With space exploration and education at its core, and following a £3m revamp, the Armagh Planetarium has pulled together an impressive collection of interactive displays, educational exhibits and astronomical images.

Visitors begin their journey at the Earth to Heavens exhibition with its giant NI map and Celestial Cathedral windows showing Hubble telescope images of the Northern Lights, Milky Way and Deep Space.

A large-scale model of the International Space Station looms overhead and interactive exhibits encourage further exploration of this out-of-this-world experience.

In the Mars Room, models of the doomed Beagle 2 and NASA's successful Viking Robot join large-scale 3D photos of the Red Planet's magnificent canyons and craters.

The Copernicus Room's 3D movies explain our planet's relationship with science, and brave sorts can buckle themselves into the viper gyroscope to experience weightlessness and see how long they can last without turning an alien shade of green.

The Planetarium's icing on the cake, though, is a space trip so real it's like you're really there.

Inside the Digital Theatre's domed roof, animated space images envelope viewers in a truly awe-inspiring 360 degree kaleidoscope of planets, constellations and galaxies... and there's even a show specially designed for younger viewers.

This hugely ambitious renovation project heralded a new era for the Planetarium, and has given NI an attraction of which it can be justly proud. Never before has the night sky looked - or sounded - so magnificent.