Alexander Brest Planetarium

The Alexander Brest Planetarium is part of the Museum of Science and History. The planetarium was built in 1988 in Jacksonville, Florida. It has a 60 foot diameter on the dome with a JBL audio system. It also uses the Zeiss Jana Optical planetarium star projector. Inside the facility there is enough room for 200 seats. In one year, the planetarium can have 60,000 people attending the shows.

Mr. Alexander Brest, upon his death donated money to the museum for the planetarium's construction. At first it used the Dove X and DORK automation system with slide projectors. In 1996, it received the automated upgrade to the JHE system. In June 2010, a large half million dollars donation was given to the museum to improve the planetarium once again. A Konica Minolta Super MediaGlobe II with a projection of 118,000 stars and a 3D digital space projection will be added. The renovated planetarium has already received a new name- The Bryan Gooding Planetarium in the Alexander Brest Science Theatre. Bryan Gooding was responsible for the donation. In addition to star gazing options, there is an educational program involving music called Cosmic Concerts which occur at midnight or later on evenings or weekend nights.