The first planetarium in Romania was brought from the Zeiss company and installed at the Western University of Timișoara in 1964, by professor and rector Ioan Curea. At that time, the endowment cost 200.000 lei, an amount covered from the public budget by the Ministry of Education.
Now, the UVT planetarium is under the care of the Faculty of Physics, which for the first time registered this planetarium in international database of planetariums.
The planetarium facilities are used free of charge for pupils and students, offering 24 seats, the original projector being a Zeiss ZKP-1 type. The planetarium can successfully serve for the training of pupils and students in the field of Astronomy, after the pandemic period it opens to the public, starting from November 2, 2022. From then until now, the number of student visitors to the planetarium has exceeded 5000, being recorded about 200 visits, each with 24 to 40 students, all free of charge.
The importance of registering the Timisoara planetarium in the international database of planetariums refers to the opening of opportunities for future joint training programs, together with the international partners in the network. The fact that there are not many planetariums in the world that are supervised by specialized faculties and that are offered free of charge, on a visiting basis, at the disposal of pupils and students, amplifies the attractiveness of this objective.
UVT rector, Marilen Gabriel Pirtea: "As the experience of using the planetarium for the Astronomy and Astrophysics course proves, this endowment supports science popularization programs, and the international connection with other planetariums operating through university supervision develops new premises for student participation in international astrophysics studies. Data exchanges and program exchanges are also targeted, even the realization of international conferences hosted by UVT, by making the planetarium's existence fruitful."
INFO: planetarium activity coordinator: Florin Secoșan (florin.secosan@gmail.com)
