COMMERCE, Texas -- Wednesday matinees and Friday night shows will highlight summer activities at the Texas A&M University-Commerce Planetarium.

On Wednesdays in June and July, the children's show will be at 1 p.m. with the 2 p.m. second show featuring "one of our favorite oldies," said planetarium director Dr. Kent Montgomery.

Tickets for the matinee will be $3 cash at the door. No reservations will be taken for matinees.

For a listing of matinee shows, go to the A&M-Commerce home page at http://www.tamu-commerce.edu/, click on visitors and community, and then the planetarium link.

On Friday evenings at 7 and 8, the show "Origins of Life" will be presented. The Rock Hall of Fame with its popular rock music is offered on the first Friday of the month at 9 p.m.

"Origins of Life," which plays through June 20, starts with the big bang, covers prebiotic chemistry in the universe, the formation of stars, formation of solar systems, and the first life on Earth.

This show is a motivational journey through time and a celebration of life on Earth. It features many recent discoveries related to life science, demonstrating that if there was ever a time that science made its greatest advances, it would be now.

The Planetarium is closed Friday, June 27, and Friday, July 6, with no matinee on July 2.

Starting Friday, July 11, the new show, "Destination Saturn," will start.

Running through Friday, Sept. 5, "Destination Saturn" will feature the planet that has been considered the crown jewel of the solar system, a symbol of all that is exotic and wonderful about the universe.

A robot named Cassini-Huygens has becomes planet Earth's eyes and ears a billion miles from the sun, the first spacecraft ever to orbit the ringed planet.

This is not just a show about the Cassini mission - it's the three-dimensional tour of the Saturnian system that audiences will want to experience.

Admission to the Friday night shows is $3 for those under 18 and A&M-Commerce students with ID, $3.50 for university employees and senior citizens, and $4 for all others. A discount of $1 per person will be offered if tickets are purchased at the same times for two shows viewed on the same day.

Each planetarium show begins with brief remarks by a member of the planetarium staff, who displays the Commerce night sky on the planetarium's 40-foot dome and points out the current visible constellations, stars, and planets.

The audiences see the shows using the planetarium's state-of-the-art Digistar 3, an all-digital projection system.

Viewers enjoy immersive theater viewing with tilted seats and 10-speaker surround sound during the shows, which last about an hour.

Reservations are urged and can be made in advance by calling 903-468-8650.