Bryan-Gooding Planetarium facts for kids
The Bryan-Gooding Planetarium is a cool place to learn about space. It's inside the Museum of Science and History (MOSH) in Jacksonville, Florida, USA. This special theater was built in 1988. It has a huge dome-shaped screen, which is about 60 feet (18 meters) wide. It also has a great sound system.
The planetarium was first called the Alexander Brest Planetarium. It was named after Alexander Brest, who gave money to build it. When it first opened, it used a special projector made by a German company called Carl Zeiss AG. This projector could show about 8,900 stars! About 60,000 people visit the planetarium each year. It has seats for 200 visitors.
The first director of the planetarium was Michael Reynolds. He created the first shows and programs. These included talks, workshops for teachers, and even a class on how to build telescopes.
Awesome New Equipment
In 2010, the planetarium got a big upgrade! The Henry and Lucy Gooding Endowment and the Bryan family gave MOSH a lot of money for improvements. The seats, dome, and floor were all cleaned up. The dome was even repainted.
The biggest change was a brand new digital projection system. It's called the Konica Minolta Super MediaGlobe II. This new system replaced the old projector, which was 22 years old.
The new projector is super clear. It has four times as many pixels as a regular HDTV. This means the images look amazing! It can show very dark blacks and bright colors. It can also create 3D space simulations. These simulations use a special database of stars and planets.
The old projector could show 8,900 stars. But the new MediaGlobe II can show a massive 118,000 stars! It can also project weather events like rain, snow, lightning, and even the aurora (Northern Lights). These upgrades have made the planetarium experience much better. More people are coming to see the new shows.
A New Name
The planetarium closed for two months in 2010 for all these renovations. It was closed from August 23 to October 23. When it reopened, it had a new name. It became The Bryan-Gooding Planetarium in the Alexander Brest Science Theatre.
Cosmic Concerts
Besides the educational shows, the planetarium also has fun Cosmic Concerts. These shows happen on the first Friday night of each month. They combine music, usually rock, pop, or classical, with a colorful laser light show. Videos are projected onto the dome. You can see amazing images of galaxies, nebulas, and pulsars.
The museum also sells special diffraction glasses. These glasses can make the light show look even cooler! The music is played through the planetarium's powerful 18,000-watt sound system. In 2010, the old laser system needed too much water to cool down. So, the Cosmic Concerts stopped for a bit. But they started again once a new laser projection system and LED lights were installed.
