Planetarium, St. Petersburg: review, features and reviews

In 1959 in our country in St. Petersburg (then in Leningrad) a planetarium was opened. He became the third in Russia after Moscow and Volgograd. This institution was located in an unusual building, where before there was a sports and circus complex located in the center of the Petrogradsky district.

Planetarium (St. Petersburg): description

In the dome of the planetarium is an astronomical mini-laboratory, which is equipped with a telescope Meade. Unique equipment allows us to see not only the stars separately located, but also their large clusters, unknown planets and galaxies, to study the surface of the Moon.

The Planetarium (St. Petersburg) has six halls:

• "Star".
• "Space trip".
• "Planet".
• LZO ("Laboratory of entertaining experiments").
• "Razio Art" (gallery).
• "Mobile Planetarium" (mobile hall).

Let's get acquainted with them in more detail.

"Star" - the largest hall

The dome of this hall has a diameter of 25 meters at a height of 15 meters, it is designed in such a way that it can not be seen from the outside of the building. The height of the hall is 14.5 meters, its diameter is 23.5 meters. Apparatus "Planetarium" allows you to see here how the sky changes during the day, how bright its trajectories are traced by planets and the Sun, to admire the beauty of the Milky Way, solar eclipse, nebulae, to make the most secret wish, looking at the falling star.

In addition to the lectures on cosmonautics and astronomy, which are held regularly in the hall, conferences, scientific meetings, seminars with scientists and cosmonauts are held here. They share their knowledge, experience, and tell about the latest scientific discoveries.

In the "Star Hall" various programs are held, visitors can choose which lectures or shows they wish to visit. In addition, cognitive activities for junior schoolchildren, lecture courses for high school students are held here.

Planeta

This is a small room, which is equipped with a circular panorama. Here, tireless travelers are invited to make geographical discoveries, dive to the bottom of the ocean or go to the North Pole. The smallest astronomers, the cheerful hero of this room, whose name is Planeta, will invite you to a fascinating journey in search of mysterious star birds, help you visit the Moon and explore the surface of Mars.

Observatory

The Planetarium (St. Petersburg) has a unique observatory. The dome of its tower in diameter is 5.25 meters, and the height is 5 meters. It is designed to observe celestial objects. Several telescopes are used for this.

Meade LX-200

This is the apparatus of the Schmidt-Kessegren system. The diameter of the mirror is 250 millimeters, the magnification is from 40 to 650 times, which makes it possible to observe stars up to the twelfth magnitude, multiple and double stars, nebulae, galaxies, star clusters.

Meade ETX

This telescope is designed for field observations. It is equipped with computer control. The increase is from fifteen to one hundred and fifty times. This allows us to observe stars up to the tenth magnitude, scattered star clusters, double stars, the Moon.

Coronado SolarMax

This is a chromospheric telescope with an H-alpha filter. It has an increase from ten to a hundred times, which allows you to see granules, prominences, flocculi, flares and the chromosphere of the Sun.

Planetarium (St. Petersburg) conducts observations of important astronomical phenomena, invites all comers to enjoy the sky in the evening and at night. In the evenings, with a clear sky, you can observe double stars, planets, star clusters and other celestial objects.

Conversations at the telescope are conducted with a cloudless sky. And when the weather is cloudy, which is not uncommon in St. Petersburg, you can send a telescope-refractor with a twenty-fold increase to the spire of the Peter and Paul Fortress and very close to see the figure of the angel that crowns the spire.

The observatory has a room for virtual observations, in which preliminary talks are conducted before the beginning of observations. For one session in the observatory can not get a lot of visitors, so you need to find out beforehand in the administration the opportunity at the right time to visit the tour.

"Laboratory of entertaining experiments"

In 1935, the House of Entertaining Science was created in Leningrad. On its basis, the NZO appeared. The organizers of the laboratory do not copy the experiments of the great popularizers of science, but develop their own, completely new ones.

The exposition of the laboratory has more than two hundred experiments on electricity, mechanics, optics. A special section is devoted to the sensation and measurement of time. Here you will be told whether it is possible to roll on an inclined plane up, or stand on an electric light bulb without crushing it, and many more interesting things.

Here is the Foucault pendulum, which graphically illustrates the rotation of the Earth. He has a thread about eight meters in length.

RationArt Gallery

Planetarium (St. Petersburg) has its own creative corner. This is the gallery "RatsioArt", which hosts international exhibitions, seminars, master classes, a demonstration of contemporary art. The goal of the gallery is to create a context for intellectual exchange that goes beyond the boundaries of individual scientific disciplines.

"Space trip"

In this hall, visitors participate in interactive scientific and entertainment programs. Here you can become a member of the space ship crew. It will be an extraordinary flight to the fabulous worlds and to the amazing planets. And you can save the Earth from the huge asteroid threatening it, or go on an expedition to search for minerals, explore the surface of the moon and "look" into black holes, learn about astronomical astrological events of the past, present and future.

«Mobile Planetarium»

Most of the programs of the planetarium are adapted to this version. "Mobile Planetarium" (St. Petersburg) is a unique mobile structure in which the planetarium staff conducts lectures on astronomy, astronomy at popular scientific thematic events in schools.

The height of this structure is 4.2 meters, the diameter of the dome is 6 meters, the capacity is 30 people.

Where is?

Address of the planetarium in St. Petersburg: Alexander Park, 4. The work of this complex is very convenient for visits. Be sure to include it in your excursion list if you happen to visit St. Petersburg. Planetarium, the mode of operation of which is designed for both small and adult visitors, conducts the first session at 10.00, the last at 18.00, every day (except Monday). During holidays and during the school holidays, he works without days off.

All those who wish today can visit the Planetarium in St. Petersburg. Admission price:

• For pensioners - 400 rubles;
• For schoolchildren - 200;
• For children under 7 years old - free of charge.

For groups of visitors discounts are given. One ticket allows you to visit only one of the halls. Tickets should be purchased on the day of visit.

St. Petersburg, planetarium: how to get there?

It is most convenient to use the metro. It is necessary to get to the stations "Petrogradskaya", "Sportivnaya", "Gorkovskaya", from which the planetarium is no more than five minutes walk.

Guest Reviews

A fairly popular attraction is the planetarium in St. Petersburg. Reviews about it, however, are contradictory. The bulk of visitors are satisfied with the information received about the starry sky, a large selection of different programs for visitors of different ages, the possibility of obtaining applied knowledge in physics, astronomy, optics,

Many celebrate a successful location, the presence of a cafe with an inexpensive children's menu, beautiful and original decoration of the halls, interesting exhibitions in the lobby, friendly staff.

The disadvantages of the guests include the lack of a wardrobe, preliminary and online ticket sales - sometimes you can come and do not get to the desired program. Halls "Space travel" and "Planetka" often work only on weekends, holidays and during school holidays. This causes inconvenience. We hope that the administration will take into account the wishes of the visitors and eliminate minor defects.