What to Know
- Solar System Encounter at Discovery Cube OC in Santa Ana
- Through Sept. 5, 2022
- Included with museum admission
This "Summer of Space" has consistently delivered on the wow-wow-WOW front, thanks to the remarkable images snapped by the James Webb Space Telescope, though "snapped" is surely far too simple a description for what this incredible device is busily doing.
But snapping ourselves or our space-obsessed kids standing among the planets of the Solar System?
That's far simpler to achieve than sending a technically complex telescope to the far, far reaches of our galaxy.
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Even better? No launch pad is required to send your family (and yourself) to space; rather, you'll simply need to board your own family rocket for Discovery Cube OC, in Santa Ana, which is featuring an astronomically entertaining (and educational) exhibit devoted to our home system.
That means you'll spy Jupiter, yes, and Mars, for sure, and Earth? It would hardly seem like an authentic Solar System Encounter without our #1 hangout, the ultimate orb, that gorgeous green-blue ball of watery wonder.
But these aren't small renderings of our neighboring planets, nor the planet we currently occupy. Rather, the Solar System Encounter is a large-scale display, a planet-y presentation gives visitors a wider vista of the sizable celestial bodies that orbit our shared star, the Sun.
Adding to the aura of this otherworldly adventure?
The detailed planet models boast a glow, giving aspiring and wannabe astronauts an added thrill, the thrill that comes from being in an illuminated version of outer space.
Truth time: You'll never stand as close to Jupiter as you will at the Santa Ana institution, we'll wager with some probably well-placed confidence, and if you did other urgent issues might be at play (wind, surely, but other cosmic events may disrupt the meaningful moment).
So here's your chance to sail through the Solar System, all while covering much shorter distances between the planets.
The Solar System Encounter is on view through Sept. 5, 2022 — that's another thing to consider, you couldn't possibly reach the actual Jupiter by early September, even if you packed your bag and left today — and is only on view at the Discovery Cube located in Orange County, not Los Angeles.
Your admission to Discovery Cube OC is all you'll need to visit the Solar System Encounter. Oh yes: And no astronaut suit is required, nor moon boots, but feel free to dress as you like.
