In 1959, a planetarium was opened in our country in St. Petersburg (then still in Leningrad). He became the third in Russia after Moscow and Volgograd. This institution was located in an unusual building, where before that there was a sports and circus complex located in the center of the Petrograd district.
Planetarium (St. Petersburg): description
In the dome of the planetarium is an astronomical mini-laboratory, which is equipped with a Meade telescope. Unique equipment allows you to see not only separately located stars, but also their large clusters, unknown planets and galaxies, and to study the surface of the moon.
The planetarium (St. Petersburg) has six rooms:
- "Star".
- "Space trip".
- "Planet".
- LZO ("Laboratory of entertaining experiments").
- "Razio Art" (gallery).
- "Mobile Planetarium" (mobile hall).
Get to know 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 cannot be seen from the outside of the building. The height of the hall is 14.5 meters, its diameter is 23.5 meters. The Planetarium device allows you to see here how the sky changes in a day, what bright paths the planets and the Sun outline for their movement, admire the beauty of the Milky Way, a solar eclipse, nebulae, make the most intimate desire when looking at a shooting star.
In addition to lecture programs on astronautics and astronomy, which are held regularly in the hall, there are conferences, scientific meetings, seminars with scientists and astronauts. They share their knowledge, experience, and talk about the latest scientific discoveries.
Various programs are held in the Star Hall, visitors can choose for themselves which lectures or shows they want to attend. In addition, educational events for elementary schoolchildren and lecture cycles for high school students are held here.
Planet
This is a small room, which is equipped with a circular panorama. Here, tireless travelers will be offered 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 Planetasha, will take you on an exciting journey to find 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 is 5.25 meters in diameter and 5 meters high. It is designed to observe celestial objects. For this, several telescopes are used.
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 allows you 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. Increase from fifteen to one hundred and fifty times. This allows you to observe stars up to the tenth magnitude, open star clusters, binary stars, the moon.
Coronado solarmax
This is a chromospheric telescope with an N-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.
The planetarium (St. Petersburg) conducts observations of important astronomical phenomena, invites everyone 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 held in a cloudless sky. And when the weather is cloudy, which is not uncommon in St. Petersburg, you can send a refractor telescope with a twenty-fold increase to the spire of the Peter and Paul Fortress and see very close the figure of an angel who crowns the spire.
The observatory has a virtual observation room, in which preliminary discussions are held before the observations begin. Not many visitors can get to the observatory for one session, so you need to find out in advance in the administration the opportunity to visit the tour at the right time.
"Laboratory of entertaining experiments"
In 1935, the House of Entertaining Science was created in Leningrad. On its basis, NZO appeared. The laboratory organizers do not copy the experiments of the great popularizers of science, but develop their own, completely new ones.
The laboratory has more than two hundred experiments in electricity, mechanics, and optics. A special section is devoted to the sensation and measurement of time. Here they will tell you whether it is possible to roll uphill on an inclined plane, or stand on a light bulb without crushing it, and much more.
Here is the Foucault pendulum, which clearly illustrates the rotation of the Earth. It has a thread about eight meters long.
Gallery "RazioArt"
The planetarium (St. Petersburg) has its own creative corner. This is the RazioArt Gallery, which hosts international exhibitions, seminars, master classes, and a demonstration of works of modern art. The gallery’s mission is to create a context for intellectual exchange that goes beyond the scope of individual scientific disciplines.
"Space trip"
In this room, visitors participate in interactive science and entertainment programs. Here you can become a member of the crew of the spacecraft. It will be an extraordinary flight to fabulous worlds and amazing planets. And you can save the Earth from a 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 the amazing astronomical events of the past, present and future.
"Mobile Planetarium"
Most planetarium programs are adapted for this version of it. The Mobile Planetarium (St. Petersburg) is a unique mobile construction in which planetarium staff conduct lectures on astronautics and astronomy at popular science-related thematic events in schools.
The height of this structure is 4.2 meters, the diameter of the dome is 6 meters, and the capacity is 30 people.
Where is?
The planetarium address in St. Petersburg: Alexandrovsky Park, 4. The work of this complex was built very convenient for visiting. Be sure to include it in your tour list if you happen to visit St. Petersburg. The planetarium, whose mode of operation is designed for both small and adult visitors, conducts the first session at 10.00, the last at 18.00, every day (except Monday). On holidays and during school holidays, he works seven days a week.
Everyone can visit the Planetarium in St. Petersburg today. Admission Price:
- for pensioners - 400 rubles;
- for schoolchildren - 200;
- for children under 7 years old - free of charge.
For groups of visitors discounts are provided. 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 subway. You need to get to the stations "Petrogradskaya", "Sportivnaya", "Gorkovskaya", from which the planetarium is no more than five minutes walk.
Visitors reviews
A fairly popular attraction is the planetarium in St. Petersburg. Reviews about him, however, are contradictory. The bulk of visitors are satisfied with the information received on the starry sky, a large selection of various programs for visitors of different ages, the possibility of obtaining applied knowledge in physics, astronomy, optics, etc.
Many note the good location, the presence of a cafe with an inexpensive children's menu, beautiful and original decoration of the halls, interesting exhibitions in the lobby, and friendly staff.
The disadvantages of the guests include the lack of a wardrobe, preliminary and online ticket sales - sometimes you can come and not get on 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 visitors and eliminate minor flaws.