Spiky stars

A view from inside the planetarium at the ESO Supernova Planetarium & Visitor Centre, which opened its doors to the public on Saturday 28 April 2018. The building is open five days a week and features planetarium screenings, tours and a permanent exhibition in both German and English. The 25-degree tilted planetarium dome does not just give the audience the sensation of watching the Universe, but of being immersed in it. The spikes around the brightest stars of the Messier 7 star cluster are in fact distortions due to the mounting of the mirror inside the telescope itself. Despite the fact the spikes are not real, they add a strange beauty to the image.