The Sir Thomas Brisbane

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 ...

is located on the grounds of the Brisbane Botanic Gardens in the suburb of

Mount Coot-tha Mount Coot-tha is a mountain and a suburb of the City of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. In the , there were no residents in the suburb. Visible from much of the city, Mount Coot-tha is a popular bushland tourist destination including the Mou ...

Brisbane Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the states and territories of Australia, Australian state of Queensland, and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a populati ...

Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , established_ ...

, Australia. The Planetarium was officially opened on 24 May 1978. The Planetarium is named after Sir

Thomas Brisbane Major General Sir Thomas Makdougall Brisbane, 1st Baronet, (23 July 1773 – 27 January 1860), was a British Army officer, administrator, and astronomer. Upon the recommendation of the Duke of Wellington, with whom he had served, he was appoint ...

, governor of the colony of New South Wales (1821 - 1825) and well known Scottish astronomer who established the first significant observatory at

Parramatta Parramatta () is a suburb and major Central business district, commercial centre in Greater Western Sydney, located in the state of New South Wales, Australia. It is located approximately west of the Sydney central business district on the ban ...

, Australia, in 1822 for mapping the southern skies. The Planetarium is located about from the

Central Business District A central business district (CBD) is the commercial and business centre of a city. It contains commercial space and offices, and in larger cities will often be described as a financial district. Geographically, it often coincides with the "city ...

, and is administered by the

Brisbane City Council Brisbane City Council (BCC) is the democratic executive local government authority for the City of Brisbane, the capital city of the state of Queensland, Australia. The largest City Council in Australia by population and area, BCC's jurisd ...

. The Planetarium features the 12.5m diameter Cosmic Skydome (hemispherical planetarium theatre) with a maximum concentric seating capacity of 130. Extensive space exploration and astronomy displays in the Planetarium's Foyer and Gallery include the 1969

Apollo 11 Apollo 11 (July 16–24, 1969) was the American spaceflight that first landed humans on the Moon. Commander Neil Armstrong and lunar module pilot Buzz Aldrin landed the Apollo Lunar Module ''Eagle'' on July 20, 1969, at 20:17 UTC, an ...

Moon landing with a replica of

Neil Armstrong Neil Alden Armstrong (August 5, 1930 – August 25, 2012) was an American astronaut and aeronautical engineer who became the first person to walk on the Moon in 1969. He was also a naval aviator, test pilot, and university professor. ...

's space suit and a 1/48-scale

Saturn V Saturn V is a retired American super heavy-lift launch vehicle developed by NASA under the Apollo program for human exploration of the Moon. The rocket was human-rated, with multistage rocket, three stages, and powered with liquid-propellant r ...

rocket, meteorites, and numerous models of spacecraft, rockets, and astronomical instruments. In 2018, a major permanent exhibit - Skylore:

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Indigenous Australians or Australian First Nations are people with familial heritage from, and membership in, the ethnic groups that lived in Australia before British colonisation. They consist of two distinct groups: the Aboriginal peoples ...

Astronomy - was installed in the Gallery. The original

Zeiss Zeiss or Zeiß may refer to: People *Carl Zeiss (1816–1888), German optician and entrepreneur *Emil Zeiß (1833–1910), German Protestant minister and painter Companies *Carl Zeiss AG, German manufacturer of optics, industrial measurem ...

star projector was removed from the Cosmic Skydome during the upgrade in 2010 and was placed on display in the foyer in early 2012. A replacement optical star projector by Ohira Tech was installed in the Cosmic Skydome in early 2013. A mini-theatre usually features a regularly updated

Space Telescope Science Institute The Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI) is the science operations center for the Hubble Space Telescope (HST), science operations and mission operations center for the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), and science operations center for th ...

web feed. 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 ...

contains a permanently mounted Zeiss 15 cm

refractor 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 ...

and a Meade 25.4 cm "

Go To GoTo (goto, GOTO, GO TO or other case combinations, depending on the programming language) is a statement found in many computer programming languages. It performs a one-way transfer of control to another line of code; in contrast a function c ...

" Schmidt-Cassegrain telescope. The Planetarium runs more than 1,300 regular shows per year in the Cosmic Skydome for public and school groups, and observing sessions in the observatory. During Financial Year 2017/2018, the Planetarium had more than 155,000 visitors with nearly 80,000 attending sessions in the Cosmic Skydome. A major upgrade for the Planetarium was completed in June 2019 with a new digital projection system installed. Adding to the new Skylore Story a world first, The exhibit features some of Australia's leading Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Elders sharing their star knowledge for the first time. The content within this exhibition was sourced and curated by Dr Duane Hamacher, an astronomer and academic working closely with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities. Access to the display areas and mini theatre is free. Admission charges apply for the Cosmic Skydome and the observatory. The Planetarium is closed on Mondays (except during most Queensland school holiday periods) and is usually closed for up to two weeks for servicing work following the December/January school holidays. Outside exhibits adjacent to the Planetarium include a statue of

Konstantin Tsiolkovsky Konstantin Eduardovich Tsiolkovsky (russian: Константи́н Эдуа́рдович Циолко́вский , , p=kənstɐnʲˈtʲin ɪdʊˈardəvʲɪtɕ tsɨɐlˈkofskʲɪj , a=Ru-Konstantin Tsiolkovsky.oga; – 19 September 1935) ...

, the ''Father of

Cosmonautics Astronautics (or cosmonautics) is the theory and practice of travel beyond Earth's atmosphere into outer space. Spaceflight is one of its main applications and space science its overarching field. The term ''astronautics'' (originally ''astronau ...

'' and a large

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

in the Sundial Courtyard.

References

External links

Sir Thomas Brisbane Planetarium
- official website
Brisbane Planetarium on Facebook
- official Brisbane Planetarium on Facebook {{Brisbane landmarks Tourist attractions in Brisbane Buildings and structures in Brisbane Buildings and structures completed in 1978 Planetaria in Australia Education in Brisbane 1978 establishments in Australia Mount Coot-tha, Queensland