A Zeiss projector is one of a line of planetarium projector

Planetarium projector

A planetarium projector is a device used to project images of celestial objects onto the dome in a planetarium.The first modern planetarium projectors were designed and built by the Carl Zeiss Jena company in Germany between 1923 and 1925, and have since grown more complex. Smaller projectors...

s manufactured by the Carl Zeiss Company.

The first modern planetarium projectors were designed and built in 1924 by the Zeiss Works of Jena, Germany in 1924. Zeiss projectors are designed to sit in the middle of a dark, dome

Dome

A dome is a structural element of architecture that resembles the hollow upper half of a sphere. Dome structures made of various materials have a long architectural lineage extending into prehistory....

-covered room and project an accurate image of the star

Star

A star is a massive, luminous sphere of plasma held together by gravity. At the end of its lifetime, a star can also contain a proportion of degenerate matter. The nearest star to Earth is the Sun, which is the source of most of the energy on Earth...

s and other astronomical object

Astronomical object

Astronomical objects or celestial objects are naturally occurring physical entities, associations or structures that current science has demonstrated to exist in the observable universe. The term astronomical object is sometimes used interchangeably with astronomical body...

s on the dome. They are generally large, complicated, and imposing machines.

The first Zeiss Mark I projector (the first planetarium projector in the world) was installed in the Deutsches Museum

Deutsches Museum

The Deutsches Museum in Munich, Germany, is the world's largest museum of technology and science, with approximately 1.5 million visitors per year and about 28,000 exhibited objects from 50 fields of science and technology. The museum was founded on June 28, 1903, at a meeting of the Association...

 in Munich

Munich

Munich The city's motto is "" . Before 2006, it was "Weltstadt mit Herz" . Its native name, , is derived from the Old High German Munichen, meaning "by the monks' place". The city's name derives from the monks of the Benedictine order who founded the city; hence the monk depicted on the city's coat...

 in August, 1923. It possessed a distinctive appearance, with a single sphere of projection lenses supported above a large, angled "planet cage". Marks II through VI were similar in appearance, using two spheres of star projectors separated along a central axis that contained projectors for the planets. Beginning with Mark VII, the central axis was eliminated and the two spheres were merged into a single, egg-shaped projection unit.

The name "Zeiss projector" is frequently used as a generic term for a star projector, regardless of the manufacturer. Being extremely complex, a large Zeiss projector can cost millions of US dollars

United States dollar

The United States dollar , also referred to as the American dollar, is the official currency of the United States of America. It is divided into 100 smaller units called cents or pennies....

.

History of development and production

The Mark I was created in 1923–1924 and was the world's first modern planetarium projector. The Mark II was developed during the 1930s jointly by Carl Zeiss AG factories in Jena (East Germany) and Oberkochen (West Germany).
Following WWII and the division of Germany

History of Germany since 1945

As a consequence of the defeat of Nazi Germany in World War II Germany was split between the two global blocs in the East and West, a period known as the division of Germany. While seven million prisoners and forced laborers left Germany, over 10 million German speaking refugees arrived there from...

, each factory developed its own line of projectors.
Marks III – VI were developed in Oberkochen (West Germany) from 1957–1989. Meanwhile, the East German facility in Jena developed the ZKP projector line. The Mark VII was developed in 1993 and was the first joint project of the two Zeiss factories following German reunification

German reunification

German reunification was the process in 1990 in which the German Democratic Republic joined the Federal Republic of Germany , and when Berlin reunited into a single city, as provided by its then Grundgesetz constitution Article 23. The start of this process is commonly referred by Germans as die...

.

, Zeiss currently manufactures three main models of planetarium projectors. The flagship Universarium models continue the "Mark" model designation and use a single "starball" design, where the fixed stars are projected from a single egg-shaped projector, and moving objects such as planets have their own independent projectors or are projected using a full-dome digital projection system. The Starmaster line of projectors are designed for smaller domes than the Universarium, but also use the single starball design. The Skymaster ZKP projectors are designed for the smallest domes and use a "dumbell" design similar to the Mark II-VI projectors, where two smaller starballs for the northern and southern hemispheres are connected by a truss containing projectors for planets and other moving objects.

Partial list of planetariums that have featured a Zeiss projector

Between 1923 and 2011, Zeiss manufactured a total of 631 projectors. Therefore the following table is highly incomplete.

Planetarium	Zeiss Projector Model	Acquisition Date	End Date	Remarks	Ref.
Adler Planetarium Adler Planetarium The Adler Planetarium & Astronomy Museum in Chicago, Illinois was the first planetarium built in the Western Hemisphere and is the oldest in existence today. Adler was founded and built in 1930 by the philanthropist Max Adler, with the assistance of the first director of the planetarium, Philip Fox... , Chicago, Illinois, USA	Mark II/III	1930	1969	Projector was converted from Mark II to Mark III from 1959–1961
	Mark VI	1969	2011	Replaced with "Digital Starball" system from Global Immersion Ltd.
Planetario Luis Enrique Erro Planetario Luis Enrique Erro Planetario Luis Enrique Erro is a planetarium located in Mexico City, owned and operated by the National Polytechnic Institute. It was the first planetarium in Mexico open to the public and is one of the oldest in Latin America... , Mexico City, Mexico	Mark IV	1964	2006	It was the first planetarium in Mexico opened to general public and it is also one of the oldest in Latin America.
Bangkok Planetarium Bangkok Planetarium The Bangkok Planetarium is the oldest planetarium in Thailand. It is located on Sukhumvit Road in Bangkok as part of the Science Center for Education, which is operated by the Department of Non-Formal Education of the Ministry of Education.... , Bangkok, Thailand	Mark IV	1964	Present
Denki kagakukan, Osaka Osaka is a city in the Kansai region of Japan's main island of Honshu, a designated city under the Local Autonomy Law, the capital city of Osaka Prefecture and also the biggest part of Keihanshin area, which is represented by three major cities of Japan, Kyoto, Osaka and Kobe... , Japan Japan Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...	Mark Ⅱ(No.23)	1937	1989	First Planetarium in Japan Preserved at Osaka Science Museum Osaka Science Museum The is a science museum in Naka-no-shima, Kita-ku, Osaka, Japan. The museum is located between the Dōjima River and the Tosabori River, above Osaka's subterranean National Museum of Art. Opened in 1989, the museum was constructed to mark the 100th anniversary of Osaka City. The construction was... .
Tonichi Tenmonkan, Tokyo Tokyo , ; officially , is one of the 47 prefectures of Japan. Tokyo is the capital of Japan, the center of the Greater Tokyo Area, and the largest metropolitan area of Japan. It is the seat of the Japanese government and the Imperial Palace, and the home of the Japanese Imperial Family... , Japan Japan Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...	Mark Ⅱ(No.26)	1938	25 May 1945	Destroyed by Bombing of Tokyo
Gotoh Planetarium, Tokyo Tokyo , ; officially , is one of the 47 prefectures of Japan. Tokyo is the capital of Japan, the center of the Greater Tokyo Area, and the largest metropolitan area of Japan. It is the seat of the Japanese government and the Imperial Palace, and the home of the Japanese Imperial Family... , Japan Japan Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...	Mark IV(No.1)	1957	2001
Akashi Municipal Planetarium, Akashi Akashi -People:*Akashi Ken*Akashi Momoka*Akashi Morishige*Akashi Motojiro*Akashi Shiganosuke*Akashi Yasushi-Places:*Akashi, Hyōgo*Akashi Station - Japanese railroad station on the Sanyō Main Line*Akashi-Kaikyō Bridge*Akashi Castle*Akashi Domain-Other:... , Japan Japan Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...	Universal(UPP)23/3	1960	Present	The oldest projector which is operating in Japan.
Nagoya City Science Museum, Nagoya, Japan Japan Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...	Mark IV	1962	2010	Closed for renovation in August 2010
	Mark IX	2011	Present	Re-opened in March 2011
Fernbank Planetarium, Atlanta, Georgia, USA	Mark V	1967/8?	Present
Hayden Planetarium Hayden Planetarium The Hayden Planetarium is a public planetarium, part of the Rose Center for Earth and Space of the American Museum of Natural History in New York City, currently directed by astrophysicist Dr. Neil deGrasse Tyson.... , New York, New York, USA	Mark II	1935	1960
	Mark IV	1960	1973
	Mark VI	1973	1997
	Mark IX	1999	Present
Humboldt Planetarium, Caracas Caracas Caracas , officially Santiago de León de Caracas, is the capital and largest city of Venezuela; natives or residents are known as Caraquenians in English . It is located in the northern part of the country, following the contours of the narrow Caracas Valley on the Venezuelan coastal mountain range... , Venezuela	Mark III (modified)	1950	Present
Manitoba Museum Manitoba Museum The Manitoba Museum, previously the Manitoba Museum of Man and Nature is the largest museum in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada.The museum is the largest heritage centre in Manitoba and the world and focuses on human and natural heritage. It has planetarium shows and a Science Gallery hall... , Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada	Mark Vs	1967	Present
Morehead Planetarium Morehead Planetarium Morehead Planetarium and Science Center is located on the campus of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. It is one of the oldest and largest planetariums in the United States having welcomed over 7 million visitors by its 60th anniversary in 2009... , Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA	Mark II	1949	1969
	Mark VI	1969	May 6, 2011
James S. McDonnell Planetarium, St. Louis St. Louis, Missouri St. Louis is an independent city on the eastern border of Missouri, United States. With a population of 319,294, it was the 58th-largest U.S. city at the 2010 U.S. Census. The Greater St... , Missouri, USA	Mark IX	2001	Present	replaced an Evans & Sutherland Evans & Sutherland Evans & Sutherland is a computer firm involved in the computer graphics field. Their products are used primarily by the military and large industrial firms for training and simulation, and in digital projection environments like planetariums.-History:...  Digistar
Samuel Oschin Planetarium, Griffith Park Observatory Griffith Observatory Griffith Observatory is in Los Angeles, California, United States. Sitting on the south-facing slope of Mount Hollywood in L.A.'s Griffith Park, it commands a view of the Los Angeles Basin, including downtown Los Angeles to the southeast, Hollywood to the south, and the Pacific Ocean to the southwest... , Los Angeles, California, USA	Mark IV	1964	2006
	Mark IX	2006	Present
Strasenburgh Planetarium Strasenburgh Planetarium The Strasenburgh Planetarium is a public planetarium located at 663 East Avenue in the city of Rochester, New York. It is named after its benefactors, Edwin and Clara Strasenburgh. It is a department of the Rochester Museum and Science Center. The Planetarium was dedicated on September 14, 1968.... , Rochester, New York, USA	Mark VI	1968	Present	Originally cost $240,234 – in 1968 dollars.
Planetario de Bogotá, Bogotá, Bogotá, Colombia	Mark VI	1969	Present
Fiske Planetarium, Boulder, Colorado, USA	Mark VI	1975	Present
Planetario Universidad de Santiago, Santiago Santiago, Chile Santiago , also known as Santiago de Chile, is the capital and largest city of Chile, and the center of its largest conurbation . It is located in the country's central valley, at an elevation of above mean sea level... , Chile	Mark VI	1972	Present
Calouste Gulbenkian Planetarium, Lisbon Lisbon Lisbon is the capital city and largest city of Portugal with a population of 545,245 within its administrative limits on a land area of . The urban area of Lisbon extends beyond the administrative city limits with a population of 3 million on an area of , making it the 9th most populous urban... , Portugal Portugal Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...	UPP 23/4	1965	2004
	Mark IX	2005	Present
Delafield Planetarium, Agnes Scott College Agnes Scott College Agnes Scott College is a private undergraduate college in the United States. Agnes Scott's campus lies in downtown Decatur, Georgia, nestled inside the perimeter of the bustling metro-Atlanta area.... , Decatur, Georgia, USA	Skymaster ZKP-3	2000	Present
Charles Hayden Planetarium, Boston Museum of Science, Boston, MA, USA	Mark VI	1970	2010
	Starmaster	2011	Present

See also

• List of planetariums
• 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...
  
  
• Planetarium Jena
  Planetarium Jena
  The Zeiss-Planetarium in Jena, Germany is the oldest continuously operating planetarium in the world. It was opened on July 18, 1926. The Zeiss-Planetarium is a projection planetarium...
  
  
• Walther Bauersfeld
  Walther Bauersfeld
  Walther Bauersfeld was a German engineer, employed by the Zeiss Corporation, who, on a suggestion by the German astronomer Max Wolf, started work on the first projection planetarium in 1912. This work was stopped by military needs during World War I, but resumed after the war...
  
  

External links

• Zeiss Planetariums