Science Centre opens UK’s largest digital Planetarium

Floating through the universe will be possible from Easter weekend. In the giant new Planetarium at INTECH Science Centre, Winchester the audience will journey past planets, visit galaxies, witness the BIG Bang and enter a Black Hole. The floating sensation comes from the effect of ‘immersive theatre’ where the dome screen is so wide you cannot take in the whole image.

‘The visual effects are stunning’, said Phil Winfield INTECH’s director ‘and it brings together the INTECH aims of presenting science in an entertaining and inspiring way.’

The first public shows will begin on Good Friday, 21 March and will continue every weekend and school holiday. School bookings for term time have rocketed since the announcement was made that the UK’s largest Planetarium was opening in Winchester. Even Cubs and Brownie leaders have booked up so they can get their astronomy badge.

There will be at least two different shows a day. There are two pre-recorded films, one narrated by actor Liam Neeson and one ‘live’ show presented by Planetarium Manager Jenny Shipway.

Jenny said ‘It’s an incredible feeling to sit at the controls and fly through the Universe. The model we use is based on data from the latest NASA databases, and can be updated to show recent developments and discoveries. The dome is so huge that you lose your sense of self, and the shape of the dome somehow gives a strange 3D effect to the images. There really is nothing else like it.

The system can be used to show a variety of audiovisual content. We are initially focussing on astronomy, but look out for future shows involving architecture, music, the environment and storytelling. We also hope to give people the opportunity to produce their own content to be displayed on the dome.

This is a great resource for Hampshire, and I hope we will be able to work with many different groups to use the planetarium in innovative ways.’

The Planetarium will be officially opened on 19 March by popular author and amateur astronomer Terry Pratchett. Terry said he was ‘absolutely delighted’ to be asked. He has been keen on astronomy since he was 11 years old and he has now built his own observatory in his garden near Salisbury. Terry Pratchett has sold over 55 million books and his ‘Discworld’ series has a worldwide following.
Professor Bill Wakeham, Vice-Chancellor, University of Southampton and South East England Development Agency (SEEDA) board member will also be a guest speaker.

The Planetarium will join the very popular Science Centre facility which has 90 hands-on exhibits housed in the iconic white pyramid build on the hill outside Winchester. Originally created in the 1980s as a charity to enthuse young children in science and technology, the new centre was built in 2002 with Millennium Commission funding.

Director, Phil Winfield said: ‘It was always envisaged to have a planetarium at INTECH since its move to Morn Hill in 2002. The dome was built then but only now, with the generous support of SEEDA, has this important development become possible. We are really excited about this project. You could say we are over the moon!’

SEEDA has funded the planetarium by offering £650,000 to INTECH in recognition of the education value the facility will have for schools. Studying the Solar System in primary schools is required by the National Curriculum and the universe is taught in secondary schools.  SEEDA’s Executive Director for Smart Growth John  Parsonage said; “By developing a planetarium at INTECH, SEEDA envisages that it will attract more than the current 90,000 visitors per annum, thereby encouraging a far greater number of students to continue studying science, engineering and mathematics subjects across the South East.”

The installation was made by the U.K. immersive theatre integrator Global Immersion, previously part of SEOS, the international visual display company. Global Immersion installed the advanced software programmes of UniView™ and fulldome media for the 6-projector system. UniView™ allows real-time space flight and astronomic data visualisation. The giant screen, measuring 16.5metres in diameter, came from the USA and the 176 theatre seats were made in Spain.