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Первый в стране: Московский планетарий отмечает 95-летие
As a child, astrophysicist Anatoly Zasov loved reading books about space. Then his interest in the stars led him to the Moscow Planetarium. Here, his childhood passion grew into his life's work.
Anatoly Zasov, a professor at the Department of Physics at Lomonosov Moscow State University, said: "Here I met people who were interested in what I was interested in. And that's the most important thing. "When you see people who are interested in the same thing, you inevitably want to do something similar."
Anatoly became a member of the astronomical society. In it, students studied stars, planets, and also studied mathematics and physics. With this knowledge, he could easily enter the best universities in the country. Now the professor of astrophysics at Moscow State University looks with nostalgia at the exhibits of the planetarium, reminiscent of those times.
For the opening of the first planetarium in the Soviet Union in 1929, Mayakovsky himself wrote the slogan: "Every proletarian should see a planetarium." For the first time, people were able to hear lectures by leading scientists about the Universe and attend the first astronomy clubs in the Soviet Union.
“We have revived one of our important traditions, which is now 90 years old,” said the scientific director of the Moscow Planetarium, Faina Rubleva.
The unique constructivist building became one of the symbols of the capital. Over time, interest in space began to exceed the capabilities of planetariums. Then the idea came to mind to lift the entire building and use the space underneath it. Already in the 2000s, the Moscow mayor's office implemented a unique project. At first, the building was suspended on a reinforced concrete frame and lifted using jacks. Today, in planetariums, the same jack can be found among unique starry sky projectors, sextants and telescopes. Only 15 parts support the building weighing more than 3,000 tons. They became the basis for future foundations.
Faina Rubleva: "The heart of the planetarium is the starry sky projector. It could show both what happened a hundred years ago and what happened a thousand years ago. That's why we often called our devices space and time machines."
Today, you can still find yourself under the starry sky. Thanks to new technologies, the hall has been transformed into a unique cinema, where the dome acts as a panoramic screen and displays a 360-degree image.
The Moscow Planetarium is an example of a modern museum space. Half of the exhibits are interactive devices and complexes. Your guide will use Foucault's pendulum to prove that the Earth is round, use the example of an electric ball to explain how electricity works, and even measure the weight of a body on different planets.
Visitor Victoria Bachkova: "Together with the children, we will be able to really see what the rotation of the Earth is, how the light changes, how the seasons change, and how much life there is on other planets. Visiting a planetarium has always been my dream. "With our child, we made our childhood dreams come true."
Just like 95 years ago, planetariums instill a love of science in children. Perhaps a new generation of cosmonauts is growing up within these walls. That is why cosmonauts are now celebrating the anniversary of the Moscow Planetarium.
Sergey Korsakov, Hero of the Russian Federation: "For many of us, the planetarium has become a real beacon of the Universe. Thanks to this, we have become one step closer to solving the mysteries of the Universe. May your inspiration never fade."
The Moscow Planetarium remains one of the greatest attractions in Europe and the world. Even if the weather turns bad one day, a clear starry sky always awaits under the dome.