By Lookout Staff

February 23, 2026 -- Do other planets in the solar system have seasons? And what celestial bodies will appear in the night sky this spring?

Those as well as questions about black holes and the life of stars will be answered next month during five feature shows on Fridays and Sundays at the Santa Monica College John Drescher Planetarium.

The shows kick off Sunday, March 1 at 1 p.m. with the popular weekly update “The Night Sky Show” presented by Planetarium Lecturer Sarah Vincent using SMC’s 4K Digistar projection system.

Vincent will "talk about the latest news in astronomy and space exploration and present a virtual tour of constellations and other night-sky celebrities making their appearance in the evenings ahead," event organizers said.

The show will be followed at 2 p.m. with the feature Program "Deep Sky Deep Dive: “Black Holes,” which explores the "singularly enigmatic objects first predicted by Einstein’s Theory of Relativity and finally confirmed decades later.

"Black holes are some of the most fascinating, yet least understood phenomena in the universe," organizers said. "Many are dead stars shrouded in gravity, yet others form the cores of large galaxies."

The series continues Friday, March 13, at 7 p.m. and Sunday, March 15, at 2 p.m. with the feature program “Spring Sky,” which explores "the planets, constellations, and deep sky objects making their seasonal appearance in Santa Monica’s spring skies."

"As the Northern Hemisphere slips into spring, some familiar constellations move overhead," according to the program. "Cygnus flies along the Milky Way toward Sagittarius and the core of the Milky Way."

The shows are preceded an hour earlier by “The Night Sky Show” weekly update.

On Friday, March 20, at 7 p.m. and Sunday, March 22, at 2 p.m. the planetarium will present the feature program “Tilt: March Equinox” preceded by the Night Sky show.

"The changing season brings warmer weather and shorter nights for the Northern Hemisphere, but why?" The show will explain the answer as well as how Earth’s axial tilt changes the weather and if other planets in the solar system have seasons.

The March lineup concludes on Friday, March 27, at 7 p.m. and Sunday, March 29, at 2 p.m. with the feature Deep Sky Deep Dive program “The Life and Death of Stars,” which "explores the life cycle of stars from nebula to (super)nova, and back again."

"This solar system’s star, the Sun, is a typical star, but what does that mean? What is an a-typical star? Where do stars come from, and how do they end?"

The show follows “The Night Sky Show” weekly update presented an hour earlier.

All shows are presented in the SMC Planetarium, located in room MSB 126 of the Mathematics + Science Building on the SMC Main Campus at 1900 Pico Boulevard. Ample and conveniently located free parking for planetarium shows is available.

Tickets for The Night Sky Show are $10 for adults and $7 for children ages 3 to 12, while tickets for the "Show Combo" that includes the feature presentation are $16 and $10 respectively. Children under age 3 are not allowed at the Friday evening shows.

Tickets can be purchased at smc.edu/tickets. A $1 per ticket service fee will be charged by the ticketing company.