Launceston Planetarium at QVMAG at Royal Park
(last updated 18 August 2008)e




The Launceston Planetarium has closed its doors at the Queen Victoria Museum and Art Gallery at Royal Park, in order to commence its move to the Inveresk site of QVMAG.

The move of the Planetarium is in keeping with plans to refit Inveresk with a science focus and to convert the Royal Park site into a world-class Fine and Decorative Art Gallery.

Over the 40 years of its operation, some 200,000 people have passed through its doors and enjoyed gazing at the wonders of the artificial night sky produced by the Zeiss projector and many other special effect projectors.

While the Planetarium is temporarily closed, QVMAG’s Planetarium and Space Sciences Manager, Martin George, and Planetarium Assistant Chris Arkless will continue to respond to astronomical enquiries, and will also take the opportunity to perform vital equipment maintenance and develop new shows ready for the reopening at Inveresk. 

The public will also be able to keep informed of upcoming astronomical events via Martin George’s weekly articles.

The reopening date of the Planetarium is still to be announced, but it is expected the public can look forward to new shows in 2009, the International Year of Astronomy.

Comet McNaught, the brightest comet for over 40 years, photographed near Launceston by Martin George on 22 January 2007.

The Launceston Planetarium presents shows on many aspects of astronomy. You will see the southern night sky projected onto a domed ceilng with additional special visual effects and commentary. The planetarium projector displays the stars visible to the unaided eye from the southern hemisphere, and simulates the apparent motion of the stars as the Earth rotates. The effect is so realistic, it is like being out under the stars!

Read the latest Astronomy and Space article by Martin George of the Launceston Planetarium:

>>read article 17 August 2008 The Lakes of Titan

>>read article 10 August 2008 Lunar Eclipse Next Sunday Morning

>>read article 3 August 2008 NASA at 50


Previous articles 2008

Previous articles 2007

30.12.07 The Year in Review 23.12.07 How Dark IS It, Really? 16.12.07 Solving Solar Mysteries 9.12.07 Watching the Geminid Meteors 2.12.07 Pulsars: 40 Years On 25.11.07 The Light Year: A Reader's Question 18.11.07 The Reversing Planets 11.11.07 Another Race to the Moon? 4.11.07 China Reaches for the Moon 28.10.07 Brazil Featuring Well in Astronomy 21.10.07 The Changing Constellations 14.10.07 A Full Moon Question 7.10.07 40 Years of Daylight Saving 30.9.07 Sputnik: 50 Years On 23.9.07 The Dark Side of Iapetus 16.9.07 Reber's Memory Draws Crowds 9.9.07 Mars Rovers—Going On And On 2.9.07 A Large Amount Of Nothing 26.8.07 The Disappearing Moon 19.8.07 Canopus Again Captures Attention 12.8.07 Jupiter Well Placed for Viewing 5.8.07 High-Altitude Astronomy 29.7.07 Rising From The Ashes 22.7.07 A Descent into the Grave? 15.7.07 Remembering Apollo 11 8.7.07 Some Readers' Queries 1.7.07 Launch of the DAWN mission 24.6.07 The day that our world was made smaller 17.6.07 The Shortest Day Approaches 10.6.07 Probing our Solar System's Past 3.6.07 The Messenger Meets the Goddess of Love 27.5.07 The Clock in the Sky 20.5.07 A Monumental Explosion 13.5.07 New Studies of Water Ice on Mars 6.5.07 New Planet—a 'Super-Earth'?

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The Development of Planetaria
The Launceston Planetarium uses a projector made by Zeiss. It is one of several thousand planetaria worldwide, but one of only six in Australia which are regularly open to the public. The world's first planetarium began operation in 1923 in Jena in Germany, using a projector built by Zeiss. Nowadays, there are several manufacturers of such projectors, still including Zeiss, which has updated its equipment many times.

A modern planetarium uses not only the main projector but also a variety of equipment including a high-quality sound system, slide projectors and special effects projectors.

Fun and Learning
As well as providing shows for the general public, staff are also actively involved in encouraging school children of all ages to explore the science of astronomy. School programs are frequently presented, after which our astronomer conducts a question and answer session. A teachers' kit on astronomy is available, summarising the basics of astronomy and including the most up-to-date information.

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PARTIAL SOLAR ECLIPSE
A partial solar eclipse on the afternoon of February 7 attracted a total of about 100 people to the Royal Park Site of the Museum for a special safe viewing, conducted by staff of the Planetarium.

A montage of images of the eclipse, taken by Martin George. The coppery-red colour of the Moon during the total phase is clearly seen.


A viewing evening for the total lunar eclipse on 28 August 2007 attracted well over 100 enthusiastic people to the Royal Park Site of the Queen Victoria Museum and Art Gallery. Planetarium staff Martin George and Chris Arkless, together with volunteer Karenne Barnes, explained the event and offered views through telescopes set up on the roof of one of the Museum buildings.


Chris Arkless explains the eclipse to interested visitors.

The eclipse attracted a good deal of interest throughout Australia, as it was visible during the early to mid evening. Many parts of the country experienced a cloud-free view, with conditions in Launceston being perfect. Our event attracted people of all ages, some of whom brought their own binoculars and telescopes.

'It was fun to watch the eclipse with such a large number of keen visitors', said Martin George, Manager of the Planetarium.

The eclipse began at 6.51 pm, and was total from 7.52 pm to 9.23 pm. The intense coppery-red colour of the Moon during the total phase was an attractive sight.

The next total lunar eclipse visible from Tasmania will occur before sunrise on the morning of 16 June 2011, although part of the event will be seen in twilight.