Zeiss projector
![The Mark I projector installed in the Deutsches Museum in 1923 was the world's first planetarium projector.](/Images/godic/202502/22/ZeissMark14330.jpg")
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![Marks II through VI utilized two small spheres of lenses separated along a central axis.](/Images/godic/202502/22/ZeissPlanetariumProjector_MontrealPlanetarium4330.jpg")
![Beginning with Mark VII, Zeiss projectors adopted a new, egg-shaped design.](/Images/godic/202502/22/Universarium_in_Planetarium_Hamburg4330.jpg")
A Zeiss projector is one of a line of planetarium projectors manufactured by the Carl Zeiss Company.
The first modern planetarium projectors were designed and built in 1924 by the Zeiss Works of Jena, Germany in 1924. Zeiss projectors are designed to sit in the middle of a dark, dome-covered room and project an accurate image of the stars and other astronomical objects on the dome. They are generally large, complicated, and imposing machines.