Reconstruction of the planetarium. Great Starry Hall
Moscow Planetarium March 12th, 2014
The idea to build a Planetarium in Moscow belongs to David Ryazanov, director of the K. Marx and F Engels Institute at the Central Executive Committee of the USSR and the Glavnauka of the People's Commissariat of Education of the RSFSR. On their initiative, the presidium of the new composition of the Moscow City Council (elected in 1927) decided to create a new type of scientific and educational institution in Moscow - the Planetarium. The equipment needed for this (the Planetarium projection apparatus) was at that time the latest world invention - it was first demonstrated in October 1923.
Construction of the Planetarium in the 20s
After that, Ryazanov went to Germany and held negotiations with Carl Zeiss on the manufacture of equipment for the planetarium. And in Moscow, two young architects M. Barshch and M. Sinyavsky took up the development of a planetarium project. When designing, the architects used the natural shape of the egg in geometric and tectonic terms. Constructivist theorist Alexei Gan called Planetarium"optical science theatre".
The construction of the planetarium began on the autumnal equinox on September 23, 1928. The Moscow City Council allocated 250,000 gold rubles for the construction of the planetarium. This amount included the cost of building not only the building itself, but also its equipment, a cinema auditorium, an astronomical museum, a library, classrooms for circles, laboratory facilities, as well as an arrangement on a flat roof of an astronomical observatory for mass excursions.
In mid-February 1929, specialists from Germany arrived in Moscow to install an iron frame - a spherical dome - a screen. Apparatus " Planetarium”at that time was already in Moscow and was stored in packed boxes in the premises of the Moscow Department of Public Education.
Moscow Planetarium during the war years
At the end of May, when the auditorium was ready, the installation of the apparatus began. Planetarium» under the supervision of specialists from Zeiss.
On August 3, 1929, the installation of the apparatus was completed. On this day, the acceptance and demonstration of the work of the planetarium to the leadership of the Moscow City Council was scheduled. The show completely satisfied those present, the acceptance of the equipment was completed.
During August, September and October closed screenings took place.
Officially Moscow Planetarium was opened on November 5, 1929. It became the 13th planetarium in the world - of its twelve predecessors, ten were built in Germany, one in Italy and one in Austria. To this day, Vladimir Mayakovsky wrote a poem about the planetarium, ending with the words: “Every proletarian should look at Planetarium».
During the war in Moscow Planetarium in addition to holding the usual mass lectures, he provided practical assistance to the fighters and commanders of the Soviet army in the form of special lectures of the military cycle for intelligence officers and military pilots. In addition to the lectures held in the Star Hall, traveling lectures on astronomy were organized. These lectures were given in hospitals, sponsored military units, in the auditoriums of the City Military Commissariat, and in air defense propaganda centers. Moscow Planetarium worked throughout the war and only once was closed for a period of two months.
Planetarium in Soviet times
In 1946, the construction of the Astronomical Site began. For the first time in the history of planetariums, this complex of cognition tools, addressed to living luminaries, was conceived by the author of the first Soviet school textbook on astronomy, Mikhail Evgenievich Nabokov. And it was built as a public city of the sky by the works of Moscow astronomers and employees of the Planetarium K. L. Baev, R. I. Tsvetov, A. B. Polyakov, E. Z. Gindin. The astronomical platform recreated the tradition of ancient stellar abodes, such as the temple complex in Heliopolis, Stonehenge in England, the Observatory-Museum in Alexandria, the Nuremberg town of Regiomontana, Uranienborg Tycho Brahe, the Beijing Observatory, the Gdansk Observatory of Jan Hevelius, the celestial complex Samrat Yantra in Jaipur.
In the 1950s, from the side of Sadovaya-Kudrinskaya Street, the view of the Planetarium was blocked by residential high-rise buildings, and at present the dome of the planetarium can only be seen through a narrow passage between the houses.
In 1977 the Planetarium was reconstructed. Instead of the old apparatus "Planetarium" a new one was installed, made especially for Moscow at the people's enterprise "Carl Zeiss Jena" (GDR). It was a new generation device with program control. Along with regular lectures and themed evenings, automated audio-visual programs began to be held in the planetarium.
In the mid-1980s, the Planetarium was removed from direct subordination to the All-Union Society "Knowledge" and transferred to the Moscow city organization of this society, from the bowels of which a new director was appointed. For the first time he was a man without an astronomical education.
In 1987, all Soviet cosmonauts were trained in navigation in the planetarium, some of them gave lectures after returning from space.
In 1990, a public observatory was opened at the planetarium, in which the largest telescope in Moscow, available for mass observations, was installed.
Abandoned Planetarium in the mid-2000s
In 1994, the businessman and showman Igor Mikitasov decided to create a "science and entertainment center" on the basis of the Moscow Planetarium and addressed the director of the planetarium with this proposal. In the same year, at the initiative of the director of the planetarium, in order to attract investors and provide guarantees for the invested funds, the Moscow Planetarium CJSC was created, in the authorized capital of which the main building of the planetarium was included. The founders of CJSC were 30% of the planetarium staff, 20% - the Moscow City Organization of the Knowledge Society, and 50% - CJSC "Twins Company" ("Twins"), Mikitasov's company, specializing in show business.
In fact, the "Company of Twins" became the owner of the planetarium. In the same 1994, the planetarium building was declared unsafe and the Planetarium was closed for renovation. however, as soon as the reconstruction began. It revealed. Mikitasov doesn't have enough money.
In the spring of 1995, Mikitasov began looking for a source of funding. Through an intermediary, Vyacheslav Kovalev, the director of the Tekhnokom company, he tried to get a loan from Tveruniversalbank and draw up documents at the Moscow Property Committee and Moskomzem. The bank, however, refused to issue a loan, and the paperwork in the Moscow government was suspended. A conflict arose between the mediator and Mikitasov, which resulted in a criminal case, which was handled by the Prosecutor General's Office.
Funding was suspended due to the introduction of a new procedure for registering property in Moscow, requiring the mandatory issuance of a certificate of ownership. As a result of a four-year confrontation between CJSC "Moscow Planetarium", the Moscow government, the prosecutor's office and the Moscow Property Committee, at 18 meetings of the Arbitration Court, five lawsuits were consecutively considered, which did not bring victory to either side.
All this time until August 1997, programs for schoolchildren were held in the dilapidated Star Hall. On May 1, 1998, the observatory was opened for visitors.
For several years, the new owners have been trying to organize the reconstruction of the planetarium at the expense of private investors, but the city authorities have been postponing the issuance of the relevant decree. In 1998, the owners donated 61% of the shares to the Moscow government in exchange for the obligation to fully pay for all design, construction and installation work. On October 1, 1998, the Moscow government received a controlling stake in Moscow Planetarium CJSC, and in March 1999 it issued a decree "On the comprehensive reconstruction, restoration and re-equipment of the Moscow Planetarium", according to which a comprehensive reconstruction, restoration and re-equipment of the architectural monument of the Moscow Planetarium building was carried out , and the investment programs for 1999-2006 provided funding for the reconstruction of the Moscow Planetarium at the expense of funds determined by the business plan.
In 1997, the creative workshop of the State Unitary Enterprise MNIIP "Mosproekt-4" under the leadership of Alexander Viktorovich Anisimov and Olga Sergeevna Semyonova began to develop a reconstruction project. It took almost three years for its approval and preliminary work: it took a lot of effort to justify the advantages of the reconstruction of the old planetarium, and not the construction of a new one. The history of the Moscow Planetarium and the world experience in designing such buildings were studied, four scientific papers were written on foreign technologies, on the typology of the modern planetarium and the study of its architectural appearance abroad. The architects personally visited a large number of planetariums in different countries: in Germany, Spain, France, England, on the West and East coasts of America, etc.
The reconstruction project of the Moscow Planetarium, developed by architects Alexander Anisimov and Olga Semyonova, received in 2000 a prize and a diploma of the 1st degree from the Union of Architects of Russia.
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This is the car at the entrance.
The reconstruction itself began only in 2002. In January 2003, the statue-allegory of the planets in front of the main entrance was removed for restoration. By 2003, the old building of the observatory was dismantled. Instead, it was planned to build two observatories, a small one and a large one. The city authorities solemnly promised to open the Planetarium by its 75th anniversary. However, it was noted by a narrow circle of people associated with the planetarium in November 2004 in a building under construction. By this time, the planetarium building, according to the reconstruction project, had already been raised by 6 meters, two new observatory towers had been erected; the area of the museum has increased from 3 to 17 thousand m². Over the past years CJSC "Moscow Planetarium" was successively transformed into CJSC "Moscow Planetarium" and JSC "Moscow Planetarium". However, cooperation between the city authorities and private investors did not work out, and the implementation of the project was delayed.
In 2006, private investors asked the city to return their investment and thereby buy out their stake. In 2006, when Moscow once again stopped financing and began to squeeze private investors out of the project, an agreement was reached that investors themselves would give up their 39% stake in exchange for a return on their investment. Yuri Luzhkov agreed and instructed to prepare a buyout order.
In February 2008, the Moscow government, which owns a 61% stake in Moscow Planetarium OJSC, stopped financing its reconstruction due to the fact that "the obligations of partners who own 39% of the shares were not fully fulfilled during the reconstruction." According to Igor Ignatov, deputy head of the Moscow city property department, the city was forced to stop the reconstruction when “new circumstances became known” - the Moscow Planetarium had a debt to the contractor Energomashconsulting in the amount of 9 million rubles.
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On March 11, an extraordinary meeting of shareholders was held, at which General Director Igor Mikitasov was removed from his post and a new management company with a 100% stake in the city, Pokrovskie Vorota, was appointed.
On May 4, 2009, with the participation of the Pokrovskie Vorota management company, a deal was made for the sale and purchase of the property of OAO Moscow Planetarium. At the last auction, two lots were sold: an object of construction in progress at Sadovo-Kudrinskaya Street, building 1, as well as all the movable property of the bankrupt. The purchaser of the property was JSC "Planetarium" represented by the executive body of the management company "Pokrovskie Vorota". 100% of the shares of OJSC Planetarium are owned by the Department of Property of the City of Moscow. To purchase the property complex, the shareholder contributed additional funds to the authorized capital of the company, provided for by the city budget for 2009. On May 29, First Deputy Mayor of Moscow Vladimir Resin during a press conference announced that the capital's Planetarium would begin its work in 2010.
On November 14, 2009, after a working meeting in the planetarium building, Moscow Mayor Yuri Luzhkov once again told reporters about the imminent opening of the Moscow Planetarium, this time in December 2010 (previously 2001, 2004, 2005, and 2009). He added that the work to open the planetarium to visitors will have two stages. The mayor called the completion of construction and installation works, which are scheduled for September 2010, the first stage. The second stage is related to the installation of the necessary equipment in December 2010. Design work was carried out by Mosproekt-4.
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The lifting of the building without dismantling began on December 27, 2003. The operation consisted of 20 intermediate stages, after each of which the planetarium was raised by 30 cm. Workers using 24 powerful hydraulic jacks gradually raised the structure weighing more than 3 thousand tons, securing it with reliable piles. On February 10, 2004, the ascent was completed. As a result, the planetarium has two additional floors, and the area has increased from 3 to 15 thousand m².
10 million euros were allocated from the city budget for the purchase of equipment. These funds were used to purchase a full-dome projection system with a stereo projector and 14 dynamic chairs, as well as a 4D cinema, a Carl Zeiss Jena Universarium M9 planetarium projector, which in 2011 is the most powerful device for planetariums produced by the company, and other means with with the help of which you can observe a variety of celestial phenomena on the dome of the planetarium with a diameter of 25 meters.
Moscow State University has been appointed scientific curator of the planetarium.
In April 2010, Leonid Monosov, the head of the capital's city order department, announced that the opening had been postponed to early 2011. In November 2010, it was announced that the opening would take place on April 12, 2011 and would be timed to coincide with Cosmonautics Day. However, by March 2011 the building was "technically not quite ready", so the management postponed the opening to June 12, 2011, timed to coincide with the Day of Russia. Finally, on June 12, the opening of the planetarium took place.
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In general, the planetarium turned out to be a very "living museum". A huge number of kids. Tour guides are surrounded by schoolchildren and students. It's nice that such a scientific place is not left without attention.
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More about these units will be at the end of the post.
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Looks fantastic :-)
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You can touch the “guest” from other worlds with your hands
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The children are very happy with what is happening.
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Fragments of meteorites.
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Everything is very interactive and modern.
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Here is such a "cosmic ladder"
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In the star hall of the planetarium for 400 seats, the most advanced projector of the starry sky to date is installed. Universarium M9 German company Karl Zeiss, heiress "Carl Zeiss Jena". It will project about nine thousand stars of the Northern and Southern Hemispheres, all kinds of eclipses, nebulae and galaxies onto the largest dome in Europe. On the elevator, the device can lower by two meters so as not to close the dome to the audience. The cost of the projector is €4.8 million, and including the entire set of equipment - more than €11 million.
A new astronomical site has appeared next to the planetarium. It has about 30 demonstration vehicles and instruments, a globe of the starry sky, models of planetariums and spaceships from different countries, a sundial, models of Stonehenge and the Cheops pyramid, on the example of which the operation of ancient observatories will be demonstrated. There are also two modern observatories.
Photo 39. 
The projector that worked at MP from 1977 to 1994 was the 4th generation! True, it was a unique model with automation attached from the average Star Master apparatus (as in Star City).
The famous "Cosmorama" was the fifth generation. The 6th almost did not light up in the world at all. And from the 7th Starballs went. Universarium Mark IX is the ceiling. The Germans themselves say that there will be no tenth. True, they continue to tune it. Who knows where this will lead?
But let's find out more about this device:
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UNIVERSARIUM M IX This is definitely a very expensive car. Not every planetarium in the world can afford this. Not every dome, even in a well-equipped planetarium, is suitable for using this projection device.
For 23 years, only 21 planetariums in the world have been honored with the great honor of having this device in them - in less than a year, Carl Zeiss produces his Universariums M9 using the device.
The Universarium M9 can be installed in a hall with a spherical dome screen with a diameter ranging from 18 to 35 meters. At the same time, if the horizon of the dome is “littered” (this is practiced if the planetarium is combined with an I-MAX cinema), then the M9 Universarium allows a slope angle of up to 30 degrees and has an additional modification “UNIVERSARIUM M IX TD” corresponding to this situation. It is assumed that in the halls with the "Universarium M9" you can seat from 200 to 450 people on special reclining chairs. (Earlier in the Moscow Planetarium, the chairs did not recline their backs, because of this it was inconvenient for many to look up - the unbending Russian neck was not created to look at the zenith - but it was possible to seat up to 600 spectators. Now only 350.)
The basic equipment includes the so-called "Starball" ("Starball") - a spherical projector of stars based on fiber optics (which is much more economical than an Ilyich light bulb that heats the ball from the inside with 99 percent of its energy), so Starball stars show unsurpassedly bright and pointwise. It is claimed that their color is exclusively white and only the brightest stars have a unique hue - reddish, blue or yellow. The stars twinkle realistically.
In addition to Starball, an elevator can be installed (this “star ball” weighs one and a half tons), which allows you to remove the device during a full-dome projection so that it does not cast a shadow in several directions of the hall at once. Please note that the frequent incompatibility of the work of the Universarium with a full-dome projection is emphasized, because the Universarium falls into the coverage area of all projectors, but it is difficult to put it lower - for most domes, the geometric center is at the "horizon" level. Plus, additional planet projectors will then shield the projection coming from Starball.
The next major addition to Starball are the planetary projectors. Once they were an integral part of the entire projection apparatus, and now they are outside it, separate optional devices. And there may be different numbers.
Unlike the previous technologies of the Zeiss planetariums from the 1st to the 6th generation and the Cosmorama, the planetary projectors of the Universarium do not have a mechanical reduction, but an electronic-computer control and allow solving many different problems based on a computer calculation of the positions of the projection of a particular planet on dome.
For example, these projectors can show the position and dynamics of the positions of the planets on the ecliptic, but also depict the view of the Solar System from the pole of the ecliptic - the Copernican Planetarium. The standard number of projectors is 8. Usually in such a set, projectors show the following luminaries and phenomena:
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. The sun and solar eclipses in different, dynamically changing phases, corona or annular.
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. Moon with phase change, lunar eclipses with phases and Earth's shadow of varying intensity.
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. Mercury
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. Venus
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. Mars
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. Jupiter
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. Saturn
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. Planet X - this can be any planet - for example, the Earth, to demonstrate the view of the sky from the Moon, but it is also possible to use this projector to image any hypothetical planet from Phaethon to Nibiru. To do this, you just need to upload a slide with an image of the surface of this planet to a special place.
All planetary projectors are equipped with a significant zoom that allows you to vary the apparent diameter of the planet from almost a point to several degrees. At the same time, surface details, phases and other features, such as the ring of Saturn, become substitutions. The brightness of the planets also changes, but by default it is correctly correlated with the brightness of the stars created by Starball.
The positions of the planets can be arbitrary, or they can be calculated exactly for any date from -10,000 years from the beginning of a new era to +10,000 years from the same time zero point. The movements of the projections of the planets can be accelerated.
But back to Starball.
The developers claim that the brightness of the stars created by this optical-wave system is so high that you can safely use any other projection system in parallel with its operation, for example, a full-dome video projection system of many components, and at the same time, the stars created by the Universarium will not be clogged with the illumination of projectors working simultaneously with Universarium. This is true, but it must be understood that this applies to the brightest points-stars of the Universarium and the weak ones, of course, will fade even if the full-dome projection idlely demonstrates a black background - we will get an analogue of the Moscow sky, which shows the Big Dipper, the stars of the Summer Triangle, Arcturus and Cassiopeia... Alas, although the Universarium shows the stars clearly and brightly, modern full-dome projection systems still emit a lot of light and do not give a really dark background.
On the other hand, the brightness of the stars, which the Universarium gives, is quite consistent with the gorgeous picture that can be seen in reality in the mountains. For several years in a row I went to the Crimea - to the Crimean Astrophysical Observatory - exactly the same picture of the starry sky, which crumbles like a thousand-star fantasy over the low Crimean mountains, the Universarium M9 accurately conveys. Of course, the Universarium shows much more stars than can be seen with the eye of an inexperienced observer. It is believed that in the entire sky only 5-6 thousand are available to the eye of the "teapot" - an observer who has not yet mastered the idea that observing the stars, even with the eye, requires both concentration and relaxation, meditation and a good knowledge of the star map, and the most important thing is deep adaptation. And every experienced observer will confirm my words - an experienced, trained eye sees much more stars: not 5 or 6, but all 8 - 9 thousand. It is precisely so many of them (and precisely for this reason) that the M9 Universarium shows.
But it's not just stars that Starball shows - nebulae, clusters, and even the brightest of galaxies that can be observed by a trained keen eye. But the creators of the Universarium went even further and created super-detailed matrices for depicting nebulous, diffuse and multi-stellar objects - special glass plates with a sputtered ultra-thin layer of chromium, which conveys the smallest details of certain objects in the celestial sphere. For the first time, binoculars are useful for observing the starry sky in the Planetariums - viewing all these nebulous objects - galaxies, nebulae and star clusters, as well as the Large and Small Magellanic Clouds will bring amazing pleasure.
The same applies to the Milky Way - now it is not just a dull stretching band of obscure light stretching across the sky, but a detailed map of our galaxy with all the details, dark dust clouds and bright clusters of millions of stars - the Milky Way is also interesting to observe with Binoculars. Its brightness, saturation is adjustable.
Special projectors located in the "Starball" show ancient drawings of the constellations - the zodiac ones are displayed in orange, the rest - in light yellow. Shapes can be included one at a time, in groups, or all at once. Their brightness changes, but by default the images, as it seemed to me, are too bright.
"Starball" displays a significant number of coordinate systems with their inherent main lines, circles and points. The coordinate systems can be horizontal, equatorial, ecliptic and even the galactic coordinate system can be reflected by special marked luminous lines among the stars.
By rotating along all the axes corresponding to these coordinate systems, the Universarium M9 allows you to demonstrate the daily apparent rotation of the firmament, the annual movement of the firmament, and even precession. At the same time, the projectors of the planets, being separate and not involved in the general polysystemic rotation of Starball, nevertheless create an accurate projection of each object moving among the stars in accordance with its calculated position on the celestial sphere. That is, all Starball's rotations in various coordinate systems are programmatically tied to the operation of planetary projectors.
Also, "Universarium M9" clearly demonstrates the change in the visibility of the constellations associated with changes in the latitude of the observer and can even show a perspective (parallax) change in the position of the planets during an interplanetary flight. And of course, to demonstrate the view of the starry sky from different planets of the solar system.
It remains to add that the special lens on Starball demonstrates Donati's comet, somehow it seemed to me that it demonstrates a little faded and gray. I saw with my eye in 1996 two magnificent comets - Hyakutake-2 and Hale-Bopp. Both had bright colors and shades, and the new Zeiss comet is gray and does not make a splash. In addition, the image of Halley's comet in the Copernican Planetarium is not conceived. Previously, the Copernican Planetarium was a separate projection mechanism and worked independently of the main apparatus. Now it is implemented, as I wrote above, by the multifunctionality of ordinary planetary projectors. But Halley's Comet fell out of its capabilities, or maybe out of the developers' attention.
There is also a Meteor Shower projector, and it shows the shooting stars of August - the Perseids, in much the same way as the previous model transmitted the star shower. As I understand it, there hasn't been much improvement here.
In fact, this is everything. The Universarium has nothing more to show today.
It does not include a projector of clouds, auroras, evening or morning dawn, no fireballs and satellites crossing the sky in any direction (although a satellite can be created from Planet X, but this is inconvenient), There is not even a pointer arrow ... although ... the arrow is actually there is, but it is not manually controlled - it must be programmed in advance and separately, so that the arrow would automatically show a certain object in the sky synchronously with one or another explanation ...
Alas, the concept of the "Universarium M9" is increasingly gravitating and pushing the lecturer to work on autopilot - Zeiss does not even apply pointers to his best planetarium now. It must be said that despite the developer's statement that everything and everything is available for real-time operation, nevertheless, the real-time remote control for the "Universarium M9" is not supplied - the system unit, monitor, software and a small special keyboard with which they enter a special script - a program for executing certain commands. There is no question of any, in the understanding of the IP lecturers of the 80s and 90s, work in real time, when the lecturer, as a spacecraft pilot, led his board with five hundred passengers to another galaxy with levers and toggle switches, there is no question now. All control comes down to the fact that the operator creates a command, saves the script and launches it from the beginning of processing this command on the timeline. This is work in a completely different way.
Special lamps create a stunning blue hue - this is how the blue skies are depicted in the Planetria before the start of the session, but the red, aggressive dawn in which the Sun sets is a little confusing. Obviously, here you can and should work on flowers for quite a long time - then you will be able to achieve a realistic sunset. But while the sky is blue, the crescent of the young moon looks happy in it, how attractive.
Of course, the Univesarium M9 is good in itself, but so far it doesn’t have as many opportunities as the entire arsenal of the Moscow Planetarium could demonstrate in the era of the 80s. The inclusion of additional projection tools in the lecture programs, such as a full-dome projection, can help out in some way and demonstrate a number of phenomena unattainable for the Universarium, but it will certainly affect the overall beauty of the starry sky - it will worsen the picture. But obviously, you will have to put up with something, and improve something or come up with new solutions.
This is such a technique.
In general, I expected from the Great Hall of the Planetarium to show stars on the dome and assumed that it would be rather boring. But in fact, real popular science films are shown there, and the effect of showing them on the dome is quite comparable to IMAX and even surpasses it in some ways. This is something new in general in the format of showing films. A huge dome over your head - you turn your head in all directions, excellent image and sound create unforgettable impressions and effects. A reclining chair…very comfortable. I would love to watch films in this format, even feature films :-)
Photo 41. 
But I did not quite understand the purpose of the ramp in front of the building. No one is allowed in, everyone passes under it. This is probably, as usual, we open a couple of times a year, but it occupies a huge and such a scarce area. Who is in the know and will share the secret of the idea?
And here is something else interesting about space: or The original article is on the website InfoGlaz.rf Link to the article from which this copy is made -
Dmitry Semyonov - about how to make money on educational services
Irkutsk has not had a planetarium since the late 1980s. But in February 2015, the residents of the city again got the opportunity to admire the starry sky and the expanses of space with the help of special equipment. Without waiting for help from the state, the initiators of the revival of the Irkutsk planetarium managed to attract funds from a private investor. About what a private planetarium is and how its economy works, to the Five O'Clock project told Executive Director of the educational and entertainment complex "Noosphere" Dmitry Semyonov.
Dmitry Semyonov, 41, executive director of an educational and entertainment complex; amateur astronomer, traveler, telescope designer. Graduated from the philological faculty of Irkutsk State University. The Noosphere complex, located in a prestigious part of the city, includes the Irkutsk Planetarium for 45 seats, a multimedia museum, an astrospace observatory and two restaurants. The complex was built at the expense of a private investor - the founder of the investment financial company Metropol, Deputy Chairman of the State Duma Committee on Natural Resources Mikhail Slipenchuk.
“People left, but the project remained an idea”
Initially, the new planetarium was planned to be built at the expense of the regional or city budget. Why didn't it work? Yes, because in the last ten years in the Irkutsk region the leadership has changed too often. More than once we had agreements with specific governors and mayors, but people left, and the project remained an idea, although it seemed that things had moved off the ground. Once, for example, it came to allocating premises and discussing in the mayor's office of Irkutsk some sums for its arrangement. But it turned out that the building offered to us was the property of the Academy of Sciences and, therefore, the city had no reason to invest budgetary funds in it.
However, from time to time there was also interest from the business side. In 2008, one of the Irkutsk investors was ready to allocate space for a planetarium as part of his development project, but the crisis broke out, and construction was curtailed. The project got off the ground only in the summer of 2010, when Mikhail Slipenchuk found out about it. He decided that he must definitely take part in the revival of the Irkutsk planetarium.
By the time he got acquainted with the history of the planetarium, Mikhail Slipenchuk was already implementing the Mirs project at Baikal with might and main, and in fact showed that he was not a stranger to the selfless devotion associated with science and education. And in Irkutsk at that time he planned to create a small museum, thematically related to Baikal and the results of the expedition.
When I told him about our long and painful history of rebuilding the planetarium, he decided that such an addition would be very appropriate for the project. The concept was formed quite quickly - Mikhail Shchadov, who at that time was engaged in organizational work with the "Worlds", proposed the format "Museum" Noosphere ", he also became the head of the construction of the entire complex.
"The launch took longer than you expected"
By mid-2011, design and estimate work was completed, in May of the same year they began to dig a foundation pit, and by the summer of 2012 the building was brought under the roof and glazed. But the launch of the educational complex took a little longer than we expected. Firstly, we still retained the hope of participating in the project of the regional government, and for some time the planetarium was conceived as a public-private project. Secondly, there was a search for the optimal technical filling of the building.
Technologies on the market have changed, and the equipment that we considered optimal only yesterday turned out to be expensive and impractical today. For example, we considered a setup of six projectors, but actually ended up with two. Moreover, the brightness and contrast of the picture on the dome turned out to be better than from the equipment that they wanted to install initially. The two-projector system allows you to simulate the starry sky, planets, galaxies and nebulae. In terms of image quality, the Irkutsk planetarium is one of the best not only in Russia, but also in the world.
We launched the planetarium on February 20, 2015. At the same time, a multimedia museum was opened. Since the end of April, the astronomical observatory began to receive visitors.
"Noosphere" is a full-fledged business project"
The construction and equipping of a four-story building with an area of just under 1300 square meters was estimated at the start at 3-5 million dollars. Only the projection dome with a diameter of 9.14 meters cost almost 400 thousand euros. Most of the equipment and components had to be bought abroad. This is a very accurate hemispherical screen with a deviation from the sphere of no more than three millimeters. It is made of perforated aluminum, which creates excellent acoustics in the hall. Therefore, in addition to educational films and lectures, we also hold musical events in the planetarium.
The final cost of the project turned out to be twice as high as the investor's expectations - $10 million. As for the payback period and return on investment, I can say that the complex is multi-profile and its components, such as restaurants and a planetarium, live by quite market rules.
"Noosphere" is, of course, a commercial enterprise, a full-fledged business project. Tickets are sold, the company brings in some revenue, earns. At the same time, it is also a huge investment in personality. Still, in organizing the work of the complex, the emphasis is on the educational part of the project, and not on the commercial component. This is the conscious attitude of the investor. After the destruction of the subject of astronomy in the Russian school, planetariums, in fact, are monopolists in the field of accessible astronomical, and in some places, natural science knowledge in general.
Our observations are carried out using a unique telescope of the German company Carl Zeiss. The device was made back in 1909 by order and at the expense of Irkutsk patrons especially for the first observatory in Eastern Siberia. Now it belongs to the Astronomical Observatory of the Irkutsk State University. The telescope is in excellent condition and is used to display the starry sky. Also, the observatory is equipped with a solar telescope, which allows you to observe the star's chromosphere. Without prejudice, I can say that now we have the only public astronomical observatory that shows people the sky every day.
“There is a task - that all divisions
were cost-effective"
The territory on which the complex is built is prestigious, with high traffic. I would say that this is the best place to receive guests in Irkutsk. The result was an environment not limited to two courtyards, but a truly urban project. And our object in it took a worthy place.
The project is multi-format: a planetarium for 45 seats, a multimedia museum and an astronomical observatory work both as a complex and each separately. In addition, there are two restaurants in the complex - the democratic "Airplane" and the more pretentious "Misha".
In fact, all departments can work both independently of each other and jointly organize a unique event. For example, children's holidays are held - a program in the planetarium, observations through a telescope and a festive morning or dinner.
The Airplane restaurant is stylized exactly like an airplane, you will be served by flight attendants who wish you a pleasant flight. original menu. Children like it very much - not every day, even from wealthy families, children fly in airplanes. Unusualness attracts. Restaurant "Misha" - for serious guests, it recreated the heyday of the Irkutsk merchants. It was in those days that Irkutsk was famous for its patronage projects.
There is a task to ensure that all divisions are profitable. If the "Noosphere" is considered as a whole, then each of the directions has its own seasonality, which practically does not intersect. For example, restaurants are in demand in the summer, people are willing to spend time in “summers”, but the demand for group sessions for schoolchildren in the planetarium is falling. And in winter, on the contrary, there is more demand for the educational services of the planetarium and observatory. If something sags in one season, it will gain momentum in another.
The cost of some services of the "Noosphere" complex: a session in the planetarium - from 200 (weekdays, morning) to 500 (weekend evening) rubles; visiting the observatory - 200 rubles; visiting the exhibition "Witnesses of Space Disasters" - from 100 to 250 rubles.
We are actively engaged in the promotion of the planetarium. Yes, many people already know about us, but we need to tell people more about the knowledge that they and their children can get from us. We had an active advertising campaign in May last year, when we placed articles and layouts in newspapers, gave messages on the radio. The practice of working with promoters has shown itself well, when a person receives comprehensive information about why he should visit the planetarium. And, of course, work with schools. I'm not talking about social networks - it goes without saying. In all networks we
Today, in the Large Star Hall of the Planetarium, you can again see the stars on the largest dome in Europe. The diameter of the dome-screen is 25 meters, and the area is 1000 square meters. The hall is equipped with the latest developments in the field of projection technologies. The most advanced fiber-optic projector of the starry sky of the latest generation "Universarium M9" of the legendary company "Carl Zeiss Jena" is installed in the center. It is he who shows more than 9,000 twinkling stars, most accurately conveys an unforgettable picture of the starry sky, reproduces astronomical phenomena in a time interval of 10,000 years!
The full-dome digital projection system of the Great Starry Hall, developed by Global Immersion, is the second part of the equipment set of the modern Planetarium, which will allow you to experience the unique effect of immersion in Space, to feel the boundlessness of the Universe, to make dizzying journeys in interstellar and intergalactic space. The technological picture is completed by a panoramic system, a stereo system and an experimental surround sound system. The combination of fiber optic and digital projection equipment of this level is a powerful intelligent system. This brings the Moscow Planetarium to the forefront of the development of combined full-dome technologies - the technologies of the future.
The Big Star Hall of the Planetarium has a rich and interesting history that began back in 1929, when the second generation Planetarium apparatus (serial number 13) was installed here. It was this device, manufactured by the German company Carl Zeiss Jena, that first turned on the stars on the dome-screen. In a semi-literate country, this was a real discovery, people finally believed in the power of science, and a new stage began in the history of Russian astronomy.
Under the dome of the Moscow Planetarium, classes were held for astronomical circles founded in 1934. The professional path of many famous scientists and astronauts began with a grandiose impression made by the starry sky of the Planetarium.
Hundreds of people flocked to the Planetarium every day to see the miracle with their own eyes and hear the magic: “Attention, the stars turn on!”. But the starry sky of the Planetarium was not only a demonstration of astronomical phenomena. In the prewar years, the Star Hall turned into the Star Theater: thematic plays were staged on its stage, in which professional actors were involved. The performances of Galileo, Giordano Bruno and Copernicus were staged with great success in the domed hall.
The Moscow Planetarium played an important role in the development of cosmonautics. Beginning in 1960, for 15 years in the Great Star Hall, astronavigation classes were held with future cosmonauts.
Navigators of polar and long-range aviation also underwent training here.
In 1977, the old device was replaced by a new one - the sixth generation Planetarium device (serial number 313) with an automated control system, which served until the closing of the Planetarium in 1994.
Working mode
from 10.00 to 21.00day off - Tuesday
Ticket price
Tickets are purchased at the box office
With a ticket to the Big Star Hall you can:
- BEFORE THE SESSION, get acquainted with the exhibits of the Classical Museum of Urania (levels 1 and 2).
- AFTER THE SESSION, visit the Sky Park (Astroplatform). The astro site is open from May to September from 11:00 to 21:00.
Entrance to the hall of the Urania Museum by tickets starts 1 hour before the session in the Great Starry Hall.
Entrance to the Big Star Hall starts 15 minutes before the session.
The starry sky is perhaps one of the most exciting and mysterious sights in the world. The secrets of space attract the attention of not only astronomers, but also people who are far from science. The world of planets and celestial bodies is not only a beautiful picture, but also a big mystery. To get to know her better, it is not necessary to go out of town with a telescope - you can visit the planetarium, located in Moscow.
The history of the Moscow planetarium: the road to the stars
The decision to build a planetarium in Moscow was made in 1927, which is considered to be the starting point in its history. It was planned to create not just a building for observing the heavenly bodies, but a whole scientific complex with a library, classrooms and laboratories. The first step towards the implementation of this idea was taken on September 23, 1928, on the day of the autumnal equinox. The Planetarium opened its doors on November 5, 1929.
Since then, it has been constantly improved. Astronomical circles were held here, they worked with astronauts, the Star Theater operated, and new modern equipment was installed for observing celestial objects. In 1995, the planetarium was closed for a major overhaul, after which the idea of creating a grandiose astronomical museum finally came to fruition.
What awaits visitors to the planetarium
As already mentioned, the planetarium is a whole scientific complex, acquaintance with which will be interesting and useful for both children and adults.
Great Starry Hall
The largest dome with stars in Europe is installed here, the area of which exceeds 1 km2. The use of modern projection technologies makes it possible to show viewers more than 9,000 stars, recreating a sky map that has been changing over 10,000 years. This is a truly grandiose and exciting spectacle, helping to realize the full scale and beauty of the cosmos. The Big Star Hall also has a long history - for example, aviation employees were trained here, and before the Great Patriotic War it became a stage for theatrical performances.
Small Starry Hall
The Small Star Hall harmoniously adds to the Large. Its purpose is to show popular science and educational films. There are also lectures using a program that creates a three-dimensional image. Like the Bolshoi, this hall is equipped with the latest technology: a dome screen, moving chairs and a stereo projection system are installed here.
Sky Park and Observatory
This is a unique collection of astronomical instruments for space exploration from ancient times to the present. Sky Park was founded in 1947 for the 800th anniversary of the capital. The uniqueness of this place lies in the fact that it successfully combines the exposition of scientific instruments in the open air and the observatory.
Among the exhibits you can see a variety of models of sundials, arcs of the celestial spheres and even a model of the Cheops pyramid. There are also various other instruments for observing the movement of celestial bodies. Planetarium employees conduct excursions for visitors, acquainting them with the world of ancient astronomy, teaching them to navigate the terrain by the sun.
In addition to ancient instruments, there are two observatory towers here: a large and a small one. Both of them are equipped with powerful telescopes that allow visitors to observe the sky themselves. Of course, this only works if there are no clouds in the sky.
Sky Park is a unique opportunity to get acquainted with the development of astronomical technology, to fully imagine the difficulties faced by ancient scientists, as well as to acquire unique skills, knowledge and skills.
Museum Lunarium
"Lunarium" is not at all like a museum in the traditional view. Its peculiarity lies in the fact that here it is impossible to find exhibits standing behind glass on shelves. Multimedia interactive systems allow you to visit the space station, where you can learn a lot of interesting information about the stay of man in space. The second department of the museum - "Astronomy and Physics" will tell about the laws of the universe in a fascinating way. It doesn't get boring here! In addition to entertainment, visiting the "Lunarium" gives a wealth of knowledge, arouses interest in astronomy and contributes to the development of mental and cognitive abilities.
Urania Museum
The name of the museum comes from ancient Greek mythology: Urania is the muse of astronomy. The exposition tells about the history of the creation of the Universe from the moment of the Big Bang and large-scale events in its life; as well as the history of the creation of the Moscow Planetarium and the development of astronomy in general. There are many amazing exhibits here.
The planetarium also has a conference hall, a cafe, a 4D cinema, and various exhibitions. This is the place where you can come for the whole day and spend time with benefit, getting pleasant emotions and learning more about the Universe. Having visited the planetarium, a person begins to look at the sky above his head in a different way.
Contacts and tickets
Ticket prices vary greatly. Prices start from 100 rubles per ticket and end at 2300 in the form of a gift ticket for 2 people. On average, a visit to the Palanitaria with a child will cost 1000 rubles, not counting the cost of transport, cafes and souvenirs.
It is worth noting that it is better to buy tickets in advance. The queues at the Palanitarium are huge, Muscovites and guests of the capital have missed the many years of reconstruction of this space attraction.
Official address: Moscow, st. Sadovaya-Kudrinskaya, 5, building 1. The nearest metro station is Barrikadnaya. From Krasnopresnenskaya and Mayakovskaya you will have to take a walk. Parking is a problem, better take the subway.
You can buy tickets on the official website (be careful, the site is very crooked and not thought out)
next to m Moscow Zoo, closer to the Garden Ring, from behind ordinary Moscow houses, a brilliant dome of an unusual parabolic shape peeps out - this is the Moscow Planetarium.
The building was built in 1927–1928 according to the project of architects M.O. Barshch and M.I. Sinyavsky, designers A.K. Govve and P.Ya. Smirnova. It was the first building of its kind in the USSR; during the interwar period, similar buildings were being built in many countries of Europe and America. The pioneers here were the Germans, it was their projector of the famous "Carl Zeiss" shape that was specially made for Moscow.
Young architects - graduates of VKhUTEMAS designed a spectacular building, covered with a parabolic dome with a diameter of 28 meters. An outstanding example of engineering is the thinnest mesh reinforced concrete shell, only 12 cm thick at the bottom and 6 cm at the top. Beneath the unique shell is a second, inner layer of a metal frame that holds the surface to display the projection of the starry sky. The dome covers a round auditorium for 1440 people, under which there is a foyer, a lobby with cash desks and a cloakroom.
From the outside, the constructivist building looks quite pragmatic: the blank surfaces of the dome, rounded stair towers are combined with strip glazing, metal parapets of the terraces and a spectacular cornice-fillet above the entrance.
Back in 1923, the art theorist Alexei Gan, author of the book Constructivism, wrote: “The theater is still nothing but a building in which worship takes place ... Our theater should be different. It should instill in the viewer a love of science. The planetarium is an optical science theater and is one of the types of our theater. In it, people do not play, but control the most complex apparatus in the world in terms of technology!
The Modern Architecture magazine, the mouthpiece of modernist architecture, welcomed the work of the young constructivists: “The planetarium is one of the most complex and amazing instruments of our time. Roughly speaking, this is a system of a large number (119) of projection lamps, each of which is in independent motion and projects separately a planet or a group of stars onto a white hemisphere screen that overlaps the auditorium, which, in complete darkness, gives a perfect impression of the firmament of heaven with people moving on it. planets, sun, moon and other luminaries. Next to these words was published a project of the Moscow Planetarium, developed at the suggestion of the Glavnauka Narkompros, and photographs of an almost completed building - a symbol of the victory of the scientific way of thinking. It was noted that “only part of the entire structure has been completed. In the near future, it is planned to complete the construction of an astronomical museum, an auditorium library and an observatory.” Far from the entire project was implemented as a result, but devices for observing nature were placed on the territory around the planetarium, and an observatory was located in separate wings of the building.
Back in 1996, a group of specialists from the Mosproekt-4 architectural bureau led by A.V. Anisimov, a restoration project was proposed, which was based on the idea of restoring the old building, rather than building a new one. To achieve this goal, the architects proposed to raise the entire building without dismantling by 6 meters above ground level and connect it to the sidewalk of Sadovo-Kudrinskaya Street using a gentle ramp. At the festival "Architecture-1996" the project received a diploma of the first degree. However, this project was carried out from 2000 to 2005. After a five-year break, the reconstruction resumed in 2010. The work was carried out under the guidance of N.V. Shemshurina. Due to the construction of a new stylobate part, the total area of the planetarium was increased from 3,000 to 15,000 sq.m. The side annexes of the planetarium were recreated. This made it possible to place an exhibition hall, a museum, a scientific department, underground parking, and maintenance rooms in the building. The concrete dome of the planetarium was also restored with the replacement of wooden cranes and the construction of a roof made of rheinzinc. The restorers also reinforced the brickwork of the building. By 2010, when work was resumed, the adaptation project was adjusted in order to preserve the existing historical elements of the monument as much as possible. In 2010, the hall was re-plastered and painted, and the floor coverings were re-laid. In 2011, the Moscow Planetarium was opened to visitors.
