Up close to the stars in the Supernova Planetarium
Created: 12/20/2022, 12:20 p.m
By: Sabina Brosch
The Supernova Planetarium in Garching provides unique insights into the universe.
Visitors experience how stars are formed or die or are part of the landing of a space probe on Mars.
Photo: eso planetarium © eso planetarium
Jet past the stars, dive into the clouds of Jupiter and fly to the edge of the universe: In the Supernova Planetarium of the European Southern Observatory (ESO) in Garching, visitors can feel a bit like space travelers of the future.
Garching
- The ESO Supernova Planetarium is located on the TU research campus, right next to ESO, and is open to the public.
The building resembles a binary star system, where mass is transferred from one star to the other until it explodes in a supernova.
The Supernova is the largest inclined planetarium in German-speaking countries.
Its center is the 17.4 meter high planetarium dome, which has a diameter of 14 meters and an inclination of 25 degrees.
Science, music and art merge into a 360-degree spectacle
The heart of the supernova is the fulldome planetarium with state-of-the-art projection technology and a scientifically accurate three-dimensional astronomical database.
It makes a unique and authentic experience possible, the visitor experiences how stars form or die, you are part of the landing of a space probe on Mars, you explore the Jupiter moon Europa up close, under whose thick ice shell a huge ocean is hidden.
Science, music and art merge into a 360 degree spectacle that brings the solar system to life, 109 visitors can attend a show at the same time.
Exhibition with interactive elements
In addition to the planetarium, there is also an astronomical exhibition in the Supernova on an area of 2200 square meters with numerous interactive elements about our universe.
A lot in the demonstrations, but also in the exhibition, results from the observations that come from the ESO telescopes.
The planetarium offers both school classes and families an unforgettable learning experience, explaining and visualizing even the most difficult topics from astronomy and physics.
The "world space" is a large cylindrical space opposite the planetarium, 15.5 meters high and over 140 square meters in size.
Thanks to a glass ceiling, there is a clear view of the starry sky at night, lamps are reminiscent of the zodiac signs of the southern hemisphere.
And this is where the journey into the universe begins.
The European Southern Observatory
The European Southern Observatory in Garching is the leading European facility for astronomical research.
Their powerful telescopes allow a glimpse into distant parts of the universe.
ESO operates three telescopes in Chile: in the Atacama Desert on La Silla, on Paranal and on Chajnantor.
On the 2400 meter high La Silla mountain there are several telescopes with a mirror diameter of up to 3.6 meters.
The most powerful observatory, the Very Large Telescope (VLT), stands on the 2600 meter high Paranal, only twelve kilometers from the Pacific coast and in one of the driest regions in the world.
It has four main telescopes, each with a primary mirror of 8.2 meters in diameter and four additional movable auxiliary telescopes with a diameter of 1.8 meters.
