Characterizing fulldome planetarium projection systems Interpretation and implications for digital non-hybrid planetarium display selections

摘要

In the period from May 2013 to May 2016, 20 different planetarium facilities, mostly in Europe and centred on the Munich area, were visited by staff from the European Southern Observatory (ESO) to gather subjective and quantitative information about planetarium fulldome displays. This information served to inform the choice of planetarium system for the ESO Supernova Planetarium & Visitor Centre. This information is here summarised to inform the planetarium community about our findings. This paper (Paper II) concludes 3 years of non-contiguous research into what the different planetarium systems can offer, and of learning about the state of the field of planetariums. Paper I (R?βner et al., 2016) summarises the results of a measurement campaign in seven of the planetariums, delivering quantitative information to support some of the conclusions in this paper. Despite considerable uncertainties for some of the parameters, we include a template spreadsheet that can help inform some of the decisions. For non-hybrid digital fulldome systems, and with the current (2016) technical possibilities and equipment price points, our findings are as follows: