Glendale Community College Planetarium

This place is AMAZING. If you want to catch a glimpse of what the rest if the universe looks like you have to come here. It’s a great state if the art planetarium. Put this on you things to do list believe me you won’t regret it!

What a wonderful experience! Amazing technology with an interactive 3D map of the known universe – every moon, planet, star and galaxy mapped to scale and at their correct distances – in which a friendly live astronomer guides you as you fly through space to various destinations. Much more immersive and interactive than planetarium shows of yesteryear. I can’t recommend it enough for all ages. Afterward, they often set up telescopes on the patio (but it was too cloudy the night we went). Very personal and welcoming.

I utterly love this Planetarium. So awesome.

****#164 of 365 Things to Do in L.A. (
) *****
There’s something uniquely delightful about Glendale Community College’s planetarium. Perhaps it’s their remote controlled reclinable chairs.
I came to the planetarium for their Evening With the Stars show. The 45 minute presentation was largely audience driven. The presenters asked questions like «What’s your favorite planet?» and zoomed in on various planets that the audience shouted out.
My favorite part of the evening was when they showed us the edges of the universe as we know it. They started on earth and kept zooming out to show our solar system, galaxy, and other galaxies around us, until there was just a black void. There’s something so amazing about being made to feel so small and insignificant.
Afterwards, they took us outside and showed us some stars and planets. Did you know that stars are either blue, yellow or red? The blue ones are the hottest. When we were outside, the presenter pointed out the different hues of the stars. We also saw Orion’s belt.
The details: The show is $ 10 cash, pay at the door. Parking is free. Arrive early since there is no late admittance. The audience ranged from little kids to seniors.
*Visit the link above for pics*

If you want an experience of a lifetime; a glimpse into the universe; a 5 star presentation by Paul & Jennifer… definitely make time to visit the planetarium

Eugenia’s review is spot on.
I have been to the Griffith Observatory in Los Angeles and one at the Denver natural history museum. This little planetarium at Glendale Community College is far superior.
Eugenia’s review covers all the logistics, so I am going to point out all the cool things about this place.
It is a very intimate setting with only 48 seats. Before the show the host asks what you want to see and works to incorporate all requests into the show. The seat reclines and you get a good view of the dome. For us the guy started with showing us all the constellations, followed by a really cool aerial view of the Los Angeles area.
Then the impressive stuff. They get a lot of up to data from the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena on a regular basis. This data includes everything we know about the Universe. All the space junk orbiting around the earth, all the satellites circling our planets, all identified planets and more. So the stuff you are watching is up to date.
My favorite part of the show was when we were shown the path of a probe we sent in the 1970s into deep space. This thing is the farthest man made object from Earth. Then they compare the path of this object to the distance that a ray of light travels in 1 day. Turns out that we have only traveled a quarter of this distance in 40 years! This is just one nugget of information.
The show takes you farther and farther away to the very edge of the known universe. And then it stops. That’s it. We don’t know what lies beyond
Do yourself a favor and check out this little gem in the Los Angeles area. Stat!

I cannot believe I am the first to review the awesome, $ 4.5 million dollar JPL funded, super state-​of-​the-​art planetarium at Glendale College! It was built in 2003 and I only recently had to opportunity to see a show because my professor of physics had scheduled us to check it out in addition to our satellite/​GPS lecture.
DO YOU KNOW WHAT OUR EARTH LOOKS LIKE WITH 23,000 PIECES OF DEAD SPACE JUNK FLOATING AROUND IT?!
45 minutes in the planetarium and i became a convert. I’ve been a mad raving lunatic and finally got together a few friends and attended last night’s public showing. My boyfriend laughs and claims that i’m the little girl in South Park’s Planetarium episode (
). However, you should see him now, talking to his classmates over at sci-​arc with these huge eyes and flailing arms as he tries to explains that he saw the edge of the universe!
Paul Buhler is the planetarium administrator who also narrates the show. What a wealth of information! He’s really accommodating as well and took my special request after the show, dimmed the lights and pulled us back into the earth so i could grasp how many billions of light years away we had traveled. Dwarf planets to black holes, he can give you the current and latest information in this particular science. I don’t know about you but my info about the stars is about as dusty and dated as the styrofoam solar system in the garage. Additionally, he’ll throw in some interesting anecdotes about how los angeles became the biggest shipping port in the world after the northridge earthquake and where you can see the full spectrum of stars instead of the ¹⁄₁₀ that we see in the city due to light pollution.
You can’t even compare the technology to that of the planetarium at Griffith Park Observatory. I haven’t been since the remodel but my friends agreed that the colors and images were way more vivid. Also, it seats 48 people and he loves to do a Q&A while the show is going on. This is not some pre-​recorded, programed show. Your show will be unique to your specific interests.
1. You can reserve seats by emailing
2. Park in the metered spots across the bridge
3. Arrive 10 minutes early to pay the admissions fee $ 10 and grab a seat (the middle/​back area is best)
4. Recline and enjoy the show
5. For a post-​show beverage i’d recommend the los feliz bars (Roost, Griffin, Big Foot Lodge) or a straight shot down the fwy to Mountain Bar.
For an off the beaten path type outing with parents, the kids or a date that is easy on the wallet I totally recommend this place. 5 stars most definitely!