Ritter Planetarium and Brooks Observatory

About Us:

The Ritter Planetarium is a state of the art fulldome immersive visualization theater utilizing the world’s first Spitz SciDome XD projection system.  Capable of projecting over six million pixels on to our 40 foot dome, the SciDome XD maintains all of the functions of a traditional analog planetarium while also offering breathtaking images of the Universe and the ability to play fulldome programming.

The Brooks Observatory, located atop McMaster Hall on the University of Toledo campus, houses several refracting and reflecting telescopes for viewing the heavens. McMaster Hall also houses a solar telescope for viewing sunspots and other solar phenomena.

Our Mission:

Ritter Planetarium and Brooks Observatory are university and public service facilities on the main campus of the University of Toledo. Our mission is to provide educational and entertaining activities for the dissemination of material related to astronomy, the sky, and our place in the Universe, and to provide opportunities for the university community and the public to view celestial phenomena with medium-sized telescopes. We encourage, and work with, our student employees to develop the skills they will need to pursue careers in the planetarium/astronomy education fields after graduation.

Outside the planetarium is a lobby with various displays, many of them interactive. Brooks Observatory, located in McMaster Hall, contains refracting and reflecting telescopes for viewing the heavens. McMaster Hall also houses a solar telescope and a display for viewing sunspots and other phenomena on the Sun. To fulfill our mission, we offer several kinds of programming: