On 18 October 2009, the BA Planetarium Science Center inaugurated the Planetarium after a huge upgrading. Thanks to the Egyptian Ministry of Tourism, the Planetarium now operates a cutting-edge full-dome Digistar3 projection system with a rich set of real-time 3D astronomy features and a wide database of celestial bodies that enables the audience to explore the universe as never before.
How amazing it is to be able to take a break from everyday life and step, for a little while, into a world of adventure and amusement. It is still our world though; yet, it cannot be seen this way anywhere else. It is the world as seen only from inside a full-dome planetarium theater.
In this world, and this world alone, when the doors are closed and the lights are dimmed, we feel like our seats have turned into magical carpets right out of our childhood fantasies. While we remain seated, we zoom through time and space on unique expeditions to explore the universe as Man cannot do in real life… Not yet anyway!
We journey to the past to see how our ancestors saw the universe at the dawn of time and discover man-made wonders that vanished from the Earth’s surface thousands of years ago. We dive to the depths of the Earth’s oceans and seas… climb to the tops of its mountains and volcanoes… peer inside our own bodies to see every-day miracles unfold before our eyes… we search in and out for answers to the endless marvels of this unique planet we inhabit.
Our curiosity drives us even farther… beyond our planet… through our Solar System with all its different celestial bodies, each with its own endless secrets, and into a vast universe of countless exquisite constellations and galaxies that seem to have no end no matter how hard or deep we look.
Indeed, it is a fascinating world that that the Planetarium at the New Library of Alexandria offers its public. Since its inauguration in October 2002, the Planetarium has dazzled the public with various technologies, the most outstanding of which, up until recently, has been the large format IMAX film projection system with its massive images.
As of August 2009, thanks to the Egyptian Ministry of Tourism, the Planetarium now also operates a cutting-edge full-dome Digistar3 projection system with a rich set of real-time 3D astronomy features and a wide database of celestial bodies that enables the audience to explore the universe as never before. The new system will also enable the Planetarium Specialists who have already succeeded in producing the first Egyptian planetarium show, also the first to be produced entirely in the Middle East, to build shows from a simple-touch screen interface and watch their creations in the star theatre.
The Planetarium upgrading comes timely as the Bibliotheca Alexandrina prepares to host the 20th International Planetarium Society conference in June 2010. The IPS conferences are the largest and most significant events in the world of planetariums, where nothing but state-of-the-art technologies are exposed.
Check out the new Planetarium Shows and Schedule at: http://www.bibalex.org/psc/planetarium/schedule.aspx