Tales of the Maya Skies

Tales of the Maya Skies is a digital full-dome show at the University of Toledo with a custom score and visuals that immerses the audience in Mayan astronomy, art, and culture. Narrated by Latin Grammy award winner Lila Downs, Tales of the Maya Skies inspires and educates through its description of the Maya’s accurate astronomical achievements and how astronomy connected them to the Universe.

what you can expect:

• A live guided tour of the Toledo night sky

  You will learn about the constellations visible from Toledo and any planets visible to the naked eye. We also typically discuss one “hot topic” in astronomy, such as the discovery of new planets around other stars, or the latest NASA discover on Mars.

• The full-dome presentation

  Whether we are traveling inside a black hole, taking a tour of the moon with Elmo, or learning about the skies over Toledo, you and your family will simply be amazed at the full-dome immersive show.

• An open-ended question and answer session

  Our expert host will answer all of your astronomy questions, whether they pertain to the live tour of the night sky, the feature presentation, or any other astronomy question that you might have.

• Observing at Brooks/Ritter Observatory

  You will be escorted over to Brooks Observatory atop McMaster Hall to view the stars and/or planets through their new 14 telescope. On the first Friday of every month, they instead observe with the Ritter 1m (40 in) telescope. This telescope is the largest active telescope east of the Mississippi and is still used by the astronomers at UToledo for their research. All observing is weather permitting!

They accept credit card and cash payments. All shows are first-come, first-served – reservations and advanced ticket purchases are not available. Doors open 30 minutes before the show, during which time you can explore the displays in our lobby.

The planetarium (show) portion of the program is approximately one-hour, while the observing session on Friday night will continue until everyone has had a chance to take a look through the telescope.

Admission to all public programs is $8 for adults and $6 for children, seniors and UToledo community members (children 3 and under are free).