{"id":47,"date":"2017-05-26T14:26:00","date_gmt":"2017-05-26T21:26:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.palomar.edu\/planetarium\/?page_id=47"},"modified":"2026-08-14T09:44:24","modified_gmt":"2026-08-14T16:44:24","slug":"about-the-planetarium","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.palomar.edu\/planetarium\/about-the-planetarium\/","title":{"rendered":"About the Planetarium"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The Planetarium<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The Palomar College Planetarium is the second planetarium for Palomar College.  The original planetarium was built in 1965 and served the campus for 43 years.  In July of 2008 it was demolished to make way for new campus construction.  Construction for the new planetarium was completed in March 2012 and it is currently one of the largest in California.  It opened its doors to the public on April 20th, 2012.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\"Planetarium
The Original Planetarium (1965 \u2013 2008)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
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\"Palomar
The New Planetarium (2012)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
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The Theater<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The planetarium theater has 138 seats that sit under a 50-foot Astrotec dome.  The dome has a 15 degree forward tilt and consists of 42 perforated aluminum panels held in place by an outer aluminum structure.  The interior of the dome is painted with a highly reflective paint.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Each seat tilts back slightly and has a folding tablet arm for student use.  The theater can accommodate up to 4 wheelchairs at any one time.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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\"Fulldome
The Fulldome Theater<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

Digistar 7 Presentation Technology<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The planetarium presentations are largely driven by the Digistar 7 system manufactured by Evans & Sutherland.\u00a0 To produce the fulldome images on the dome, two JVC digital projectors equipped with wide angle lenses work together to create one image.\u00a0 Each projector provides 5000 lumens and produces a 4096 x 2048 display \u2013 together the image on the dome is 4096 x 4096 (4K) in size. Three computers drive the display:<\/p>\n\n\n\n