Abstract
The history of the planetarium and star theater is one of technological evolution for planetarium instruments and the facilities in which they are installed. The age of the modern planetarium began in the early 1900s with the creation of the Zeiss opto-mechanical instrument and continues today alongside the development of computer-driven full-dome video systems that bring a different approach to simulating the night sky. A number of companies in the US, Europe, and Japan produce planetarium equipment and programs. Along with improvements in projectors and auxiliary systems, planetarium shows have also changed. Today, many different styles of presentation are utilized in the world’s 2,900+ facilities. Planetarium facilities are staffed by professionals whose backgrounds range from education to multi-media production.
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© 2003 Kluwer Academic Publishers
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Petersen, C.C. (2003). The Birth and Evolution of the Planetarium. In: Heck, A. (eds) Information Handling in Astronomy - Historical Vistas. Astrophysics and Space Science Library, vol 285. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/0-306-48080-8_13
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/0-306-48080-8_13
Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht
Print ISBN: 978-1-4020-1178-8
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