Mangaung written in the stars

The centre, which is expected to boost tourism in Mangaung will draw as much as 30 000 visitors to Naval Hill

So it has finally happened. Astronomers, senior government officials and renowned academics converged at Bloemfontein’s Naval Hill last week Friday to witness the official opening of the first digital planetarium in sub-Saharan Africa, an event which also saw Bloemfontein being transformed into ‘The City of Stars and Roses.’

Estimated to have cost no less than R13-million, the planetarium will be used by scientists to study the outer space and stars, while it will also come in handy for stargazing to the public.

It is a brainchild of the University of the Free State, and has been supported by the national department of science and technology, the provincial department of economic development, tourism and environmental affairs (DETEA), and the Mangaung Metro Municipality (MMM).

Additional funding came from the private sector. The generous donors include Hermann Ohlthaver Trust, the Joan St Leger Charitable Trust, the Old Mutual Foundation, the Raubex Group and Sun International through Windmill Casino Corporate Social Investment. International support came from the University of Michigan and the American Museum of Natural History.

The metro allocated Franklin Game Reserve on Naval Hill as the site for the centre of earth and space to facilitate a realistic representation of the night sky.

The game reserve is one of only two in the world that is completely surrounded by a city. Naval Hill is being systematically upgraded by the city authorities and the area immediately surrounding the planetarium is earmarked to be the ‘conservation zone’ of the development.

The resource offers unique illustration spatial concepts in 3D saving hours of explanation in the classroom. A digital planetarium can present difficult material in an entertaining and accessible way. It can also be used as a model for other organisations wishing to establish a similar facility and convey information about many topics.

Astronomy and the space sciences are the main focus of digital planetariums but new species of game will be introduced to add to the zebras, ostriches, giraffes, buck and many types of birds currently roaming the game reserve.

According to a UFS research, a digital planetarium is more versatile by contrast although it can also illustrate the night sky because of powerful digital projectors and modern technology.

The multiple projectors enable a seamless spherical representation on the curved dome that can convey information about any topic and results in an immersive experience. Planetarium shows are produced about numerous subjects and can also be used for experimental digital arts.

Digital planetariums all have a constantly updated database with the latest information on the universe. The digital universe can be projected onto the screen of the digital planetarium with the use of powerful visualisation software.

Digital planetariums are expensive and the cost of the conversions to the building and the equipment and accessories for the planetarium amounts to between R13-million and R15-million. Many of the components such as the perforated aluminium dome and the projection system are imported and with the devaluation of the South African rand costs escalated.

There are at least three digital planetariums in North Africa. In South Africa there are two non-digital ones that use traditional opto-mechanical projectors, at Wits University and the Iziko Planetarium in Cape Town.

Speaking at the launch, the deputy minister of science and technology, Tshililo Masutha said he had noted with interest that the planetarium will be used to host concerts, state-of-the-art presentations and theatre productions as well as meetings, conferences and exhibitions, thereby catapulting the Naval Hill Planetarium as a perfect symbol of social cohesion.

Masutha enthused that the location of the planetarium indicates a fresh approach to science awareness and engagement endeavours, an approach that integrates science awareness with tourism engagement.

“Although there are many other countries whose science centres and related facilities are part of the tourism network, the location of this planetarium in a game reserve adds to its uniqueness.”

“The integrated approach offered by the facility will help increase the participation of members of the general public in science awareness and engagement programmes. The planetarium will offer visitors to the game reserve an opportunity to interact in a very interesting way with earth and space science as well as life sciences,” said Masutha.

At the same occasion, the MEC for DETEA, Msebenzi Zwane, said the province can now claim to have a city surrounding a game reserve with a planetarium.  He said the planetarium will enhance the existing attractions on Naval Hill, and promote tourism in central South Africa.

“The government’s dream has always been to connect the stars to the earth and to contribute to the education of the youngsters as the facility will be doing. We trust that the management of the planetarium will take care of the facility and all departments will gather to see how they can help in the outstanding R15-million that is still needed for the development of the planetarium centre.”

Zwane said the planetarium on Naval Hill is designed to be a venue that will host music concerts and other small arts productions. In a correspondence to UFS vice chancellor Professor, Jonathan Jansen, the president of University of Michigan, Mary Sue Coleman said the university was pleased to see its former observatory being transformed into the first digital planetarium in sub-Saharan Africa.

Coleman said during the observatory’s use as a research facility, the university’s astronomers used to travel to South Africa to study starlight entering the observatory from the cosmos.

She said the digital planetarium now will provide starlight from inside the observatory and bring the excitement of modern astronomy and other sciences to a very broad audience.

The vice rector of the university, Professor Nicky Morgan said UFS is now embarking on the next phase of fundraising to raise money for the additional components of the centre for earth and space because there is not enough money for the proposed centre at planetarium.

“UFS is also hoping to raise funds from smaller donors for the special reclining planetarium chairs. R5 000 will secure a designated chair; until the university has enough for the special chairs, temporary seating will be used and the planetarium will be fully operational while we wait for the permanent seating.”

Morgan said the general public, tourists, learners, families, astronomers and the astronomy and space science communities of South Africa will learn a lot from the planetarium. He said the university had estimate that initially 15 000 people will visit the planetarium annually but the number is expected to grow to 30 000.

Meanwhile, a Bloemfontein resident who attended the event, Teboho Mokoka, said he loved the experience that he got from the planetarium.  He said he was looking forward to bringing his entire family to visit the facility.

  • A planetarium is a large, usually dome-shaped theatre which uses a projector to simulate the night sky, while an observatory makes astronomical measurements and observes the night sky.
  • The Sir Thomas Brisbane Planetarium, at the Mt Coot-tha Botanical Gardens opened in 1978 and includes both an observatory dome and a the planetarium theatre, as well as a space museum.
  • It cost $1.7 million at the time and was funded by Brisbane City Council.
  • The first planetarium opened to the public in Munich in 1923, using a Zeiss projector to project light in a star-like pattern.
  • The Brisbane Planetarium runs both a Ziess projector and a set of digital projectors, which can take visitors from the top of the Story Bridge to the surface of the moon.
  • The digital projectors are run by nine computers, whose graphics cards are upgraded every one to two years.
  • Brisbane City is thought to be the only city to be named for a noted astronomer.
  • Sir Thomas Brisbane, governor of NSW in the 1820s, established Australia’s first significant observatory at Parramatta and was responsible for the first extensive mapping of the southern sky, which lead to a list of 7385 stars.
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