Dome Shots

So what does a Digitarium projection actually look like? Below you will find:

• Digitarium Epsilon projection photographs
• Digitarium Gamma projection photographs
• Digitarium Alpha 2 projection photographs
• Software screenshots with other examples of what can be projected.

Please bear in mind that a camera and the human eye differ so this can only be an approximation. Note that your monitor calibration, your browser rendering, and the compression in these image files will also affect the visual appearance of these images.

These photos were all taken inside 5m inflatable domes. Click on an image to enlarge it.

Digitarium Epsilon Projection Photos

Digitarium Gamma Projection Photos

Digitarium Alpha 2 Projection Photos

Screenshots

Click on the thumbnails to view Digitarium Alpha 2/2+ full dome resolution images.

Note that these are images from the software that drives the Digitarium, not photographs of the actual projection on the dome, as above.

Digitarium systems use a customized version of Stellarium as their planetarium display software. This is an open source software program, which you can download and use on your own computer.

	A planetarium during the day usually doesn't look like this!  Atmosphere can be turned off with one button press on the remote to show the stars hidden behind the blue sky.  Daytime with atmosphere is a natural way to light up a dome for entry and exit of the audience.
	Here we can see stars and the Milky Way as we lie in a forest clearing.  The landscape can be turned off with one button touch on the remote control.
	Turning on constellation outlines or name labels is as easy as pressing a button on the remote. Here are constellations from the southern hemisphere. Line art and name labels are controlled independently and can be limited to one constellation at a time for identification lessons.
	With one button you can display constellation artwork, here contemporary artwork by Johan Meuris. Constellation art can also be limited to one constellation at a time.
	Here we have zoomed in on just Orion with artwork on. We also have magnitude sizing turned on for stars and planets, which makes magnitude differences easier to distinguish by using more than one pixel for brighter objects.
	Clicking on an object identifies it, and hitting the zoom button provides a close up view. Over 100 deep space object images are included in the projector. Here we can see the Southern Ring Nebula in a Hubble image.
	By clicking on Jupiter to select it and then hitting the zoom in button, we get a close look at Jupiter. Speeding up time allows us to watch Jupiter rotate and the Galilean moons orbit. Notice that the time here is 2:09 PM. With atmosphere turned off, you can see objects no matter the time of day.
	Here is a close up of Io just finishing a transit of Jupiter.
	Here we have turned on orbit visualizations to see the orbits of the natural satellites of Neptune.
	Zoomed in on Uranus showing the rings and closest moons.
	Riding comet McNaught out of the solar system, with trails drawn for 500 asteroids.
	It's easy to watch the moon phase day by day, either enlarged in its actual position, or while zoomed in, as here.
	With a StratoScript™ you can load solar system objects of your own, for example Earth satellites. The International Space Station is shown here just passing over Madagascar.
	Constellation art with traditional Chinese labels and some custom colors. Translations are included for over 40 languages.
	Here is a view from Mimas. When projected on a dome Saturn's rings will appear perfectly flat as you would expect.
	Here is a view from above the solar system, highlighting the inner planets. Orbits and 60 day trails are shown.
	Here is a special effect - the aurora australis. This is an example of a simple script that uses image manipulation commands to create a dynamically changing aurora. This just hints at how powerful the scripting feature is.
	The sun is rising in the east (remember that we're looking up at the dome, north at the top of the image), which means it's almost time for our planetarium experience to end. Here we have turned on planet labels, highlighting the fact that you can label and zoom in on objects like Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto that you can't even see with the naked eye. Labels make identification much too easy, so save these as a last resort!