20/03/2008 04:00:00
On Good Friday, the 21st of March, the country's largest planetarium will open its doors to the public.
The new planetarium is located at the Intech Science Centre in Winchester, South East England, and offers a 176-seat theatre. Visitors can enjoy interactive shows screened on the 16.5m dome of the auditorium.
Andy Lane, marketing director at Intech, told the Guardian:
"Because the scale is so big you are immersed in it. You feel like you are floating,"
According to the BBC, presenters at the Winchester planetarium will be able to alter the images shown at the touch of a button, allowing the shows to be tailored to the ages and interests of each audience.
The South East England Development Agency (Seeda) funded the project with a £650,000 grant. Prof Bill Wakeham, vice-chancellor of Southampton University and Seeda board member said:
"We believe that developing a planetarium at Intech is an excellent way of encouraging a far greater number of students to continue studying science, engineering and mathematics subjects across the south-east and beyond,"
South England's newest planetarium opened its doors to a selection of celebrities on Wednesday and opens to the public in time for the Easter Break. Visitors will be able to choose from a range of three different shows, some presented by live narrators who utilise software to fly the audience to any place in the mapped universe.