Take an Immersive Journey Through Space!
The Reichert Planetarium – with full-dome video, surround-sound, and 197 comfortable new seats – will take you on enthralling, immersive journeys through the Solar System.
On Friday and Saturday nights, you can enjoy two amazing astronomy shows and very popular laser music shows.
The Planetarium offers great daytime programming for children and adults Friday through Sunday
On Friday at 8:00 pm, it’s FREE to observe the night sky in the Observatory (weather permitting).
Show Schedule
New Digital Mapping Project Reveals Human Patterns That Shaped New York City
Gergely Baics and Rebecca Kobrin will give a lecture, Mapping Historical New York: A Digital Atlas, at the Suffolk County Vanderbilt Museum at 7:00 pm on Thursday, March 7, in the Reichert Planetarium.
The project visualizes Manhattan’s and Brooklyn’s transformations during the late-nineteenth and early-twentieth centuries. Drawing on 1850, 1880, and 1910 census data, the Digital Atlas shows how migration, residential, and occupational patterns shaped the city.
The Digital Atlas breaks new ground by locating each person counted in the Census at their home address, sometimes before the street grid was even established.
The creators used preserved historical maps and city directories, and even traced census takers’ steps, to locate residences. The Atlas is a living project that will expand to include all five boroughs up to the 1940 census.
Baics is Associate Professor of History and Urban Studies and Helman Faculty Chair of Urban Studies at Barnard College. Kobrin is Russell and Bettina Knapp Associate Professor of American Jewish History at Columbia University.
The creators invite visitors to use the website’s interactive features to map and visualize the residential geographies of New Yorkers and Brooklynites. Many histories of New York may be found in the maps. The Digital Atlas includes a few case studies to show how selected data may be visualized to tell a story – and visitors are invited to create their own. Those interested in more in-depth research and alternate methods of visualizing data may access the digital layers and underlying data of the assembled maps.
Baics and Kobrin are co-principal investigators for the project, the result of a multi-year interdisciplinary collaboration between Columbia University’s Department of History and the Center for Spatial Research at the Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation.
Funding for the project is provided by the Robert D.L. Gardiner Foundation.
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Storytime Under Stars: Good Books and Stargazing
The Vanderbilt’s next Storytime Under the Stars will be on Sunday, March 3, at 6:00 pm. A live narrator reads books as selected pictures are projected on the Planetarium dome.
Sponsored by Bank of America
Join us for a special evening of storytelling and stargazing in the Reichert Planetarium. All children are invited to wear their comfiest pajamas and bring their favorite stuffed animal.
A live narrator at the front of the theater will bring selected picture books to life, with pages projected onto the Planetarium dome so families can enjoy the illustrations and follow along. Between stories, an astronomy educator will explore seasonal constellations visible from here on Long Island.
Admission fee: $8 per person | $6 for members.
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February School Break Workshops for Pre-K-Grade 4
When schools close for February break, the Suffolk County Vanderbilt Museum’s Education Department offers fun, creative workshops for pre-kindergarten children and those in grades K-4.
This year, the Museum’s winter programs include visits to the wildlife dioramas and creative projects.
Monday, February 19 | 10:00 am to 12:00 pm
Polar Bears & Snow Globe – for preschool children and their caregivers.
Register: Polar Bears & Snow Globe
Wednesday, February 21 | 10:00 am to 12:00 pm
Animals in Winter & Wonderland Painting – a drop-off program for grades K-4
Tickets: $20 | $18 Members
Register: Animals in Winter & Wonderland Painting
Give a Unique Gift That Will Last a Lifetime
Looking for a fresh, unique, everlasting gift for a loved one?
Purchase and engrave a brick that will become a permanent part of the Vanderbilt Museum.
Your donation will help the Vanderbilt to bring outstanding science, history, and art education to more than 25,000 students annually.
Your brick will be installed and displayed in your favorite brick walkway around the Vanderbilt Mansion and Terrace, or on the 43-acre grounds of the beautiful waterfront Estate.
For more information, email jaimie@vanderbiltmuseum.org.
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‘Under the Sea & Poetry’ With Linda T. Dickman
Join Linda Trott Dickman for Under the Sea & Poetry – a multigenerational workshop on Saturday, April 6, from 10:00 to 12:00 am in the Vanderbilt Museum’s Hall of Fishes – and create a poem inspired by the magnificent ocean life in the collection.
Dickman, who has lived most of her life in East Northport, is an award-winning poet whose work has been anthologized locally and internationally. She is the author of four chapbooks and a poetry prompt book for children of all ages.
The coordinator of poetry for the Northport Arts Coalition, she also works with poets of all ages at the Walt Whitman Birthplace Association and at local museums and leads a poetry workshop at Samantha’s Li’l Bit O’ Heaven coffee house. Dickman is a retired elementary school librarian.
Tickets: $10
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‘Wildman’ Steve Brill: Foraging at the Vanderbilt
Environmental educator and author “Wildman” Steve Brill, who leads wild food and ecology tours, will offer Foraging with the ‘Wildman’ on the estate grounds of the Suffolk County Vanderbilt Museum on Sunday, April 7, from 9:00 am to 12:00 pm. A 60-minute indoor presentation will precede a two-hour tour, followed by a book signing.
“With cultivated areas, fields, thickets, and woods, and the Northport Bay shore, the grounds of the Vanderbilt Museum is a bonanza for wild foods in early spring, and everything the group will be finding is renewable,” Brill said.
“Wild greens will be thriving in sunny areas and along trail edges. We’ll be looking for chickweed, which tastes like corn silk, lemony sheep sorrel, garlicky garlic mustard, spicy hairy bittercress, and pungent field garlic.”
Brill said there may also be lots of daylily shoots, which taste like a combination of string beans and onions. Roots will be in season and will look for wild carrots in the sandy hillsides near the water.
$10 | $9 members | children under 12 free
Learn More
Brill’s books include Foraging in New York (Globe Pequot Press, 2017), on the state’s best edible plants; Foraging with Kids (Brill is author, artist and publisher, 2014), a wild foods guide with science, folklore, history, recipes, games, and activities, for teachers, parents, and grandparents to use with kids; The Wild Vegan Cookbook: A Guide to Preparing Wild (and Not-So-Wild) Foods (Harvard Common Press, 2002).
Also: Shoots and Greens of Early Spring (Brill is author, artist and publisher, 2008), and Identifying and Harvesting Edible and Medicinal Plants in Wild (and Not So Wild) Places (Harper-Collins 1994), plus the iOS/Android app Foraging with the Wildman.
Name a New Chair in the Reichert Planetarium
When you name a new chair in the Vanderbilt Reichert Planetarium chair, you support innovative planetarium education and entertainment programming.
Observe a milestone, honor a loved one, or name a chair for your family or organization.
Dedicate | Celebrate | Recognize | Memorialize
Your nameplate will remain in place for the life of the seat. (It does not reserve the use of the seat.)
More Details
New Laser Shows: Lady Gaga and David Bowie
The Vanderbilt Reichert Planetarium is offering two great new laser shows: Lady Gaga and David Bowie. Enjoy your favorite songs by these legendary performers, set to exciting laser imagery.
Laser Gaga – Fridays at 9:00 pm
With her meteoric rise to fame, Lady Gaga is an undeniable force in modern music and entertainment. Bring some glam to your night with Laser Gaga! Songs include Bad Romance, Telephone, Applause, Born This Way, and more.
Laser Bowie – Saturdays at 9:00 pm
Celebrate the dazzling musical legacy of David Bowie with the glam and spectacle of lasers. Songs include Let’s Dance, Under Pressure, Life on Mars, Heroes, Space Oddity, and more. Recommended for adults.
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‘Laser Taylor Swift’ Extended through April 5
Showings of the Vanderbilt Reichert Planetarium‘s wildly popular new show, Laser Taylor Swift, have been extended through April 5. If you were not able to see one of her shows on the Eras tour, Laser Taylor Swift is the next best thing!
With more than 200 million records sold, a shelf full of Grammys, and an army of fans, Taylor Swift is an inspiration for generations. This dynamic show takes her biggest hits and brings them to life in dazzling laser light.
Tickets: $18. (Free for Museum members.)
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Setlist: You Need To Calm Down, Love Story, Anti-Hero Exile, Look What You Made Me Do, Willow, Lavender Haze, I Knew You Were Trouble, Blank Space, You Belong With Me, We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together, Shake It Off.
‘Haunting Menagerie’, Museum’s First Outdoor Sculpture Exhibition
Wendy Klemperer
On Earth Day, April 22, 2023, the Vanderbilt Museum debuted Wendy Klemperer: Wrought Taxonomies, the first exhibition of outdoor sculpture at the historic summer estate of William Kissam Vanderbilt II.
Wendy Klemperer’s sculptures—a haunting assemblage of animal forms that span imaginary, endangered, familiar, and exotic species—celebrate natural history and the nonhuman world through evocative interactions with the surrounding environment.
Using materials salvaged from scrapyards, she composes ecological narratives that respond to the history and collections of Suffolk County’s first public park and museum. Her brilliant use of gestural lines captures the spectator’s attention and invites museumgoers to reflect on the relationship between an interest in animal life and the incessant push of human industry.
Wrought Taxonomies is the inaugural exhibition in the Vanderbilt Museum’s outdoor sculpture program and the institution’s second exhibition of contemporary art focused on the relationship between culture and animals. Visitors will see large pieces visitors as they stroll the grounds of the Vanderbilt, one of the few remaining Long Island Gold Coast mansions. Smaller pieces suspended from trees wait to be discovered along the Vanderbilt’s hiking trail. Other works will be found near garden areas and the Marine Museum.
The Vanderbilt Museum occupies the former Gold Coast mansion and estate of William Kissam Vanderbilt II, the great-grandson of Cornelius Vanderbilt and a pioneer of American motorsport. Located in Centerport on the north shore of Long Island, it is renowned for its extensive marine and natural history collections, Spanish revival architecture, and picturesque parklands.
All sculptures are viewable with general admission to the Museum grounds. Educational programs and workshops associated with the themes and content of Wendy Klemperer: Wrought Taxonomies will be offered throughout the exhibition. Special thanks are due to the Robert David Lion Gardiner Foundation, whose generous support made Wrought Taxonomies possible. The exhibition will run through April 2025.
Visitors are encouraged, during these weeks of mild autumn weather, to enjoy a picnic on the grounds.
Vanderbilt Wine Supports Education, Preservation
The Suffolk County Vanderbilt Museum has partnered with Old York Cellars to create a special selection of wines – your purchase will support the Museum’s preservation efforts and education programs.
Eagle’s Nest, the waterfront estate of William K. Vanderbilt II, is the home of the Vanderbilt Museum and Charles and Helen Reichert Planetarium.
Help us preserve this vital piece of local and national history. STEM education programs are based on Vanderbilt’s marine, natural history, and cultural artifact collections. Educational planetarium offerings are provided to more than 25,000 schoolchildren each year. Please purchase wine today and support our mission.
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