Visit the second largest planetarium in Illinois!
The William M. Staerkel Planetarium is located at Parkland College in northwest Champaign. As you enter our campus, follow the perimeter drive to the west side of campus. The planetarium is in a large cylindrical building with a conical roof. The planetarium boasts a Digistar 6 digital projection system. The lobby displays the Billy Morrow Jackson painting Cosmic Blink and the Goose Kaler Memorial Meteorite Collection.
Public shows are held on Friday evenings at 7 pm and 8 pm, and on
Saturday afternoons at 1 pm and 2 pm
. All tickets are sold
at the door or at
tickets.parkland.edu.
However, if you're bringing a group of 20 or more, you can call
217/351-2568 to make special arrangements. For a full schedule of programming, see the public
show calendar.
The planetarium is closed on most holidays when
the college is closed.
We are open during the week for group booking field trips.
We do not have any regularly scheduled programming throughout the week, except for matinees held in June and July. For more information
on booking a field trip for your class or group, see the
Group
Visits page.