The sky’s not the limit: New IMAX and Planetarium shows unveiled

You think the wind was bad last month? Then you don’t know about the 1000 mph winds on Jupiter. You remember that below zero cold spell we had in 2011? That would be a heatwave on Uranus. Did that Superbowl pot of chili lead to some odiferous effects in your family last week? Think about living on Titan, Saturn’s moon, which has rivers of liquid methane.

These are just a few of the factoids my children and I learned recently at a showing of The Wildest Weather in the Solar System.

Three new IMAX and Planetarium shows opened recently at the Denver Museum of Nature & Science, giving you three new chances to go geek with your kids.

• Flying Monsters 3D: Uncover the truth about the mysterious pterosaurs, whose wingspans of up to 40 feet were equal to that of a modern jet plane.  Enter the lush and alien environment in which these creatures lived and experience real flying monsters (see trailer).
• Tornado Alley 3D: Experience the adrenaline and the science of nature’s most dramatic phenomena. Join Storm Chasers star Sean Casey and the researchers of Vortex 2, the most ambitious effort ever made to understand the origins and evolution of tornadoes, in this heart-pounding science adventure (see trailer).
• Wildest Weather in the Solar System: Take a spectacular journey to witness the most beautiful, powerful, and mysterious weather phenomena in the solar system. After seeing a storm the size of a 100-megaton hydrogen bomb and a 400-year-old hurricane, you’ll be glad you live on Earth (see trailer).

Schedules and prices are on the DMNS site.

When you’re done with the show, slip into the kid-friendly Space Odyssey exhibit where you can gaze on a variety of images projected on to a huge globe (flight traffic patterns, weather, light density), study the physics of crater making, see what stuff  looks like in infrared, make rivulets in space sand, and do other fun activities for kids of all ages.

Yes, it’s out of this world but no, it’s not out of sight — you’ll find fun and fascination at these three new IMAX and planetarium shows at the Denver Museum of Nature and Science.

Lori totally geeked out at the museum for this post — at age 10 her dreams were to be a scientist. She’s now mom to tweens Tessa and Reed in the Denver area. She writes regularly  at WriteMindOpenHeart.com about parenting in open adoption and living mindfullly. Her first book, The Open-Hearted Way to Open Adoption, will be published by Rowman & Littlefield and available in mid-2013 .

Author: Lori Holden