Free Admission to the National Planetarium (extended until May 30, 2017)

02 May 2017

The National Museum extended their "Free Admission to the National Planetarium" policy until May 30, 2017 in celebration of the National Heritage Month.  Actually, I was anxiously waiting for this announcement and was hoping that they would extend since the original Free Admission policy was only until April 30.  I thought that today was the best time to drop by since not many people can make time to visit except for those who live nearby.  I was right.  There wasn't much of a line and we were actually able to watch TWO shows! haha Okay, they were both "Journey to a Billion Suns" but still, we got to watch TWO shows! :)  We'd like to tell you what to expect, what you can see while in the venue and other relevant information for your trip to the National Planetarium.

The National Planetarium, under the management of the National Museum of the Philippines, is located within the Rizal Park but is along Padre Burgos Avenue, Manila.  It is accessible from either Padre Burgos Avenue or from the Rizal Park (or Luneta).  It is right next to the Japanese Garden.

We took a jeepney from Quiapo and we got off along the Taft side of Rizal Park.  From this direction, we were able to see the progress on the National Museum of Anthropology and the National Museum of Natural History.       

An alternative way is to take the Mabini route (jeepneys plying the area) so you can get off at the Ma. Orosa Street (the street that bisects the Rizal Park) which means a shorter walk to get to the Planetarium.

Oh and not to forget, if you're coming from the Rizal Park area, you just need to follow these directional arrows to get to the National Planetarium.

We arrived at the Planetarium around 1230PM.  The next show was at 1:00PM.  At this time, surprisingly, there were only two other groups with us.  Basically, there were only 8 people in line haha so the guard told us to wait in the shade. :)

Ten minutes to 1PM, the guard motioned for everyone to fall in line.  The process was pretty simple.

• You have to register your party and wait for a ticket for your group.
• Next, you have to leave your belongings at the baggage counter.  You are only allowed to bring your wallet with you into the theater.  Everything else should be left at the baggage counter.  You'll be given a corresponding number for your belongings so there's nothing to worry about.
• Then, you have to fall in line again, this time to enter the full dome.
• As you enter the full dome, there are ushers to guide you to your seats.  
• For other information, you may check out the photo below or contact the National Planetarium through their FB page.

Lobby of National Planetarium

Since I couldn't bring my phone into the dome, naturally there aren't any pictures ;) The show that we watched was the "Journey to a Billion Suns".  It was about the astronomers' quest of mapping the stars, first through distance and eventually through the more progressive third dimension.  The show lasted around 30 minutes.

After the show, we were able to retrieve my phone from the baggage counter to take pictures in the gallery.  For everyone who's interested in space, this is a must see! :)

The Milky Way

Winter constellation

Summer constellation

By the time we were finished with the gallery, the next show was about to start.  The guard at the baggage counter suggested that we watch another show since there was still time and the line was still short :)  So, we took him up on his offer.  He did say that it was a different show but from the show schedule, they were showing the same one we just saw.  Still, we watched again, who wouldn't?! :)

Oh, an interesting thing happened while we were waiting for the show to start.  You know how they play music to entertain viewers before the show?  We were so surprised to hear them play Grant Gustin's song, "Running Home to You", the show he sang during The Flash musical crossover :) The three of us giggled and sang to the music which led to the man seated next to us to look at us strangely hahaha

Anyway, that was our day at the National Planetarium.  We plan on going again during the other dates to watch the other shows :)

Thank you National Museum! :)