Yuri’s Night

Each April 12 the world stops to celebrate humanity’s achievements in space by marking the anniversary of Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin who, in 1961, was the first human launched into orbit.  

This year Scienceworks and Melbourne Planetarium hosts our second annual adults-only Yuri’s Night.

Join astrophysicist Dr Katie Mack and astronomer Dr Tanya Hill for an expansive discussion on what we know about the Universe – from what the light that reaches Earth tells us about the far-reaches of space, to what we learn when humans leave Earth and venture into the beyond.

Emre Deniz, lead designer from Melbourne VR company Opaque Media, also speaks about breaking new frontiers in virtual reality as the first Australian game developer given behind-the-scenes access to NASA. Sample their latest title Earthlight to get a glimpse of what future astronaut training might be like in an effectively zero-gravity environment.

Take your seat in our immersive 7.1 surround-sound 16-metre domed Melbourne Planetarium to experience the most epic zoom-out ever - off planet Earth to the edges of our solar system and beyond the Milky Way.

Then get outside to enjoy the real thing, stargazing through telescopes (weather permitting) or try your hand at racing Sphero® robots through our solar system course.

DJs Sleep D set the scene with a cerebral showcase of space tunes in our glowing geodesic dome with bar. Cosmic cocktails and food available for purchase.

And lace up your moon boots - prizes awarded for the best space costumes in the Scienceworks galaxy.

Planetarium shows screen at 7.15pm and 9.15pm (choose a session when booking tickets). Panel discussion with Dr Katie Mack, Dr Tanya Hill and Emre Deniz starts at 8pm between Planetarium sessions.

Tickets will give you access to the event from 6pm until close. There’s heaps going on so make sure you get here early to enjoy everything that Yuri’s Night has to offer.