Dr. Edmond E. Griffin Planetarium
The Dr. Edmond E. Griffin Planetarium, located on the University of Central Arkansas Campus in the Conway Corporation Center for the Sciences, serves as an astronomy and science education resource center for central Arkansas. The planetarium is part of the outreach component of the Department of Physics, Astronomy, and Engineering, and as such, it supports astronomy teaching on campus, as well as, offers planetarium shows to school groups and the general public.
* Field Trip Information – Click Here *
Hardware/software upgrades should be completed in early April.
Field trip slots for the spring are open for late April and May 2026. The field trip slots for May also include Nature Reserve tours. Please complete the online form to reserve your spot.
Spring 2026 Public Shows
The one-hour shows include a tour of the current sky, a flight around the universe, and a full-dome movie . The planetarium is located in the Conway Corporation Center for the Sciences. Seating starts 10 minutes before show time. Admission is free. Seating limited to the first 94. No admission after the shows begin. No food or drink allowed.
April 24 and 25, 7pm: Big Astronomy:People, Places, Discoveries
“Highlights the telescopes and the diverse people who enable discoveries at world-class observatories in Chile.”
May 1 and 2, 7pm: Unveiling the Invisible Universe
“For thousands of years the humans observed the light coming from the night sky with their eyes. In the beginning of the 17th century, the invention of the telescope by Galileo revolutionized our knowledge of the Universe. Finally, in the 20th century with the advent of rockets, it became possible to go above the earth’s atmosphere and observe X-ray and gamma ray radiation which are the marks of the hot and violent Universe. But it is not only light that can give us information about the cosmos. Neutrinos and cosmic rays also provide vital information. Finally, the detection by the LIGO experiment of gravitational waves from two merging black holes opened a new window in astrophysics. This video presents images of the cosmos as revealed by all these different messengers.”
May 8 and 9, 7pm: Phantom of the Universe
“From the journey of protons racing through the world’s largest particle collider in Europe to up-close views of the Big Bang and emergent cosmos, this show immerses the audience in the search for dark matter. It is narrated by Oscar-winning actress, Tilda Swinton.”
May 15 and 16, 7pm: Out There: The Quest for Extrasolar Worlds
“This show tells the story of how human curiosity has driven us to look outwards for millennia, to discover and explore new and distant worlds and to find the unfamiliar and extraordinary forms of life that could exist in the mysterious realms of the Universe.”
May 22 and 23, 7pm: From Earth to the Universe
“The night sky, both beautiful and mysterious, has been the subject of campfire stories, ancient myths and awe for as long as there have been people. A desire to comprehend the Universe may well be humanity’s oldest shared intellectual experience. Yet only recently have we truly begun to grasp our place in the vast cosmos. To learn about this journey of celestial discovery, from the theories of the ancient Greek astronomers to today’s grandest telescopes, we invite you to experience From Earth to the Universe. This stunning, 30-minute voyage through space and time conveys, through sparkling sights and sounds, the Universe revealed to us by science. Viewers can revel in the splendor of the worlds in the Solar System and our scorching Sun. From Earth to the Universe takes the audience out to the colorful birthplaces and burial grounds of stars, and still further out beyond the Milky Way to the unimaginable immensity of myriad galaxies. Along the way, the audience will learn about the history of astronomy, the invention of the telescope, and today’s giant telescopes that allow us to probe ever deeper into the Universe.“
Summer 2026 Public Shows
The one-hour shows include a tour of the current sky, a flight around the universe, and a full-dome movie . The planetarium is located in the Conway Corporation Center for the Sciences. Seating starts 10 minutes before show time. Admission is free. Seating limited to the first 94. No admission after the shows begin. No food or drink allowed.
May 29, 3pm & 7pm: River of Bears
“River of Bears is about the legendary McNeil River Alaska State Game Sanctuary. During the summertime it hosts the largest congregation of brown bears in the world. Bears come from hundreds of miles to the sanctuary to mate, raise cubs, and dine on the abundant sedge grass and salmon. On a typical day in July over fifty bears can be seen at the McNeil River falls, feasting on salmon desperately swimming upstream to spawn. The show tells the remarkable story of these bears as they prepare for the coming harsh Alaska winter, and the visitors and scientists who come every summer to see them.”
June 5, 3pm & 7pm: Two Small Pieces of Glass – The Amazing Telescope
” This show follows two students as they interact with an astronomer at a local star party. Along the way, the students learn the history of the telescope from Galileo’s modifications to a child’s spyglass — using two small pieces of glass — to the launch of the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope and the future of astronomy. The show explores the wonder and discovery made by astronomers throughout the last 400 years.”
June 12, 3pm & 7pm: One Sky
“This is the fulldome feature version of the One Sky Project short films. Each short film represents the perspective of a different culture or Indigenous society from around the globe. Each film stands alone as a short story or in combination as a longer narrative – organized around themes of “Finding Patterns” and developing tools, or as we say, “To Seek Far.”
June 19, 3pm & 7pm: Supermassive Black Holes
“Leading scientists in observational and theoretical studies of black holes and galaxies, industrial experts in cutting-edge big technologies, and professionals in science dissemination have been brought together to set up research projects which will combine the latest state-of-the-art observations, numerical simulations and innovative analytic tools to compare theory with observation, and shed light on the physics of black hole formation in the context of galaxy evolution. This planetarium show presents the environments of the black holes in an impressive and understandable way to the audience.”
June 26, 3pm & 7pm: Mayan and Aztec Archeoastronomy
“In a feast of colours and sounds, Mayan Archaeoastronomy: Observers of the Universe makes a tour of 6 Mayan temples: San Gervasio, Chichen Itzá, Uxmal, Edzná, Palenque and Bonampak where the spectator dives into a Mayan world of knowledge about the importance of the orientations of its temples in relation to the movement of some stars like the Sun, the Moon and Venus.“
“Through impressive immersive scenarios, “Mexica Archaeoastronomy: between space and time” illustrates the important role played by astronomical observation for the evolution of pre-Hispanic cultures in central Mexico. The Mexicas used the calendrical and astronomical knowledge inherited by their predecessor cultures to found the capital of their empire: Tenochtitlan. Vibrant colors, shapes and sounds transport the viewer to one of the most important cultures that, to this day, still lives of the Mexican people.”
Conway Corporation Center for Science
SUPPORT GRIFFIN:
ABOUT:
Contact:
Department of Physics and Astronomy
University of Central Arkansas phone: 501.450.5900
Conway, AR 72035 fax: 501.852.2286
Staff:
Dr. Scott Austin saustin@uca.edu
Director of Astronomical Facilities
Associate Professor of Astronomy and Physics
Department of Physics and Astronomy
University of Central Arkansas phone: 501.450.5907
Conway, AR 72035 fax: 501.852.2286
History:
From 1987 to 2015, the original UCA planetarium that was located in Lewis Science Center used an electromechanical planetarium projector and a thirty-foot dome to simulate the sky as seen from the surface of the Earth.
The current digital planetarium in the Conway Corporation Center for the Sciences consists of 94 seats under a forty-foot diameter dome onto which an Evans & Sutherland dual projector Digistar 7 system creates a virtual universe. The universe can now be seen from other locations in the universe, such as, in orbit around Saturn, near a binary star system in our galaxy, or from a galaxy a several million light years from the Earth.
The building of a new planetarium was supported by Dr. Sue Griffin, a world-class neuroscientist at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, and named in memory of her husband Dr. Ed Griffin, a long-time faculty member, chair of the UCA Biology Department, and astronomy enthusiast.