History of the UniverseSolar System
ObservatoryConstellations

Minsk
Planetarium

The planetarium building was constructed according to a standard project. The Star Hall, which accommodates up to 120 spectators, is equipped with a dome-shaped screen and a ZKP-1 opto-mechanical planetarium projector by Carl Zeiss, made in East Germany (GDR). The projection machine has a variety of technical capabilities.

Cosmos in numbers

Galaxy

12 billion years – the age of the oldest galaxies photographed by the Hubble Space Telescope
12
billion years

Asteroids

About 20 000 asteroids have been discovered so far
20 000

Days in Space

If we sum up all the time people have spent in outer space, it will be 83 years!
83
years in outer space

Galaxies

According to ScienceDaily, there are at least 2 trillion galaxies in the Universe in fact
2
trillion galaxies

The Moon

So far, only 12 people have walked on the Moon’s surface. 24 astronauts in total participated in expeditions to the Moon
12
people have walked on the Moon’s surface

Flight

The longest space flight was 437 days and 18 hours
437
days and 18 hours

Satellites

154 planet satellites have been discovered so far
154

Stars

Around 40 new stars appears in our galaxy every year
40
new stars

History of the Universe in numbers

On October 4, 1957 the first world's artificial earth-orbiting satellite «Sputnik», which opened the Space Age in the history of mankind, was successfully launched
On November 3, 1957 the second spacecraft «Sputnik - 2» with the dog Laika aboard, the 1st animal in space, was launched
On October 4, 1959 one of the most famous automatic interplanetary stations «Luna -3» was launched. The back side of the Moon was shot for the first time in history
On February 12, 1961 the spacecraft reached the orbit of another planet for the first time. The Soviet Union launched the automatic interplanetary station «Venus - 1»
On April 12, 1961 Soviet astronaut Yuri Gagarin made a full orbit around the Earth on the «Vostok - 1» spacecraft and successfully landed in the Saratov region
On July 20, 1969 the American lunar module «Apollo - 11» performed the soft landing on the moon with two astronauts on board
On November 17, 1970 the Soviet self-propelled vehicle «Lunokhod - 1» laid the first lunar track
On December 2, 1971 the world’s first soft landing on the surface of Mars was made
On December 18, 1973 the Soviet Union launched the spacecraft «Soyuz 13» into orbit with crew commander Pyotr Klimuk and flight engineer Valentina Lebedeva on board
On September 5, 1977 the American spacecraft «Voyager-1» was launched to explore the distant planets of the Solar System
On April 12, 1981 the first flight of the first reusable transport spacecraft «Columbia» was made
On January 28, 1986 the United States lost the first space shuttle. The spacecraft «Challenger» with 7 astronauts on board died at the launch
On October 18, 1989 the first artificial Jupiter satellite was launched. The USA launched automatic Galileo device
On April 24, 1990 Hubble Space telescope was launched into low Earth orbit. This is the largest such a project in the history of mankind
On December 4, 1996 the device called Mars Pathfinder was launched. It landed on surface of «red planet» on July 4, 1997
On November 20, 1998 the first element of the international Space Station entered orbit. The functional cargo block «Zarya» was sent into space
On April 28, 2000 the first space tourist was Dennis Tito. Russia sent «Soyuz- TM32» spacecraft with the first non-professional astronaut on board
On October 15, 2003 the first Chinese crewed spacecraft taikonaut «Shenzhou - V» made 14 orbits around the Earth in space
On March 02, 2004 the Rosetta automatic interplanetary station was launched, which made the first soft landing on a comet
On July 22, 2012 the first Belarusian Spacecraft (BS) was launched into orbit. The mission of the machine is the remote sensing of the Earth
On December 22, 2015 the first successful landing of the reusable first stage of the Falcon 9 rocket of the American private company SpaceX back to Earth
On February 06 , 2018 the first successful launch and landing of the used stages of the Falcon Heavy rocket, the most powerful of the existing launch vehicles, was made
On May 30, 2020 Falcon 9 rocket with a Crew Dragon spacecraft was launched in the United States. This is the first manned launch in history, which was conducted by a private company – Elon Musk's SpaceX
Launch of the first artificial Earth satellite Sputnik - 1
October 4
1957
Launch of the second artificial Earth satellite Sputnik - 2 with a dog Laika on board
November 3
1957
The USSR launched the third artificial satellite Sputnik - 3
May 15
1958
Automatic interplanetary station Luna -1 came within 5,000 miles of the moon
January 2
1959
Station Luna -2 was the first manmade object to land on the moon
September 14
1959
The first American artificial satellite of the Sun «Pioneer - 4» was launched
March 3
1959
Launch of AIS Luna - 3, which photographed the invisible side of the moon from Earth for the first time in the world
October 4
1959
The first orbital flight of living creatures – dogs Belka and Strelka. They were successfully returned to Earth
August 19
1960
Yuri Gagarin made the first flight around the Earth on the spacecraft-satellite «Vostok» (USSR)
April 12
1961
The first suborbital flight of cosmonaut A. Shepard on the Mercury spacecraft (USA)
May 5
1961
Herman Titov made a daily flight around the Earth on the spacecraft-satellite «Vostok - 2» (USSR)
August 6
1961
The first orbital flight of astronaut John Glenn on the Mercury spacecraft (USA)
February 20
1962
The first satellite for the Sun research of the OSO series (USA)
March 7
1962
The first artificial Earth satellite of the «Cosmos» series (USSR)
March 16
1962
The first group flight on the «Vostok -3» and «Vostok-4» spacecraft (USSR)
August 12
1962
The first female cosmonaut Tereshkova flew around the Earth on the «Vostok-6» spacecraft (USSR)
June 16
1963
Launch of a communications satellite «Sincom - 3» into a stationary orbit (USA)
August 19
1964
The flight around the Earth of cosmonauts Komarov, Feoktistov and Egorov on a three-person spacecraft «Voskhod» (USSR)
October 12
1964
The Mars flyby on July 15, 1965 and its exploration by the automatic interplanetary station «Mariner - 4» (USA)
November 28
1964
The first spacewalk of cosmonaut Alexei Leonov from the «Voskhod-2» spacecraft (USSR)
March 18
1965
The first space maneuver of the «Gemini-3» spacecraft (USA)
March 23
1965
The first automatic satellite in synchronous orbit of the «Molniya-1» series (USSR)
April 23
1965
The first automatic heavy research satellite of the Proton series (USSR)
July 16
1965
The first French satellite «Asterix - 1»
November 26
1965
Automatic interplanetary station «Luna - 9» made the world's first soft landing on the surface of the moon
February 03
1966
The first flight of the «Venus-3» spacecraft from Earth to Venus
March 03
1966
The «Luna-10» station became the first artificial satellite of the Moon
April 03
1966
The first docking of two unmanned spacecraft «Cosmos 186» and «Cosmos 188» was made
October 30
1967
The first return of the Zond-5 spacecraft to Earth after the Moon flyby
September 15
1968
The first docking of two manned spacecraft «Soyuz - 4» and «Soyuz -5» has been made
January 16
1969
The first landing of Neil Amstrong on the Moon
July 21
1969
Landing and start of work of the world's first planetoid «Lunokhod - 1»
November 17
1970
Space station «Salyut 11» became the first Space Station on orbit (USSR)
April 19
1971
The «Mariner-9» station became the first artificial satellite of Mars
November 13
1971
The «Mars-2» station first reached the surface of Mars
November 27
1971
The first landing of the automatic interplanetary station «Mars - 3» on Mars
December 02
1971
Launch of the first «Pioneer-10» spacecraft, which later left the boundaries of the Solar System
March 03
1972
A rocket society was formed in Germany
May 25
1973
«Apollo» (USA) and «Soyuz-19» (USSR) docked - this is the first «handshake in space»
July 17
1975
Soviet spacecraft «Venera - 9» became the first artificial satellite of Venus
October 20
1975
The first images were sent from the surface of Mars back to Earth by the artificial satellite «Viking -1»
July 20
1976
Artificial satellite «Viking-2» found and photographed frozen water on Mars
September
1976
«Voyager-1» and «Voyager-2» left Earth for a grand tour of the Solar System
August - September
1976
«Kosmos - 1000» has been launched - the beginning of the formation of the space navigation system «Cicada»
March 31
1978
The American spacecraft «Voyager-1», launched in 1977, arrived at Jupiter
March 05
1979
The American spacecraft «Voyager-2», launched in 1977, arrived at Jupiter
July 09
1979
«Pioneer-11» space probe (USA) arrived at Saturn and the first photos of the planets was taken
September 01
1979
The first flight of the reusable transport spacecraft «Columbia»
April 14
1981
The first samples of the soil of Venus extracted by the Soviet spacecraft «Venus 13»
March 01
1982
The first operational flight of the space shuttle
November 11
1982
The first launch of the American space shuttle «Challenger»
April 04
1983
The first American woman Sally Ride in space, on the space Shuttle mission STS-7
June 19
1983
The first launch of the «Zenit» vehicle from the Baikonur cosmodrome
April 13
1985
The first «Photon» spacecraft for research was launched
April 16
1985
The accident of the shuttle «Challenger», collapsed as a result of an explosion of an external fuel tank
January 28
1986
Launching the base module of the «Mir» space station into orbit
February 20
1986
The first space flight of the reusable space transport system «Buran» in automatic mode
November 15
1988
«Voyager-2» space probe landed on Neptune
August 25
1989
Launch of the «Discovery» shuttle with the Hubble telescope on board
April 24
1990
NASA's Magellan Interplanetary Station entered Venus orbit
August 10
1990
The first Russian cosmonaut was aboard the space shuttle
February 03
1994
The first female space shuttle pilot
February 06
1995
The first space shuttle docked with the station «Mir»
June 25
1995
The Galileo station became the first artificial satellite of Jupiter
December 07
1995
Landing of the «Mars Pathfinder» spacecraft on the surface of Mars
July 04
1997
Launch of the first Zarya block of the International Space Station
November 20
1998
The first American module of the International Space Station
December 04
1998
The first detailed exploration of an asteroid
February 14
2000
The station «NEAR Shoemaker» became the first artificial satellite of the asteroid 433 Eros
June 24
2000
American businessman Denis Tito became the first tourist to fly to outer space
April 28
2001
The «Shenzhou 5» spacecraft was launched from the Jiuquan Cosmodrome in China
October 15
2003
Cassini station became the first artificial satellite of Saturn
June 30
2004
The Huygens spacecraft successfully landed on Titan and sent a series of unique photos to Earth
January 14
2005
After a 174-day flight, the Deep Impact probe flew 10.3 km per second past the comet
July 04
2005
«Stardust» station delivered samples of the tail of comet «Wilda-2» to Earth
January 15
2006
The Kepler spacecraft was launched to find planets located outside the Solar system
March 06
2009
SpaceX is the first private company in the world to launch a Dragon spacecraft into orbit
December 08
2010
«MESSENGER» station became the first artificial satellite of Mercury
March 17
2011
NASA's «Dawn» spacecraft became the first ship to enter orbit around the asteroid Vesta
July 16
2011
Russia launches Spektr-P, which has become the largest space telescope to launch into orbit
July 18
2011
NASA Research Rover successfully landed on Mapce
May 22
2012
The American «Curiosity» spacecraft landed in Gale Crater on Mars
August 06
2012
The first flight to the International Space Station according to the "short" scheme
March 29
2013
The first test flight of the light version of the PH Hangar 1.2
July 09
2014
The New Horizons station got closer to Pluto by the shortest distance up to that time — 12,500 km
July 14
2015
The spacecraft of the Russian-European mission «ExoMars - 2016» has been launched
March 14
2016
The first launch of the «Soyuz - 2.1a» carrier rocket from the Vostochny cosmodrome of Russia was performed
April 28
2016
NASA created a planetary rover for the study of Venus
2017 year
The Chinese automatic interplanetary station «Chang'e - 4» made a soft landing on the far side of the Moon for the first time in history
January 03
2019
The Crew Dragon manned spacecraft has launched in the USA - the first launch of a private company Space X in history
May 30
2020
Decades
Years

The Sun

The Sun is one of at least a hundred billion stars in our Milky Way galaxy and the only star in the Solar System. There are a lot of other solar system objects circling around the Sun: planets and their satellites, dwarf planets and their satellites, asteroids, meteoroids, comets and cosmic dust. According to the spectral classification, the Sun belongs to the type G2V (Yellow Dwarf).

Spectral type
Yellow Dwarf star or G2V
Radius
696,340 kilometers
Distance from the Earth
149.6 million kilometers
Orbital Period
225—250 million years

Mercury

Mercury is the smallest planet in the Solar System and the closest to the Sun. It is named after the Roman god Mercurius (Mercury), god of commerce, because it moves across the sky faster than any other planets. Its orbit around the Sun takes 87.97 Earth days, the shortest of all the Sun's planets.

The first telescopic observations of Mercury were made by Galileo Galilei in the early 17th century.

Satellites
There are no natural satellites
Radius
2,439 kilometers
Distance from the Sun
64.8 million kilometers
Orbital Period
88 Earth days

Venus

Venus is the second farthest from the sun and the sixth largest planet in the solar system. Venus, along with Mercury, Earth and Mars, — is often called the "terrestrial planets" because its surface is rocky. It was named after the ancient Roman goddess of love, Venus. Venus is sometimes called Earth's twin because they are almost the same size, have about the same mass, and have a very similar composition (are made of the same material). The Venusian year is 224.7 Earth days. It has the longest rotation period around its axis among all the planets in the solar system.

The first known observations and recording of a transit of Venus were made in 1639 by the English astronomer Jeremiah Horrocks.

Satellites
There are no natural satellites
Radius
6,052 kilometers
Distance from the Sun
107.6 million kilometers
Orbital Period
225 Earth days

Earth

Earth is the third planet from the Sun and the only astronomical object known to harbor life. The densest and fifth in diameter and mass among all the planets. Earth is an ellipsoid with a circumference of about 40,000 km. Of the four rocky planets, it is the largest and most massive. Earth is about eight light-minutes away from the Sun and orbits it, taking a year (about 365.25 days) to complete one revolution.

Earth, like most other Solar System bodies, formed 4.5 billion years ago from gas of the early Solar System.

Satellites
The Moon
Radius
6,371 kilometers
Distance from the Sun
151.53 million kilometers
Orbital Period
365 Earth days

Mars

Mars is the fourth farthest planet from the Sun and the seventh-largest planet in the Solar System. The mass of the planet is 10.7% of the Earth’s mass. In ancient Roman religion and myth, Mars was the god of war and also an agricultural guardian. It is also known as the Red Planet, because it looks reddish from Earth.

The German-born British astronomer Sir William Herschel began making observations of the planet Mars in 1777, particularly of the planet's polar caps.

Satellites
Phobos and Deimos
Radius
3,389 kilometers
Distance from the Sun
248.97 million kilometers
Orbital Period
687 Earth days

Jupiter

Jupiter is the largest planet in the solar system, the fifth farthest from the Sun. Along with Saturn, Uranus and Neptune, Jupiter is classified as a gas giant. Jupiter, also known as Jove, is the god of the sky and thunder, and king of the gods in ancient Roman religion and mythology. Jupiter has at least 79 satellites. The most massive of the moons are the four Galilean moons: Io, Europa, Ganymede, and Callisto, which were independently discovered in 1610 by Galileo Galilei.

Jupiter is one of the planets visible to naked eye, and its path through the night sky has been observed for thousands of years.

Satellites
Io, Europa, Ganymede and Callisto (and 79 more)
Radius
69,911 kilometers
Distance from the Sun
755.83 million kilometers
Orbital Period
12 Earth years

Saturn

Saturn is the sixth planet from the Sun and the second largest planet in the Solar System after Jupiter. The planet is classified as a giant gas planet. Its symbol is thought to be an ancient scythe or sickel, as Saturn was the god of seed-sowing and also of time. The rings of Saturn are the most extensive ring system of any planet in the Solar System. They consist of countless small particles that orbit around Saturn. The ring particles are made almost entirely of water ice, with a trace component of rocky material.

Saturn has been known to people since ancient times. Due to its relatively small brightness, it was discovered a little later than other planets.

Satellites
Titan (and 81 more)
Radius
58,232 kilometers
Distance from the Sun
1.4877 billion kilometers
Orbital Period
29 Earth years

Uranus

Uranus is the seventh planet from the Sun. It has the third-largest planetary radius and fourth-largest planetary mass in the Solar System.

Uranus became the first planet discovered in New times with the help of a telescope. Uranus is similar in composition to Neptune, and both have different bulk chemical composition from that of the larger gas giants Jupiter and Saturn. For this reason, Uranus and Neptune are now often classified in the separate category of ice giants. The lowest temperature recorded in Uranus's tropopause is 49 K (– 224.2 C), making Uranus the coldest planet in the Solar System.

William Herschel found Uranus on March 13, 1781. Its name is a reference to the Greek god of the sky, Uranus (Caelus).

Satellites
Miranda, Ariel, Umbriel, Titania and Oberon (and 22 more)
Radius
25,362 kilometers
Distance from the Sun
2.9546 billion kilometers
Orbital Period
84 Earth года

Neptune

Neptune is the eighth planet from the Sun and the farthest known solar planet. It is the fourth-largest planet in the Solar System by diameter, the third-most-massive planet, and the densest giant planet. It is 17,2 times the mass of Earth, and slightly more massive than its near-twin Uranus. It is named after the Roman god of the sea and has the astronomical symbol – Neptune's trident. Neptune is now often classified in the separate category of ice giants.

Neptune became the first mathematically predicted planet on 23 September 1846 before it was directly observed.

Satellites
Triton (and 13 more)
Radius
24,622 kilometers
Distance from the Sun
4.4755 billion kilometers
Orbital Period
165 Earth years

The Sun

Mercury

Venus

Earth

Mars

Jupiter

Saturn

Uranus

Neptune

Explore the Universe

Learn about missile launches, follow the enthusiasts’ research and watch photos of unearthly beauty

NASA’s Eyes

Experience Earth and our solar system, the universe and the spacecraft exploring them, with immersive apps for Mac, PC and mobile devices.

SpaceX

Space should be accessible to everyone

Federal Space Agency

A lot of interesting information, news, important videos announcements and broadcasts are always with you

If The Moon Were Only 1 Pixel

A tediously accurate scale model of the Solar System

Night Sky

Night Sky – a personal planetarium in your pocket

In Space We Trust

Amazing art project about human space exploration

Photo Gallery

ZKP-1
Carl Zeiss

The observatory tower is 6 meters in diameter. To eliminate the effects of surface air turbulence, it has a significant rise above the ground.

It has a 130 mm refractor telescope made by Carl Zeiss (focal length — 1950 mm, magnification — 300 ×), with which, led by experts, visitors can observe celestial objects.

Observatory

Learn about missile launches, follow the enthusiasts’ research and watch photos of unearthly beauty

Opening

Minsk Planetarium and Observatory was opened on July 29, 1965 at the highest point of the Gorky Park
29
July, 1965

Star Hall

Star Hall for 120 people (100 for the star sessions)
120
people at a session

Film Show

Screening of a two-dimensional film about the achievements of astronomy and cosmonautics
44
films and cartoons

Fulldome cinema

The image in a spherical film is displayed on a dome with a 360° view using modern digital projectors
360°

Now on the sky

Ursa Major

Ursa Major is a constellation in the northern sky. It is primarily known from the asterism of its main seven stars called the "Big Dipper". Two of its stars, named Dubhe and Merak, can be used as the navigational pointers

Ursa Minor

Ursa Minor is a near-polar constellation of the Northern sky hemisphere. It occupies an area of 255.9 square degrees in the sky and contains 25 stars visible to the naked eye

Leo

Leo is one of the constellations of the zodiac, between Cancer the crab to the west and Virgo the maiden to the east

Lepus

Lepus is a constellation lying south of the celestial equator. It occupies an area of 290.3 square degrees in the sky, contains 72 stars visible with the naked eye

Pegasus

Pegasus is a constellation in the northern sky, named after the winged horse Pegasus in Greek mythology

Columba

Columba is the constellation of the southern hemisphere of the sky. The area is 270.2 square degrees, 71st star visible to the naked eye

Cygnus

Cygnus is a northern constellation extended along the Milky Way. Cygnus is one of the most recognizable constellations of the northern summer and autumn, and it features a prominent asterism known as the Northern Cross

Cassiopeia

Cassiopeia is a constellation in the northern sky. The brightest stars of Cassiopeia ( from 2.2 to 3.4 star magnitude) form a shape similar to the letters «M» and «W»

Orion

Orion is a prominent constellation located on the celestial equator and visible throughout the world. It is named after Orion, a hunter in Greek mythology

Andromeda

Andromeda is a constellation of the northern hemisphere of the sky. It contains three stars of the second stellar magnitude and the spiral galaxy

Perseus

Perseus is a constellation in the northern sky named after the Greek mythological hero, who killed the Gorgon Medusa