The planetarium offers two shows every Friday night to give the public an opportunity to view different aspects of the evening skies. The first show begins at 6:30 p.m. and will be an examination of the night sky during the summer through Sept. 16. On Sept. 23, the first show changes to offer a look at the stars, constellations and planets during autumn.

The second show is scheduled to begin at 7:30 p.m. each Friday and will be followed by a telescope viewing of the night sky, weather permitting. The second show offerings are:

• Sept. 2 -- "Voyager Encounters," in which recorded narrator Patrick Stewart shares the results of Voyager 1 and 2's visit to our solar systems outer planets and moons.
• Sept. 9 -- "Hubble Ultra Deep Field of Galaxies," in which Michael Corbin, a member of the Space Telescope Science Institute, will offer insights into what types of objects form our universe based on information gleamed from the Hubble telescope.
• Sept. 16 -- "The Search for Life in the Universe," in which recorded narrator Leonard Nimoy poses the question, "Are we alone in the universe?" The show explores attempts by humans to establish contact with extraterrestrial civilizations.
• Sept. 23 --"The Cassini/Huygens Mission to Saturn," the public will get the latest information on the Cassini mission to Saturn and the Huygen's probe's visit to Saturn's moon, Titan, from Robert Mitchell, project manager of the mission for the Jet Propulsion Laboratory.
• Sept. 30 --"Spirit and Opportunity: The Corps of Discovery for Mars" gives the public an opportunity to hear more about what scientists learned from Mars rovers, Spirit and Opportunity, as they made their way across the planet. John Callas, deputy manager and science manager for the Mars project, will speak.

Student admission for the planetarium shows is $3 for one show and $5 for both. General admission is $5 for one show and $8 for both. Tickets are available at the University Student Union box office Monday through Friday from 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m., or by calling the box office at (818) 677-2488.