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| Planetarium projector models since 1942 |
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In the 1930s, Model II continued to be enhanced, with the world’s first small planetarium being presented in 1942. After World War II, form 1946 onwards, the Zeiss factories in Jena (East Germany) and Oberkochen (West Germany) developed their own projector lines. Oberkochen produced Models III to VI TD V (1957–1989) and the medium-sized planetarium M 1015 (1983). In Jena the ZKP small planetarium was enhanced up to ZKP 3 (1993). From 1954 to 1968 the Universal Projection Planetariums were built, and the ”Spacemaster” space flight planetariums from 1967 to 1992. 1984 saw the presentation of the a large new planetarium, the "Cosmorama", followed in 1989 by the launch of the "Universarium", the first projector with glass fiber optics. The Model VII planetarium projector of 1993 was the first joint project of the two reunified Zeiss factories in Jena and Oberkochen after over 40 years of German partition.
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| Model VII planetarium projector with fiber optics in the ”Forum der Technik”, Munich, Germany. | ZKP small planetarium in the Drebach Observatory in Thuringia, Germany. |
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In addition to the change in shape from a dumbbell to the ”starball”, there has also been a dramatic change in the way shows are presented during the almost 80-year history of planetariums. Planetariums are no longer simply ”star theaters”. Special laser effects, video projection, slide superimposition, sound systems, and last but certainly not least, a state-of-the-art computer for automatic program runs have turned today’s planetarium presentations into multimedia shows. The locations of today's most modern projector, the Universarium Mark IX, with glass fiber optics, include the Hayden Planetarium in New York, St. Louis and Stuttgart.
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