New Things at the Planetarium

Wednesday, May 16th, 2007 at 03:32 PM by Dave

For visitors to St. Cloud State University’s planetarium, you will find a significant improvement to the planetarium this fall. Currently, the planetarium is closed for the summer for renovation and an upgrade in equipment.

The current star projector is 34 years old. It was designed with technology that was developed in the 50’s and 60’s. The new star projector that will be installed will use up-to-date technology of fiber optics and lensed stars. The current projector shows 3,500 stars and the new projector will illuminate over 8,500 stars with deeps ky objects and galaxies.

Along with a new projector, the star projection screen (a 30 foot dome) will be replaced, new lights and sound system, along with an automation system to control the auxillary projectors used around the dome.

All of this work is expected to be completed before the start of the fall semester. It is expected to be used by our students in the introductory solar system classes.

Last year the planetarium was host to over 5,000 visitors in more than 125 different shows. With the introduction of this new projection system, this coming year the planetarium is planning on hosting more shows.

Please watch this space for updates in the planetarium. The planetarium link is http://www.stcloudstate.edu/physics/planetarium.asp

Posted in Astronomy News

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