Buhl Planetarium and Institute of Popular Science is located on the North Side near the old Allegheny Center Mall. It is built on the site of the old Allegheny City Hall and next to the Carnegie Music Hall. The building is known as the "Theatre of the Stars."

The Buhl foundation, started in 1927 with a $15,000,000 gift from the Buhl family, donated the planetarium to the city. On October 24, 1939, Buhl Planetarium and Institute of Popular Science officially opened its doors as the fifth major planetarium in North America, joining an elite group of planetariums in Chicago, New York, Los Angeles and Philadelphia.

The Buhl quickly established itself and Pittsburgh as leaders in the area of informal science education. During 1940, the Planetarium's first full year of operation, nearly 200,000 visitors were introduced to the wonders of the Universe in a revolutionary environment that foreshadowed the experience of the modern science center.

In 1991, with the creation of the Carnegie Science Center, Buhl Planetarium moved to a new home. Carnegie Science Center gave Pittsburgh a world-class learning environment and a state-of-the-art planetarium facility designed to give Buhl the tools needed to carry on its mission well into the 21st century. The theater has become a model for planetariums around the world.

For more information on the Henry Buhl Jr Planetarium and Observatory, click here. The old Buhl Planetarium Building on the North Side is now owned by the city of Pittsburgh and has not been used by the public since 1994. The old building houses some unique astronomical equipment of historic significance.