NightLife

Every Thursday night, music, creatures and cocktails come together for NightLife at the California Academy of Sciences. Explore exhibits and aquarium displays while sipping creative cocktails, and let exotic animals from around the world transport you to the tropics, Tibet, and dozens of other remote destinations. Special planetarium shows will take you even farther afield.   Each week features a live band or DJ, and a unique theme – from salsa dancing to sustainable seafood and beyond.  21+

Morrison Planetarium

The Morrison Planetarium is the largest all-digital planetarium in the world. State-of-the-art projector and software technologies allow the planetarium to produce the most accurate and interactive digital Universe ever created.

Check out the upcoming planetarium shows below at NightLife.

Passes to planetarium shows are distributed on a first-come, first-served basis.  Pick up your pass at the Planetarium Kiosk.

 

Upcoming LIVE @ 6:30pm Planetarium Shows

Enjoy the following planetarium shows at NightLife:

Science Tonight: LIVE @ 6:30pm

May 17
"Universe Update"
Take a tour of the Universe with a sprinkling of the hottest news stories from astronomy and the space sciences!  Ryan Wyatt, Director of the Morrison Planetarium, pilots you through the stars and beyond the galaxies, explaining the latest space headlines in easily-digestible terms, and returns you safely to Earth in less than an hour.

May 24
"75 Years of Astronomy"
As we celebrate the 75th anniversary of San Francisco’s iconic Golden Gate Bridge, how has astronomy change since 1937? Back then, astronomers believed there were different numbers of planets and moons in the solar system than the know today, they didn’t know anything about quasars or black holes, and they had several ideas about how the Universe started. As we celebrate our city’s most famous landmark, discover how our knowledge of the Universe has grown.

May 31
"Earthquake" -
Starting at Point Reyes in Northern California, the show flies south along the San Andreas Fault until it reaches San Francisco. The Golden Gate Bridge fades away as the clock rewinds to 1906. The audience experiences an all-digital recreation of the 7.9-magnitude earthquake, followed by a scientific dissection of the event—including views of the underground fault plane and the propagation of seismic energy waves based on supercomputer simulations. Guests then embark on a high-speed tour of the past 200 million years, witnessing the formation of the Atlantic Ocean, flying over the cradle of humanity in Africa’s Great Rift Valley, and visiting sites of historic earthquakes in India, China, and Japan—including the 9.0-magnitude Tohoku earthquake and tsunami in March 2011. A planetarium presenter will bring audiences even more up-to-date during a live portion showing the latest seismic events happening around the planet—earthquakes big and small occur almost constantly. The show ends with a look at the modern building strategies used by scientists and engineers for a safer and better prepared future.
 
Scientific advisers and partners on the show include Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Geo Hazards International, San Francisco State University, Stanford University, University of California at Berkeley, and the U.S. Geological Survey. The show will play several times daily.

Passes to planetarium shows are distributed on a first-come, first-served basis.  Pick up your pass at the Planetarium Kiosk.

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NightLife VIP Tour

Want an entirely different NightLife experience? Join us on our NightLife VIP Tour. Tickets include admission to NightLife, a one-hour behind-the-scenes tour with a private viewing of the Academy's renowned gem and mineral collection and interaction with Academy researchers in the lab, express entry into the building, an open bar in a reserved cocktail area prior to the tour, VIP access to the Rainforest, and a reserved pass for the 8:30 Planetarium show.

$59.00/person – limited tickets available each week

6:00 pm - 8:00 pm (building closes at 10:00 pm)

For more information, please click here.
 

NightLife Private Lounge

Looking for a great space to celebrate landing that big account, throw a birthday party, or just gather with all your old friends, all while enjoying San Francisco’s most exciting Thursday night event?  Rent out the NightLife Private Lounge. You’ll get early access to a premium private room with catering and bar service and access to our Thursday NightLife event. For more booking information contact Dan Kalin at (415) 379-5837 or dkalin@calacademy.org.
 

Next NightLife

    

5/17/2012 - "Art of Illusion NightLife" - Check out a pop-up exhibit by local artist Thom Nguyen, Obscura Digital's technology, DIY optical illusions, and meet the Academy’s visualization studio team who create scientifically accurate, award-winning content for the planetarium. Magician Patrick Martin will host a talk on illusions. Music by Grown Kids Radio with DJ's B Maj, EricBoss, Spinnerty, Cyclyst, Diversify, and Peter West.

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Upcoming Installments

    

5/24/2012 - "BridgeFest NightLife" - Celebrate the 75th anniversary of the Golden Gate Bridge with live performances by the Royal Society Jazz Orchestra, scale acrylic model of the Golden Gate Bridge crafted by students of sustainable design at CCA, and a pop-up photography exhibit of the Kinter collection. Additional swingin’ music by DJ Tanoa, a.k.a. "Samoa Boy."

5/31/2012 - "80’s Quake Party NightLife" - Seismic matters, and this week NightLife is all about earthquakes! Be among the first to see the Academy’s newly opened Earthquake exhibit and planetarium show, complete with shake table and live ostriches. Also ejoy an earthquake Sundae-eating competition by Ghirardelli Ice Cream and Chocolate Shop, soundQuake, meet the folks from the US Geological Survey and SPUR. Live music by Weekend and Violens presented by Noise Pop.

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Academy Insider

    

Academy Insider

Download the Academy Insider, a free iPhone app provides information on exhibits throughout the museum, self-guided tours, a live daily programs feed, museum floor plans, step-by-step directions, and other useful tools. Users can learn more about Academy exhibits through fun facts, quizzes, video and audio clips, and other interactive activities.

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