See the Stars at the David M. Brown Planetarium
The David M. Brown Planetarium, Arlington’s own conduit to the stars opened in September 1969 — two months after Apollo 11 landed on the moon — and has been projecting the night sky onto its 30-foot domed ceiling ever since. In 2008, the facility was renamed in honor of David M. Brown, a 1974 Yorktown High School graduate and NASA astronaut who perished when the Space Shuttle Columbia broke apart on reentry in 2003. It is a deeply local and deeply meaningful tribute, and sitting inside the dome under the stars carries that weight gently but unmistakably.
The Friends of Arlington’s David M. Brown Planetarium, a nonprofit supporting the facility, hosts public full-dome shows and science talks on the third weekend of each month during the school year— typically Saturday evening and Sunday afternoon, covering topics ranging from black holes and Mars exploration to Darwin’s voyage on the HMS Beagle. Shows include a roughly 30-minute full-dome film followed by a live, narrated presentation of the current night sky Eats, making each visit both cinematic and educational. Tickets are just $5 for adults and $3.50 for children and seniors — one of the best entertainment values in the entire county. The planetarium is located at 1426 N. Quincy Street adjacent to Washington-Liberty High School. Check the current schedule and buy tickets at friendsoftheplanetarium.org.