New planetarium goes interstellar in Bendigo
22/05/2023
More stargazers can explore outer space just by going to regional Victoria, with a bigger and better planetarium open and ready to blast off in Bendigo thanks to support from the Victorian Government.
The new Bendigo Planetarium at the Discovery Science and Technology Centre is now complete and double the size of the original. The project is backed by $250,000 from the Regional Tourism Investment Fund to attract even more visitors to the region.
The redesigned planetarium is centred around a state-of-the-art dome theatre which displays high-resolution images of planets and the cosmos to teach audiences about space. The new planetarium is expected to attract more than 14,000 new visitors to the region.
Up to 50 visitors can enjoy a range of entertaining, education and creative experiences in the six-metre-high dome. By using more than 30,000 items of scientific data and images, students will be able to take part in astronomy lessons.
The dome theatre features a 360-degree projector that offers a unique way to explore the universe by immersing visitors in footage and images of outer space. The space can be hired by the community for film screenings, video game and karaoke nights and cocktail parties.
The planetarium will also be used for the Central Victorian Indigenous Film Festival to show a film on Carriberrie dance, song and music in Aboriginal culture recorded on 360-degree cameras.
Established in 1995, Bendigo’s Discovery Science and Technology Centre is a non-for-profit organisation and one of Australia’s first science and technology centres outside of a major metropolitan city.
The new planetarium is designed to bring in more visitors to the region thanks to the dome-theatre and is open every Tuesday to Sunday with special event bookings available on the Discovery Centre website.
The Regional Tourism Investment Fund is helping entice more visitors to Victoria’s regions, driving private investment and accelerating the recovery of the tourism sector.
