The Omni-Theatre is an observatory and large-format film theatre located at the

Science Centre Singapore The Science Centre Singapore, previously known as Singapore Science Centre is a scientific institution in Jurong East, Singapore, specialising in the promotion of scientific and technological education for the general public. It houses over 85 ...

(formerly Singapore Science Centre) in

Jurong East Jurong East is a planning area and residential town situated in the West Region of Singapore. It borders Jurong West and Boon Lay to the west, Clementi to the east, Tengah and Bukit Batok to the north and Selat Jurong to the south. First ...

Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, borde ...

Facilities

It was officially opened on 10 December 1987 by the 4th

President of Singapore The president of Singapore is the head of state of the Singapore, Republic of Singapore. The role of the president is to safeguard the Reserves of the Government of Singapore, reserves and the integrity of the Singapore Civil Service, public serv ...

Wee Kim Wee Wee Kim Wee ( zh, s=黄金辉, poj=Ûiⁿ Kim-hui, p=Huáng Jīnhuī, first=s,poj,p; 4 November 1915 – 2 May 2005) was a Singaporean journalist and diplomat who served as the fourth president of Singapore from 1985 until his resignation in ...

as an expansion of the larger Science Centre, it specifically encompasses an

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 ...

, an omniplanetarium, and an domed projection system to show movies relating to

science Science is a systematic endeavor that builds and organizes knowledge in the form of testable explanations and predictions about the universe. Science may be as old as the human species, and some of the earliest archeological evidence for ...

astronomy Astronomy () is a natural science that studies astronomical object, celestial objects and phenomena. It uses mathematics, physics, and chemistry in order to explain their origin and chronology of the Universe, evolution. Objects of interest ...

, etc. A simulation theatre, exhibition room, classroom, restaurant, and gift shop are also located on the premises.

The Observatory

As one of the few observatories in the world located next to the

Equator The equator is a circle of latitude, about in circumference, that divides Earth into the Northern and Southern hemispheres. It is an imaginary line located at 0 degrees latitude, halfway between the North and South poles. The term can als ...

constellations A constellation is an area on the celestial sphere in which a group of visible stars forms a perceived pattern or outline, typically representing an animal, mythological subject, or inanimate object. The origins of the earliest constellation ...

in both the northern and southern celestial hemispheres can be observed and thus opens up more vistas in the sky for observers. The main

telescope A telescope is a device used to observe distant objects by their emission, absorption, or reflection of electromagnetic radiation. Originally meaning only an optical instrument using lenses, curved mirrors, or a combination of both to observe ...

of the Observatory is a 40-cm Cassegrain reflector of combined focal length 520-cm. The sub-telescope is a 15-cm apochromatic Kepler refractor of focal length 180-cm. The equatorial mount for the telescopes was designed for its location; the accompanying English yoke provides the necessary stability for the drive and tracking mechanisms. The 5.5-metre stainless steel

dome A dome () is an architectural element similar to the hollow upper half of a sphere. There is significant overlap with the term cupola, which may also refer to a dome or a structure on top of a dome. The precise definition of a dome has been a m ...

can be made to swivel in any direction and its shutter can be made to slide open for the telescope to be focused onto interesting objects in the sky. The observatory is situated at geographical coordinates: 1° 20' 03" N latitude 103° 44' 14" E longitude 15.27 m Height (m.s.l)

The theatre

The theatre consists of a massive hemispheric screen, twenty-three metres in diameter. This screen is sixteen metres or about five storeys high, and is made up of 376 pieces of vinyl-coated

aluminium Aluminium (aluminum in American and Canadian English) is a chemical element with the symbol Al and atomic number 13. Aluminium has a density lower than those of other common metals, at approximately one third that of steel. I ...

panels, covering a surface of 625 m². The material achieves 30% reflectivity, ensuring immense clarity. About 43 million perforations in the screen allow both sound and air-conditioning to pass through to the audience. Stretching 180 degrees horizontal from wall to wall and tilted at a 30-degree angle to the horizon, the screen "wraps" over the audience to cover 80% of a hemisphere so that the images far exceed a person's field of vision. The theatre was originally opened with a seating capacity of 276 and was the first dedicated IMAX Dome/OMNIMAX theatre, and the first overall IMAX installation, in Southeast Asia. A refurbishment in 2015 saw the theatre's seating capacity reduced to 221, and the original IMAX Dome analogue film system was replaced with a new

Evans & Sutherland Evans & Sutherland is a pioneering American computer firm in the computer graphics field. Its current products are used in digital projection environments like planetariums. Its simulation business, which it sold to Rockwell Collins, sold products ...

" 8K" Digistar 5 digital planetarium theatre system.

References

{{Reflist

External links

Science Centre, Singapore
Planetaria Cinemas in Singapore