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STAR THEATER
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The Downing Planetarium has a 74-seat star theater with a 30-foot dome. The planetarium shows are run with a Minolta MS-8 star projector,
two video projectors, and 36 slide projectors all controlled by a computer program. The star projector shown on the right was newly installed in October, 2000.
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LOBBY
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The Lobby
As you enter the Downing Planetarium building, you will be greeted by a spacious lobby. On the front side, you will find the donor wall, a photograph of comet Hale-Bopp, a solar system scale and an elements scale, a gravity well, and a sundial. On the other side are display cases with science toys and meteorites and entrance to the star theater
At the top of the picture is one of the murals painted by Lynette Cook in July 2002.
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GIFT SHOP
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The Downing Planetarium Gift Shop
The hallway from the lobby then leads to the gift shop. In the gift shop, you will find posters, T-shirts, bookmarks, and all kinds of science toys.
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MUSEUM
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| Downing
Planetarium Museum |
The Downing Planetarium Museum is now open for school
field trips, and will soon be open to the public on selected
weekends. The museum is located directly behind the
Downing Planetarium, and consists of hands-on astronomy and
physics exhibits. For a complete list of exhibits, click
here.
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DONATIONS
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| Donations |
The Downing Planetarium is
a non-profit organization which relies on donations
to support our educational work. To make a donation to the
Downing Planetarium, please contact
Dr. Steven White by phone at
(559)278-4020
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GROUND BREAKING
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Ground Breaking
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The ground breaking ceremony for the Downing Planetarium was held on 3/21/99. We had a lecture by Dr. Barbara Neuhauser and telescopes provided by the Central Valley Astronomers for viewing the sun.
Shown in the picture are (from left to right) President John Welty, Dr. Harold Downing, and Dr. Tom Downing.
Please follow the link to the photo album.
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CONSTRUCTION
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Construction of the Planetarium
To see the construction of the Downing Planetarium from start to finish, please take a look at
our archives by Dr. David Zellmer.
Please also look at nice animations of some phases of the construction.
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GRAND OPENING
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| Grand Opening |
The grand opening ceremony for the Downing Planetarium was held on 4/8/00. The public weekend shows started on 5/19/00.
So far we have had over 72,000 visitors as of November 14, 2002.
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AAS MEETING
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Display at AAS Meeting
We had a display about the Downing Planetarium at the 198th meeting of AAS (American Astronomical Society) held in Pasadena, CA in June of 2001. It was entitled
"The Downing Planetarium: A New Astronomy Education Resource for Fresno, CA"
Here is the abstract at the AAS web site. |
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