Planetarium Page 1 | 13 Planetarium Vikash Kumar, S N H Rizvi, Nitin Sharma var3design@gmail.com, rizvi2807@gmail.com rulernitin.sharma@gmail.com Department of Architecture Faculty of Architecture & Ekistics, Jamia Millia Islamia, New Delhi M.Arch- Sem-1, 2014-15 1.1 Abstract- Planetarium is a dome type theatre in which the seating arrangements are according to their types like seating arrangement is parallel to ground for Horizontal Dome Type Planetarium whereas seating arrangement is tilted 0-30 Degree for tilted dome type planetarium educational and entertaining shows about astronomy and the night sky, or for training in celestial navigation. It is based on natural night time scenes of stars and universe. It’s operated mechanically previously but due to the advancement of technologies its mode of operation also changed and now it is operated by auto mechanical means. Now computer based technology helps it to display digital images even during the middle of the shows. Now Indian planetarium is upgraded itself from optical mechanical star projection system to Digital (computer-driven) projectors. Planetarium technology is steadily shifting from optical-mechanical based projection to digital projection. This technology shift allows the consolidation of many individual projection sources into a single full-dome video-based display and image generation system. This shift is having a profound effect on planetarium show production, educational tools, theatre automation, system maintenance, equipment life cycle, required staff and overall theatre economics. The history of digital planetarium systems is reviewed, digital planetarium options are discussed, and the advantages of digital planetarium are weighed against optical-mechanical planetarium for both large public theatres and smaller teaching facilities.