Information
Landmark: Kharkiv Planetarium Yuri GagarinCity: Kharkiv
Country: Ukraine
Continent: Europe
Kharkiv Planetarium Yuri Gagarin, Kharkiv, Ukraine, Europe
Overview
In Kharkiv, Ukraine, the Yuri Gagarin Planetarium draws visitors with its deep focus on astronomy and space exploration, serving as one of the city’s leading centers for science and learning.Nikolai Barabashov, a leading Soviet astronomer, founded it in 1957, and four years later it took the name Yuri Gagarin-honoring the first man to rocket beyond Earth’s atmosphere.The planetarium stands as both a beloved landmark and a hub for public outreach, sparking curiosity about the universe with every glowing star projected across its dome.You’ll find the planetarium at 15 Kravtsova Lane in Kharkiv, just a short walk from the city center, with easy access by metro, bus, or tram-the metro exit even opens onto a tree-lined street.The neighborhood’s urban, with cafés, shops, and bus stops just a short walk away.At the planetarium’s heart sits the Star Hall, a main dome theater with a sweeping 13.5-meter ceiling and room for roughly 160 guests.In this hall, a sleek ZEISS hybrid digital projection system merges the warm glow of classic optical-mechanical projectors with the sharp detail of high‑resolution digital tech.With this setup, audiences of all ages can step into a full-dome view of the night sky, watch stars drift across the horizon, follow space missions, and dive into cosmic explorations-an experience that pulls you in and holds your gaze.Right next to the planetarium theater, the Cosmos Museum showcases a vibrant collection of space artifacts and detailed models, from gleaming satellite replicas to worn astronaut gloves.Visitors can step right up to lifelike replicas of legendary spacecraft and satellites-Lunokhod‑1, the first lunar rover with its spindly wheels; the sprawling International Space Station; the Soviet station Mir; the sleek Apollo craft; and NASA’s far‑flung Voyager probes.The museum showcases meteorite fragments unearthed in Ukraine, letting visitors hold a real shard of the cosmos in their gaze.At the planetarium, the observatory’s telescopes let you gaze at the Moon’s pale craters, bright planets, distant stars, and countless other wonders in the night sky.If the weather’s clear, guided observation sessions let people peer at the night sky through powerful telescopes, sharpening their grasp of astronomy as stars glimmer overhead.At the planetarium, visitors can peer through a virtual telescope, zooming in on stars and distant galaxies in real time, with interactive exhibits that make the sky feel close enough to touch.You’ll find hands-on exhibits and detailed models that bring the solar system, star formation, and vast cosmic distances to life-think planets you can spin or glowing stars to trace-making the experience both educational and fun, especially for kids and students.At the Kharkiv Planetarium, you’ll often find lively workshops, engaging lectures, and themed events-everything from school field trips to family nights-drawing in students, professors, and stargazers alike.You can join programs that take you on guided tours of the stars, explain space missions, highlight seasonal sky events like eclipses or meteor showers streaking across the night, and spark conversations about the latest discoveries in space science.Opening hours are usually 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., but they can shift-so check ahead before you make the trip.Entry costs break down like this: a full-dome Star Hall show runs about 100 UAH, the Cosmos Museum is around 30 UAH, telescope viewing costs about 80 UAH, and the virtual telescope experience is roughly 30 UAH.For details, call +380 99 043 2293.To get there, ride the metro from Universytet toward Oleksiivska, then hop on bus 115 to Kravtsova Lane, right by the planetarium’s glass doors.Bus 115 runs from the central bus station straight to the planetarium, passing the row of tall poplars by the river.Take tram number 7 and hop off near Kravtsova Lane; from there, it’s just a few minutes’ walk past the café to the planetarium entrance.At the Kharkiv Planetarium, you can sink into vivid astronomy shows that feel like drifting among the stars, then wander past real space artifacts you could almost reach out and touch.safeSome visitors mention the place could use a tech upgrade, but the experience itself-watching exhibits light up or hearing hands-on demos-is educational, inspiring, and fun for every age.The Yuri Gagarin Kharkiv Planetarium opens a window to the universe in the heart of one of Ukraine’s biggest cities, where its domed roof gleams under the night sky.Blending cutting-edge astronomy with hands-on learning, it draws visitors into the cosmos-from the faint glow of the first stars overhead to humanity’s newest ventures beyond Earth.
