The Astronaut Memorial Planetarium and Observatory, or AMPO, also known as the Eastern Florida State College Planetarium and Observatory, is an
astronomical observatory
An observatory is a location used for observing terrestrial, marine, or celestial events. Astronomy, climatology/meteorology, geophysical, oceanography and volcanology are examples of disciplines for which observatories have been constructed. His ...
and
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 planetarium ...
at
Eastern Florida State College in
Cocoa, Florida
Cocoa is a city in Brevard County, Florida, Brevard County, Florida. The population was 19,041 at the 2020 United States Census. It is part of the Palm Bay, Florida, Palm Bay–Melbourne, Florida, Melbourne–Titusville, Florida, Titusvil ...
. The facility consists of a planetarium, public observatory, large-screen movie theater, exhibit halls, multi-media classroom and an art gallery.
In September 2017 hurricane Irma caused minor damage to the building. It has been shut down since then.
"The EFSC Planetarium and Observatory on the Cocoa Campus is closed indefinitely because of damage caused by Hurricane Irma." As noted on its homepage
retrieved 2020-07-05.
In April 2018 they announced an effort to raise $9M to repair and refurbish the planetarium and observatory.
Planetarium and observatory
The 210-seat planetarium theater is a 70-foot overhead hemisphere onto which images from a variety of projectors are shone, to simulate the night sky and to provide multimedia educational and entertainment programs to area schools and to the public. On the rooftop public observatory, visitors can view planets, stars, galaxies and other objects directly through a
Ritchey–Chrétien telescope
A Ritchey–Chrétien telescope (RCT or simply RC) is a specialized variant of the Cassegrain telescope that has a hyperbolic primary mirror and a hyperbolic secondary mirror designed to eliminate off-axis optical errors (coma). The RCT has a wi ...
operated by observatory staff and members of the Brevard Astronomical Society.
Other facilities
The observatory is also home to The Discovery Theater, Science Quest Exhibit Hall, and the International Hall of Space Explorers. The Discovery Theater uses a 70 mm
Iwerks
SimEx-Iwerks Entertainment specializes in high-tech entertainment systems, films, film technologies, film-based software, Simulation Hardware Systems and services. The company has partnerships with various institutions, parks, and destinations.
T ...
movie projector to shown are science and nature films. It also has an art gallery which images of space are shown, such as
Messier 101 #REDIRECT Pinwheel Galaxy 101
Messier 101 #REDIRECT Pinwheel Galaxy 101
Messier 101 #REDIRECT Pinwheel Galaxy 101 101 may refer to:
* 101 (number), the number
* AD 101, a year in the 2nd century AD
* 101 BC, a year in the 2nd century BC
It ma ...
.
HighBeam
/ref>
See also
* List of astronomical observatories
This is a list of astronomical observatories ordered by name, along with initial dates of operation (where an accurate date is available) and location. The list also includes a final year of operation for many observatories that are no longer in ...
* List of planetariums
References
External links
Eastern Florida State College Planetarium and Observatory
Astronomical observatories in Florida
Eastern Florida State College
Public observatories
Museums in Brevard County, Florida
Planetaria in the United States
Science museums in Florida
{{US-observatory-stub