Visitors to Scitech in Perth, Western Australia can now enjoy a revitalised out-of-this-world experience following a major refurbishment of their planetarium facility.

The renovations have resulted in a complete gutting of the location which was inherited by the science centre in 2004 after a privately-owned IMAX theatre closed and has since operated as a planetarium.

International planetarium designer and installer, SkySkan, assisted with the facility’s upgrade, which took three months to complete and involved importing specialist equipment. SkySkan brought 45 years of expertise in immersive theatres to ensure the upgraded Scitech planetarium delivers a high-end and globally-regarded experience for visitors.

The new planetarium projector is a Sony T420 which provides the ultimate in picture quality, brightness, and contrast. This full-dome video projection system blankets the hemispherical dome with a single seamless, ultra high-resolution video image. The result is spectacular colour and movement like never before, creating a unique immersive environment and awe-inspiring astronomical experience.

Scitech planetarium staff will be creating fly through presentations so visitors can find themselves interacting with the night sky and being taken to the very edge of the known Universe, all on the 180 degree 9 metre high, 18 metre diameter dome.

The new facility is also offering its visitors this improved experience in 177 larger and more comfortable seats.

The planetarium is currently showing the Copernicus Science Centre’s fulldome film “Dream to Fly” and the National Geographic presentation “Wildest Weather in the Solar System.”