Astro rock stars inaugurated new dome

The renovated Planetarium dome showcased Northern Europe’s largest full-dome screen for the official inauguration.

“It’s very nice and it looks promising,” said Holger Bech Nielsen, Professor Emeritus from the University of Copenhagen, as he stood on stage and looked around the Planetarium dome and the giant full-dome screen.

There he stood like one of astronomy’s biggest rock stars, explaining about black holes in the galaxy to a visual bombardment on the giant screen.

Holger Bech Nielsen was one of many prominent scientists invited to the official opening of the Planetarium Dome. After a year and a half of a pandemic with no audience and a handful of generous foundations, there was peace of mind to start a thorough renovation.

As a result, the dome hall now boasts a world-class architectural and technological facelift. The planetarium now has Northern Europe’s largest tilted full-drome screen, where laser projectors reproduce a razor-sharp image in 8K, equivalent to 8000 pixels.

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The inauguration was also attended by astronaut Andreas Mogensen on a connection from Houston and Professor Anja C. Andersen.

Much more is on the way

Another new permanent exhibition will complete the transformation of the Planetarium. The exhibition “We look out, We travel out, We move out” is currently being planned and will be a sensory and educational approach to strengthen children and young people’s interest in science. The exhibition will be a themed, unique visual learning space for both the youngest and oldest students at Denmark’s educational institutions, and the Otto Mønsted Foundation has chosen to support the exhibition with DKK 2 million.

Nina Movin, Director of the Otto Mønsted Foundation, was also invited to the official inauguration.

“Denmark is lagging behind in educating young people in STEM subjects and there is a risk that we will not realise the significant potential Denmark has as a space nation. The Otto Mønsted Foundation supports the exhibition to positively push this potential and make it clear that space travel and space technology is not just about astronauts. The science programmes can be used in many different contexts within the space sector, and we want children and young people to get a vivid impression of this,” said Nina Movin, Director of the Otto Mønsted Foundation, at the inauguration.