Date: Friday, May 17
Time: 7:30PM - 9:00PM
Audience: All Ages
Location: May Hall, FSU
Moon Party! Use telescopes to observe the Moon! FREE no registration required
Date: Wednesday, March 13
Time: 7:00PM - 8:30PM
Audience: All Ages
Location: May Hall, FSU
Use telescopes to observe the Moon, Jupiter, Pleiades, and Orion Nebula!
Date: Friday, February 23
Time: 2:30PM-3:30PM AND 3:45PM-4:45PM
Audience: Families & All Ages
Location: FSU Planetarium
Follow three young flies as they inadvertently stowaway aboard Apollo 11 and join Neil, Buzz, and Michael on their mission to pull off the very first moon landing! Tickets / More information.
Date: Thursday, February 22
Time: 9:00AM - 2:30PM
Audience: Grades 6-8
Location: McAuliffe Center
Mission: Expedition Mars
Film: Big Astronomy
A one-day program for individual participants to engage in a space mission simulation in the Challenger Learning Center, watch a full-dome film in the FSU Planetarium, and do hands-on STEAM activities! Registration FULL / More information.
Date: Wednesday, February 21
Time: 3:00PM - 5:00PM
Audience: Grades 1-3 AND Required Parent/Guardian
Location: McAuliffe Center
Film: Fly Me to the Moon
A two-hour program for elementary school students and their parent/guardian to watch a full-dome film in the state-of-the-art Framingham State University Planetarium and engage in related STEAM activities! Registration FULL / More information.
Date: Wednesday, February 21
Time: 9:00AM - 2:30PM
Audience: Grades 6-8
Location: McAuliffe Center
Mission: Expedition Mars
Film: Undiscovered Worlds
A one-day program for individual participants to engage in a space mission simulation in the Challenger Learning Center, watch a full-dome film in the FSU Planetarium, and do hands-on STEAM activities! Registration FULL / More information.
Date: Tuesday, February 20
Time: 6:00PM - 7:00PM
Audience: All Ages
Location: May Hall, FSU
Use telescopes to observe the Moon, Jupiter, Pleiades, and Orion Nebula! FREE! No registration necessary - More information.
Date: Tuesday, February 20
Time: 11:30AM - 5:00PM
Audience: Grades 6-8
Location: McAuliffe Center
Mission: Expedition Mars
Film: We Are Guardians
A one-day program for individual participants to engage in a space mission simulation in the Challenger Learning Center, watch a full-dome film in the FSU Planetarium, and do hands-on STEAM activities! Registration FULL / More information.
CANCELED
Date: Tuesday, January 16
Time: 5:00PM - 6:30PM
Audience: All Ages
Location: McCarthy Center Patio, FSU
Use telescopes to observe the Moon, Saturn, Jupiter, and Pleiades!
CANCELED
Date: Monday, December 18
Time: 4:30PM - 6:00PM
Audience: All Ages
Location: McCarthy Center Patio, FSU
Use telescopes to observe the Moon, Saturn, Jupiter, and Albireo (double star)!
Date: Saturday, October 14
Time: 12:30PM - 2:30PM
Audience: All Ages
Location: In Front of May Hall, FSU
Safely observe the partial solar eclipse and participate in hands-on activities! This event is in collaboration with the Environment, Society & Sustainability Department at Framingham State University for Massachusetts STEM Week 2023 and is NASA Affiliated!
Date: Thursday, May 25
Time: 8:30PM - 10:00PM
Age Recommendation: All Ages
Location: In Front of May Hall, FSU
Use telescopes to observe the Moon, Venus, and Mars!
CANCELED
Date: Friday, April 28
Time: 8:30PM - 9:30PM
Age Recommendation: All Ages
Location: In Front of May Hall, FSU
Use telescopes to observe the Moon, Venus, Mars, and Pleiades star cluster!
CANCELED
Date: Monday, March 27
Time: 8:15PM - 9:00PM
Age Recommendation: All Ages
Location: In Front of May Hall, FSU
Use telescopes to observe the Moon, Venus, Mars, Pleiades star cluster, and Orion Nebula!
Date: Friday, February 24
Time: 6:00PM - 7:30PM
Age Recommendation: All Ages
Location: In Front of May Hall, FSU
Use telescopes to observe a first quarter Moon, Jupiter, Venus, Mars, the Pleiades star cluster, and Orion Nebula!
Date: Friday, January 27
Time: 5:30PM - 7:00PM
Age Recommendation: All Ages
Location: O’Connor Lot at FSU
Use telescopes to observe a first quarter Moon, Jupiter, Venus, Mars, the Pleiades star cluster, and Orion Nebula!
Date: Friday, December 2
Time: 5:00PM - 6:30PM
Age Recommendation: All Ages
Location: McCarthy Center & O’Connor Lot
Join McAuliffe Center staff outside the McCarthy Center's main entrance to watch as the ISS passes overhead with a warm cup of hot chocolate! Continue the fun by stargazing with telescopes set up behind O'Connor Hall.
Date: Wednesday, October 19
Time: 4:30PM - 6:00PM
Audience: FSU Students, Faculty, & Staff
Location: FSU Planetarium
Members of the Framingham State University community are welcome to attend a panel discussion prompted by the themes of Young Nerds of Color in the FSU Planetarium during Massachusetts STEM Week 2022!
Date: October 17 - October 21
Time: Screenings at 8:30AM, 10:30AM, 12:30PM, & 2:30PM
Audience: FSU Students, Faculty, & Staff
Location: FSU Planetarium
Members of the Framingham State University community are welcome to attend a FREE screening of the play Young Nerds of Color in the FSU Planetarium during Massachusetts STEM Week 2022!
Date: Tuesday, September 6
Time: 7:30PM - 9:00PM
Age Recommendation: All Ages
Location: Outside in O’Connor Lot & McAuliffe Center
Use telescopes to observe the Full Moon, Saturn, Jupiter, Albireo (double star), Mizar (star), and Epsilon Lyrae (multiple star system) while McAuliffe Center staff are available to answer your questions about telescopes and our Universe. To celebrate FSU’s Black and Gold Beginnings, we will also offer a planetarium film and tours of the Challenger Learning Center!
Date: Friday, September 2
Time: 7:30PM - 9:00PM
Age Recommendation: All Ages
Location: Outside in O’Connor Lot & McAuliffe Center
Use telescopes to observe the Crescent Moon, Saturn, Albireo (double star), Mizar (star), and Epsilon Lyrae (multiple star system) while McAuliffe Center staff are available to answer your questions about telescopes and our Universe. To celebrate FSU’s Black and Gold Beginnings, we will also offer a planetarium film and tours of the Challenger Learning Center!
Date: Friday, July 29
Time: 6:00PM - 9:00PM
Age Recommendation: All Ages
Location: Christa McAuliffe Center, FSU Planetarium, and O’Connor Lot
Celebrate the release of Webb’s spectactular first full-color images and spectroscopic data! Join us for an open house with free-choice learning activities as an official NASA Webb Community Events host! This event is free, appropriate for all ages, and is in collaboration with Framingham Public Library.
Date: Friday, June 3, 2022
Time: 7:30PM
Age Recommendation: Ages 12+
Location: FSU Planetarium and McAuliffe Center
Do Earth-like planets exist elsewhere in the universe? Travel to distant stars and fly up close to exotic planets. Experience the science shifting our perspective on humanity’s place in the cosmos. The full-dome planetarium film will be followed by a McAuliffe Center open house to explore our exhibits and learn about observing with telescopes!
Date: Saturday, April 30, 2022
Time: 12:00PM - 3:00PM
Age Recommendation: All Ages
Location: McAuliffe Center and FSU Campus
Science on State Street is our annual free science festival for families, in collaboration with MetroWest STEM Education Network (MSEN). Explore science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) with fun, high-quality interactive activities, demonstrations, planetarium programs, and discussions that stimulate further learning about these topics!
Date: Thursday, April 21, 2022
Time: 1:00PM - 4:30PM
Age Recommendation: Grades 6-8
Location: McAuliffe Center
A one-day program for individual participants to engage in a space mission simulation in the Challenger Learning Center, watch a full-dome film in the FSU Planetarium, and do hands-on science activities related to Earth Day!
Date: Saturday, April 2 and 9
Time: 11:00AM - 2:00PM
Audience: FSU Accepted Students
Location: McAuliffe Center and FSU Planetarium
Welcome accepted students! During your visit to Framingham State University, stop by the Christa McAuliffe Center’s open house to explore our exhibits and see one of two showings of the full-dome planetarium show, Oasis in Space, at 11:30am and 1:00pm!
Date: Wednesday, March 30, 2022
Time: 1:30PM - 5:30PM
Audience: FSU Community
Location: McAuliffe Center
As part of Framingham State University’s participation in the Worldwide Climate Teach-In on March 30, we will be showing the full-dome film Habitat Earth in the planetarium and holding information sessions about our paid summer internship for college students!
Date: Friday, March 18, 2022
Time: 6:30PM
Audience: Families, All Ages
Location: FSU Planetarium
Explore world-class observatories, learn why Chile is an ideal environment for astronomy, and meet some of the diverse people who make discoveries possible! The full-dome film will be followed by a discussion and Q&A with Dr. Irene Porro and Savio Oliveira about their career paths and areas of expertise.
Due to the Winter Storm Warning, this event is now virtual only.
Date: Friday, February 25, 2022
Time: 7:00PM
Age Recommendation: Ages 12+
Location: Zoom
NASA’s TESS mission is looking for planets around the brightest and closest stars in our neighborhood. MIT researchers working with TESS will share some of the interesting exoplanet systems they have found and what they hope to find in the future!
We look forward to offering this program again during future school vacations!
Date: Thursday, February 24, 2022
Time: 2:00PM - 5:30PM
Age Recommendation: Grades 6-8
Location: McAuliffe Center
A one-day program for individual participants to engage in a space mission simulation in the Challenger Learning Center, watch a full-dome film in the FSU Planetarium, and do hands-on science activities related to the James Webb Space Telescope mission!
