Moscow Planetarium Celebrates 90th Anniversary

Jena/Germany, Moscow/Russia | 7 November 2019 | Planetariums

On 5 November, the planetarium in Moscow, which is equipped with ZEISS technology, celebrated its 90th anniversary. The celebrations in Russia’s oldest planetarium welcomed 350 guests from the worlds of business, politics and academia, as well as representatives from other Russian planetariums and the Russian Federal Space Agency itself. “We have a longstanding and very good relationship with the planetarium in Moscow. We are delighted that the approximately 3,000 visitors we welcome each day have helped the planetarium become one of the world’s most visited,” said Head of ZEISS Planetariums Martin Kraus during the celebrations.

Moscow’s planetarium began doing educational work on 5 November 1929, making it one of the first planetariums outside Germany to do so. Its dome diameter of 25 meters makes it Europe’s largest planetarium today. It has been using ZEISS technology ever since it opened its doors: its first projector, a Model II, was deployed from 1929 through 1977. It was then replaced with a specially developed planetarium model with an automatic control system that remained in operation until 1994. The planetarium closed in 1994, which delayed the planned renovation and modernization work for several years.

When it reopened in 2011, ZEISS gave the dome theater its third planetarium projector, a ZEISS UNIVERSARIUM. This opto-mechanical projector is capable of recreating the night sky much more clearly and brilliantly than a digital video system ever could. “We are pleased to be using this exceptional technology at our planetarium and recreating the night sky just as you would see it high up in the mountains,” says Faina Rubleva, Scientific Director of the Moscow Planetarium.

These days, the planetarium is one of the most cutting-edge astronomy education and research centers in the world, meaning it can support further planetariums in Russia. An area measuring 17,000 square meters accommodates interactive models, a Foucault pendulum, and a large collection of meteorites, as well as artifacts from over 50 years of space exploration. The idea is for the ZEISS planetarium technology to help kids and young people in particular to understand what happens in the night sky through this visual medium, and encourage them to ask questions about astronomy and space exploration.