Equipment
The Planetarium
The Planetarium has a 30-foot dome and a Spitz A3P star machine, which projects the stars onto the surface of the dome. Installed when the planetarium was built in 1965, the star machine can take you to any observing point in the world, projecting nearly 1500 stars. For lectures and educational presentations, the Planetarium is equipped with computers, DVD players, LCD projectors, and a stereo system. The auditorium has seating for up to 70 people.
Telescopes
The Planetarium is home to the Darling Telescope. This telescope once sat in John H. Darling's astronomical observatory, which was built in Duluth during the early part of the last century. Come view the display with pictures and objects dating to 1916. In addition to the Darling Telescope, the planetarium has many other vintage telescopes including a ca. 1900 6 inch Brashear refractor, a 6 inch Vega Maksutov Newtonian reflector (one of only 29 made), A 3.5 inch Questar Maksutov Cassagrain, and a 12" Newtonian reflector. The planetarium also has an 8" Orion Dobsonian telescope that the astronomy club occasionally takes outside to stargaze with. There is also a robotic observatory on the roof of Marshall W. Alworth Hall featuring a 12" Celestron cassegrain telescope.
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