Chabot Space Science Center

Chabot Space and Science Center, in Oakland, California, was started in 1883 by Anthony Chabot, the father of hydraulic mining as the original downtown Oakland Observatory, and moved to its current third location in the less light-polluted hills on Skyline Blvd in 2000 as an 86,000-square-foot (8,000 m2), state-of-the-art science and technology education facility on 13-acre (53,000 m2). It has:
- three powerful telescopes: "Leah", an 8" refractor, donated in 1883 by Anthony Chabot. "Rachel", a 20" refractor, commissioned in 1914 is the largest refractor in the western United States regularly open to the public. "Nellie", a 36" reflecting telescope opened in June 2003 in a rolling roof observatory.
- Planetarium, a "full dome digital projection system" with various shows running daily
- Tien MegaDome Theater, a 70-foot (21 m) dome screen auditorium for IMax-like shows (no longer in regular use).
- Challenger Learning Center, a hands-on simulated space mission environment where 8 teams work together to complete a mission.
- 9 changing exhibits.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chabot_Space_and_Science_Center