USA Today 10Best named this North Carolina planetarium among the best in the country
Hundreds of people gathered outside the Chapel Hill planetarium in April 2024 to witness the solar eclipse. Decades earlier, at the beginning of the country’s crusade to explore space, the site had been a training ground for NASA astronauts, who were sent to the planetarium to learn how to navigate space manually in the event of a mechanical failure.
This historic venue, the first of its kind in the South, has remained relevant for more than 70 years. And it was recently named by one of the best planetariums in the U.S. for 2025.
Chapel Hill’s Morehead Planetarium & Science Center was among the institutions nominated by a panel of experts and voted on by USA Today readers as part of the publication’s 10Best rankings.
“For the past 75 years, we’ve taken pride in bringing the stars to generations of North Carolinians and beyond,” the museum wrote in a social media post. “Thank you to all who helped us rank in the top five of all U.S. planetariums!”
Here’s what makes the planetarium special.
USA Today’s top 10 planetariums
The Chapel Hill spot, which was the only North Carolina planetarium to make the top 10, ranked No. 5 in USA Today’s list:
- No. 1: McDonnell Planetarium at Saint Louis Science Center (St. Louis, Missouri)
- No. 2: Intuitive Planetarium at U.S. Space & Rocket Center (Huntsville, Alabama)
- No. 3: COSI Planetarium (Columbus, Ohio)
- No. 4: Flandrau Science Center & Planetarium at University of Arizona (Tucson, Arizona)
- No. 5: Morehead Planetarium and Science Center at University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (Chapel Hill, North Carolina)
- No. 6: Fels Planetarium at The Franklin Institute (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania)
- No. 7: Adler Planetarium (Chicago, Illinois)
- No. 8: Strasenburgh Planetarium at Rochester Museum & Science Center (Rochester, New York)
- No. 9: Clark Planetarium (Salt Lake City, Utah)
- No. 10: Faulkner Planetarium at Herrett Center for Arts & Science (Twin Falls, Idaho)
About the planetarium
The Morehead Planetarium, located at 250 E. Franklin St. on UNC’s Chapel Hill campus, was built in 1949 and designed by the architects who planned the Jefferson Memorial, according to the planetarium’s website.
It was named for John Motley Morehead III, a UNC alumnus who discovered acetylene gas and helped his father develop a new process for manufacturing calcium carbide.
Morehead also served as mayor of Rye, New York, and was the U.S. ambassador to Sweden. UNC’s Morehead-Patterson Bell Tower and Morehead Scholarships Program are also named for him.
Visitors can see a variety of shows at the planetarium. “Carolina Skies,” for example, is one of the longest-running shows. Guests are taken on a guided tour of the nighttime sky and learn to identify objects visible to the naked eye and find cardinal directions.
The planetarium is open Friday-Sunday. Learn more and purchase tickets at moreheadplanetarium.org.
This story was originally published February 25, 2025 at 2:29 PM with the headline "USA Today 10Best named this North Carolina planetarium among the best in the country."
