Ostrava, the third largest city in the Czech Republic, lies in the eastern part of the country, near the border with Poland. Once known primarily as a coal mining and heavy industry city, it now proudly offers new opportunities in the arts, culture, music, and education, including the VSB Technical University and its planetarium.

Opened in 1980, it is now named for the famous Czech astronomer Johann Palisa, who discovered more than 122 asteroids in the early 1900’s. The entire planetarium building has recently undergone a total to-the-walls renovation and has re-emerged as a true jewel of astronomy and science education. Exhibits on astronomy, astronautics, physics, geology and seismology join a beautiful observatory which is also open to the public.

About the planetarium’s new GOTO INC projection system, Tomas Graf, scientific manager of the renovation project said, “The HYBRID planetarium allows us to satisfy the interest of many people, not only pupils and students from all kinds of schools but also the general public, parents, young children and even amateur and professional astronomers, who would appreciate an authentic image of the night sky.” Graf even utilizes the system in popular programs featuring jazz, classical, and relaxation music.The essential, authentic sky image is provided by the GOTO PANDIA HYBRID system. The GOTO PANDIA produces a spectacular sky from a tiny starball only 48 cm in diameter. It shines 8,500 brilliant stars onto the 13 meter dome, along with hundreds of deep sky objects and a 40,000,000 micro-star Milky Way. A fulldome video system from EVANS & SUTHERLAND is seamlessly linked and synchronized with the PANDIA II through GOTO’s unique HYBRID software and manual control console. Let GOTO help you put this sky in your dome too!

Planetarium Ostrava Official Web. site :
http://www.planetariumostrava.cz/

Video movie for Planetarium Ostrava :
http://www.youtube.com/user/OstravskePlanetarium/