Sky-Skan – We Can Take You There™

Sky-Skan Digital Planetariums

Inspiring. Reliable. Affordable.

FEATURED SHOW
“Secrets from a Forest”

Witness the inspiring story of the intimate relationship between artistic expression and the natural world.

Led by the artistic vision of award-winning nature photographer Jim Brandenburg, award-winning director Neil Lucas, and featuring members of the Minnesota Orchestra, Secrets from a Forest tells the story of the relationship between nature and art through the exquisite and rare Stradivarius Violin.

Explore the Paneveggio Forest in Northern Italy throughout the seasons and observe the role of smaller life forms that shape the growth of Paneveggio’s towering trees. For centuries, Paneveggio has been home to the “singing” spruce, the source of wood for the Stradivarius Violin.

Then, be transported to a violin maker’s studio for an intimate and first-hand look at the creation of this exquisite instrument. The final minutes of this emotionally engaging sequence will take place in a concert hall, to hear the violin—the thrilling and powerful result of this delicate dance between human beings and nature.

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Superior Technology

Sky-Skan beautifully orchestrates every element of the planetarium experience, from live science simulation and fulldome cinema playback, to external device automation and show control, all in one elegant, seamless, flexible user interface. We use the best hardware available.

Used & Supported Everywhere

We’ve installed hundreds of fulldome digital systems in museums, universities, and schools around the world. Via online user forums, our client community shares information and resources. When problems arise, our field service engineers come to you, via remote login access or in person.

Affordable & Sustainable

Digital planetariums once used custom projectors and costly mainframe computers. In 1998 Sky-Skan premiered the world’s first fulldome system based on affordable hardware. Since then we have led the way with a constant stream of innovations and milestones. Today, we won’t offer a “solution” until we understand your unique goals and resources.

A Passion for Planetariums

We Understand You Because We ARE You!

Since 1967 Sky-Skan has helped planetariums be awesome and remain relevant. We provide wonderful tools to help our clients inspire and inform learners of all ages. We’ve brought more innovation to the field than any other company. Equipping planetariums for success, via great systems and shows, is all we do! We are motivated by a love for the field and a deep understanding of its practitioners, because we are planetarians ourselves.

Some Places where Our Team Members have Worked: Arizona Science Center, Armagh Planetarium, Arthur Storer Planetarium, Audio Visual Imagineering, Bishop Planetarium, Carnegie Science Center, Davis Planetarium, Emera Astronomy Center, Exploration Place, Fels Planetarium, Fiske Planetarium, Forum der Technik Munich, Hayden Planetarium, Image Engineering, Infoversum, McDonald Observatory, Museum of Science Boston, National Radio Astronomy Observatory, National Space Science Centre, Planetarium de Bretagne, Planétarium of the Citë des Sciences et de l’Industrie, Rauch Planetarium, Space Telescope Science Institute, Spitz, Inc., Strasenburgh Planetarium, Sudekum Planetarium.

Put our Passion to Work for You

Happy Clients

“Sky-Skan’s 3D's capabilities offer a unique way to visualize the three dimensions of the cosmos, letting the user choose its vantage point to explore the large-scale structures of the Universe as detected by the CFHT Legacy Survey data set.”

Client, HAWAII

“When minor issues have come to the fore the support has been outstanding. Issues are resolved online, literally within hours. We are using Sky-Skan’s Dark Matter software and have found it intuitive and easy to use, from the simple playback of pre-rendered shows to the great interface for live presentations.”

Client, SOUTH AFRICA

“We went through an exhaustive search for a new full-dome visualization system in early 2017, to replace an older 1K full-dome system. We settled on the Sky-Skan 4K system based on system price, company expertise, and the functionality of the new Dark Matter (DM) software. All of our staff were impressed with DM and its sheer computing power.”

Client, OHIO

“Perhaps the best feature of DigitalSky is the ability to ad-lib and deviate from the planned show path. It is very easy to jump to or pull-up an assortment of data and images at the click of a button.”

Client, COLORADO

“The ability to add data into the real-time system is fantastic. I value Sky-Skan’s support in making sure that the latest astronomical research and new results can be added and shared with the public.”

Client, AUSTRALIA

Great Shows

New Additions to the Sky-Skan Catalog

Why Sky-Skan?

All digital planetariums are made of computers, projectors, cables, and software.

Like our competitors, we achieve a long list of technical specifications (nearly all of which we pioneered), but what makes Sky-Skan systems truly special are the details by which the technology melds into a unified instrument for visualizing nature beautifully, and for engrossing, immersive, visual storytelling that interprets the universe in unforgettable ways.

Revitalized for today‘s challenges, Sky-Skan is eager to create a wonderful planetarium for you.

Sky-Skan Clients Enjoy...

Detailed architectural and system design and documentation
Superb commissioning, on-boarding, training, and continuing support
Splendid star fields and science visualization
Detailed spacecraft models and space mission vigniettes
Rich, cinema-quality surround sound
Great shows, scripts, and curriculum materials
Flexible user controls and programming interfaces
Manual controls as desired
Rolling upgrades that keep a system state-of-the-art
Support for external media inputs and 3rd party fulldome apps
Colorful, long-lasting, smooth-fading cove lighting

Begin the Planetarium Design Process

Calendar

Upcoming Events:

April 18-20, 2026: Annual meeting of German Planetariums (GDP), Kiel, Germany
April 23-26, 2026: Domefest West, Boulder, CO, USA
May 26-28, 2026: Fulldome Festival Brno (FFB), Brno, Czech Republic
June 02-04, 2026: Ecsite Conference, Gothenburg, Sweden
June 18-26, 2026: International Planetarium Society (IPS) Meeting, Fukuoka, Japan
June 30, 2026: Asteroid Day
July 13-19, 2026: Fulldomefestival Jena, Jena, Germany
September 16-19, 2026: Association of Science and Technology Centers (ASTC), Phoenix, AZ, USA

Past Events:

October 07-11, 2025: GLPA + WAC, St. Paul, MN, USA
September 26-28, 2025: British Association of Planetaria Meeting, Newcastle, UK
September 24-26, 2025: Association of French Speaking Planetariums Meeting, Genk, Belgium
September 16-20, 2025: GSCA , Texas, USA
September 10-12, 2025: Nordic Planetarium Association (NPA) Meeting, Tartu, Estonia
September 05-08, 2025: Association of Science and Technology Centers (ASTC), San Francisco, CA, USA
July 18-25, 2025: International Planetarium Society (IPS) Meeting, Jena & Berlin, Germany
June 30, 2025: Asteroid Day
June 10-12, 2025: Fulldome Festival Brno (FFB), Brno, Czech Republic
June 3-5, 2025: Ecsite Conference, Warsaw, Poland
May 15-18, 2025: Fulldomefestival Jena, Jena, Germany
May 7, 2025: Official Birthday “100 Years of Planetariums” and closing events for the celebrations
May 1-4, 2025: Domefest West, Boulder, CO, USA
April 25-29, 2025: Starmus VIII, La Palma, Spain
April 11-13, 2025: Annual meeting of Italian Planetariums (PlanIT), Matera, Italy
April 5-7, 2025: Annual meeting of German Planetariums (GDP), Halle, Germany
February 4-5, 2025: Australian Planetarium Society (APS) Meeting Cosmos Centre, Charleville, Queensland
February 6-8, 2025: AstroFest, London, UK
February 4-7, 2025: ISE, Barcelona, Spain
January 31 – February 2, 2025: Dome Under Festival Museums, Victoria, Melbourne, Australia

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FEATURED SHOW “Secrets from a Forest”