What to do and see in Texas, United States: The Best Observatories & Planetariums

September 9, 2021 Esmeralda Fenner

Texas has great beaches for bird watching, boating, and fishing. Plus golf courses, cowboy and high art culture, and a rich history. Bask on the beach and bird watch between golf games before, during, or after spring break in Corpus Christi, Port Aransas, Crystal Beach, or South Padre Island. Explore East Texas from Dallas to Tyler, Texarkana, Jefferson, and Nacogdoches. Enjoy golf and big city life in Dallas or Houston. Visit Galveston's coastal Strand. Tour West Texas and Hill Country from San Antonio, New Braunfels, Austin, and Fredericksburg to Amarillo and El Paso.
Restaurants in Texas

1. Morgan Jones Planetarium

700 S Mockingbird Ln, Abilene, TX 79603 +1 325-671-4637 http://www.abileneisd.org/Page/366
Excellent
80%
Good
20%
Satisfactory
0%
Poor
0%
Terrible
0%
Overall Ratings

5.0 based on 5 reviews

Morgan Jones Planetarium

2. Noble Planetarium

1600 Gendy St, Fort Worth, TX 76107-4062 +1 817-255-9300 [email protected] http://www.fwmuseum.org/
Excellent
59%
Good
23%
Satisfactory
14%
Poor
0%
Terrible
4%
Overall Ratings

4.5 based on 22 reviews

Noble Planetarium

The 80-seat Noble Planetarium brings the wonders of the universe to you! A smaller, all-digital projection system offers a more dynamic view of the night sky and enables trips to destinations across the galaxy. The connected gallery offers a stunning view of the Milky Way, as well as the latest images of the planets of our solar system and an exhibit on meteorites.

3. McDonald Observatory

3640 Dark Sky Dr, Fort Davis, TX 79734-3010 +1 432-426-3640 [email protected] http://mcdonaldobservatory.org
Excellent
76%
Good
17%
Satisfactory
5%
Poor
1%
Terrible
1%
Overall Ratings

4.5 based on 1,282 reviews

McDonald Observatory

The McDonald Observatory Visitors Center staff appreciate all of the positive reviews (and even some of the negative ones, too!) that well-meaning and well-intentioned visitors have left over the years. However, we feel that TripAdvisor does not provide anywhere close to the level of management tools needed to combat the misinformation that routinely is provided by, again, well-intentioned visitors to others visiting its pages. With no way other than the "management response" feature to cull and corral the sometimes wildly misleading information posted on these pages, we feel that using TripAdvisor for anything beyond getting the general feel of the establishment is pointless.

Reviewed By 613JoeM613 - Houston, United States

The 11am tour is a solid 2 hour tour that begins in the new visitor's center with a great presentation of solar viewing with real time views of the sun along with great explanations from Christina regarding the sun's surface & effect on the Earth. We loaded a shuttle bus which took us to 2 of the observatories. Even if you are not an astronomer, you will find the tour very entertaining. Well worth the stop.

4. TAMIU Planetarium

5201 University Blvd, Laredo, TX 78041-1920 (956) 326-DOME (3663) http://www.tamiu.edu/planetarium/
Excellent
69%
Good
19%
Satisfactory
6%
Poor
6%
Terrible
0%
Overall Ratings

4.5 based on 16 reviews

TAMIU Planetarium

5. Scobee Planetarium

1300 San Pedro Ave, San Antonio, TX 78212-4201 +1 210-486-0100 http://www.alamo.edu/sac/scobee-events
Excellent
50%
Good
33%
Satisfactory
17%
Poor
0%
Terrible
0%
Overall Ratings

4.5 based on 6 reviews

Scobee Planetarium

6. Center for Earth & Space Science Education

1400 E 5th St Tyler Junior College, Tyler, TX 75798-3401 +1 903-510-2312 http://www.tjc.edu/cesse
Excellent
62%
Good
31%
Satisfactory
5%
Poor
0%
Terrible
2%
Overall Ratings

4.5 based on 42 reviews

Center for Earth & Space Science Education

Reviewed By TravelingAnn91 - Frisco, United States

We love observatories and planetariums. We try and go wherever we visit. This facility is on the Tyler Junior College campus. Great planetarium and very knowledgeable PnD staff that run the movies. On Tuesdays each movie is only a dollar per showing. Amazing value for what you learn in these movies. Movie ticket includes a small exhibit in the basement with very cool science experiments and rocks from around the universe. Even let us see what goes on behind the screen when we asked.

7. The Center for the Arts & Sciences

400 College Blvd, Clute, TX 77531-4778 +1 979-265-7661 [email protected] http://bcfas.org
Excellent
60%
Good
40%
Satisfactory
0%
Poor
0%
Terrible
0%
Overall Ratings

4.5 based on 5 reviews

The Center for the Arts & Sciences

The Center has something for everyone to discover through art, science, theater, space and music! This attraction includes the Brazosport Museum of Natural Science, BASF Planetarium, the 400 seat Freeport LNG Theater, the 200 seat black-box Dow Arena Theater, Brazosport Art League Gallery and Studio. The art gallery and museum are open 6 days a week and are always free! Minutes from the beach!

8. Burke Baker Planetarium

1 Hermann Circle Dr Houston Museum of Natural Science, Houston, TX 77030-1749 +1 713-639-4629 http://www.hmns.org/planetarium
Excellent
36%
Good
33%
Satisfactory
19%
Poor
8%
Terrible
4%
Overall Ratings

4.0 based on 36 reviews

Burke Baker Planetarium

Reviewed By Nolapearl2007

The planetarium was a big hit with my children. Social distancing was in place and all staff wore masks. I had not visited the planetarium in 20 plus years and it's as wonderful as I remember. We did not purchase tickets for the museum, but next time we definitely will.

9. Planetarium at the University of Texas at Arlington

700 Planetarium Pl UT Arlington, Arlington, TX 76019-0001 +1 817-272-1183 http://www.uta.edu/planetarium/
Excellent
48%
Good
35%
Satisfactory
5%
Poor
8%
Terrible
4%
Overall Ratings

4.0 based on 60 reviews

Planetarium at the University of Texas at Arlington

10. Moody Planetarium

3301 4th St, Lubbock, TX 79409-4106 +1 806-742-2432 https://www.depts.ttu.edu/museumttu/visit/planetarium.php
Excellent
100%
Good
0%
Satisfactory
0%
Poor
0%
Terrible
0%
Overall Ratings

5.0 based on 1 reviews

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