nizhny novgorod planetarium is a planetarium in nizhny novgorod, russia. the planetarium, which was established in 1948, was originally housed at the annunciation monastery, where it was operational until december 5, 2005. a modern planetarium was built nearby and opened october 4, 2007, which was timed to coincide with the 50th anniversary of the launch of sputnik 1, the first artificial satellite sent into space.