Brisbane, the Capital city of the province of Queensland is one of the biggest cities in Australia. The city is famous for its scenic locales and one of the more intriguing tourist attractions is the Sir Thomas Brisbane Planetarium. The Planetarium is located in the locality of the Brisbane Botanic Gardens, which is situated in Toowong, one of the suburbs of Brisbane.
Brief History of Sir Thomas Brisbane Planetarium- Australia tour package
The Sir Thomas Brisbane Planetarium was officially opened on 24th of May, 1978. The Planetarium derives its name from Sir Thomas Brisbane, who was the governor of New South Wales between 1821 and 1825. Sir Brisbane was also a renowned astronomer who was responsible for establishing the very first observatory in 1822 at Parramatta, Australia. The observatory was established for the purposes of mapping the southern skies. The Brisbane Planetarium is managed by the Brisbane City Council and is situated about 5 kilometers from the Brisbane Central Business District.
Features of Sir Thomas Brisbane Planetarium- Australia tour package
The main feature of The Planetarium is the Cosmic Sky dome which has a diameter of 12.5m. The hemispherical planetarium theater features recently upgraded state of the art Sky-Scan digital dome projection system and digital console. The theater also boasts of refurbished seats and has a maximum concentric seating capacity of 133 making it worthwhile place of attraction in Australia tour package.
• There is also an observatory at the Planetarium that contains a Meade 25.4cm Schmidt-Cassegrain telescope and a permanently mounted Zeiss 15cm refractor telescope.
• In the Planetarium’s Foyer and Gallery are extensive collections of space exploratory illustrations and astronomy displays. Some of these collections include the 1969 Moon landing and a replica of Neil Armstrong’s space suit.
• There are also numerous models of spacecraft and astronomical instruments on display. There is also a mini-theatre at the planetarium whose inventory is regularly updated by a web feed.
• Outside the Planetarium, there is a statue of Konstantin Tsiolkovsky, who is widely regarded as the Father of Cosmonautics. There is also a large sundial in the Sundial Court.
The Planetarium hosts more than 1,300 regular shows each year in the Cosmic Sky dome. Shows are hosted for school groups and general public. Visitors are also allowed observing sessions in the observatory and occasional field nights. The equipment at the Planetarium was upgraded in 2010, after which the original Zeiss star projector was removed from the Cosmic Sky dome and was placed on display in the foyer. The Zeiss Star Projector was replaced by an optical star projector by Ohira Tech. The Optical Star Projector was installed in the Cosmic Sky dome in early 2013. Visitors are allowed free access to the mini theater and the display; but admission to the Cosmic Sky dome and the observatory are chargeable.
Best time to visit Sir Thomas Brisbane planetarium in Australia tour package
The planetarium is closed on Mondays. Annual maintenance at the Planetarium is usually done for a couple of weeks around the Boxing Day/New Year’s Eve holidays.