Moscow Planetarium
Moscow Planetarium was opened to the public in 1929. It is the oldest planetarium in Russia. After a long reconstruction from 1994 to 2011, it turned into a modern scientific, educational and entertainment center. Today, the capital’s planetarium is considered the largest in Europe – the dome of the Great Star Hall has a diameter of 25 meters and an area of 1000 m².
Video: Moscow Planetarium
Contents- Highlights
- How the Moscow Planetarium is organized
- Planetarium museums
Interactive programs for preschoolers and schoolchildren - Mode of operation and rules of visiting
- How to get there
Highlights
Interestingly, in the pre-war years in the planetarium pilots of polar aviation were preparing for flights. And after the war, the Moscow Planetarium played a big role in the training of domestic cosmonauts. For a long time, members of the cosmonaut squad mastered here the basics of astronavigation.
.
Nowadays, the Moscow Planetarium is a large scientific and educational center, which implements many educational programs. In addition, the planetarium is one of the most popular attractions and tourist sites of the capital. Many Muscovites and tourists coming to the metropolis are eager to visit here, because the opportunity to see the beauty of the starry sky in planetariums exists only in 16 cities in Russia.
.
How the Moscow Planetarium is organized
The Astronomical Playground is open during the warm season – from May to September, from 11.00 to 21.00. On it you can see sundials, which are usually installed on squares and small clocks for the countryside. The Sky Park features arcs of celestial spheres, a miniature Stonehenge and the rounded domes of two observatory towers. With the help of astronomical instruments in clear weather, visitors can track the movement of the moon, sun, planets and stars above the capital’s horizon.
A huge 16-meter-long Foucault pendulum runs through the entire museum building. Its ball, hovering over a 6 m limbo scale, weighs 50 kg. This is the largest Foucault pendulum in Russia, which allows to visually reproduce the famous experience of astronomer Jean Foucault and demonstrates the effect of rotation of our planet around its own axis.
.
One of the novelties of the planetarium is a modern 4D-cinema. Dynamic armchairs and a powerful acoustic system are installed here, and additional special effects allow each visitor to feel the realism of what is happening and the effect of presence in the frame.
.
Planetarium Museums
If desired, guests of the Moscow Planetarium can visit two museums. The Urania Museum presents the history of the planetarium. Models of spaceships are on display here, as well as Planetarium apparatuses that were used to show the starry sky from 1929 to 1976 and from 1977 to 1994. This museum features unusual relief globes of the Earth and other planets, a model of the solar system, a unique collection of meteorites, and telescopes, theodolites, and angle measuring instruments.
.
The planetarium’s second museum is more like a science center in terms of equipment. It is a modern interactive museum “Lunarium”, where they do not conduct the usual excursions. In the “Lunarium” is a lot of educational games and exhibits, with the help of which visitors familiarize themselves with physical laws and astronomical phenomena. Here you can control a Mars rover, create an artificial cloud and tornado, ride a space bike, simulate an alien, launch a rocket into space, learn about the properties of vacuum and weightlessness, determine your weight on other planets and even make an explosion of the Sun with the help of a virtual meteorite.
.Interactive programs for preschoolers and schoolchildren
80% of all visitors to the Moscow Planetarium are children, so many educational programs are held here. For kids from 5 to 8 years old in the planetarium is open daily theater of fascinating science “Visiting Stargazer”, where classes are conducted in a playful form. Kids are introduced to the constellation of the Big Dipper, the planets, the moon and the water cycle in nature.
.For schoolchildren planetarium in Moscow conducts sightseeing and thematic excursions, as well as cycles of lectures “Star Lessons”. They are designed for children who are not indifferent to the beauty of the night sky, like to read about space travel, are interested in astronomy and telescope building.
.
Since 1934, the planetarium has been running an astronomical circle, where children are trained in additional education programs, listen to lectures by astronauts and famous astronomers, as well as go on expeditions to Russian astronomical stations. For many of them classes in this circle determine the choice of their future profession.
.
Mode of operation and rules of visiting
The Moscow Planetarium complex is open on all days of the week, except Tuesday, and is open from 10.00 to 21.00. Visits to the Great Star Hall, Small Hall, Lunarium museum and 4D-cinema are paid separately. You should also keep in mind that the planetarium regularly holds promotions: for example, you can buy a gift certificate to several zones at once at a discount, and a ticket for the birthday boy will cost 20% cheaper.
.
It should be taken into account that the planetarium is very popular with the city’s residents and its guests, so there may be a queue at the ticket office.
.How to get there
The planetarium is located in the center of the capital, not far from the Garden Ring and the new territory of the Moscow Zoo at the address: 5 Sadovo-Kudrinskaya Street, p.1. It can be reached from Barrikadnaya metro station in 5 minutes.
.
