Sacramento State Planetarium

"I don't know who thought it was a great idea to build a planetarium where the seats point straight forward and don't recline. It is impossible to comfortably see 70% of the screen without straining your neck backwards. The portion of the screen in the first photo is all that I could comfortably see. And when I did strain my neck back to see the whole thing it made it clear that I was missing a LOT. Sat 3rd row from the front out of about 10 rows. I would not recommend it at all unless you show up early and get in one of the back 2-3 rows. Honestly even then I'm not sure I would recommend it. The actual showing was fine but especially around the edges the resolution was visibly low and I saw compression artifacting in dark areas. Not sure if that's an issue with the file itself not being high bitrate enough or if it's a problem with the original recording. If they either install reclining seats or use software to shift the image like 30-40% lower it would pretty significantly improve the viewing experience, but as is, it's not an experience I would recommend to anybody I like."

"Such a great place to watch today's eclipse. Great activities for the kids and thank heavens the clouds were cooperative, parting at just the right time"

"As a casual fan of the cosmos, I have eagerly awaited a visit to the CSUS Planetarium. Having just attended a showing of "JWST: The First Six Months" I can now put my desire to rest. On the positive, the Astrology Professor/Host Speaker was certainly knowledgeable and personable, and did a good job of keeping even the children in the audience attentive. However, I am greatly disappointed in the overall Planetarium experience. The seats are similar to movie theater seats of decades ago. Comfortable enough for a 90 minute viewing on a typical screen, but zero recline for viewing almost exclusively above. Additionally, the photos displayed in this presentation involved numerous topics visible only on the viewing surface above AND BEHIND the majority of the attendees. These two issues could have been resolved in three ways from the outset: 1) install seats that recline, 2) add software that permits the rotation of the photos to be viewed in the 'front' of the theater, or 3) if cost reduction was the reason for the previous shortcuts, then rotating the dome screen forward 30° would have easily resolved both. Great concept but truly weak execution. I have to believe that a construction company with movie theater build credentials, but zero planetarium experience, was selected for this project. If you go, choose a seat in the center-rear of the theater. I will not be returning, even for the nominal $5 ticket price. Sad."

"Incredibly reasonable ticket prices for the amount of info and great viewing. We went to the James Webb photo show, explained really thoroughly and was all around a great show. Highly recommend for all."

"Just a really enjoyable experience! we were lucky enough to have the Director of the planetarium speaking and he was absolutely amazing! He was very charismatic and really made learning about space fun and entertaining. We really enjoyed the James Webb planetarium showing the pictures are absolutely stunning. This is great for kids or for friends or family coming into town. Very affordable!"