Seymour Planetarium - Springfield, MA
Posted by: neoc1
N 42° 06.265 W 072° 35.168
18T E 699589 N 4664189
The Springfield Science Museum has America's oldest operating planetarium.
Waymark Code: WMBC41
Location: Massachusetts, United States
Date Posted: 05/03/2011
Views: 7
The Springfield Science Museum is home to the Seymour Planetarium, the oldest operating planetarium in the United States.
The Seymour Planetarium was named in honor of Stephen Seymour, a major donor, and was dedicated on October 20, 1937. When dedicated, it was the fifth planetarium in the country. Since that time the previous four have ceased operation.
In 1934 all other planetariums in America used German built Zeiss projectors. Frank Korkosz, a museum employee, began to build the first optical projection planetarium in the United States. His projector is still in use today. The Korkosz projector in the Seymour Planetarium can project more than 7,000 stars of varying brightness.
Link to the Springfield Stars Club planetarium page: (
visit link)
History of the projector and the planetarium:
(
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