The Sir Thomas Brisbane Planetarium is located on the grounds of the Brisbane Botanic Gardens in the suburb of Toowong, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. The Planetarium was officially opened on 24 May 1978.
The Planetarium is named after Sir Thomas Brisbane, governor of the colony of New South Wales and well known Scottish astronomer who established the first significant observatory at Parramatta, Australia, in 1822 for mapping the southern skies. The Planetarium is located about 5km from the Central Business District, and is administered by the Brisbane City Council.
The Planetarium features the 12.5m diameter Cosmic Skydome (hemispherical planetarium theatre) with a recently upgraded, state of the art Sky-Skan digital dome projection system, console and refurbished seats for a maximum concentric seating capacity of 133. An observatory contains a permanently mounted Zeiss 15cm refractor and a Meade 25.4cm "Go To" Schmidt-Cassegrain telescope. Extensive space exploration and astronomy displays in the Planetarium's Foyer and Gallery include the 1969 Moon landing with a replica of Neil Armstrong's space suit and numerous models of spacecraft and astronomical instruments. A mini-theatre usually features a regularly updated Space Telescope Science Institute web feed.
The Planetarium runs more than 1,300 regular shows per year in the Cosmic Skydome for public and school groups, observing sessions in the observatory and occasional public field nights. The original Zeiss star projector was removed from the Cosmic Skydome during the upgrade in 2010 and was placed on display in the foyer in early 2012. A replacement optical star projector by Ohira Tech was installed in the Cosmic Skydome in early 2013.
Access to the display areas and mini theatre are free. Admission charges apply for the Cosmic Skydome and the observatory. The Planetarium is closed on Mondays and is usually closed for up to two weeks for servicing work following the December/January school holidays.
Outside exhibits adjacent to the Planetarium include a statue of Konstantin Tsiolkovsky, the Father of Cosmonautics and a large sundial in the Sundial Court.