booking a field trip: Baton Rouge takes school groups on Tuesdays, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., by reservation. For the other domes, call the education desk and ask about group rates before you pick a date. Venues also run special programs during Planetarium Month, so ask about those too.

Observatories and museums to pair with a visit

Domes show you the sky on a ceiling. Observatories show it to you for real, and a few sit close enough to a planetarium to share a day.

  • Baton Rouge: The Highland Road Park Observatory, run by the city’s parks department (BREC), is a short drive from downtown and holds public viewing nights. Check the schedule first, because it’s weather-dependent and doesn’t run daily.
  • Livingston: The LIGO Livingston Science Education Center, about 30 minutes east of Baton Rouge, is part of the LIGO project that first detected gravitational waves. Pair it with the Pennington for a day that covers both the visible sky and the invisible one.
  • Shreveport: Sci-Port itself is a full science center, so the dome is one stop in a larger day. Look up the Shreveport observatory’s public nights if you want a real telescope after dark.
  • Baton Rouge museum bonus: The Louisiana Art & Science Museum has permanent and changing exhibits in the same building, so one ticket gets you well beyond the dome.

Dark skies matter more than the equipment. The farther you get from the lights of Baton Rouge, Lafayette or Shreveport, the better a night session goes.

One that’s gone: the Audubon dome

Silhouette of a telescope on a tripod set against a vibrant sunset sky with clouds.

Some older lists still name the Audubon Louisiana Nature Center in New Orleans. Its planetarium closed after Hurricane Katrina. If you find it on a directory page, the page is out of date. Those directories are also the reason this list asks you to confirm hours by phone before you drive: a bare list of names and cities can’t tell you whether the lights are on.

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