That’s what the Arizona Science Center is promising with the unveiling of its new Dorrance DOME, a 360-degree immersive experience powered by roughly 9,026 LED light panels. The planetarium closed Feb. 4, 2024, for construction and will reopen on Oct. 18. Tickets go on sale on Wednesday.
“It’s not just a planetarium,” says Sari Custer, the chief of science and curiosity at Arizona Science Center. “It’s more than a planetarium. ... We can do anything in this space if we have the creativity and the talent to make it happen.”
Although the idea of a dome conjures the Sphere in Las Vegas, the Dorrance DOME is very different. Mainly, it was built on the footprint of the center’s old planetarium, so it seats 200 versus more than 18,000 at the Sphere.
Also, the quality is supposed to deliver a “wow” factor like no other. This is not your father’s planetarium with its two-dimensional projection — the images come through the roughly 44 million LED lights that are more than 100 times the brightness of traditional domes that use projection, allowing visitors a 3-D trip through the stars.
“It revolutionizes the industry,” according to Kirk Johnson, the chief operating officer of Cosm, the company that created the CX System LED Dome. “You can achieve a quality of image you couldn’t before” due to the quality, resolution, contrast and brightness.
“With the high contrast and high quality of the screen,” Custer says, “you’ve got clearer visuals, the contrast, so you’ve got blacker blacks when you’re looking at space, which makes the stars pop out. You can see finer details, bigger starfields.”
The center hopes the dome will serve as “the statewide hub for STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, and Mathematics) engagement and discovery,” according to a press release.
Boldly going beyond science
The $14 million Dorrance DOME will deliver constantly changing programming geared to bring visitors back time and again. Jacquie and Bennett Dorrance and other key donors covered the cost.The first set of shows will include three productions by Cosm Studios and two by the Arizona Science Center, with seven total showtimes daily.
Cosm’s features are “Black Hole: First Picture,” which includes footage from observatories in 10 countries on the hunt to capture the first black hole photo taken in 2019; “Orbital,” which views the Earth from space; and “Inside Pop Art,” an exploration of the rise of the movement in the 1950s and '60s and how it shaped fashion, branding and culture.
The Arizona Science Center produced “Astronomy Tour: Arizona,” billed as “a journey through Arizona’s legendary night skies.” It’s also partnering on to-be-announced custom content created with Arizona State University’s Media and Immersive eXperience (MIX) Center and Sidney Poitier New American Film School.
More shows with more partners, including Lowell Observatory, are on the way, and the sky is — well, it’s not the limit.
“People can see things that they wouldn’t be able to get to physically,” Custer says, from the surface of Mars to the bottom of the ocean.
Johnson notes the technology can also be used on a micro level, to take people on a virtual tour of the human body or inside a dinosaur skeleton. Custer said art, music, movies and more are on the horizon.
Also, the dome integrates Digistar, billed as “the world’s leading planetarium software” in a press release, and Unreal Engine, used by developers in gaming creation.
The Dorrance DOME will be available to rent for private parties and corporate events when the center isn’t open, Custer notes, but also says the center will be open late three nights a week for the public.
It's more than a planetarium: The Dorrance DOME will show visitors places in the Grand Canyon that people can't reach.
Cosm
Portal to a new Arizona Science Center
The Dorrance DOME is just the first phase of a larger five-year visitor experience renewal plan at the Arizona Science Center, according to Custer. It’s held open houses and sent out 400,000 surveys to solicit feedback.“We’re taking a critical look at what needs to be upgraded and changed,” she says.
While Custer emphasizes that the center’s programming is “already top-notch,” she notes, the physical spaces will be upgraded.
“Our cafe, our retail space, our galleries — everything that you see when you come into the science center will change over the next five years,” Custer states.
The Dorrance DOME is designed to launch the renewal with a bang. In 2022, when the center’s leadership saw the technology firsthand, “We were absolutely blown away with what we saw,” Custer says.
The Arizona Science Center is only the third educational institution to feature this technology, after venues in Fort Worth, Texas, which opened in 2024, and Prague, Czech Republic. Johnson says the Prague Planetarium’s new dome brought in so many visitors that they call it “the dream machine.”
Although Cosm has other entertainment-focused domes that show sports and movies, the technology has its roots in science.
Johnson explains that in 2020, Cosm acquired Evans & Sutherland, a science education company with a 75-year history. It produced the first digital planetarium product in the early 1980s and has built 700 planetariums around the world. The Arizona Science Center was an early customer.
While the Dorrance DOME will provide a variety of programming, at the heart of it is the very foundation of science.
“It gives us a variety of ways to engage people in ways that are both beautiful and awe-inspiring to help ignite curiosity,” Custer says.
Prices are $35.95 for adults, $29.95 for children, for an all-inclusive ticket with admission to the Dorrance DOME, one ride on the Evans Family SkyCycle, one film in the Irene P. Flinn Giant Screen Theater and one MiniShop experience.
Admission can also be purchased as an add-on to a regular member ticket for $7 or non-member ticket for $14.
Arizona Science Center
600 E. Washington St.
602-716-2000
