Cedar Park Museum Reaches For Stars With New Planetarium

Cedar Park residents can now get a first-row seat to the universe.

The Texas Museum of Science and Technology does not have a permanent location yet, but that hasn’t stopped it from opening a planetarium this month.

After opening in early October, the museum’s planetarium has already begun shows. So far, it has mostly attracted school groups.

“[In] Cedar Park and Austin, we’ve never had a planetarium,” Torvald Hessel, the museum’s executive director, told Community Impact. “So we have two types of customers—people who know planetariums or people who have never seen one.”

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The 33-foot planetarium can seat about 50 people and shows are about 50 minutes long. Screenings are held every day of the week, with different weekday and weekend schedules. Some of the programming is designed for children as young as 3.

As of now, tickets are $7.50 for adults, and $5 for children younger than 12. Group rates are also available.

Although the current facility in Cedar Park is temporary — it’s housed inside an old athletic complex — the museum is considering setting up in the city permanently. Austin is also being considered. Hessel hopes the planetarium will help the museum reach its goal of establishing a permanent location

“[The planetarium is] proof of concept to show we know what we’re doing, to show there are customers for this, there’s interest,” Hessel told Community Newspaper.