In the town of Smolyan are the largest in Bulgaria, the planetarium and the national astronomical Observatory. The astronomical center opening occurred on 6 September 1975 and since then it was visited by more than 2, 5 million people.

In the heart of the planetarium is the star chamber is a cylindrical interior with a diameter of 12, 5 m with a dome, has a capacity of 150 seats. In the center of the room is a projector made in Germany and designed to create exact copies of the starry sky. During the "space travel" he carefully reproduces all the movements of astronomical objects in the celestial sphere: the daily motions of the planets, Sun and moon, comets, etc., and also displays interesting astronomical phenomena.

The Observatory is located in a room with a dome height of 3 meters. For observation of the sky has a special telescope. For visitors there are several telescopes. In clear weather they can be seen in the daytime Sun, and evening – the moon, planets, stars and stellar clusters, galaxies, nebulae, etc.

In the planetarium is a research activity, which includes regular monitoring of solar activity and sunspots, solar and lunar eclipses and other astronomical bodies and phenomena. During his more than thirty-year history the center in Smolyan managed to get recognition at home and abroad. From 1 January 1995 he is a member of the Planetary community, based in Pasadena, USA, is one of the largest NGOs in the world engaged in space exploration.

In the planetarium also conduct research and outreach work. Staff developed a variety of educational programs for students of all ages, all programs related to the educational material on astronomy, physics and geography. In addition, the centre also operates an astronomical club, and summer – field astronomical camp.

For the General public in the Smolyan planetarium is about fifty different sessions, and for very young viewers – in the form of informative tales. For foreign visitors programme is offered in English, French, German, Greek, and Turkish.