Skip to main content Skip to Search Box

Definition: planetarium from Philip's Encyclopedia

Domed building in which a projector displays an artificial sky in order to demonstrate the positions and motions of the Sun, Moon, planets and stars relative to the Earth. Walter Bauersfeld of the Zeiss Optical Company invented the planetarium in 1913.


planetarium

From The Columbia Encyclopedia
optical device used to project a representation of the heavens onto a domed ceiling; the term also designates the building that houses such a device. A modern planetarium consists of as many as 150 motor-driven projectors mounted on an axis. As the axis moves, beams of light are emitted through lenses and travel in predetermined paths on the ceiling. The juxtaposition of lights reproduces a panorama of the sky at a particular time as it might be seen under optimum conditions. The motions of the celestial bodies are accurately represented, although they can be compressed into much shorter time periods, allowing spectators to see in minutes the motions that may actually take the celestial bodies days or years to complete. A typical planetarium projects the fixed stars, the sun, moon, and planets, and various nebulae. A larger planetarium can reproduce the Milky Way, comets, and more than 9,000 fixed stars. It may also project a set of coordinate lines for locating objects, in addition to…
213 results

Full text Article planetarium

From Astronomy Encyclopedia
Hemispherical domed theatre housing a centrally mounted projector that can simulate the appearance of the constellations in the night sky at any time of the year and from any point on the surface of the Earth. There are now some 2500 planetariums around the world, visited each year by an estimated…
| 713 words
Key concepts:

Full text Article planetarium

From The Columbia Encyclopedia
optical device used to project a representation of the heavens onto a domed ceiling; the term also designates the building that houses such a device. A modern planetarium consists of as many as 150 motor-driven projectors mounted on an axis. As the axis moves, beams of light are emitted through…
| 442 words
Key concepts:

Full text Article planetarium

From Britannica Concise Encyclopedia
| 74 words
Key concepts:

Full text Article planetarium

From The Macquarie Dictionary
| 83 words
Key concepts:

Full text Article planetarium

From The American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language
| 67 words
Key concepts:

Full text Article planetarium

From Dictionary of Leisure, Travel and Tourism
| 31 words
Key concepts:

Full text Article planetarium

From Philip's Encyclopedia
| 42 words
Key concepts:

Full text Article planetarium

From Collins Dictionary of Astronomy
| 89 words
Key concepts:

Full text Article planetarium

From Merriam-Webster's Collegiate(R) Dictionary
| 50 words
Key concepts:

Full text Article planetarium

From Collins English Dictionary
| 67 words
Key concepts:
Mind Map

Stack overflow
More Library Resources