The Astronaut Memorial Planetarium and Observatory, or AMPO, also known as the Brevard Community College Planetarium and Observatory, is an astronomical

Astronomy

Astronomy is a natural science that deals with the study of celestial objects and phenomena that originate outside the atmosphere of Earth...

 observatory

Observatory

An observatory is a location used for observing terrestrial or celestial events. Astronomy, climatology/meteorology, geology, oceanography and volcanology are examples of disciplines for which observatories have been constructed...

 and planetarium

Planetarium

A planetarium is a theatre built primarily for presenting educational and entertaining shows about astronomy and the night sky, or for training in celestial navigation...

  at Brevard Community College

Brevard Community College

Brevard Community College, founded in 1960, is a community college on Florida's Space Coast, in Brevard County, Florida. It has four campuses in Cocoa, Melbourne, Palm Bay, and Titusville, as well as an Aerospace program at Kennedy Space Center and a Virtual Campus...

 in Cocoa, Florida

Cocoa, Florida

Cocoa is a city in Brevard County, Florida, United States. The population was 16,412 at the 2000 census. As of 2008, the estimated population according to the U.S. Census Bureau was 16,478. It is part of the Palm Bay–Melbourne–Titusville Metropolitan Statistical Area.-History:Cocoa was...

. The facility consists of a planetarium, public observatory, large-screen movie theater, exhibit halls, classroom (used by Brevard Community College) and an art gallery.

Planetarium and observatory

The 210-seat planetarium theater is a 70-foot overhead hemisphere onto which images from a variety of projectors are shone, to simulate the night sky and to provide multimedia educational and entertainment programs to area schools and to the public. On the rooftop public observatory, visitors can view planets, stars, galaxies and other objects directly through a 24 inches (609.6 mm) Ritchie-Chretien reflector telescope operated by observatory staff and members of the Brevard Astronomical Society.

Other facilities

The observatory is also home to The Discovery Theater, Science Quest Exhibit Hall, and the International Hall of Space Explorers. The Discovery Theater uses a 70 mm Iwerks

Iwerks

Simex-Iwerks was founded in 1985 by Oscar winner and Disney Legend Don Iwerks and Stan Kinsey, two former Disney Executives...

 movie projector to shown are science and nature films. It also has an art gallery which images of space are shown, such as Messier 101.

External links

• Brevard Community College Planetarium and Observatory