Al Thuraya Planetarium

The Al Thuraya Planetarium was opened in December 2018 just in time for Qatar National Day. The 2,240 sqm facility which caters to both young and adults alike, is named after the Pleiades star cluster.

The Planetarium is named after the Thuraya (Seven Sisters) which is a cluster of seven bright stars (the Pleiades M45). It is considered one of the most beautiful sights in the sky which Arabs call the Thuraya (Wealth in Arabic) which was of great significance to them in the ancient times.

Occupying 2,240sqm area, the planetarium is expected to become one of the main attractions at Katara. It offers a rare experience to visitors, blending education and entertainment, especially students, families and astronomy enthusiasts.

The main component of the planetarium is a full-dome digital system with a seating capacity of 200 people, four seats for the disabled and another four for the elderly. It features a 22-meter screen, equipped with state-of-the-art digital projectors showing 2D and 3D tutorial shows.

The operating system of the Planetarium (Digistar) has very unique features such as an amazing tool to process 3D illustrations projected to the main screen of the dome.

The system also features live streaming feature domecasting, which enables other similar theatres and domes in the world that are equipped with the same Digistar system to broadcast live presentations between each other, which enables other galleries to meet and watch live performances and experiment simultaneously, and live presentations to be broadcast in the Al Thuraya.

In addition, the Planetarium features information on Earth Science which contains more than 200 unique data sets in five categories: astronomy, atmosphere, geology and the oceans. This includes more than 25 terrestrial weather data, solar data sets and a number of awareness presentations by professional trainers.