Brno Observatory and Planetarium, Astronomical observatory and planetarium in Kraví hora, Brno, Czech Republic

The Brno Observatory and Planetarium is an astronomical facility on a hill in the Brno-střed district, combining optical telescopes for direct sky observation with a digital dome projection system. The building includes several observation platforms and a circular auditorium where the night sky is projected onto a curved ceiling.

Construction began with the first excavation on 30 August 1948, and the two seven-metre domes were used for observation from summer 1953; the observatory was officially opened on 16 October 1954 under its first director, Oto Obůrka. A lecture building with a small ZKP-1 planetarium followed in 1959, and the Spacemaster planetarium opened in October 1991. Renamed after Mikuláš Koperník in 1973, it took its present name on 1 December 2010.

The planetarium is a regular destination for school groups from across the region, many of whom get their first real look at the night sky here. The shows are held in Czech, but the quality of the dome projections makes them easy to follow for visitors without the language.

The site sits on a hill and is reachable by public transit, though the last part of the route involves a short uphill walk. Evening sessions tend to fill up, so booking in advance is a good idea before visiting.

The dome of the large planetarium reaches 318 m above sea level, the highest point for several kilometres around. From 1991 to 2013 it housed a Carl Zeiss Jena Spacemaster projector mounted on a hydraulic platform that could be lowered into the basement; in 2013 it was replaced by a hybrid system combining a small analogue projector with digital projectors supplied from the USA, France and Japan.