Fernbank Science Center

As a child in the Dekalb County School District this was my favorite place for a field trip. It is the only time I ever enjoyed science in school. Too bad I didn’t make the connection that the Fernbank Science Center had anything to do with the boring textbooks we studied in science class. I remember that excited feeling of sitting back in those planetarium chairs and looking up to the ceiling waiting for the show to start. I took my daughter to visit and it was as spectacular as I remembered.

This is a very cool place ! I have taken my kids on several occasions. The staff is always extra friendly ! Always check online for discounts (groupon/​living social) ! We LOVE the planetarium. They have a black history laser show they just presented. I think everybody should check it out. You won’t be disappointed.

Take your kids to the science museum where they can learn about plasma balls and touch screens with JavaScript errors on them.

Had to go here for a paper for an Astronomy class. It was pretty hot inside, and surprisingly a lot of people showed up. We watched the show, «Cosmic Colors» and it was okay. My 15 year old sister fell asleep during the show. The explanation of the night sky before the show was pretty cool.

A hidden gem of Atlanta.
Other places maybe more popular and have more foot traffic. But is the place to go! As a kid and beyond.
It has a legit IMAX screen and incredible features with great narrators, including more recently. Benedict Cumberbatch for «Jerusalem».
The museum holds special exhibits from lizards to mammals to Shackleton the arctic explorer.
It’s a can’t miss place and not just tourists. Locals should visit too! Support local and the community.

You gotta love free science museums! Okay, so donations are encouraged, and I DO encourage you to donate, but truly, this is a wonderful (and affordable) fun option for an outing with the kids, friends, or even a fun date.
The science center hosts the planetarium which offers a few really cool half-​hour long shows– I’ve seen «Black Holes» and «Chasing the Ghost Particle» and both were interesting and informative (if not a bit over my head.) If you’ve never experienced a planetarium before, I highly recommend it– just to have the experience.
Some nights (I’m not sure exactly which ones), they open the observatory up to the public and allow patrons to look through the huge telescope at various happenings far above us. A very humbling experience. If you’re there on an evening where they offer this, take the opportunity!
The science center also boasts a number of small exhibits on various things including local wildlife, bees, meteorites, supernovas, the oli spill, social balance, etc.
Not a huge place, but lots to see and do! Check them out!

Memory lane. I haven’t been to Fernbank since I was a kid in elementary school in Dekalb County. We used to come to the planetarium. This is as real as Fernbank is. Everyone thinks about the other Fernbank, not this one. What’s awesome is that admission is FREE for the museum. It’s small but it’s educational and surrounded by wonderful people. The planetarium does have a fee but it’s only $ 7 for adults and $ 5 for students & children. You can view the showtimes and hours.
Honestly, when I went, I don’t remember the other part of the museum because as a kid, we only went to the planetarium. Not only are there displays of dinosaurs and animals found in Georgia, there are live reptiles and bees too. There is also a library but was closed by the time I got there.
I never knew about the observatory, which is also FREE. It’s open on Thursday and Friday nights from 9 — 10:30 pm, depending on weather. OMG, we went there to look but there were some clouds in the sky. I was happy to at least go there to check it out even though the skies weren’t as clear.
Planning to come back again soon!
PS — you can view my personal blog for a longer review and more pics!

I liked this place, but I wish I had known about the observatory before I came here. Maybe I’ll make another visit out here just for that. I took my parents here because they were visiting from out town, and this is one of places that interested them.
We got tickets to the planetarium ($ 5 each, because of student and senior discounts) and browsed the museum before the show. There weren’t a ton of people or children, which I’d say is a huge plus. The place wasn’t very big, but there are some really neat things. Some live snakes and other reptiles and amphibians, some information on various scientific things… nanotechnology, space, nature.
The planetarium show we went to was 100% for kids. It would have been nice if there was some kind off distinction for all ages shows versus kids shows, but I guess information about the moon is a thing kids are more interested in? Our show was at 1pm, and my favorite part of the program was the last 10 minutes, when they went over the current night sky. It was really interesting, and rather beautiful seeing the constellations up there, and getting a brief run down on them.
Definitely a great relaxing place to take out of town adults that isn’t super crowded like the zoo or aquarium, and it’s probably more enjoyable if you go to the observatory.

This review is for the observatory only.
The Fernbank Science Center has an observatory that is open for **free** to the public on Thursday and Friday evenings from 9:00 — 10:30, weather and conditions permitting. So before you head this way, either look out the window, or check the clear sky chart online to see if it looks like things are prime for viewing. I’ve found that days after a heavy rain that passed through are the best, so I get excite if a big storm rolled through on a Thursday morning.
To be honest, I don’t have much to weigh this place against in terms of comparison, however, I do know that when the «stars align» (*wink wink*) and I’m able to make a visit, I leave feeling fantastic about how I just spent an hour of my time. Depending on which day you come, there can be a really long line, in which case you might not see more than 5 celestial bodies (to use observatory lingo). However, in order to avoid this, I always try to make it on a Thursday night if possible, because it is usually pretty empty so you get more telescope time, and have more interaction with the center’s fantastic volunteers who run the place. Though everyone here is fantastic, I believe it’s Scott who is truly outstanding and knows everything there is to know about everything in the sky. On slower nights you can usually request to look at certain things if you’re interested. Pro tip: Please don’t ask to look at the moon. Come here and look at nebulas, star clusters, Andromeda (our sister galaxy), the moons of Jupiter and their shadows moving across Jupiter’s surface as they orbit, or literally *anything* else, just don’t ask to look at the moon…
My one gripe would be the really really ridiculously bright light in the lot below that the science center always leaves on. I wish someone would give them permission to shut that off during observatory hours because it really is distracting.

I come for the observatory, which is open to the public on Thursday and Friday nights from 9 – 10:30 PM; weather permitting.
So far, I have viewed Jupiter and the Galilean moons, Saturn and binary stars and nebulas. I typically visit if it is a clear night. It is awesome to see Jupiter’s equatorial bands and clouds.
The astronomer operating the telescope is very knowledgeable; I could listen for hours.
Stellarium, an the open-​source program, is used to display where the telescope is pointing for informational purposes; it is a free download.

They have an observatory here that is open to the public on Fridays and is free. It’s open from 9 – 10:30 and was really informative and interesting. Perfect cheap, unique date spot.
They also have a planetarium, which is $ 7 and some random exhibits, like animals of Georgia and the Apollo 6 Space Capsule.

Found the science center by mistake and glad we did. The kids loved the place and I loved the fact that it was free and you can leave a donation if you’d like. We spent around an hour here just walking around. The kids especially liked the different species of frogs and snakes. Its definitely worth the stop if you’re in the area.

This is a great place! Free exhibit hall, free observatory on Thursday and Friday nights, and planetarium shows cost less than a matinée movie. Thank you, DeKalb County Schools, for keeping this institution open to all!

Fernbank Science Center is an old school converted into a really cool museum and planetarium. It is 100% free for the museum and I think $ 7 for the planetarium show.
Really cool place to go if you are looking for something in ATL that is fun and interesting to do with kids. There is an outside area with nature trails also. Very cool.

I love this place. It’s an old school/​county owned museum complete with a planetarium, telescope and Apollo 6.
THAT’S RIGHT. APOLLO 6!
And it’s FREE!
Plus the library and nature walk outside are nice too.

The original Fernbank. A true Atlanta treasure. Most people know about the planetarium, but have you been to the observatory? There are cool exhibits for children, frequent activities for budding scientists of ALL ages, and some very nice, paved trails for walking (and environmental education). I have fond memories of Fernbank stemming all the way back to my elementary school days, and I’m glad children of ALL ages continue to benefit from this great resource.

it’s great that this place is free, b/​c i’d feel ripped off if i paid anything more than a couple bucks for it. but for free, it’s great. a little bit of everything… some dinosaurs, birds, space, etc. i really wanted to go to the forest but it didn’t open until 2pm and the kids had to go down for a nap. didn’t get to check out the planetarium either, b/​c we headed over to the museum.

This is Fernbank’s counterpart and includes the planetarium, which offers excellent viewing of the night sky on select nights. I was fortunate enough to see the early collision of asteroids on Jupiter from here and it was a great experience! The building itself houses very little compared to the main museum, but it’s still a fun spot to check out.
One interesting thing you can do is walk the trail from here all the way to the main museum! It’s not open during the winter I believe, but it’s a great walk during late spring to early autumn. Highly recommended!