University of Washington Planetarium

About our planetarium

Built with the new building in 1994, the 30 foot diameter dome of the UW planetarium provides a unique space in which students can explore the night sky. The original building included a Minolta MS-8 starball. The starball is a precisely constructed optical/mechanical system that projects an accurate picture of the night sky as viewed from anywhere on earth.

In 2005, a grad-student led UW Student Tech Fee proposal provided $90,000 worth of new audio and video equipment to allow for more dynamic planetarium presentations.

In 2009, we began working with Microsoft's World Wide Telescope team to upgrade the planetarium to a fully digital dome system. Completed in early 2011, this upgrade transformed the dome into an 8-million pixel digital display. When combined with the World-Wide telescope interface, this allows for a truly interactive and immersive planetarium experience.