In July 2026, ZEISS & Seiler Planetarium installed a ZKP4LED Optomechanical projector in The SWC Planetarium in Chula Vista, CA.
The SWC team had three main criteria for a new system:
- Uncompromised Starfield Quality: The culmination of 100 years of advancements in planetarium projection technology, the Zeiss SKYMASTER ZKP4LED projector delivers a starfield that is unsurpassed for small-to-medium domes. The ZKP4 projects around 7000 tiny stars – the number of stars that the human eye can detect under optimal conditions and which does not overload a smaller planetarium dome. Milky Way, star clusters, nebulae and galaxies appear on the dome with an incredibly high level of detail. Each individual star is illuminated directly with pure white light from an optical fiber.
- Intuitive Usability: Skycontrol allows extremely convenient operation, whether live, automated, or both, but it is built around live operation. Live planetariums employ improvisation, address the very latest current events, and customize presentations around each audience and every presenter. For traditional planetarium presentation, Zeiss skycontrol software remains unrivaled. Clean, customizable displays show only the desired info. The Zeiss Manual Control Panel is designed for Astronomers, not software engineers. Simple, tactile controls: “Diurnal”, “Annual”, and “Polar”. All Zeiss O/m systems share this controls, which have been developed over generations.
- Unsurpassed Longevity: For 57 years, a beloved Spitz A3P illuminated the SWC Planetarium, inspiring generations of students. Southwestern College didn’t want a system that would require updating or replacing in less than twenty years. The ZKP4LED’s service life is measured in decades. LED light sources will retain their unmatched brilliance for about 60,000 hours of use. That’s over 20 years of eight-hour days. After that, the stars might be dimmer (but still sharper that any video system).
The view from inside the SWC Planetarium is very cool. Not only for the best indoor starfield available, but for the ZKP4 itself, widely considered the most beautiful planetarium projector available. We’re proud to bring Zeiss quality, functionality, reliability to Cula Vista.
