Gdynia Maritime University GMU

The astronavigation laboratory consists of the ZKP4 planetarium apparatus -  a blue sphere simulator manufactured by Zeiss, Germany. An 8m wide dome screen is capable of displaying a picture of half of the sky as visible from any location on Earth.

• The ZKP4 is equipped with the following LED projectors:
• large circles: equator, ecliptic, and local meridians,
• small circles: almucantarate and the parallel of declination,
• large circle halves: hourly and Crest,
• Precession wheel with scaled spherical coordinates.

This combination of projectors allows for the presentation of the angle relationships between horizontal (UH) and both equatorial (URI and URII) systems as part of the time and position of the observer. The movement of the sky: forwards and backwards at any speed to facilitate understanding of the fundamentals of astronavigation. The Blue Sphere with spherical coordinates and the projection of the images of the celestial bodies (Sun, Moon, 4 planets and several thousand stars) as seen in reality, and not from "outside" as in textbooks, is the main purpose of the ZKP4 in the teaching of astronavigation.

The development and improvement of spatial intelligence is very important for navigators.

Students from the Scientific Circle and GMU staff also use laboratory apparatus as a planetarium for showings on the fundamentals of astronomy.