From Stromovka to outer space: Newly renovated and reopened Prague Planetarium amazes audiences with LED dome
The Prague Planetarium, an astronomically popular Czech attraction, now boasts a state-of-the-art LED dome, the first in Europe. Newly reopened after the biggest modernisation in its history, the planetarium is again transporting audiences to the skies above another planet – or above Prague city centre, as Jan Veselý, its Programme Specialist, explained to Danny Bate:
This modern space is a place with a history as well. Could you outline for us the history of the Prague Planetarium?
“The Planetarium was built at the end of the 1950s, and it was opened to the public on November 20th 1960. So it's been here more than sixty years, but at first there was an opto-mechanical projector and a passive dome on which the stars were projected. We used slides to project images just onto a rectangle.
“This machine was changed to a more modern one in 1989, but in 2014 the complete new digital system with six projectors was installed. But this was more than ten years ago and this digital technology very quickly gets old.
“So two years ago we started the biggest reconstruction of our planetarium in its history, and we rebuilt not the building – the building is the same – but we rebuilt the dome into an active dome. We have an LED dome, one of the first in the world, the first in Europe, and this is the biggest LED planetarium in the world.”
This is what you mean when your website promises the “most modern” planetarium in Europe?
“Yes it is, because we have been open for three weeks! So, definitely, it is the most modern planetarium. Also, the technology used here is not in any other planetarium in Europe, so from this point of view we are definitely the most modern planetarium.”
From the perspective of a visitor, let's say somebody listening who visited the planetarium before 2023 and the most recent reconstruction, what has changed that they might want to come and see?
“Many things have changed. First, the seats are tilted, so you can sit up, high above the floor level and look down. What's the most important, and there is no other planetarium in the world with this feature, we have what we call ‘extension’. We can see just below the horizon.
“Other planetariums show the sky and can project films or cast films or images onto the sky, onto the half sphere, but we also have it extending downwards, just in front of the visitors. So the first change is this: you can see the stars not only above your heads, but in front of you. We can fly through the universe and the perspective is just perfect.
“So this is from the point of view of visitors at first glance, but the most important change is that we have an LED dome. There are no projectors. Just imagine something like an LED screen, but it’s 800 square metres, it's spherical, and there are more than 45 million individual RGB LEDs. They create the image. Nineteen computers are working on the image.
“The stars really shine, because the dome is active. Bright stars are bright and shine more, faint stars shine less, so this is much closer to the real sky. When there is darkness between the stars and there is a dark sky, the LED doesn't shine. So in these cases, we have a really dark sky.
“This is the main advantage of LEDs, if we talk about stars and the universe; it can fly through the universe, but this is not the new feature. Other planetariums can fly through the universe and the solar system, to a planet, etc., but the images are much sharper here and the colours are much, much better.”
It’s very convincing; I feel like I'm moving right now! This planetarium with its new LED screens can transport you to other planets and the edges of the universe, but also to more local destinations as well. Could you tell us about what you have in store that is Prague-themed?
“We can fly over the Earth, and we use the Google Tiles service. We can cast 3D images of some places in the world. We can have a 3D map of Prague. We usually fly over the historical centre with Prague Castle and Old Town Square, and we cross the Charles Bridge and fly here to Prague 7, to Stromovka and the planetarium.
“So yes, it is very impressive that we can fly over the terrain, and the 3D model is really nice. This 3D model is downloaded online during the flight. Sometimes it is visible that it is downloading the data and the image gets better, but flying is a really nice experience here.”
And do you have a stable programme of shows and then also some new shows, something that changes?
“Usually our programmes have two parts. The first part is live, about the sky, constellations, flying through the universe. This first part is almost individual; it has basic rules and basic targets, where we have to fly but each performer can fly his own way, and can talk about the constellations his own way. So this live part really is live!
“Then the second part is films, but full-dome films, all around you. These films are sometimes fairy tales for children. We have Polaris 1 and 2, we have 3-2-1 Start!, we have Animals to the Universe (translated into English). This film we do not have available in English, but all the films are available with English narration through headphones.
“So these are the old shows that we had previously before the reconstruction. We also have documentaries, like Voyager and The Birth of Planet Earth, and we have new films, like The Great Solar System Adventure. It's very nice, very funny. It's a cartoon, but the content is of a high astronomical level, I have to say. We also have Chemistry of Life; this film is about what happens inside our cells. It starts with photosynthesis with cells in plants, but then it goes on to how we animals can use energy, and how it works inside our own cells, even inside our brains.
“For English-speaking people, the live parts of the shows are in Czech only, but we have headphones with an English soundtrack for almost all the films. So, if there are English-speaking visitors, we can give them headphones with the English narration of the film.
“These are typically our shows here in the planetarium, and in the foyer we have an exhibition of images of stars, nebulae, galaxies by our famous Czech astro-photographer Martin Myslivec just now. But the exhibitions can change, and we also have a big LED screen around the foyer, like an LED wall.”
And did I read right that this place is actually available for hire as well?
“It is possible to hire the planetarium. You can have the foyer with the LED wall. You can put on a conference here, with some shows here in the planetarium on demand.”
In the unlikely case that visitors are left wanting more after visiting the planetarium, this place is connected to two sister institutions across Prague. Can they visit them as well?
“Yes. In fact, we are one institution: the Observatory and Planetarium of the Capital City of Prague. We have three parts: the planetarium in Stromovka, where we are now, but also the public observatories on Petřín Hill (the Štefánik Observatory) and in Ďáblice.
“The difference is that at the observatories, we have telescopes. You can enter the observatories and look at the exhibitions. Sometimes we also have shows, but not of the type in the planetarium, but let's say presentations, speeches, etc. By day you can observe the sun, with special telescopes, because it's dangerous to look at the sun. Even if you have a telescope, it's very dangerous, so you have to have a special telescope for observing the sun. Both our observatories have those telescopes. And by night you can observe the stars and planets.”
So, if people want to come visit, can they at the moment?
“Yes they can, but now, after opening, we are sold out in advance. So the best way is to buy tickets on the internet, through our webpage and the programme, and directly from the programme you can buy the tickets. If you come here to the planetarium, to the box office and ask for tickets, it’s highly probable that there will be no tickets for that day, but you can buy the tickets for shows a week ahead, just here at the box office. The better way is to buy tickets on the Internet.”
