Official website of the City of Johannesburg      
Joburg
home > Fun in the city
 
other city news
Visit the night skies at the planetarium Print E-mail a friend
Written by Ndaba Dlamini   
Thursday, 20 October 2005

The Johannesburg Planetarium is a popular school outing, drawing thousands of visitors a year.

The Johannesburg planetarium on the campus of Wits University
The Johannesburg planetarium on the campus of Wits University

IT'S 11 o'clock on a cloudy, windy Tuesday morning. Inside the Johannesburg Planetarium at the University of the Witwatersrand, the voices of excited children can be heard filtering through the thick darkness.

The projector in the middle of the domed theatre clicks and whirs into action, showing a stunning display of the night skies.

Built in 1960, the planetarium is one of the most popular places for school trips. Children from across Johannesburg and beyond visit frequently, to marvel at the skies recreated by the special projector.

"We get about 70 000 visitors a year; it is mostly school children who come from as far as Limpopo and KwaZulu-Natal," says director of the planetarium Dr Claire Flanagan. "Over the last two weeks we had a record of 4 000 visitors, which made it 1 200 visitors a day."

Children pay R8 each for a show, while full-time university or college students pay R15. Casual visitors and adults pay R25. Different shows are run for each age group.

Young school children are taught about the star signs, while older kids are taught the movement of the moon and how it changes in relation to the earth. University and college students are able to explore astronomy in detail.

Flanagan says the planetarium is technically owned by the University of the Witwatersrand. "But it was set up as a joint project between the City of Johannesburg and the university. A managerial committee set up by the City and the university runs the project."

It is mainly self-funding, generating its income from bookings. There are shows every day of the week, except Sundays. The university provides about a third of the project's budget and "a lot running support", Flanagan explains.

"We are located right in the university grounds but we don't pay rent, electricity or any other charges."

Although it offers educational programmes for students, the planetarium is not part of any academic faculty at the university. "But we are here to provide any academic support," Flanagan points out.

Flanagan, an academic, is a research associate at the Hartebeesthoek Radio Astronomy Observatory.

"I actually spend 20 percent of my time doing research in astronomy. Astronomy in South Africa is growing. The national government recently set up a huge telescope in Sutherland in Northern Cape. We have seen a major shift, where the government is putting more money into radio astronomy projects around the country."

She adds that the government is "finally recognising that there are very few astronomers in the country". The University of Cape Town, University of the North West, University of Durban and Wits have joined a partnership venture with some African universities to train astronomers.

Flanagan would like to see school children who visit the planetarium not merely marvelling at the magic conjured up by the sky, but realise that there is a future in astronomy.

"Astronomy is very challenging but there are institutions right here in South Africa that offer training to students who want to pursue astronomy. We have developed a whole lot of astronomy worksheets that can be used by any teacher for school children."

The planetarium works in collaboration with the Sci-Bono Discovery Centre in Newtown, a science exhibition centre, and Flanagan plans to bring Sci-Bono facilitators to help teach astronomy at the planetarium.

History
According to its website, work to set up the planetarium began in 1956. The Festival Committee, which was responsible for organising festivities for Johannesburg's seventieth birthday, decided to buy an existing Zeiss Planetarium from Europe. Sourcing a new one would have been time consuming.

The committee bought the instrument from the Hamburg city council; it had been in use in that German city since 1930. The Hamburg projector was modified and modernised in the Zeiss factory at Oberkochen.

After the Johannesburg city council took over responsibility of the planetarium from the Festival Committee, the City sold the projector to the university "for use in the formal instruction of students and as a public amenity for the citizens of Johannesburg and of South Africa in general".

Building of the planetarium began in 1959 and on 12 October 1960, the first full-sized planetarium in Africa and the second in the southern hemisphere opened its doors to the public.

For more information, go to the Johannesburg Planetarium website or call 011 717 1392.

 
Colourful opening of council
SMART suits and traditional outfits filled the council chambers for the opening of council, which took place after a solemn wreath-laying ceremony.
Masondo has bold vision
THE executive mayor sees Johannesburg as a leading international city, and it seeks "to actively use the instrument of local government - the municipality - to improve the quality of life of all residents and citizens".
City Parks awards to be held
GREENING projects and conservation will be in the spotlight at the City Parks Environmental Awards, with a focus on energy efficiency.
City checks on Region D needs
VANDALISM, lack of maintenance and uncut grass are some of the challenges in Region D, as the City discovered on a visit to the area.
Sowetans discuss City plans
THE Regional Spatial Development Framework was up for discussion at a Region D open day, with scores of Sowetans commenting on their needs. Similar days are being held in other regions.

Visit our news archive

Search Joburg.org.za

Search news stories from 2001 - November 2007 using our archive search facility.

Pulse of the city

The Easter Holidays are coming up. Which of the recreation spots would you most likely visit?
 

Permission to use material
Publishers may use material from this website. Please see our conditions of use.



© 2010 Official website of the City of Johannesburg