Armagh Planetarium facts for kids
The Armagh Planetarium is a special place in Armagh, Northern Ireland. It's where you can learn all about space, stars, and planets! It's located near the city centre, right next to the Armagh Observatory. The planetarium is surrounded by beautiful grounds called the Armagh Astropark.
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A Look Back: How It Started
The Armagh Planetarium was created by Dr. Eric Mervyn Lindsay. He was the director of the Armagh Observatory. After 25 years of hard work, he got money from local councils and the government in 1965.
Patrick Moore, a famous astronomer, was chosen to lead the building of the planetarium. It cost £120,000 to build. This included £12,000 for its very first projector! The planetarium officially opened on May 1, 1968.
Over the years, the planetarium has grown a lot:
- In 1974, they added the Lindsay Hall of Astronomy.
- A special dome was built for a large 16-inch (400 mm) telescope. This is the biggest public telescope in Ireland!
- In 1994, a new exhibition hall called the Eartharium was added. This was because people became more interested in Earth Science.
- The Armagh Astropark also opened in 1994. It's like a giant model of our Solar System and the Universe. It has cool stainless steel models of the Sun and planets that are scaled down.
The planetarium turned 50 years old in 2018.
Cool New Technology
In the 1970s, under director Terence Murtagh, Armagh Planetarium became a leader in new technology. Murtagh realized they could use new video projectors for their shows. This meant they didn't need lots of slide projectors anymore.
Using video players was a very new and tricky idea back then. They had to change regular video projectors to make the stars and planets look real on the dome. This system stayed in place for many years. Later, computer-controlled laserdisc players took over from the video players.
Armagh Planetarium was the first planetarium in the world to project video onto its dome! Other planetariums around the world soon started doing the same thing.
The planetarium also invented an electronic system for the audience to join in. Each seat had a small keypad. People could answer quizzes, vote on things, and even choose what topics the show would cover! The show Space Odyssey, made in the 1980s, was the world's first fully interactive planetarium show. This amazing idea has now spread to planetariums everywhere.
The Planetarium Today
Before it reopened on July 31, 2006, Armagh Planetarium had a big makeover. The building was updated to be more comfortable and eco-friendly.
These changes included:
- A completely new Digital Theatre that can hold 93 visitors.
- A new Bose Corporation stereo sound system for amazing sound.
- Advanced LED lights.
- A Digistar 3 fulldome video projection system. This system projects full-colour video across the entire dome!
Armagh Planetarium also has a special program called "outreach." Their staff travel to schools and science festivals. They give presentations about astronomy and other sciences. They even use a 30-seat inflatable planetarium for these visits!
On December 7, 2006, the Armagh Planetarium building was named after Eric Lindsay. This was to remember his great work.
The Projectors Over Time
Armagh Planetarium has used many different projectors. Each one was more advanced than the last!
- The first projector was the Goto Mars (1968–1977). It had separate lamps for the Sun, Moon, and planets.
- Next came a Viewlex-Minolta Roman IIb (1977–1994). This projector is now used at the South Downs Planetarium in England.
- The first digital projector was an Evans and Sutherland Digistar 1 (1994–1995). Armagh was the first in the UK to use this new technology!
- It was quickly replaced by the even better Digistar 2 (1995–2006).
- Today, they use the latest Digistar 7. This is a super modern computer system. It projects amazing full-colour fulldome video across the entire dome!
See Also
- List of science centers#Europe
