Planetarium in Torun

One of the biggest tourist attractions in Torun is Planetarium, named after Wl. Dziewulski. It is the most technically advanced planetarium in Poland. Due to its characteristic architectural design – the semicircular dome and rotunda shape, the building is easily recognisable among other structures of Torun Old Town. Planetarium has been working since 17th February 1994. Its main activity is to show astronomical presentations covering wide range of topics in the field of astronomy. 

The heart of planetarium is Zeissa Rep projector, which reconstructs the image of the sky with great fidelity, from any moment and place on Earth . In other words, it is capable of displaying on the artificial sky (the dome 15 meter in diameter) the arrangement of all 6000 stars visible in the sky, the configuration of planets aligned with the Zodiac in the background, the arrangements of constellations, the Moon’s cycles, eclipses- all the phenomena visible from the earth in the real sky. However, it must noted that in planetarium these phenomena happen much faster than in reality. Thanks to special projection of 360- angle panoramas they are able not only to present the sky above Torun Old Town towers but also to visualize the landscapes of other places on our planet. They can also visit the Moon, for instance the landing site of the Appollo 17, Mars with its volcanoes and canyons covered with layers of frost, or Venus, brightened up by series of lightning. The visual image of panorama may be improved by the All-Sky system, which covers the dome with a slide picture. The audience is surrounded by the picture and gets the impression of being ‘inside’ nebulas or star-clusters. Of course, except for being ‘inside’ specifically astronomical objects, the audience has a possibility to suddenly appear in a forest, inside a cave, or a cathedral.
The system of video projections is the main asset contributing to the creation of special, moving images on the planetarium’s sky. By adjusting the optical equipment to conditions of planetarium they achieve immense, moving image covering the part of the dome from the horizon to the zenith. Due to this, they are able to present almost all the astronomical bodies with perfect quality.

Address: 15-21 Franciszkanska Street