Friday, March 31, 2023

GRAND OPENING OF THE PLANETARIUM IN HALLE (SAALE)


The planetarium in Halle (Saale) with leading-edge ZEISS technology for visualizing celestial phenomena and delivering 360-degree video projection was ceremonially inaugurated yesterday. The domed hall, the planetarium's centerpiece with a diameter of 12 meters, will accommodate upwards of 100 visitors. "With its technical facilities, it is now the largest planetarium in Saxony-Anhalt and the most modern in Europe," says Dirk Schlesier, Head of the Halle Planetarium. "Installing leading-edge technology in a historic building is pretty unique. The gasometer has become an amazing repository of knowledge." He adds that one of the primary aims at the planetarium is to share knowledge. "It's not merely about stargazing – we also want to create a cultural space, and ZEISS' projection technology fits right in with that."


The True Black hybrid planetarium system combines the opto-mechanical projection power of the ZEISS ZKP 4 star projector with the high-contrast projections delivered by a variety of planetarium functions of the ZEISS VELVET projectors. The planetarium in Halle was one of ZEISS' first customers to use UNIVIEW Open Dome, a technology that permits any content to be projected directly from a laptop or PC onto a dome in real time.


In 2013, the former planetariums building was located on an island, and it suffered damage several times when the river Saale flooded. With the help of money from the Flood Relief Fund (Fluthilfefond), the city of Halle built the reconstruction on Holzplatz square. The new planetarium is based in a former gasometer on the leafy island of Salineinsel, just a few minutes' walk from the city center. In the past, it was often described as the 'Colosseum of Halle'. After several years of reconstruction and a total overhaul of the interior, guests from the city and the wider area are now able to visit the new center of astronomy education and entertainment.



The opening ribbon of the planetarium is symbolically cut (from left to right): Dirk Schlesier (director of the planetarium), Eva Feußner (Minister of Education of Saxony-Anhalt), Romy Fuchs (representative of the architectural firm RKW Architektur Leipzig) and Mayor Egbert Geier. (Credits: ZEISS | Martin Kraus)




https://www.planetarium-halle.de/



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