Information: 559-278-4121

Reservations/Field Trips: 559-278-4071

Admission to the Downing Planetarium Museum can be added to a Planetarium visit for an additional fee.  Please call for more information.
 

ASTRONAUT ANTS

Examine a ring of ant farms utilizing a special illuminated, translucent gel developed by NASA to study the behavior of ants tunneling in microgravity.  Use the available magnifying glasses to view the intricate tunnels and passageways dug by our Harvester Ants.

CELESTIAL SPHERE

This beautiful, transparent 28-inch sphere is a model of the night sky as seen from any location on Earth.  The outer sphere demonstrates the apparent motion of the stars in the sky, while a separate knob can show the location of the Sun at any time throughout the year.

CHAOTIC PENDULUM

Give this deceptively simple set of attached pendulums a spin.  Intuition says that the resulting motion should be predictable, but it turns out to be extremely complicated.  A good demonstration of chaotic motion.

CLOUD CHAMBER

Peek into the chamber to see physical evidence of the invisible "cosmic rays" that are constantly bombarding the Earth.

DAY & NIGHT GLOBE

This illuminated globe demonstrates how the complex motion of the Earth creates day and night patterns that vary from season to season and place to place.  Follow any point on Earth through a whole year of seasons in just a few minutes, then compare that point to other locations on Earth.

EULER'S DISK

Spin Euler's Disk like a top on its mirrored base and watch it go!  The disk demonstrates both the conservation of energy and conservation of angular momentum.

GIBEON METEORITE

Visitors can touch this 65-pound (29.5-kg) meteorite from Namibia, Africa and learn about its composition and discovery.

LEVITATING GLOBE

Direct a stream of air across the globe and watch it spin, suspended in midair.  While commonly seen as a desktop toy, the Levitating Globe actually demonstrates the interesting scientific property of electromagnetic levitation, which has many practical uses in transportation and industry.

LIGHTNING GLOBE

Touch the surface of the Lightning Globe and watch the streams of light follow your fingers around the inside of the glass.  This device demonstrates the plasma state of matter, and can even light up a fluorescent light bulb without wires!

PAPER AIRPLANE DESIGN STATION & WIND TUNNEL

This interactive exhibit allows students to create a paper airplane from 28 different designs, which they can then test in the wind tunnel.  The exhibit demonstrates how changes in design affect the performance of an airfoil, and allows students to make the appropriate changes to improve their creations.

PIT & PENDULUM

Give this compound pendulum a gentle swing and watch as it creates beautiful, intricate patterns in the bowl of sand.  See how differences in the strength and direction of the push create differences in the designs.

RING JUMPER

Press the button on the Ring Jumper and a pulse of electricity is sent through a coil, creating a rapidly changing magnetic field.  The resulting current causes the ring and the coil to repel one another and makes the ring jump high into the air.  Try rings of different materials to see if they achieve the same results.
 

ROBOT ARMS

Robots are used extensively in science and industry, going places and performing tasks that humans are unable to do.  Try your hand at controlling our two different robot arms, using them to lift, move and stack a variety of objects.

ROCKS & MINERALS

This display features fifteen different rocks and minerals, including large samples of quartz, calcite, amethyst, and pyrite, and a piece of rock dated at nearly four billion years old.  Buttons on the display activate audio descriptions of each specimen.

SOLAR SYSTEM MURAL

A 44-foot long mural, wrapping around the walls of the museum, details the formation of the Solar System, from its beginnings 4.5 billion years ago until the present day.  Visitors can find milestones such as the formation of the Earth and Moon, and the relatively recent existence of life on Earth.

TESLA COIL

Envisioned as a means of transmitting electrical power without wires, the Tesla Coil is a device that can create lightning at the push of a button--indoors and right before your eyes!  The Tesla Coil must be demonstrated by a museum employee.

TURBULENT ORB

The Turbulent Orb is a large sphere full of a special fluid that allows you to visualize the turbulence in a liquid.  Give the orb a spin and watch the swirls and waves of the internal fluid motions, which are similar to turbulent flows in planetary atmospheres.

TV TWISTER

Hold a strong magnet up to a television screen to see how it twists and distorts the picture.  This exhibit demonstrates how a picture is formed in a conventional television, and how a magnetic field can disrupt that picture by altering the path of electrons.  Don't try this on your television at home!

WHISPER DISH

Speak into one Whisper Dish, and it will focus and project the sound across the room to the other.  You and a friend can hold conversations across the room--without raising your voices!

PENNY SMASHER

Four designs are available.  Requires two quarters and one penny.