The Sultan Iskandar Planetarium ( ms, Planetarium Sultan Iskandar) is a

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 ...

Kuching Kuching (), officially the City of Kuching, is the capital and the most populous city in the States and federal territories of Malaysia, state of Sarawak in Malaysia. It is also the capital of Kuching Division. The city is on the Sarawak River ...

, Sarawak, Malaysia. It is also the first planetarium to be constructed in Malaysia.

History

The RM 3 million planetarium was constructed along with RM 30 million

Kuching Civic Centre The Kuching Civic Centre ms, Dewan Suarah Kuching) is a major landmark in Kuching, Sarawak, Malaysia. The building was officially opened on 1 August 1988 following the proclamation of Kuching as a city status. Features The viewing platform at ...

. It was officiated by Sultan

Iskandar of Johor Sultan Iskandar Ibni Almarhum Sultan Ismail
Retrieved 3 January 2009 (

who was the then

Yang di-Pertuan Agong The Yang di-Pertuan Agong (, Jawi: ), also known as the Supreme Head of the Federation, the Paramount Ruler or simply as the Agong, and unofficially as the King of Malaysia, is the constitutional monarch and head of state of Malaysia. The of ...

Malaysia Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federation, federal constitutional monarchy consists of States and federal territories of Malaysia, thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two r ...

on 19 January 1989 and was opened to the public on 1 March 1989. The planetarium has a sitting capacity of 172, equipped with a white dome of 15 metres in diameter, fitted with four projectors, and lightning facilities. The planetarium uses a German-made

Zeiss projector A Zeiss projector is one of a line of planetarium projectors manufactured by the Carl Zeiss Company. Main models include Copernican (1924), Model I (1925), Model II (1926), Model III (1957), Model IV (1957), Model V (1965), Model VI (1968) ...

which can show 5000 stars, a moon, and several special effects. The main purpose of this planetarium is to show educational videos about astronomy and to give the audience an experience of the outer space. The first show screened in the planetarium was a documentary about the moon made by a professor from the

National University of Malaysia The National University of Malaysia ( ms, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, abbreviated as UKM) is a public university located in Bandar Baru Bangi, Hulu Langat District, Selangor, Malaysia. Its teaching hospital, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia ...

(UKM). The first curator of this planetarium was a German citizen named Adolph Kunert. He was appointed to the position for one year before he returned to his home country. Among the programmes organised by the planetarium are: school holiday space science programmes, entourage to Sabah solar eclipse observations, camps, astoquiz,

Astronomy Day Astronomy Day is an annual event in the United States and later in other countries, intended to provide a means of interaction between the general public and various astronomy enthusiasts, groups and professionals. History This event was start ...

, exhibitions and roadshows. The planetarium also offers industry training programmes for Information Technology, Science, and Social Science students.

References

External links

* Planetaria in Malaysia Buildings and structures in Kuching 1989 establishments in Malaysia Tourist attractions in Kuching Museums in Sarawak Space program of Malaysia {{Sarawak-stub