Carl Zeiss Equips World’s Largest Planetarium

Science Center in Nagoya receives UNIVERSARIUM

Carl Zeiss has received an order for a planetarium projector of the type UNIVERSARIUM Model IX from the Japanese city of Nagoya. It will be installed in the largest planetarium dome in the world with a diameter of 35 meters and seating for about 400 people as part of a new Science Center. Carl Zeiss won through against Japanese competitors because only the technologies associated with the UNIVERSARIUM can meet the city’s high expectations. The Japanese press call it the “top model from Germany”.

The impressive simulation of the natural star-filled sky is a decisive factor for Nagoya. The enormous dome size was chosen because the bigger the dome diameter, the more natural the impression conveyed by the artificial sky becomes. Therefore, Nagoya also chose a projector which projects exactly the number of stars that the human eye can perceive.

The planetarium of the existing Science Center in Nagoya has had a projector from Carl Zeiss since 1962. The instrument has rendered outstanding services during its 45 years of operation. While many planetariums in Japan present purchased shows that were made by only a few producers, Nagoya developed and showed its own programs right from the beginning. Carl Zeiss technology provides ideal conditions for this purpose. Even complex shows can be generated live through manual operation. A live program can be simultaneously recorded, subsequently modified and played back again at any time.

The Nagoya planetarium was and is today already a center of attraction for around 250,000 visitors every year. When the new building is completed, one million guests are expected. The new planetarium will be the focal point of the emerging Science Center with large exhibition areas and interactive exhibits. The huge complex for young people is scheduled to be completed in 2011.

The planetarium projector is being specially configured at Carl Zeiss for the installation in Nagoya. It joins the family of large, international planetariums featuring a projector of the type UNIVERSARIUM which include the planetarium facilities in New York, Los Angeles, Rio de Janeiro, Hamburg, Vienna, Jakarta, Peking and Jena.

Gudrun Vogel
Communications
Phone: +49 3641 64-2770
Fax: +49 3641 64-2941
E-Mail: g.vogel@zeiss.de