Planetarium at the Technical Museum

If you consider yourself a bona fide star aficionado, and if you wish to get close and personal with the star-studded sky, come to the planetarium at the Technical Museum and avail yourself of the opportunity to observe the vast celestial expanse from different geographical positions, from the Equator to the North Pole, at different times of day or night, and during different seasons.

The planetarium at the Technical Museum was opened in 1965. It has attracted many aficionados of the celestial expanse ever since. Students’ trips include a visit to the planetarium on their itineraries. In the planetarium the image of the star-studded sky, featuring about 5 thousand stars, is simulated by means of a specially designed projection device, mounted in the centre of a circular room whose dome-like ceiling measures eight metres in diameter. This is achieved with the help of 31 optical systems, each projecting the image of one part of the sky onto the dome. The distribution of the artificial stars and their individual sparkle create the visual impression of a star-studded sky as it might appear under ideal conditions. Moreover, special projectors serve to display the Sun, the Moon and its phases, other planets and the Milky Way, as well as some other phenomena emulating their current positions in the real sky. By turning the lens of the projector, it is possible to simulate the (apparent) daily rotation of the starry sky and to show what the sky would look like at different times of night, in any season, from any geographical position.

The planetarium at the Technical Museum has operated without any interruptions since the moment it was opened. So far, over ten thousand space travels have been organized under its roof, as for a long time it was the only planetarium in Croatia. The second was opened and fitted out with digital technology in 2009 as part of the Astronomy Centre in Rijeka.