ASTRONAUT MEMORIAL PLANETARIUM & OBSERVATORY

Cocoa Beach is a gorgeous town, and mostly associated with getaways and Cocoa beach family retreats. Many names flash before us, at the mere mention of Cocoa Beach such as Ron Jon Surf Shop, Cocoa Beach pier, exquisite spas and much more! It is rarely mentioned of informative structures that are built primarily to enhance your child’s visual sense and general knowledge!

 Brevard Community College Planetarium and Observatory, also called The Astronaut Memorial Planetarium and Observatory (AMPO) , is one of the largest astronomical observatory and planetarium in Cocoa Beach, Florida. The facility consists of a planetarium, public observatory, a 210-seat planetarium theater, demonstration halls, classroom (used by Brevard Community College) and an art gallery featuring works of Messier among other prominent artists!

Apart from featuring a 3-story IWERKS Movie Theater and laser show where they show science and nature films, the building also houses a fully accessible observatory and a museum devoted solely to space explorers from around the world. The Discovery Theatre is a 70-foot overhead hemisphere onto which images from a number of projectors are shown, providing multimedia, educational and entertainment programs to schools in the vicinity and the general public.

Large format films are shown on the huge 3-story high screen power-driven with 10,000 watts of spectacular surround sound system creating a spectacle you cannot forget. Rooftop public observatory allows visitors to view planets, stars galaxies and other celestial bodies with their naked eye through a 24 inch diameter Ritchie-Chretien reflector telescope handled by the observatory staff! The rooftop observatory is home to 12 and 24 inch reflectors and a superb 6-inch refractor that provides sharp images of lunar craters, the rings of Saturn, or the moons of Jupiter!

The two exhibit halls: Science Quest Exhibit Hall and International Hall of Space Explorers feature hands-on exhibit and displays! The BCC Planetarium & Observatory offers several unique ways to explore the universe. Stun your friends with the Van de Graaff Electrostatic Generator and survey the Earth's rotation at the Foucault pendulum. The starry sky is reproduced using an archetype dual projection system which is a combination of Minolta Infinium and Digistar II star projectors. The real night sky is revealed through one of the leading telescopes in terms of size, in the whole of Florida. Cocoa beach family retreats and getaways is what keep the people talking; however it is the enlightening and the more informative side of the town which is seldom illuminated. If you visit this beautiful town, do not miss out on enhancing your children’s knowledge about history, artifacts and the lost treasures!