Johannesburg - The days of the rudimentary, but nevertheless romantic, rotating star machine came to an end this week as the department of arts and culture ushered in the next generation of South African star-gazing technology at the Iziko Planetarium and Digital Dome with a spectacular 360° “fulldome” upgrade.
After years of construction – part of the R220 million investment into Iziko’s research spaces – and delays of more than a year, the department of arts and culture has reconnected with the core of what the Iziko idea stands for: the restoration and protection of the past to fuse it with cutting-edge research that works across disciplines, combining science with art and design.
The upgrades elevate new technologies emerging from South African astronomy facilities like the Square Kilometre Array (SKA) to the same level as leading astronomical institutions worldwide, and support exciting new developments in fields as diverse as oceanography, microbiology, climate and earth science, geology and even urban planning.
The state-of-the-art high-resolution multimedia projections don’t just take you to into space – they submerge you in the ocean, taking you into a 3-D world far beyond the reach of the human eye and even go into the human body. It’s totally revolutionary stuff.
Tickets for the new planetarium experience are available at the door of the Iziko Planetarium and Digital Dome.
Watch a video about the upgrades here: