The Silesian Planetarium also Silesian Planetarium and Astronomical Observatory ( ) is the largest and oldest

planetarium A planetarium (: planetariums or planetaria) is a theatre built primarily for presenting educational and entertaining shows about astronomy and the night sky, or for training in celestial navigation. A dominant feature of most planetariums is ...

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

. It was founded on 4 December 1955 to commemorate

Nicolaus Copernicus Nicolaus Copernicus (19 February 1473 – 24 May 1543) was a Renaissance polymath who formulated a mathematical model, model of Celestial spheres#Renaissance, the universe that placed heliocentrism, the Sun rather than Earth at its cen ...

. It is located in the Silesian Park, on the boundary between the

Katowice Katowice (, ) is the capital city of the Silesian Voivodeship in southern Poland and the central city of the Katowice urban area. As of 2021, Katowice has an official population of 286,960, and a resident population estimate of around 315,000. K ...

and

Chorzów Chorzów ( ; ; ) is a city in the Silesia region of southern Poland, near Katowice. Chorzów is one of the central cities of the Metropolis GZM – a metropolis with a population of 2 million. It is located in the Silesian Highlands, on the Rawa ...

cities in the

Metropolis GZM The Metropolis GZM (, formally in Polish (Upper Silesian-Dąbrowa Basin Metropolis)) is a metropolitan association () composed of 41 contiguous gminas, with a total population of over 2 million, covering most of the Katowice metropolitan area i ...

Facilities

The Planetarium's 23-meter dome can seat four hundred spectators viewing projections of the sky from both analogue and digital

planetarium projector A planetarium projector, also known as a star projector, is a device used to project images of celestial objects onto the dome in a planetarium. Modern planetarium projectors were first designed and built by the Carl Zeiss AG, Carl Zeiss Jena co ...

s. It hosts regular public shows on astronomical topics as well as a variety of other events. In 2011 it hosted the fifth

International Olympiad on Astronomy and Astrophysics The International Olympiad on Astronomy and Astrophysics (IOAA) is an annual astronomy and astrophysics competition for high school students. It is one of the international science olympiads. The Olympiad was founded from a dissidence inside ...

. The Planetarium's sister

astronomical observatory An observatory is a location used for observing terrestrial, marine, or celestial events. Astronomy, climatology/meteorology, geophysics, oceanography and volcanology are examples of disciplines for which observatories have been constructed. Th ...

is equipped with a 300-mm diameter

refracting telescope A refracting telescope (also called a refractor) is a type of optical telescope that uses a lens (optics), lens as its objective (optics), objective to form an image (also referred to a dioptrics, dioptric telescope). The refracting telescope d ...

(the largest refractor in use in Poland) and a number of smaller instruments. On cloudless days, visitors can view live images of the

Sun The Sun is the star at the centre of the Solar System. It is a massive, nearly perfect sphere of hot plasma, heated to incandescence by nuclear fusion reactions in its core, radiating the energy from its surface mainly as visible light a ...

and, after dusk, a range of celestial objects at a magnification of up to 750 times. The observatory conducts research on

comet A comet is an icy, small Solar System body that warms and begins to release gases when passing close to the Sun, a process called outgassing. This produces an extended, gravitationally unbound atmosphere or Coma (cometary), coma surrounding ...

s and

minor planet According to the International Astronomical Union (IAU), a minor planet is an astronomical object in direct orbit around the Sun that is exclusively classified as neither a planet nor a comet. Before 2006, the IAU officially used the term ''minor ...

s. The Planetarium has an astronomical library of some 10,000 volumes and, in the courtyard, a large

sundial A sundial is a horology, horological device that tells the time of day (referred to as civil time in modern usage) when direct sunlight shines by the position of the Sun, apparent position of the Sun in the sky. In the narrowest sense of the ...

. The corridors host astronomy-related exhibits. The Planetarium's meteorological and seismological stations conduct regular observations and host educational classes.

History

The Silesian Planetarium, located in

, is a renowned educational and scientific facility designed by

Kraków , officially the Royal Capital City of Kraków, is the List of cities and towns in Poland, second-largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, the city has a population of 804,237 ...

architect Zbigniew Solawa. Construction began in July 1953, and it officially opened on December 4, 1955. The Planetarium's main projection hall can seat around 400 visitors and features a 1,000-square-meter spherical screen. At its center is a

Carl Zeiss Carl Zeiss (; 11 September 1816 – 3 December 1888) was a German scientific instrument maker, optician and businessman. In 1846 he founded his workshop, which is still in business as Zeiss (company), Zeiss. Zeiss gathered a group of gifted p ...

projector, capable of displaying over 8,000 stars, making it one of the most advanced of its time. The astronomical observatory, launched in 1955, houses Poland's largest refractor telescope with a 30 cm diameter. In subsequent years, a seismological station (1959) and a climatological station (1963) were added. The Planetarium has played a key role in education, hosting Poland's first Astronomical Olympiad in 1957 and the 5th International Olympiad in Astronomy and Astrophysics (IOAA) in 2011. Between 2018 and 2022, the facility underwent significant modernization, transforming into a science park. New features include an underground interactive exhibition space and an observation tower. The project was funded by the

Silesian Voivodeship Silesian Voivodeship ( ) is an administrative province in southern Poland. With over 4.2 million residents and an area of 12,300 square kilometers, it is the second-most populous, and the most-densely populated and most-urbanized region of Poland ...

and the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are Geography of the European Union, located primarily in Europe. The u ...

. Today, the Silesian Planetarium continues to inspire interest in astronomy and the sciences.

References

External links

Website Silesian Planetarium (has page in English)

Website Silesian Planetarium (old site, archived)

Website panoramical photos of Silesian Planetarium
Planetaria in Poland Astronomical observatories in Poland Buildings and structures in Katowice Buildings and structures in Chorzów Astronomy in Poland Tourist attractions in Katowice {{Poland-struct-stub

Facilities

History

See also

References

External links