The St. Petersburg Planetarium was opened in 1959, the place for it was chosen an old building, formerly called the "Building with a hall for entertainment and reading", it was part of the People's House, built under Emperor Nicholas II. It is a historical and cultural heritage. The planetarium hosts lectures on astronomy, physics, history and other sciences.
Planetarium halls
Petersburg Planetarium is a four-story building, at each level visitors are waiting for discoveries, knowledge and amazing stories with large-scale illustrations.
The Observatory Hall is located on the fourth floor. In the course of classes, it is given the opportunity to look through telescopes at the nearest satellite of the Earth - the Moon - or more distant planets, stars, to look at the Sun without squinting. Lectures are given here, observations are made of astronomical phenomena, sunsets and sunrises over the roofs of the city.
The Star Hall can accommodate 500 people, for whom images of the starry sky, planets and other celestial bodies are shown on the dome using a projection device. The equipment of the hall is multifunctional and is able to simulate a lunar or solar eclipse,the movement of the firmament during the day, the annual cycle of movement of the planets of the solar system. Visitors have a unique opportunity to look at the night starry sky from any part of the Earth.
Planet Hall. The hall is arranged in the form of a circular panorama, thanks to this effect, the visitor travels to the bottom of the ocean, to the Arctic, observes a volcanic eruption and becomes a witness to earthquakes. The youngest guests go in search of star birds, during which they get to the red planet - Mars.
Interactive experiments
Science is based on knowledge, experience and experiments. The St. Petersburg Planetarium has created several laboratories where children and adults can conduct experiments and get to know phenomena experimentally.
Space Journey Hall. The Petersburg Planetarium has created a spaceship in this hall and sends everyone on a virtual journey. The ship's crew is led by an experienced captain, who will save the liner from a collision with asteroids more than once, skillfully land on the moon, and entice visitors with research into black holes and other cosmic phenomena.
Hall "Laboratory of entertaining experiments" helps visitors to get acquainted with the laws of physics, optics, electricity using examples confirmed by experience. The exposition presents more than two hundred experiments. Here is the Foucault pendulum, proving the rotation of our planet. Several telescopes are installed in the laboratory, through the eyepiece of which the Moon, stars, the Milky Way and other objects of space are closely visible.
"Hall of Entertaining Illusions". The hall presents an exposition that tells about optical illusions, classes are held where each participant creates and destroys the illusion, like an oriental genie.
Exhibitions
The St. Petersburg Planetarium has placed a permanent photo exhibition on the second floor. One of the highlights is its circular exposition. Photographic works are devoted to the macrocosm of the Universe and the microcosm of things familiar to us, animals and insects.
The poster is full of events offered to the public by the St. Petersburg Planetarium. The dinosaur exhibition will surprise children and delight adults. A flock of dinosaurs greets visitors right at the entrance, and making their way further through the thickets of prehistoric plants, you can meet giants that can move and make sounds. The Planet of the Dinosaurs exhibition pursues not only a visual representation of huge animals, but also educational goals - you can learn a lot of interesting facts about each exhibit, which are written in the accompanying information located next to the figure of the animal.
The St. Petersburg Planetarium shares not only knowledge. Exhibitions and educational programs are supported by creative workshops for the little ones. A child under the supervision of a teacher learns modeling, drawing and other crafts. The Craftsmanship Corner is located in one of the exhibition halls, next to the dinosaurs.
Services
Petersburg Planetariumoffers to bring romance to life and arrange a date under the dome of the southern (or any other) sky in the heart of the Galaxy, but at the same time remaining on Earth. And if the date of the first meeting is known, then the guides will draw up a map of the planets on this day, the connection of the constellations. In honor of the couple, all known constellations will light up under the dome on this day.
St. Petersburg Planetarium invites you to spend your birthday in the company of friends and between planets. The holiday consists of three parts, in the first, the birthday boy and guests are told about his planet and constellation, zodiac sign, they will design a map of the starry sky at the time of birth. And most importantly, you can make countless wishes, and they are guaranteed to come true, because the stars on this day will fall only at the will of the birthday man.
Gallery and mobile planetarium
One of the creative spaces called RatioArt Gallery is located at the St. Petersburg Planetarium. The exhibition hall has created an atmosphere conducive to the exchange of knowledge, opinions, new ideas and concepts are born. Lectures are given in the hall, reports are made, seminars, round tables are held, actions of contemporary art are held. This site is for the curious and the thirsty for knowledge.
You can explore the world not only within the walls of an institution, the St. Petersburg Planetarium is a modern space where many incredible things become real. For example, a mobile planetarium can hold lectures, show astronomical films in a school, student audience or atoutdoor event. The mobile structure, in which the diameter of the dome is 6 meters and the height is 4.2 meters, can accommodate 30 seats.
Service
The St. Petersburg Planetarium invites you to visit the souvenir shop, which presents an assortment of "space" accessories, books about space and astronomy, the history of the development of space exploration of the Universe and much more. On the left side of the main entrance there is a pneumatic shooting range where matches are fired.
St. Petersburg Planetarium has a cozy cafe on the ground floor, where you should take a break from the process of learning. The main audience of the institution are children, and the menu is designed for them, where drinks, cakes are served, and for adults - tea and coffee.
Reviews
The St. Petersburg Planetarium is on the list of mandatory visits for schoolchildren, tourists and curious individuals. Reviews with positive ratings tell about a rich poster and interesting films for a children's audience. It is noted that much more events are held during the school holidays, and this attracts a large number of families, because here adults and children can plunge not only into astronomical topics, but also into other scientific experiments.
Negative reviews tell about the outdated curriculum, equipment, lack of service that the St. Petersburg Planetarium has. St. Petersburg boasts a more modern tradition inorganization of events. Many considered that the programs in cinemas were more spectacular and informative than those in the planetarium. It is noted that there is nowhere to leave outerwear in the room, there is no online ordering service and paying for tickets for a lecture or film of interest.
Useful information
The St. Petersburg Planetarium has the following address: Alexander Park, Building 4 (Gorkovskaya and Sportivnaya metro stations). Contact phone number: (812) 233 26 53.
St. Petersburg Planetarium sets prices for a single visit for adults at 400 rubles, for children - 200 rubles. Discounts are provided to students, pensioners, schoolchildren under 17 years old, the price of preferential admission is 200 rubles.
