On March 31, The University of Toledo reopened Ritter Planetarium to the public and introduced its new Digistar 7, a state-of-the-art digital projection system. With this new system, Ritter Planetarium is able to offer visitors an upgraded viewing experience, featuring higher quality, 4K imagery, as well as live streamed events and shows from around the world.
Dr. Michael Cushing, a professor of physics and astronomy and director of Ritter Planetarium, shared the new possibilities afforded by the new Digistar 7 technology, stating, “now we have the ability to do things like fly through the rings of Saturn or take a tour of the Pleiades star cluster.”
To celebrate the upgrade of Ritter Planetarium, the first program on display after the planetarium reopened was one that had never been shown before, called Stars of the Pharaohs, narrated by actor John Rhys-Davies. Through the show, audience members were transported to ancient Egypt and gained insight into the perspective of ancient Egyptians as they discovered the stars and used this knowledge to make calendars, temples, and pyramids.
Regardless of which show visitors attend, standard parts of the Ritter Planetarium experience include: a live, guided tour of the Toledo night sky, an immersive, full-dome show, an open-ended Q&A session, and (weather-permitting) a visit to the Brooks Observatory to use UToledo’s Celestron 14 Edge HD Telescope. To see more about Ritter Planetarium show schedules, visit this page.
