Jakarta Planetarium and Observatory, Jakarta

Jakarta Planetarium and Observatory, Jakarta Overview

Ever got to enjoy the view of a starry night sky in one of the most mesmerising ways possible? Jakarta Planetarium and observatory is a fascinating and intriguing tourist spot located in the Ismail Marzuki Park area of Jakarta. The planetarium was officially opened in 1969 as an exhibition centre for meteorology, physics, space science and astronomy. Its unique building design resembles a half ball dome with a 22-meter high dome. It is a two-floor building with exhibition hall on the ground floor and teater bintang (Theatre) on the first floor.

This planetarium contains dioramas of celestial objects and host astronomy education programs, where they tell the basic facts about our solar system and galaxies with the help of narrators and an hour-long celestial show. In the exhibition hall, there are various space diorama and mini theatre to show Astronomy videos. Teater Bintang, as mentioned above, is an air-conditioned theatre with a screen on the ceiling, one has to lean back to enjoy the engrossing videos of stars, the sun, the moon and the planets. A perfect place for children and those who admire the beauty of outer space and an intuitive tourist attraction that provide knowledge about astronomy and celestial objects.

Things to Do

Rides and attractions that can be enjoyed here include star theatre, observatory telescopes and exhibition halls.
Take a closer look at the night sky objects such as the Moon and some planets using telescopes.
At Teater Bintang, the theatre, they feature a 60-minute long interesting video about the celestial objects.
Who said only the moon has spots? The planetarium organises a free program to see sunspots or “sun acne” using star binoculars for the general public during sunset.
The Jakarta Planetarium and Observatory features an exhibition hall for astronomy which has a really exciting display of astronomy photographs, paintings about zodiac signs and a lot more.
After taking a stroll through the planetarium, people can also enjoy some snacks in the food court.
The observatory has ASKO telescope, a 31 cm diameter Cassegrainian reflector (with mirror) which is one of the oldest telescopes in Jakarta Planetarium. There is also a Takahashi telescope which is a kind of Newtonian reflector with 16 cm diameter.