James S. McDonnell Planetarium

The James S. McDonnell Planetarium was constructed in 1963 and was designed by architect Gyo Obata of the firm Hellmuth, Obata & Kassabaum (HOK). The unique roof design is known mathematically as a hyperboloid of one sheet. The smoke coming from the roof is coincidental clouds on the day the picture was taken.

The planetarium features a Zeiss Planetarium Model IX which projects more than 9,000 stars onto an 80-foot dome. The planetarium staff can also demonstrate eclipses, meteor showers and other celestial phenomena.