experimenta Science Museum Opens in Heilbronn

JENA/Germany, HEILBRONN/Germany | 02. April 2019 | Planetariums

Heilbronn. A ZEISS UNIVERSARIUM Model IX projects a realistic night sky onto the museum's Science Dome.

Spread out over 25,000 square meters, experimenta is a unique and innovative learning space for visitors young and old with numerous hands-on exhibits and opportunities to explore.

The "Worlds to Discover" exhibition space housed in the futuristic new building is divided into four separate areas that focus on day-to-day objects and events, human perception, the physical world and experiments. The Science Dome – a unique combination of both a planetarium and theater – promises to become one of the main attractions at the new science center. Visitors are invited to dive into strange new worlds and see things like never before. The Science Dome is equipped with premium multimedia and theater technology. Even in a world already so profoundly shaped by different media, this space creates an especially lively atmosphere with wind and fog machines, a water curtain, the latest laser technology and the specially equipped ZEISS UNIVERSARIUM Model IX star projector. The moving auditorium is another distinctive feature: by rotating 180°, the audience sees either a high-tech night sky or a stage.

Even the star projector designed for the 21.5 m dome is the first of its kind. "Modern LED light sources make the stars appear like pinpricks in the night sky. The projector is the first in this series with motorized apertures for dimming the stars on the sloped edge of the dome. It works in tandem with multiple digital planetarium systems. It not only can be retracted, but even rotates, if needed, in the opposite direction of the moving auditorium – a one-of-a-kind setup in the world of planetariums," says Martin Kraus, Head of ZEISS Planetariums.

The planetarium opened to the public on 31 March.