Located in a modest house within the historic centre of Franeker, the Royal Eise Eisinga Planetarium is the oldest continuously operating planetarium in the world. Built between 1774 and 1781, this accurately working model of our solar system provides an up-to-date and realistic image of the positions of the Sun, the Moon, the Earth and the five other planets that were known at the time: Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn. The planets revolve around the Sun in real time and the distance between the planets is at scale. The model fills the entire ceiling of the room, making it one of the earliest predecessors of the ceiling and projection planetariums of the 20th and 21st centuries. To this day, it is open to the public and used as an educational centre dedicated to astronomy.
Unesco: Eisinga Planetarium in Franeker
RR: Unesco RR
Date: August 21
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