Besser Museum
is a 501(c)3 non-profit charitable organization.
The Besser Museum is a 501 (c)(3), non-profit, membership corporation stewarded by its own Board of Trustees.
The museum receives no continuing financial support from federal, state, or local government entities or millage.
Operational support is generated through admission fees, membership dues, awarded grants and donations.
Besser Museum is an accrediated museum by the American Alliance of Museums.
Our vision is a community that can explore the dynamic story of Northeast Michigan's interconnected natural resources and cultural heritage
through the ability to navigate the past, illuminate the present, and imagine the future.
Current Show Descriptions
Seeing: A Photon's Journey Across Space, Time, and Mind
Ride a photon across the galaxy to your mind's eye and experience how we see. Narrated by Neil Degrasse Tyson.
Suggested audience: Ages 7+
Habitat Earth - Living in a Connected World
Through stunning visualizations of the natural world, dive below the ocean's surface to explore the dynamic relationships found in kelp forest ecosystems, travel beneath the forest floor to see how Earth's tallest trees rely on tiny fungi to survive, and journey to new heights to witness the intricate intersection between human and ecological networks.
Suggested audience: All ages
Capcom GO!
An immersive, historical documentary that showcases the achievements of the Apollo program and what it took to put the first human on the Moon.
It introduces a new generation to the immense challenges they overcame and will inspire them to become the explorers, designers, engineers, thinkers and dreamers of the future.
Suggested audience: All ages
Two Small Pieces of Glass
"Two Small Pieces of Glass: The Amazing Telescope" was produced to engage and appeal to audiences of all ages, Two Small Pieces of Glass, traces the history of the telescope from Galileo's modifications to a child's spyglass — using two small pieces of glass — to the launch of NASA's Hubble Space Telescope and the future of astronomy. It explores the wonder and discovery made by astronomers throughout the last 400 years.
Suggested audience: All ages
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Did the Asteroid Really Kill the Dinosaurs?
Did a space rock six miles wide slam into the Earth 66 million years ago and wipe out 75 percent of all living species at that time, including the dinosaurs? Explore this, impacts, and cosmic collisions across the Solar System in this dynamic new show.
Suggested audience: All ages
Phantom of the Universe: The Hunt for Dark Matter
This show reveals dark matter's earliest clues, covering the astral choreography of galactic orbits as well as sensitive detectors hidden deep underground in ancient gold mines.
Suggested audience: Ages 7+
The Accidental Astronauts
Follow the adventures of Sy and Annie and their dog Armstrong as they embark on an unexpected journey into space! Explore the Earth, Sun and Moon system with a wise-cracking starship computer. Follow an asteroid as it crashes into the Moon. Bounce along with them on the lunar surface. Get up close and personal with a solar storm. And gain a new appreciation of our home planet.
Suggested audience: All ages
Oasis in Space
Oasis in Space transports the audience on a startling and beautiful voyage through our universe, galaxy, and solar system in search of liquid water - a key ingredient for life on Earth.
Suggested audience: All ages
Mayan Archaeostronomy: Observers of the Universe
Mayan Archaeoastronomy: Observers of the Universe is unique among planetarium shows, intertwining science and mythology to take the viewer on a poetic journey through how the Mayans have viewed and understood the Universe throughout their history.
Suggested audience: Ages 7+
Santa's Secret Star
Join Santa Clause and Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer on an animated Christmas journey, as the two try and find their way back to the North pole after getting lost one year. This animated feature is both educational and entertaining for the whole family, as Santa's Secret Star covers a number of important astronomy topics like why the sun sets earlier in the winter or how you could navigate using only the stars.
Suggested audience: All Ages
The Sistine Chapel
Finding a moment to reflect on Michelangelo’s “Book of Genesis” isn’t easy in the noisy, tourist-filled Sistine Chapel. So instead, come to the planetarium where you can can gaze at the same artwork!
Suggested audience: Ages 5+
Sunstruck!
Travel back to the beginning of time and experience the birth of the Sun. Discover how it came to support life, how it threatens life as we know it, and how its energy will one day fade away.
Suggested audience: Ages 5+
World 2 War
World 2 War is an action packed full-dome & virtual reality documentary that combines cinematic battle scenes with informative overviews of the battlefield and historic reference from photos and videos. World 2 War will put you right in the middle of World War 2’s biggest battles!
Suggested audience: All ages
Big Astronomy
Big Astronomy shares the story of the people and places who make big astronomy and big science happen. This show takes visitors to the extreme sites where astronomy happens in the most extreme environments and with some of the most interesting people.
Suggested audience: Ages 5+
Star of Bethlehem
Journey back in time to see the night sky 2000 years ago and discover the origins of Christmas as we hunt for what was it was that brought the wise men to a small manger in Bethlehem. The star of Bethlehem looks at the historical and astronomical evidence to try and find out when this event happened, and what mysterious astronomical phenomenon were happening at the time.
Suggested audience: Ages 7+
For thousands of years the humans observed the light coming from the night sky with their eyes. In the beginning of the 17th century, the invention of the telescope by Galileo revolutionized our knowledge of the Universe. Finally, in the 20th century with the advent of rockets, it became possible to go above the earth’s atmosphere and observe X-ray and gamma ray radiation which are the marks of the hot and violent Universe. But it is not only light that can give us information about the cosmos. Neutrinos and cosmic rays also provide vital information. Finally, the detection by the LIGO experiment of gravitational waves from two merging black holes opened a new window in astrophysics. This video presents images of the cosmos as revealed by all these different messengers.
“Birth of Planet Earth” is a planetarium fulldome show that tells the twisted tale of our planet’s origins.
Scientists now believe that our galaxy is filled with solar systems, including up to a billion planets roughly the size of our own.
The film employs advanced, data-driven, cinematic-quality visualizations to explore some of the greatest questions in science today: How did Earth become a living planet in the wake of our solar system’s violent birth? What does its history tell us about our chances of finding other worlds that are truly Earth-like?