Minutes of the 2014 IPS Council Meeting

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Vol. 43, No. 4 December 2014

Journal of the International Planetarium Society

Teaching through music under the dome - Page 22

Articles December 2014 Vol. 43 No. 4 IPS Special Section 10 Minutes of the 2014 IPS Council Meeting Lee Ann Henning Executive Editor 16 Call for 2016 IPS awards and Fellows nominations Manos Kitsonas Sharon Shanks Ward Beecher Planetarium Planetarium Research Youngstown State University 18 A Longitudinal Study of Early Elementary Students’ One University Plaza Understanding of Lunar Phenomena after Planetarium and Youngstown, Ohio 44555 USA Classroom Instruction +1 330-941-3619 Kim J. Small, Julia D. Plummer [email protected] 21 New source for astronomy education research Webmaster 22 It’s Life Out There: An astrobiological multimedia experience Alan Gould for digital planetariums Holt Planetarium Ka Chun Yu, Julia DeMarines, David Grinspoon Lawrence Hall of Science

University of California 30 Putting sustainability at the heart of managing the Rio Planetarium Berkeley, California 94720-5200 USA Celso Cunha, Maria Fatima Ludovico de Almeida +1 510-643-5082 34 Indian MOM makes it to Mars Piyush Pandey +1 510-642-1055 fax 36 There’s been a digital revolution in the Czech Republic [email protected] Jiri Dusek Advertising Coordinator 38 Central European Fulldome Festival Brno 2015 Dr. Dale Smith 47 Under One Dome: College of Southern Nevada Andrew Kerr (See Publications Committee on page 3) 50 When Pittsburgh got its planetarium Glenn A. Walsh Membership 84 Tributes: Daniel R. Francetic, Pearl L. Riley Individual: $65 one year; $100 two years Institutional: $250 first year; $125 annual renewal Library Subscriptions: $50 one year; $90 two years Columns All amounts in US currency 42 Book Reviews...... April S. Whitt Direct membership requests and changes of 86 Calendar of Events...... Loris Ramponi address to the Treasurer/Membership Chairman 59 Data to Dome...... Mark SubbaRao Printed Back Issues of the Planetarian 66 Digital Fulldome & Immersive Media News IPS Back Publications Repository 62 From the Classdome ...... Jack L. Northrup maintained by the Treasurer/Membership Chair; 4 In Front of the Console ...... Sharon Shanks contact information is on next page 68 International News...... Lars Broman Final Deadlines 88 Last Light...... April S. Whitt 80 Mobile News...... Susan Reynolds Button March: January 21 65 Partycles...... Alex Cherman June: April 21 6 President’s Message ...... Thomas W. Kraupe September: July 21 64 Seeking What Works...... Jeanne Bishop December: October 21 84 Waxing New...... Sharon Shanks Associate Editors

Book Reviews Data to Dome International Index of Advertisers April S. Whitt Mark SubbaRoa Lars Broman Astro-Tec...... 71

Calendar Classroom Last Light Audio Visual Imagineering ...... 55 Loris Ramponi Education April S. Whitt California Academy of Sciences...... 75 Jack Northrup Cartoons Mobile News Central European Fulldome Festival Brno...... 81 Alexandre Education Susan Button Clark Planetarium/Hansen Dome ...... 77 Cherman Committee News Jeanne Bishop Sound Advice Digitalis Education Solutions, Inc...... 57 Jeff Bowen Evans & Sutherland ...... 83, 87, inside back cover GOTO INC ...... inside front cover Konica Minolta Planetarium Co. Ltd ...... 73 On the Cover: Singing and teaching un- Magna-Tech Electronic Company...... 49 der the CMB—The House Band of the Metaspace ...... 41 Universe take astrobiology education on Michigan Science Center ...... 5 the road. Read more starting on page 22. Mirage3d...... 15, 39, 58 Photo provided by David Grinspoon NSC creative ...... 40 R.S.A. Cosmos ...... 38, outside back cover Royal Greenwich Observatory...... 79 SCISS...... 13, 27 Sky-Skan, Inc ...... 43-46 Softmachine...... 17 International Planetarium Society home page: Spitz, Inc...... 11, 67 www.ips-planetarium.org Spitz Creative Media...... 29, 53, 61, 85 Planetarian home page: You Can Do Astronomy...... 32 www.ips-planetarium.org/?page=plntrn Zeiss, Inc...... 48

December 2014 Planetarian 1 Affiliate Representatives

Association of Brazilian British Association Italian Association Russian Planetariums Planetariums of Planetaria of Planetaria Association Officers Alexandre Cherman Dr. Jenny Shipway Loris Ramponi Zinaida P. Sitkova Planetário do Rio de Janeiro Head of Planetarium National Archive of Planetaria Nizhny Novgorod President R. Vice-Governador Winchester Science Centre c/o Centro Studi e Ricerche Planetarium Thomas W. Kraupe Rubens Berardo, 100 Telegraph Way, off Serafino Zani Revolutsionnja Street 20 Planetarium Hamburg Rio de Janeiro RJ Alresford Road via Bosca 24, C.P. 104 603002 Nizhny Otto-Wels-Str.1 Brazil 22451-070 Winchester, Hampshire I 25066 Lumezzane Novgorod, Russia (formerly Hindenburgstr.1b) +55 (21) 2274-0046 ext. 264 SO21 1HZ, United Kingdom (Brescia) Italy +7 831 246-78-80 D-22303 Hamburg +55 (21) 2529-2149 fax +44 1 962 891916 +39 30 872 164 +7 831 246-77-89 fax Deutschland alexandre.cherman@ +44 1 962 86369 +39 30 872 545 fax [email protected] +49 0 (40) 428 86 52-21 planetario.rio.rj.gov.br JennyShipway@ [email protected] www.apr.planetariums.ru +49 0 (40) 428 86 52-99 fax planetarios.org.br winchestersciencecentre.com [email protected] +49 0 (40) 4279 24-850 e-fax www.planetariodorio. www.winchestersciencecentre.org www.planetari.org Society of the German- +49 0 (40) 172-40 86 133 cell com.br www.planetarium.org.uk Speaking Planetariums thomas.kraupe@ Japan Christian Theis planetarium-hamburg.de Association of Canadian Association Planetarium Society Planetarium Mannheim Dutch-Speaking of Science Centres Kaoru Kimura Wilhelm-Varnholt-Allee 1 Past-President Planetariums/PLANed Ian C. McLennan Japan Science Foundation D-68165 Mannheim #404 - 1275 Haro Street Kitanomaru Park, Chiyoda-ku Dave Weinrich Jaap Vreeling Germany Vancouver, British Columbia Tokyo, 102-0091 Japan Retired - Planetarium Nova informatie centrum +49 621 419 4220 (phone); V6E 1G1 Canada [email protected] Minnesota State Science Park 904 +49 621 412 411 (fax); +1 604-681-4790 www.shin-pla.info University-Moorhead 1098 XH Amsterdam ct@planetarium- phone + fax 1104 7th Avenue South Tel: +31 0 20 525 7480 mannheim.de [email protected] Middle Atlantic Moorhead fax: +31 0 20 525 7484 www.gdp-planetarium.org [email protected] Planetarium Minnesota 56563 USA [email protected] www.ianmclennan.com Society Southeastern +1 218-477-2969 www.astronomie.nl Patty Seaton Planetarium +1 218-477-5864 fax Association of French- Chinese Planetarium H.B. Owens Science Center Association [email protected] Speaking Planetariums Society 9601 Greenbelt Road John Hare President-Elect Marc Moutin Jin Zhu Lanham-Seabrook, Ash Enterprises Beijing Planetarium Maryland 20706 USA Joanne Young Cité de l’espace 3602 23rd Avenue West No. 138 Xizhimenwait Street +1 301-918 8750 Audio Visual Imagineering Avenue Jean Gonord Bradenton, Florida Beijing, 1000044 +1 301-918 8753 fax 6565 Hazeltine National BP 25855 34205 USA P.R. China [email protected] Drive, Suite 2 31506 Toulouse Cedex 5 +1 941-746-3522 +86 10-5158-3311 Orlando, Florida 32822 USA +33 (0)5 62 71 56 03 [email protected] +86 10-5158-3312 fax Nordic Planetarium (407) 859-8166 +33 (0)5 62 71 56 29 fax www.sepadomes.org [email protected] Association [email protected] [email protected] www.cite-espace.com Aase Roland Jacobsen Southwestern www.aplf-planetariums.org European/ Steno Museum Planetarium Association of Executive Secretary Mediterranean C.F. Moellers Alle 2 Planetariums Lee Ann Hennig Association of Mexican Planetarium University of Aarhus Rachel Thompson Planetarium, Thomas Planetariums Association DK-8000 Aarhus C Portable Universe Manager Jefferson High School Ignacio Castro Pinal Manos Kitsonas DENMARK & Presenter for Science and Technology Ave. San Bernabe, 23 , Casa 7 Eugenides Planetarium +45 87 15 54 15 Perot Museum of Nature 6560 Braddock Road San Jerónimo Lídice, 387 Syngrou Avenue [email protected] and Science Alexandria, Virginia 22312 USA C.P. 10200 17564 P. Faliro 2201 North Field Street +1 703-750-8380 México City, D.F. México Athens, Greece Pacific Planetarium Dallas, Texas 75202 USA +1 703-750-5010 fax +52 (55) 5500 0562 +30 210 946 9674 Association +1 214-756-5830 [email protected] +52 (55) 5500 0583 fax +30 210 941 7372 fax Benjamin Mendelsohn rachel.thompson@ [email protected] [email protected] Planetarium Director perotmuseum.org Treasurer and West Valley College www.swapskies.org Membership Chair Association of Spanish Great Lakes Planetarium 14000 Fruitvale Avenue Planetariums Association Saratoga, California Shawn Laatsch Javier Armentia Jeanne Bishop 95070-5698 USA +31 50 363 9347 Planetario de Pamplona Westlake Schools +1 408-741-4018 [email protected] Sancho Ramirez, 2 Planetarium +1 408-741-4072 fax E-31008 Pamplona Parkside Intermediate School Benjamin.Mendelsohn@ Check payments of Navarra Spain 24525 Hilliard Road wvm.edu membership fees and +34 948 260 004 Westlake, Ohio 44145 USA sites.csn.edu/ advertising: +34 948 260 056 +1 440-899-3075 x2058 planetarium/PPA Mail to +34 948 261 919 fax +1 440-835-5572 fax Lee Ann Hennig [email protected] jeanneebishop@ Rocky Mountain IPS Executive Secretary gestion@pamplonetario. wowway.com Planetarium 7714 Lookout Court infonego-cio.com www.glpaweb.org Association Alexandria, Virginia 22306 Mike George USA Australasian Planetarium Great Plains Planetarium 600 East Washington Street Society Association Phoenix, Arizona 85004 USA Membership fees also can be Warik Lawrance +1 602-716-2079 paid online on the IPS website. Melbourne Planetarium +1 602-716-2099 fax Scienceworks/Museum [email protected] Advertising invoices: Victoria Mail to 2 Booker Street Dale Smith Spotswood (Melbourne) Advertising Coordinator Victoria 104 Overman Hall 3015 Australia Physics &Astronomy Department +61 3 9392 4503 Bowling Green State University +61 3 9391 0100 fax Bowling Green, Ohio 43403 USA wlawrance@museum. vic.gov.au www.aps-planetarium.org

2 Planetarian December 2014 Standing Committees IPS Permanent Awards Committee Conference Host-2016 Finance Committee Manos Kitsonas Robert Firmhofer, Director President, Past President, Presi- Mailing Address Eugenides Planetarium Monika Malinowska, Head of dent Elect, Treasurer, Secretary 387 Syngrou Avenue Conference & Events International Planetarium Society 17564 P. Faliro Management Membership Committee Athens, Greece Weronika Sliwa, Planetarium Shawn Laatsch, Chair c/o Lee Ann Henning +30 210 946 9674 Director Transitioning to new address. Executive Secretary +30 210 941 7372 fax Maciej Ligowski, Program +31 50 363 9347 [email protected] Coordinator [email protected] 7714 Lookout Court Copernicus Science Centre Alexandria, Virginia 22306 Conference Committee Wybrzeże Kościuszkowskie Publications Committee USA Thomas W. Kraupe 20, 00-390 Warsaw, Poland Dr. Dale W. Smith, Chair Planetarium Hamburg [email protected] BGSU Planetarium Otto-Wels-Str.1 +48 22 596 4275 104 Overman Hall IPS Web Site: (formerly Hindenburgstr.1b) +48 22 596 4113 fax Physics &Astronomy Department www.ips-planetarium.org D-22303 Hamburg Bowling Green State University Deutschland Elections Committee Bowling Green, Ohio 43403 USA +49 0 (40) 428 86 52-21 Martin George, Chair +1 419-372-8666 Please notify the Editor of any +49 0 (40) 428 86 52-99 fax Launceston Planetarium +1 419-372-9938 fax +49 0 (40) 4279 24-850 e-fax Queen Victoria Museum [email protected] changes on these two pages. +49 0 (40) 172-40 86 133 cell Wellington Street thomas.kraupe@ Launceston Tasmania 7250 Contact the Treasurer/Membership planetarium-hamburg.de Australia +61 3 6323 3777 Chair for individual member address +61 3 6323 3776 fax changes and general circulation and [email protected] billing questions.

Ad Hoc Committees Armand Spitz International Presenting Live Under Planetarium Education Fund Relations Committee the Dome Committee Finance Committee Martin George, Chair Mark Webb, Chair Launceston Planetarium Grainger Sky Theater Audio, Sound and Queen Victoria Museum Adler Planetarium Acoustics Committee Wellington Street 1300 South Lake Shore Drive Rene Rodigast, Chair Launceston, Tasma- Chicago, Illinois 60605 USA Fraunhofer IDMT (Institute for nia 7250 Australia +1 312-322-0826 Digital Media Technology) +61 3 6323 3777 [email protected] Ehrenbergstraße 31 +61 3 6323 3776 fax D-98693 llmenau, Germany [email protected] Science & Data +49 (0) 3677 467 390 Visualization Task Force +49 (0) 3677 467 467 fax Planetarium Design and Dr. Mark SubbaRao Planetarian (ISN 0090-3213) is published [email protected] Operations Committee Adler Planetarium quarterly by the International Plan- Ian McLennan 1300 South Lake Shore Drive etarium Society. ©2014 International Education Committee #404-1275 Haro Street Chicago, Illinois 60605 USA Jeanne E. Bishop Vancouver, British Columbia +1 312-294-0348 Planetarium Society, Inc., all rights re- Planetarium Director V6E 1G1 Canada [email protected] served. Opinions expressed by authors Parkside Intermediate School +1 604-681-4790 phone + fax 24525 Hilliard Road [email protected] Vision 2020 Initiative are personal opinions and are not neces- Westlake, Ohio 44145 USA [email protected] John Elvert, Chair sarily the opinions of the International +1 440-871-5293 www.ianmclennan.com Irene W. Pennington Planetarium Planetarium Society, its officers, or +1 440-835-5572 fax Louisiana Arts & Science Museum [email protected] Portable 100 South River Road agents. Acceptance of advertisements, www.glpaweb.org Planetarium Committee Baton Rouge, Louisiana announcements, or other material does Mail address: Susan Reynolds Button, Chair 70802 USA not imply endorsement by the Interna- 3180 Oakwood Lane Quarks to Clusters +1 225-344-5272 x 141 Westlake, OH 44145 USA 8793 Horseshoe Lane [email protected] tional Planetarium Society, its officers Chittenango, NY 13037 or agents. The editor welcomes Letters History Committee +1 315-687-5371 John Hare, IPS Historian [email protected] to the Editor and items for consideration Ash Enterprises [email protected] for publication.The Editor reserves the 3602 23rd Avenue West right to edit any manuscript to suit this Bradenton, Florida 34205 USA +1 941-746-3522 publication’s needs. [email protected]

Guidelines for contributors will be refereed if applicable and requested. (but not before the printed version has been received •• Contributors agree that their submission is their own by members), contributors may post the submission on •• Planetarian welcomes submissions of interest to the plan- original work and has not appeared elsewhere in print or a personal website, blog, or a website of general inter- etarium community. Preference is given to articles that electronically, nor is not being submitted simultaneously est as long as the following appears: Copyright 2013 (or closely relate to the philosophy, management, technical elsewhere in print or electronically. If the submission has appropriate year) International Planetarium Society; aspects, educational aspects, or history of planetariums, appeared elsewhere in print or electronically, permission used with permission and provide a link to the IPS. If in and to ideas that can readily be incorporated into plan- to re-print must be obtained and a copy of this permis- doubt, contact the editor with questions. etarium shows. Authors are responsible for obtaining all sion emailed to the Editor with the article. •• The Guidelines for Contributors on the IPS website necessary copyright clearances, especially for illustra- •• Once accepted for publication, the contributor also should be consulted before submitting an article. tions and photographs. agrees that the copyright for original works not appear- •• Potential advertisers are invited to check the Advertis- •• Research articles dealing with educational aspects of the ing elsewhere is held by the International Planetarium ing Guidelines and Rate Sheet on the IPS website: . planetarium and other topics are highly desirable and Society. Once a submission has appeared in Planetarian www.ips-planetarium.org/?page=plntrn

December 2014 Planetarian 3 gether with his eight grandchildren, continue as Strömstad Academy’s vice chancellor, con- In Front of the Console ducting marriage ceremonies, and being active in the Swedish Green Party. “His remaining planetarium commitment Sharon Shanks is being one of NPA’s directors for anoth- Ward Beecher Planetarium er year and, possibly, doing some consultant Youngstown State University work.” Youngstown, OH 44555 USA Take a second to study the picture below. Yes, it’s an adorable baby, and yes, Lars has ev- [email protected] ery right to be proud of his latest grandson. What I’d like you to notice is the expression in Marius’ eyes. He’s looking up at his grand- I’m sure you’ve heard the proverb “it takes another Lars, and I’m sure that we’ll work father with such an open, expectant, and fas- a village to raise a child.” There’s controversy well together too. cinated expression, one that says “I’m happy (of course) over the origin of this adage, but it I’m sure Dr. Lars Petersen already knows looks likely that it comes from Africa. he has large shoes to fill. (See International More often, I hear it as “it takes a commu- News starting on page 68.) nity to raise a child,” and today the variations Writing in the third person (because it’s on this theme are endless. All you need is a difficult to write about yourself in first per- cause, and that’s what it takes a community son in your own column), Lars had the fol- to do. lowing in his final International News col- Lars Broman, who is stepping down from umn: most of his planetarium activities, obvious- “This news appears in this, his 76th and fi- ly believes firmly in the raising of the child nal International News column, which he part of the proverb. He stated this in a guest has been editing since 1996. This summer editorial in the December 2013 Planetarian ti- he stepped down as IPS Awards Committee tled “The Century of Our Grandchildren.” In chair, a position that he had held since 2007. it he described the Strömstad Academy and its “In addition, the year 2014 will be the last scholars’ concern for the century ahead. year that his company Teknoland will con- Lars also has been an active and caring duct any business. One final company ac- member of the planetarium community for tivity is a donation to Orion Planetarium of many, many years, and I will terribly miss see- Teknoland’s Warped Media system this fall; ing his name in my inbox and his cheerful Hej the company started in 1999. Lars Broman with his youngest grandchild Mar- Sharon! when deadline comes around again. “Broman will instead concentrate on oth- ius. Photo by Emma Henning. I will, however, now be seeing email from er activities, including spending more time to-

to be sitting here and I trust you completely. What do you have to tell me?” Sometimes we see these expectant looks Letter to the Editor in the faces of the children under our domes A Comment on “The Effects of Seductive Details” and feel motivated to earn their trust; to have them share in the wonder that is the universe I first thought that the article by S. Gil- tor and some terrestrial globes as support) and the many things in it. lette, “The Effects of Seductive Details…” and you might be surprised of the result. We are the village raising not only Lars’ published in the June edition of Planetar- But even if “seductive detail” diverts atten- grandson, but every child we captivate under ian was pretty trivial and might not even tion at the expanse of providing some “di- the stars. have needed to have been written. Then I vertissement,” that‘s a fair deal. That’s a heavy responsibility, and no one realized that several issues were swept un- Furthermore, there is the incremental ef- can do it alone. That’s why it’s so important to der the rug and needed to be brought to the fect that needed to be taken into account. have a village, to have a community, to draw open. Inserting a piece of “seductive detail” every strength and assistance from, and our village, First, this annoying relentless pounding 40 sec is more like doing an overkill, and as planetarians, encompasses the entire globe. on the seductive effect without considering you should have considered doing it every The IPS is just the framework of the interna- the counter arguments at least in the ear- 5 min or so for a 30 min show. tional planetarium community. It is there to ly stages of this rather lengthy and heavily My general advise would be to use it help members communicate with each oth- documented paper. But yes, “seductive de- moderately and make it part of the plane- er (the journal in your hands goes a long way tail” do divert the learner’s attention, but tarium experience and you might then get towards that goal) and to share information that is its “reason d’être”: break a bit the mo- the best of both worlds. helpful to our jobs. notony of the linear story under the dome Prof Jamal Mimouni The more we communicate, the better our and make it lively and entertaining. Physics Department profession can become—especially if we band To bring home my point, if you wished University of Constantine tightly into our community. to improve the score achievement, I would Constantine Cosmic Caravan director Please: join a committee. Contribute your suggest that you redo the same comparative President, Sirius Astronomy Association talents to the greater planetarium village. And study with a planetarium and no planetari- Constantine, Algeria look into a child’s eyes and imagine just what um (allowing only for an overhead projec- [email protected] we can do together. I

4 Planetarian December 2014 NEWFULL-DOME PLANETARIUM EXPERIENCE

For trailer, more information or to order the show: mi-sci.org/sunstruck | 313.577.8400, ext. 474 | [email protected]

NARRATED BY MIKE SHEPHERD WRITTEN, DIRECTED PRODUCED MICHIGAN SCIENCE CENTERPRESENTS SUNSTRUCK AND EDITED BY JAY SWANSON BY JAY SWANSON, JENNY PON ADDITIONAL SCENES SOUND DESIGN VOICE OVER SESSION PRODUCED BY DOME 3D MATTHEW MASCHERI, JASON HEATON, MICHAEL NARLOCK AND MIX PLUTO POST PRODUCTIONS, INC THE AUDIO CAFE‘ RECORDING STUDIO, INC. TOM RICE

December 2014 Planetarian 5 Gillen and Aisling Franciosi. Ambition clearly President’s Message tries to embrace science and fiction, using the language of blockbuster movie making to ad- Thomas W. Kraupe vocate the excitement of current research. Planetarium Hamburg You can witness passion and human inter- Otto-Wels-Str.1 action not just in this very interesting produc- D-22303 Hamburg, Deutschland tion. You can see it for yourself, as I did with +49 0 (40) 428 86 52 50 the people in the control room at ESOC, the +49 0 (40) 427 92 48 50 fax European Space Operations Center in Darm- +49 0 (172) 408 61 33 iPhone stadt, Germany. I was there when Philae [email protected], www.planetarium-hamburg.de “kissed” the comet. I was truly moved by finally meeting Prof. Klim Churyumov, who not only is the co-discoverer of the comet but Dear fellow Planetarians nical achievement. It was not science fiction who is “one of us”—he is director of Kiev Plan- Greetings to all of you around this marvel- but science reality for the teams that have etarium, Ukraine. ous planet! dedicated their entire lives to this mission, The other name belongs to Dr. Svetlana Challenging days lie behind us—and ahead driven to push the boundaries of our technol- Gerasimenko, also astronomer/lecturer at of us. We just witnessed a deadly day for space ogy for the benefit of science and to seek an- Kiev Planetarium. She was participating in the tourism when Virgin Galactic’s SpaceShip swers to the biggest questions regarding our landing event via video-link from the Europe- Two disintegrated on October 31 above Cal- solar system’s origins. an Astronauts Center in Cologne. ifornia, killing one of its co-pilots. And this Watch the amazing short film Ambition Due to the political situation, plans for my happened just a few days after the October 28 (ambitionfilm.com), which was produced by visit to Kiev Planetarium in September had explosion of the unmanned supply Antares ESA, in collaboration with Platige Image, di- not worked out, but now we finally met. We rocket bound for the ISS. rected by Tomek Baginski and starring Aiden are now trying to find a date for my visit to How will the future of space flight be affect- Kiev in early 2015. And I am eager to arrange ed by these incidents? Is space travel worth the with him a live event for IPS so that Prof. risks involved? Is the dream of “going boldly, Churyumov can interact with audiences at where no one has gone before” still alive? planetariums around the world. I believe it is—not only because the future Indeed, the Rosetta mission proves what rests on such days of setbacks, but also be- we, as a global community, can do together. It cause it is driven forward by visionaries and offers all the elements for us reaching out be- by opening up new perspectives which allow yond political and economic borders in order us to put our daily life in a bigger context. to create wonderful opportunities for the pub- As I am now one of the “old guys,” I remem- lic in our planetariums in 2015 and beyond. ber how much I was inspired not only by be- (See also www.esa.int/rosetta and follow ing an eye-witness of the Apollo era, but also hashtag #cometlanding on twitter.) by watching Stanley Kubrick´s masterpiece 2001: A Space Odyssey. Remembering Carl Sagan Since then film and planetarium produc- This epic journey reminds me of the NASA tion techniques have move forward at an ex- Voyager missions and the legacy of the un- tremely fast pace. From analog to digital, from forgettable Carl Sagan, who would just have HD to 4K and 8K, from high frame rates to celebrated his 80th birthday on November 9. streaming over IP networks, each with enor- We salute you and miss you, and I know you mous new possibilities to create unforgettable would have loved the comet landing. experiences for audiences. Carl once pointed out that probably 99% of Now we have Gravity, a film that managed all people on earth are born, live, and die with- to reach out to a whole new generation of out knowing their place in the universe. But people. And, as I write this, I am looking for- now I think we have the tools to change that. ward to Christopher Nolan’s Interstellar. While Virgin Galactic has sold more than Quite understandably, there has been a lot 700 tickets to paying customers for a ride of discussions about the merits of these films on SpaceShipTwo, each costing more than and what they will do with our audiences and $250,000 and barely offering more than a few the planetarium—will they make us look bad? minutes of a “near space” experience at only Well, just watch 2001: A Space Odyssey, which 100 kilometers from Earth, our planetarium is once more hitting theaters for a limited While at the European Space Operations domes offer trips much further out into space. time. Did this film hurt us? Not at all. In fact, Center in Darmstadt, I spent time with Prof. We can go anywhere, combining our new dig- the result was just the opposite, as it inspired Klim Churyumov, co-discoverer of the Com- ital immersive theater technologies with ro- et Churyumov-Gerasimenko, a fellow plane- people to look to space. Let us take advantage botic eyes and ears in space like Rosetta. tarium director (top), and also enjoyed see- of these new releases for our mission! ing a life-sized model of the Philae lander. The For just a few bucks (and in some cases, for On November 12, ESA the European Space lander is named after the Philae obelisk bear- free) and without risking lives, we allow mil- Agency, achieved something that really ing a bilingual inscription used with the Roset- lions of people to virtually be on a comet nu- sounded like science fiction: landing a probe ta Stone to decipher Egyptian hieroglyphics. cleus, walk on Mars, or even witness the grand The Rosetta Stone, of course, is the inspiration on the nucleus of comet 67P/Churyumov– for the name of the Rosetta mission. All photos architecture of space, time and matter by us- Gerasimenko, an astonishing, audacious tech- provided by the author. ing our domes as virtual spaceships and time

6 Planetarian December 2014 machines, providing context for the world for achieving their goals and draft mission, we live in. So don’t be worried about Holly- vision, and value statements that will be dis- wood—we can offer something much bigger. cussed with IPS council in 2015, leading up to Indeed, I am convinced that what we plan- a two-day workshop with council in August. etarians can pull off is very powerful and of I would like to thank Jon Elvert and the Vi- increasing importance in order to inspire and sion 2020 team for their dedicated voluntary enable a better future for humankind on plan- work in this important area. I and all the other et earth. And that is why the opportunity you IPS officers were really pleased to see the mo- gave me to serve this world community of mentum building in this challenging endeav- planetarians for a second time as officer and or and we have already received some really president of IPS is a such special honor and smart suggestions and ideas. privilege. I thank you for that, and for your tronomy and other space sciences (e.g. ESO, In addition, GLPA proved to be what we friendship and support in this endeavor. NASA, ESA, NAOJ) to bring current research expected: a great platform for many personal and discoveries to our audiences through im- conversations with members about IPS. GLPA Old and new IPS officers mersive data visualization on our domes. was hosted by the new Charles W. Brown This is my last column as IPS president as Robin Sip (Mirage3D, The Hague, The Neth- Planetarium at Ball State University in Mun- my two-year term will come to an end on De- erlands) cie, Indiana, and drew approximately 170 par- cember 31. For two more years I will still be an Goal #3: Expand international collabora- ticipants, so we could gather input from this officer of IPS and continue to work with my tions in recognition of the more global nature largest group affiliated with IPS during the fellow officers, then in the role of IPS past pres- of our society and increased media attention conference. In addition, Jon Elvert presented ident. to foster enhanced financial support. Vison 2020 during a session to GLPA. After we successfully performed special elec- Marc Moutin (Cite de L’Espace, Toulouse, With its long tradition and far reach, GLPA tions, I am really pleased that Joanne Young France) has made many outstanding contributions to is now fully onboard. She will take over the Goal #4: Gain greater recognition for IPS our field - reaching beyond the region and de- presidency of IPS on January 1. Joanne will be members’ efforts and results, especially as re- serving attention by IPS as best practice for a wonderful president. She is a great and pas- lated to STEM or STEAM education. the future. If you look at the website glpa.org/ sionate advocate for planetariums of all sizes Dr. James S. Sweitzer (Columbia College conference/2014 you will already see one ex- in all regions of the world! Chicago, Illinois) ample: conference presentations that can be Elections for the next round of officers con- Goal #5: Provide support and leadership in accessed online, all uploaded as videos to You- cluded on December 1 and I look forward transitioning to next-generation planetari- Tube. working in the renewed team of IPS officers um design, technologies and content devel- Although we have been doing that too at in 2015-2016. And I salute Dave Weinrich, opment. IPS conferences, we have to make sure this who’s 6-year term as officer of IPS will be fin- The planning team currently assists in the concept will be followed up by future IPS con- ished by the end of this year. Dave, we all love ongoing SWOT analysis, offering all stake- ferences and these recordings be preserved in you and your human spirit with which you holders—current IPS members, non-member our documentation in a searchable archive. win people´s minds and hearts. I look forward planetarians, and vendors—the opportunity to work with you on specific projects where to tell us their ideas and suggestions for the fu- IPS Science and Data Visualization your expertise will be so helpful for our inter- ture of IPS. Task Force national community. The team already has collected hundreds of Well, speaking about things I am really hap- responses and decided to extend the deadline py with, I have to mention again the name IPS Vision 2020 moving forward to the end of December. Even now, when you Mark SubbaRao. I feel really proud about If there is something I am proud of as an read this, you can still provide us with your launching the Science and Data Visualization achievement of my presidency, then certain- perspective on what you would like IPS to be Task Force and selecting him as chair. Those ly the initiation and development of Vision in the next decade. If you have not yet done of you who attended his session at IPS 2014 in 2020, our strategic planning initiative, comes so, we are asking you to participate in a brief Beijing and now read his regular columns in to my mind. Vision 2020 is now gaining speed exercise that currently reflects the Strengths, this journal. They exemplify what IPS can do and moving forward. Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats of and in this vital area: not just at conferences, but On our IPS website you will find more in- to IPS. Please go to the IPS website (www.ips- continuously between conferences, helping formation and the full makeup of the plan- planetarium.org) and click on the Vision 2020 us to increase the potential for scientific com- ning team and advisory group for Vision link to complete the survey. munication and storytelling in the planetar- 2020. Chaired by Jon Elvert, the planning It is most important that planetarians in ium. team consists of five persons, each one as- all regions of our worldwide society be en- And this is especially true for his current signed the lead in formulation of one of the couraged by their IPS representatives and ac- column, which comes at an appropriate time five goal statement: tive members to give us their input. Please to reflect on the capabilities and opportu- Karrie Berglund (Digitalis Education Solu- use either the pdf or the version in Microsoft nities that the World Wide Telescope has tions, Bremerton, Washington) Word (docx) if you have to reach out to those opened up inside the dome, allowing the pre- Goal #1: Improve and increase profession- who will not access our website. sentation with objects and images from ongo- al development efforts that are based on re- IPS officers met with the Vision 2020 plan- ing research in the context of the night sky. search and best practices (e.g. summer schools, ning team during the 50th Annual GLPA Con- Mark and I are in agreement that IPS could Kavli Institute). ference (October 29-November 1, 2014) to dis- be an important element for making sure that Dr. Mark SubbaRao (Adler Planetarium, cuss status and next steps. these capabilities are maintained. The op- Chicago, Illinois) Based on the upcoming results from the portunities will be explored in the coming Goal #2: Strengthen ties with the profes- SWOT analysis, the planning team will collect months. Thank you Mark and all your great sional scientific community in the field of as- white paper statements outlining strategies team-members. You are spearheading an im-

December 2014 Planetarian 7 portant area into the future, an ideal test team working with Monika Malinows- bed related to goals of Vision 2020! ka and Maciej Liogowski, our hosts at the Copernicus Science Center, are very IPS Awards and Awards experienced conference organizers and Committee have already provid- Please note, that this issue of Planetar- ed us with the first ian includes a call for nominations for drafts of the packag- our prestigious IPS awards by Manos Kit- es that will go out to sonas, director of Eugenides Planetari- vendors and poten- um in Athens and now chair of the IPS tial sponsors. All is Awards Committee. I am happy to tell moving forward ac- you that, following our bylaws, the IPS cording to schedule officers have chosen from the list of IPS and you will receive fellows Tatsuyuki Arai and Kris McCall updates in the next as the two members in the awards com- issue of Planetarian. mittee chaired by Manos. And let us look fur- Please contact them if you have any ther ahead, to 2018. questions or suggestions. In addition to The final decision already existing awards, Manos will start on accepting the working on new awards reflecting our (one and only) bid desire to support and encourage good from Clark Planetari- content and presentations in planetar- um for hosting the IPS 2018 conference iums. We also will evaluate and learn in Salt Lake City, Utah, will be made at from what we did in the format of a fes- the next IPS council meeting. Please ex- tival during our recent IPS conference in pect a detailed article from our poten- Beijing and in Macao. tial host, also in the March issue of Plan- etarian. IPS Election Committee The difficulties we had to go through IPS Council Meeting in this year with our special elections need Keynote STARMUS talks by two well-know figures. At the top August 2015 attention in 2015, when council also will is Cosmonaut Alexey Leonov, the first spacewalker (50 years The next council meeting is sched- have to decide about the future makeup ago, in 1964), and being proud grandfather with his grandson uled to happen August 7-8 at the Plané- (inset). Below, Stephen Hawking, who discussed black holes. of the IPS Election committee. tarium Rio Tinto Alcan/Espace pour la It appears to me that in the interest of vie in Montréal, Québec, Canada. Our the future of our organization, a review of the er IPS conference in this region—and that we host will be Pierre Lacombe, whose planetar- procedures for elections is necessary because should not wait another 20 years to do that! ium features a set of new twin domes will pro- we need to win the hearts and minds of young If you want to visit a planetarium in China, vide us with a fantastic site to meet! but creative and talented IPS members so you can now do so from your desktop. Daniel The Montreal planetarium has pioneered that they indeed are willing to be candidates Audeon (Planetarium of Nantes, France) just efforts for bringing live interactive music and and are eager to compete in the next rounds finished working on a map showing all plan- visuals to domes, so I felt we could do some- of even more transparent election. etariums in China. Visit www.aplf-planetar- thing for professional development in IPS and iums.info/en/index.php?onglet=planetariu for spreading the gospel and knowledge we all IPS Conferences 2014-2018 ms&menu=china and you will find over 317 are embracing in IPS. Once more I would like to thank our won- planetariums with exact locations and pic- Working with our new IPS Immersive Au- derful host Dr. Jin Zhu and his team at Bei- tures. dio Committee so that we possibly can offer jing Planetarium for a most memorable con- There is a special map (you can click on an IPS workshop on the “Future of Immersive ference in China. Jin, you and your team were the map) for China (similar maps already ex- Audio” (working title only) during the two such great hosts and worked so hard to make ist for the USA or Japan) to facilitate searching days preceding our council meeting. Such a us feel welcome and to experience what your by regions on an interactive map, and also a workshop could possibly be open to all in- institution is doing for education for future list of Chinese regions. For each choice (conti- terested members and results could be made generations! We all are most grateful for that! nents or countries or regions), you open a ta- available to all members as a special publica- I also want to thank the team at the Macao ble containing a list with just a few details and tion (online and/or print). More details on this Science Center for making the first IPS Full- sorted by size. Then, you must click on the will be published as soon as we have the de- dome Festival become reality (as a pre-con- small picture (to the left) to open a personal tails worked out. ference event in collaboration with the Bei- page for each planetarium. See also www.aplf- And let me point this out again: The most jing team), and a special salute to the Japanese planetariums.info/en. important item of that council meeting will Planetarium Society with its president H. Gan, I salute Daniel for this work and we will do be a workshop with the Vision 2020 planning plus JAXA and Nagoya Science Center, for all we can to work together for making the di- team, which will fill the entire second day of putting together a great post conference tour rectory of the world´s planetariums more ac- the council meeting. in early July 2014, almost 20 years after IPS cessible and useful for you all by including gathered in Asia for the first time. more possibilities for multiple search criteria Inspiration from STARMUS Asia truly is a powerhouse for the future and making information openly available. One more thing, one more story I would of planetariums and science education and I We all are now gearing up towards our next like to share with you. am sure that we have to come back for anoth- IPS conference in 2016 in Warsaw, Poland. The In late September I participated at the sec-

8 Planetarian December 2014 ond STARMUS Festival, “Beginnings: The ful opportunities for us in IPS on Making of the Modern Cosmos,” on the island how we could reach out beyond of Tenerife, Canary Islands, which attracted just our own community of plan- an astonishing crowd of 700 people. etarians. I do even hope we can STARMUS gave me the opportunity to work with the STARMUS team in spend a lot of time in personal conversations the future, perhaps someday even and discussions with an illustrious group of conducting a joint conference or Nobel laureates, astronauts, cosmonauts, and workshop on these beautiful is- artists, which ranged from Stephen Hawking lands, which offer so much astro- to Richard Dawkins, from Brian May (Queen) nomical heritage. to Robert Wilson (co-discoverer of the cosmic Media partner of that outstand- microwave radiation) and Apollo 16 Astro- ing STARMUS festival was Astron- naut Charlie Duke. omy Magazine. You may recall that It was a week full of inspirational lectures Dave Eicher, editor-in-chief of this and stunning encounters, combined with live magazine (which is the world´s concerts and tributes to both Neil Armstrong leading publication in that field), and Alexey Leonov. A “108 minute” round- was our keynote speaker in Bei- table discussion timed to last as long as the jing, and now I am happy to tell first ever journey into space by Yuri Gagarin you that the January 2015 issue in 1961 was held in the Roque de los Mucha- of Astronomy will include quite a chos Observatory Dome, just below the 10.4- big and very nice article about our m Gran Telescopio Canarias (GTC), the largest wonderful IPS 2014 conference. optical/infrared telescope in the world. This will be important for the STARMUS truly can be called the finest visibility of what we do and is part combination of science, art, and music to be of our endeavor for more public- found anywhere in the world at this time. ity for planetariums. My sincere “It is an astronomical and artistic experience thanks go to Dave, who is such a meant to enhance your perception of your wonderful friend. He truly shares place in the universe and change your life for- our passion and this is just the be- At La Palma, the “108 minute” STARMUS roundtable discus- ever! The Starmus Festival is open to everyone ginning of a long-term relation- sion was held under the GTC 10-m . Taking part were (seat- young and old, beginners, amateurs and pro- ship between planetariums and ed) Astronaut Walt Cunningham, Nobel Laureate Robert Wil- son, Astrophysicist Robert Williams, Starmus organizer Garik fessionals. Anyone who holds a passion for as- his publication endeavors, which Israel, Nobel Laureate Sir Harold Kroto, and Nobel Laureate tronomy and space exploration, and who has also go way beyond just print. John Mather). Below: It’s photo time, with (from left) Dr. Bri- a desire to know more about where we came I am looking forward to us an May, composer Alexandros Hahalis, soprano Katarina Mina, from and what’s out there.” Doesn’t that de- working with him in clever ways Nobel Laureate Robert Wilson and myself. scription given by STARMUS sound like what for spreading the gospel of IPS and we intend in our planetariums? our passion for a better future of cause in just a few days I will travel to Buenos I believe that STARMUS opens up wonder- our small blue planet. Watch out for more ac- Aires for the meeting of the South American tivity on our IPS social media pages, coming Planetariums (APAS) and later continue to Co- soon! lombia for the celebrations of the 45th anni- More details about the STARMUS festival versary of the Bogota Planetarium. Unfortu- will be coming soon in a separate article that I nately I have to return to Hamburg in early will write for Planetarian. December and hence cannot go to Brazil or The opportunities are there Mexico this time, but 2015 is coming soon and you all know that I love to see what you are We have tremendous opportunities, and doing, learn from you, and explore with you together we can achieve more. IPS is here for what the future might bring us. you and I thank you for making the future of A letter, which the late Armand Spitz wrote planetariums a better one. This endeavor is in 1967 to then GLPA President Von Del Cham- so much bigger than me—all of us are driving berlain upon the initiation of GLPA’s annual this forward! And I salute all volunteers in IPS, Spitz Lecture, explains that desire so well: working in committees and task forces: thank “…we occupy a unique vantage point be- you! tween the macrocosmos and the microcos- I extend my very special thanks to my mos and we have the intellectual capability fellow officers, Lee Ann Henning, Shawn of comprehending both… the full potential Laatsch, Dave Weinrich, and Joanne Young. of the planetarium in its broadest connota- Without them I would be nothing; they make tion has yet barely been scratched…I dream it happen in countless hours of unpaid work. about the planetarium being used as a cata- You are jewels, always supportive and you lyst to begin reactions and to evoke people to never let me down! understand each others individually and col- Now the journey continues, literally, be- lectively…so…don´t be ashamed if you have a dream!” Guitars and stereoscopic glasses both define Astro- physicist Brian May ("Queen"), who discussed ste- Finally, please remember: always onwards reoscopic images in astronomy. and upwards. I

December 2014 Planetarian 9 Minutes of the 2014 IPS Council Meeting Room 203, Beijing Planetarium Beijing, China June 21-22, 2014

Guests: Martin George commented that we need to * indicates action items Dr. Jin Zhu – IPS 2014 Conference Host, Direc- review the mechanisms in place for planetari- In attendance: tor, Beijing Planetarium, Beijing China ums in need and to assure that we are provid- President Thomas Kraupe Martin George – Chair, Elections Committee ing options for this sector of our community. Past President Dave Weinrich Dr. Dale Smith – Chair, Publications Committee The Treasurer’s Report was filed. Treasurer Shawn Laatsch Mark SubbaRao – Chair, Science and Data Vi- As Membership Chair, Shawn reported that Secretary Lee Ann Hennig sualization Task Force the total membership as of June 2014 was 636. Jon Elvert – Chair, Vision 2020 Initiative Shawn confirmed that automated reminders Affiliate Representatives: Dr. Maciej Ligowski and Monika Malinowska are distributed in January and February to no- Association of Brazilian Planetariums (ABP) – – IPS 2016 Conference Bid, Copernicus Sci- tify membership of dues renewal procedures. Proxy Maria Helena Stefanni ence Center, Warsaw, Poland The Membership Report was filed. Association of Dutch Speaking Planetariums Ricardo Rodriguez – AMPAC Past President Dave Weinrich presented his (ADSP) – Jaap Vreeling Nieves Gordon – APLE Past President’s Report which will be print- Association of French Speaking Planetariums Celso Cunha – President of Rio Planetarium ed in the September 2014 issue of the Plan- (APLF) – Marc Moutin Foundation, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil etarian. Dave reviewed some of his accom- Association of Mexican Planetariums (AM- Oded Kinderman – Astrojujuy, Mobile Plane- plishments related to presidential objectives PAC) – Proxy Eduardo Hernández tarium, San Salvador de Jujuy, Argentina, highlighting the Ghana project and his expe- Association of Spanish Planetariums (APLE) – South American Planetarium Association riences in the “Two Weeks in Italy” program. Proxy Fernando Jáuregui (APAS) Dave spoke passionately about service to IPS and his hope that more planetarians would Australasian Planetarium Society (APS) – Dr. Nikolay N. Samus – Institute of Astrono- choose this path at some point in their career, Warik Lawrance my of Russian Academy of Sciences & P.K. especially in running for office and partici- British Association of Planetaria (BAP) – Jenny Sternberg Astronomical Institute of M.V. pating in committees. On behalf of Council, Shipway Lomonosov State University CASC Representative Ian McLennan thanked Canadian Association of Science Centres Iurii Kostenko – Ukraine Dave for his leadership and vision during his (CASC) - Ian McLennan time as an officer. President Thomas Kraupe Chinese Planetarium Society (CPS) – Jin Zhu The meeting was called to order at 9:30 a.m. also expressed his appreciation to Dave for his European/Mediterranean Planetarium Associ- by President Thomas Kraupe. Council and years of service to IPS and reminded him that ation (EMPA) - Manos Kitsonas guests were welcomed by Thomas and intro- his leadership was still required for continued Great Lakes Planetarium Association (GLPA) – ductions followed. Thomas recognized new commitment regarding projects and initia- Jeanne Bishop Council members and reviewed the format tives still remaining. Great Plains Planetarium Association (GPPA) – for the Council meeting as well as changes in President Thomas Kraupe delivered the Proxy John Hare the agenda. President’s Report. This report will also be Italian Association of Planetaria (IAP) – Proxy The Secretary’s Report on the Minutes of published in the September 2014 issue of the Simonetta Ercoli the 2013 South Tyrol, Italy Council Meeting Planetarian. Thomas reviewed how the IPS Vi- Japan Planetarium Association (JPA) – Kaoru had been previously published in the Decem- sion 2020 strategy has begun and how it will Kimura ber 2013 Planetarian. progress. As part of this process, Thomas has Middle Atlantic Planetarium Society (MAPS) – The Minutes were approved. reorganized the committee structure and that Patty Seaton Treasurer Shawn Laatsch presented the implementation will allow for more partici- Nordic Planetarium Association (NPA) – Aase Treasurer’s Report. Council reviewed and pation and positive results for the member- Roland Jacobsen discussed specifics of the 2013 Financial Re- ship as demonstrated during the conferences Pacific Planetarium Association (PPA) – Proxy port, the mid-year 2014 Budget, and the pro- and in between conferences as well. Thomas Rachel Thompson posed 2015 Budget. The IPS Vision 2020 budget reported on the Full Dome Festival in Macao Rocky Mountain Planetarium Association will be included in the updated version of the and its successful production. The President (RMPA) – Proxy Michele Wistisen Treasurer’s Report. The Audit Report of 2013 has endeavored to reach out to organizations, Society of German Speaking Planetaria (GDP) confirmed that the treasury is in good stand- affiliates, and other stakeholders in the plane- – Christian Theis ing and the document has been posted on the tarium community to forge relationships and Southeastern Planetarium Association (SEPA) Council Group Site. Shawn reported that the broaden the international aspect of our orga- – John Hare Associates’ category is no longer an option nization. Southwestern Association of Planetariums for membership. The Star Partners’ program The Past President’s and President’s Re- (SWAP) – Rachel Thompson is still available for those facilities that are in port were filed. Not Present: need of financial assistance for membership. Russian Planetarium Association (RPA) International Relations Committee Chair (Continues on page 12)

10 Planetarian December 2014 December 2014 Planetarian 11 March 2015 Planetarian. On behalf of Council, Paul Knappenberger’s resignation. As part of President Thomas Kraupe thanked the Clark the Elections Committee Report, Chair Affiliate reports Planetarium staff for their proposal and will- Martin George outlined the Special Elec- President Thomas Kraupe reiterated the im- ingness to host an IPS Conference. tions format and timeline as well as potential portance of Council Members’ participation The first day of the Council Meeting was changes in the By-Laws and Standing Rules to as active representatives of their affiliates. Vi- adjourned at 6 p.m. address future issues related to vacancies in sion 2020 will require Council’s input and elected offices. *Chair Martin George and support through the affiliates on a sustained The second day of the Council Meeting was the Elections Committee will draft a pro- basis. Council business requires involvement called to order at 9:10 a.m. on June 22, 2014. posal of revisions to pass on to Council (no throughout the year, not just at Council meet- IPS 2020 Conference Bids later than end of September) for review ings. President Thomas Kraupe reported that and action. Written Affiliate Reports were reviewed there are several potential bids for the IPS 2020 Martin also reported on the status of the and Affiliate Representatives highlighted Conference. We will be monitoring those po- regular election cycle. For the offices of Ex- events and concerns from their respective re- tential proposals for intentions and follow up. ecutive Secretary and Treasurer/Membership ports. These reports are posted on the IPS Web- Chair, Lee Ann Hennig and Shawn Laatsch site. Standing committee reports were contacted and asked if they would con- In news from the floor: President Thomas Kraupe reported that sider running as incumbents for the offices SEPA Representative John Hare report- the new committees formed last year were they currently hold; Lee Ann agreed, Shawn ed on the issue of vendor sponsorship for con- becoming active and offering opportunities declined. Martin expects to have the candi- ferences in terms of rising costs, multiple con- for growth among the membership, particu- date list ready by the General Business Meet- ferences, smaller venues, etc. This is a topic to larly at this conference. Committees should ing at which time additional nominations consider for Council discussion. be more inclusive and active throughout the will be entertained from the floor and the The Council Group Page on the web site is year to provide more meaningful services to candidates will give brief statements. The available for discussion of issues; we should the membership and the planetarium com- 2014 electronic ballot election ran smoothly make use of this option to extend our business munity as a whole. and is expected to follow the same procedure beyond the annual Council Meetings. Standing Committee Reports were present- in 2016. Written Affiliate Reports not submitted: ed, reviewed, and discussed. The full commit- Chair Martin George implored the Affiliate British Association of Planetaria (BAP); Cana- tee reports will be posted on the individual Representatives to be more involved and pro- dian Association of Science Centres (CASC); Committee Webpages on the IPS Web Site. active in encouraging and seeking qualified Chinese Planetarium Society (CPS); and Awards Committee candidates for IPS offices. This was a particu- Pacific Planetarium Association (PPA) (report Awards Committee member Jeanne larly difficult election cycle despite the efforts submitted 9/10/14). Bishop presented the IPS Awards Commit- of the committee (publicizing the nomina- tee Report on behalf of Chair Lars Broman, tions process, calling for candidates) direct- Conferences who is stepping down as chair. The President’s ed multiple times to the membership and to IPS 2014 Conference Award, the IPS Fellows, and the Technology Council urging participation and consider- Dr. Jin Zhu, IPS 2014 Conference Host, and Innovation Award honorees will be pre- ation of service to IPS in running for office. gave an update on the conference highlights sented to the membership at the IPS Banquet. President Thomas Kraupe thanked Mar- and registration to date. The 2014 IPS Award recipients are: tin and the committee for persevering dur- IPS 2016 Conference President’s Award: Past President Dave ing this challenging task. The President Dr. Maciej Ligowski and Monika Malinows- Weinrich urged Council Members to consider that ka presented their report on plans for the con- 2014 IPS Fellows: Jurgen Hellwig, Manos one of their major responsibilities is to pro- ference at the Copernicus Science Center in Kitsonas, Stephan Klashed, Paul Krupinski, mote and encourage their regional mem- Warsaw, Poland. The Conference is scheduled Shaaron Leverment, Ian McLennan, and Alex- bership to consider IPS officer candidacy. for June 19-25, 2016, preceded by the Council andre Serber Publications Committee Meeting. Details and updates will be posted on Technology and Innovation Award: The IPS Publications Committee Chair the Conference Website www.ips2016.org and Ludwig Meier and Phillip Sadler Dale Smith presented his report. Executive will be published in Planetarian. IPS Service Award: none awarded this cy- Editor Sharon Shanks continues to maintain IPS 2018 Conference Bids (presented June cle the journal’s excellence in conjunction with 22) Affiliates are encouraged to submit nomina- a talented roster of authors, columns and ad- One bid proposal was presented for Council tions for IPS Awards to the Awards Committee. vertisers. The article titled “Under One Dome” review for IPS 2018 Conference: President Thomas Kraupe, on behalf of Coun- continues from last year and frequently fea- Clark Planetarium, Salt Lake City, Utah, pre- cil, expressed gratitude to Lars for his decades tures smaller domes. New columns have been sented by RMPA Affiliate Representative Mi- of service to IPS both as Chair of the Awards added: “Data to Dome” (Mark SubbaRao) and chele Wistisen on behalf of Seth Jarvis, Di- Committee and as Associate Editor of the IPS “Sound Advice” (Jeff Bowen) and a practice of rector, Clark Planetarium; proposed dates are International News. *Thomas announced including “Guest Editorials” continues. Lars June 25-29, 2018. that Manos Kitsonas will be stepping into Broman completed his 18th year as Associ- Council will continue to review the bid the role of Awards Committee Chair with a ate Editor of “International News”- a column proposal as they formalize plans for the final major task of aligning the awards designations that showcases the international vibrancy of bid presentation at the 2015 IPS Council Meet- to the IPS Vision 2020 objectives. our profession. Chair Dale Smith reported that ing. Information on the Bid proposal will be Elections Committee Lars is stepping down from this role, “…leav- posted on the conference web site linked to President Thomas Kraupe declared a closed ing a legacy of promoting the global reach of the IPS Web Site as well as an article regarding session of Council to allow for Council discus- planetarium work and encouraging contribu- plans and information to be published in the sion of the consequences of President Elect (Continues on page 14)

12 Planetarian December 2014 December 2014 Planetarian 13 for their efforts on this important aspect of IPS tarium representative from each IPS Affiliate. History. This representative needs to be responsible for tions from around the world.” In looking for IPS International Relations Committee periodically sending Susan news and contacts someone to continue this role, the Planetari- Chair Martin George and his committee for portables located in the affiliate’s region. an is hoping to build on Lars’ contributions. continue to promote IPS through their global Please send Susan the name and contact infor- The current edition of the Planetarian is travels and connections, including: Thailand, mation of this individual. available on the IPS Website in the Members the Philippines, Ukraine, Ghana, United Arab IPS Planetarium Design and Operations Only area, and all previous editions are posted Emirates, and Slovakia. *Based on experienc- Committee in the open area of the IPS Website. es with administering the Stipends for IPS Chair Ian McLennan reported that the The Baton Rouge IPS 2012 Proceedings 2014 Conference, Chair Martin will pro- committee has begun work on codifying Best were distributed by Jon Elvert. pose some revisions of the current guide- Practices for Planetariums concerning design The 2013 edition of the IPS Directory lines and present them to Council for re- and renovation, and is collaborating with IPS (which includes the IPS Directory of the World’s view and approval. Martin will continue to Audio, Sound, and Acoustics Committee re- Planetariums, the “white pages”, and the IPS work on ways for IPS to provide more oppor- garding that aspect of facilities design. Work Resource Directory, the “yellow pages”) was tunities for less fortunate planetariums to par- continues on repurposing the document “So mailed to all members in December of 2013. ticipate in our international network. You Want to Build a Planetarium” into a “liv- The next edition will be distributed in 2015. President Thomas Kraupe acknowledged ing” web-based document that evolves as does The IPS Web Site falls under the purview of Council Guest: Oded Kinderman (Astroju- the profession. Ian and several other commit- the Publications Committee and as such, Plan- juy – Mobile Planetarium, San Salvador de Ju- tee chairs and guests will be presenting a pan- etarian Editor Sharon Shanks, assists as editor juy – Jujuy – Argentina). He reported on his ef- el/workshop at this conference on operation and content manager of the web site and Alan forts to promote planetariums in Argentina and programming. Gould is Webmaster. and with the South American Planetarium IPS Audio, Sound, and Acoustics Commit- President Thomas Kraupe, on behalf of Association (APAS). He requests suggestions tee Council, expressed appreciation for Dale and and materials exchange to assist these region- President Thomas Kraupe announced that his committee’s dedication and excellence al planetariums in moving forward the dream Chair Rene Rodigast would be giving a pre- in contributing to the valuable resources for of joining the IPS community. sentation at this conference and that the goals IPS and also recognizes Editor Sharon Shank’s President Thomas Kraupe acknowledged and objectives of the committee would be fi- commitment to the high standards of the Council Guest: Dr. Nikolay N. Samus, Insti- nalized in the next month. Planetarian. tute of Astronomy of Russian Academy of Sci- IPS Presenting Live Under the Dome Com- *The Publications Committee will now ences & P.K. Sternberg Astronomical Institute mittee work toward making the Directory more of M.V. Lomonosov State University. Dr. Sa- President Thomas Kraupe announced that accessible to the membership as a search- mus gave a brief report of the state of Russian Chair Mark Webb would launch this com- able online-database with multiple search planetariums. mittee’s mission with workshops under the fields. Plans will also proceed on a special President Thomas Kraupe acknowledged dome at this conference. publication regarding a subset of Digital/ Council Guest: Iurii Kostenko, Ukraine, who IPS Science and Data Visualization Task Fulldome Planetaria. These tasks were put gave an update on the status of planetariums Force forward by the IPS President and were sup- in Ukraine. There has been no government Chair Mark SubbaRao presented the ported by the officers and Council. support of the facilities since independence committee report outlining his committee’s Standing Committee Reports were filed. and they are still quite isolated as a whole. vision for professional development opportu- Thomas thanked our guests for providing nities, best practices for visualization, data to Ad Hoc Committee Reports insight into those regions that are struggling dome issues, and increasing the potential for Ad Hoc Committee Reports were present- to carry on the planetarium message amid scientific communication and storytelling in ed, reviewed and discussed. Complete reports some daunting challenges. the planetarium. Mark has assembled a wide will be posted on the IPS Web Site Commit- IPS Portable Planetarium Committee range of experts for his committee and out- tee Pages. Past President Dave Weinrich present- lined the goals (December 2013 Planetarian). IPS Education Committee-no report ed the IPS Portable Planetariums report He is also providing material in the column, IPS History Committee on behalf of Chair Susan Button. Promot- “Data to Dome.” Plans are progressing for a Historian John Hare reported that his ing the use of live, interactive sessions under document that will “…evaluate the present committee is continuing to make progress on the dome continues to be a major goal of the state of the field, recognize current trends, and completing the scanning of slides and photo- committee and is being supported at a num- identify opportunities to exploit and make graphs of archival material. The cataloguing ber of regional meetings. The committee has recommendations of where advancements of the image files was affected by lost and/or launched a new initiative: “Pages of Stars,“ need to be made in the realm of science and corrupted data, but John is working on recov- whose main objective is to build a collection data visualization.” ering as much of that file as possible. of short audio registrations that can be easi- President Thomas Kraupe announced The Memorial Presentation at IPS 2014 ly shared among planetarians using mp3 files. that there will be a meeting of all Committee for IPS members who have passed away dur- See the IPS Web Site for details on the pro- Chairs on Friday to discuss the missions, col- ing the last 2 years is scheduled for the Con- gram. laborations, and impact of IPS Vision 2020 ference Luncheon. Affiliates are requested to Susan reemphasized the need for Affiliate on committees. He also emphasized that IPS pass on relevant information to John so that Representatives to make information regard- Committees should be mission driven, offer he can continue to provide a lasting memori- ing portables available to their memberships concrete services to the membership and col- al and tribute to our former colleagues. Presi- and to encourage participation in those ac- laborate as much as possible. All committees dent Thomas Kraupe thanked Historian John tivities. It is crucial for the IPS Portable Plan- should participate in conferences through Hare, Ian McLennan and committee members etarium Committee to have a portable plane- (Continues on page 16)

14 Planetarian December 2014 December 2014 Planetarian 15 sponsored by IPS. The venue could be work- With business completed, Shawn Laatsch workshops, panels, presentations, and open shops associated with IPS Conferences, Affili- moved to adjourn the meeting, seconded by meetings to encourage membership participa- ate Conferences and at other times through- Manos Kitsonas, and approved by Council. tion. IPS 2014 is a good example of how some out the year. Awards will be coordinated with Respectfully submitted, of the committees’ missions are being broad- the revisions of Committee structure. Lee Ann A. Hennig cast and shared with the membership. IPS Vision 2020: President Thomas Kraupe Executive Secretary, IPS The Ad Hoc Committee Reports were filed. has appointed Jon Elvert as coordinator for June 22, 2014 IPS Vision 2020. Jon presented an overview Constitution matters of the timeline and format to lead us through Addendum to the Minutes: The revisions for By Laws and Standing the completion of this strategic planning op- At the IPS General Meeting, IPS Elections Rules regarding officer elections will be re- eration. There will be a panel session and then Committee Chair Martin George announced viewed by Council upon receipt (no later a workshop at the conference to initiate a the nominees for President Elect, Executive than the end of September 2014) from Elec- SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Secretary and Treasurer/Membership Chair tions Chair Martin George. Other changes to Threats) Analysis for initial input from con- and all of the candidates for IPS office pre- consider will be: revisions/updates in appendi- ference attendees. Immediate plans will in- sented statements supporting their candida- ces, general consistency and clarification edits volve sessions at Affiliate conferences and fol- cy. There were no nominations from the floor. to keep the document current. low-up. The nominee for the office of President Elect is: Shawn Laatsch Unfinished business New Business - none The nominee for the office of Executive Several of the items of unfinished business Secretary is: Lee Ann A. Hennig will be addressed by the IPS Vision 2020 Ini- Project Reports The nominee for the officer of Treasurer/ tiative, including the following: Survey of The International Year of Light: please re- Membership Chair is: Ann Bragg Membership, Awards (type of awards and port any efforts from your region regarding President Thomas Kraupe announced that structure), and Memoranda of Understanding participation in this event Jeanne Bishop will Chair the Education Com- documents. Jim Sweitzer is conducting a workshop on mittee. IPS Seasonal/Summer School: these would the Nanotarium, a project to introduce plane- The IPS 2015 Council Meeting will be held be professional development initiatives fo- tariums (low cost simple devices) to the devel- at the Montreal Planetarium in Montreal, cused on training opportunities globally and oping world. The project is supported by IAU- Quebec, Canada. I accompanied by certifications supported/ OAD and IPS.

Call for 2016 IPS awards and Fellows nominations Manos Kitsonas, Awards Committee Chair [email protected]

The IPS Awards Committee is being re-structured after a very suc- The IPS Technology and Innovation Award. This “shall be be- cessful term under Lars Broman’s guidance. The IPS Officers and I are stowed, from time to time, by the Society upon an individual whose working together in order to establish the new Awards Committee technology and/or innovations in the planetarium field have been, that will be able to expand its mission in the years to come, particu- through the years, utilized or replicated by other members and/or larly in accordance with Vision 2020. other planetariums.” So far, there have been only 4 persons awarded In the meantime, now is the time to nominate people or institu- with the IPS Technology and Innovation Award. tions for the 2016 IPS Awards and Fellowships. The next IPS Awards For both these Awards the nominees must have a broad, deep and will be given and Fellows named at the IPS Conference in Warsaw, concrete effect in the profession and its development. Poland in June 2016. The IPS Council will decide which persons or in- Deserving IPS members can also be named IPS Fellows and in or- stitutions will be honored at the next IPS Council meeting in Mon- der to be named, the IPS Standing Rules state that “a member must treal, Canada, in August 2015. The decisions will be based on the have continuous active membership in good standing in IPS for at Awards Committee presentations regarding each potential Award- least five years and substantial contributions in at least two of the ee of Fellow candidate. following respects: Nominations for the 2016 IPS Awards and Fellows must therefore •• Serving IPS in effective office, diligent and/or devoted committee reach the Awards Committee on time and in any case no later than work, and the organization of conferences and meetings. the 1st of June 2015. Please send your nominations to my email ad- •• Relevant and significant publications and/or conference presen- dress ([email protected]) and include the reasons why you think your tations. nominee should be awarded or named an IPS Fellow. •C• ooperation with professional societies, organizations and groups As you well know, the IPS Awards that require nominations from that brings attention to the importance of planetariums’ existence. the members are the following: •• The development of new methods in the planetarium field.” The IPS Service Award. This, according to IPS Standing Rules So far, there have been 254 people named IPS Fellows. “shall be bestowed, from time to time, by the Society upon an in- I would like to encourage you to consider possible Awards or Fel- dividual or institution whose presence and work in the planetari- lows nominees, not only from your region but from all over the um field has been, through the years, an inspiration to the profes- world. More information regarding previous Awardees and Fellows sion and its members.” Since 1982 there have been 23 people awarded can be found in the IPS Awards Committee web page (www.ips-plane- with the IPS Service Award. tarium.org/?page=awardees). I

16 Planetarian December 2014 www.softmachine.de The climate is changing - Let’s act now!

The Adventures of Dolores and Mike

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For licensing please contact: www.reef-distribution.com Eda Karaatli-Rentsch December 2014 [email protected] Planetarian 17 A Longitudinal Study of Early Elementary Students’ Understanding of Lunar Phenomena after Planetarium and Classroom Instruction

Kim J. Small, Arcadia University and Upper Dublin School District [email protected] Julia D. Plummer, Pennsylvania State University [email protected]

Abstract: We examined the durability of students’ understanding of lunar phenomena one year after a combination of planetarium and classroom lessons. Children (N=16) were interviewed before and after instruction during Year 1 and then again one year later. Analysis of the interview results and instruction reveals that many students retained an understanding of some of the key constructs targeted in the program. Results also suggest that students were more likely to learn and remember challenging constructs that they actively engaged with in both the planetarium and the classroom.

Background: Few research studies have ger periods of time is an even more important lowing over a three-day period: been conducted to measure the impact of question for the planetarium and science ed- •• A pre-visit introductory classroom lesson, planetarium programs and instruction on ucation communities. Further, identifying ar- taught by the first author, which allowed children within the last 15 years (e.g. Plummer, eas of instruction (both through planetarium children to share their ideas about observ- 2009; Plummer, Kocareli, & Slagle, 2014). Even programming and classroom instruction) that ing the day and night. less frequent are studies that focus on the may lead to long-term positive impact can •• A modular designed (combination of live long-term effects that planetarium program- have a significant influence on the develop- interaction and pre-recorded video seg- ming combined with classroom instruction ment of such future instruction. ments) planetarium program called The has on children’s conceptual constructs. This As has been identified in national docu- Moon, which was created by Audio Visu- longitudinal study aims to not only quantita- ments such as Framework for K-12 Science Ed- al Imagineering. The program featured sci- tively examine such impacts but also to begin ucation (NRC, 2012) and the Next Generation ence practices such as scientific observation to uncover what aspects of programming and Science Standards (NGSS Lead States, 2013), sci- and creating representations. instruction may have led to these results. ence education should focus on observational •• A post-visit assessment and application Investigating instruction and program ele- astronomy in early elementary. Not only does classroom lesson taught by the first author. ments associated with children’s conceptual this allow for an appropriate level of instruc- Below is a summary of the major instruc- constructs and changes to those constructs is tion for younger children, but it also may pro- tional elements that were part of each of the demanding and time-consuming. Uncovering vide a foundation from which to build more three lunar topics, each of which was ad- how desirable changes in these constructs per- complex explanations in later grades. This dressed separately both in the classroom and sist or change months or years after instruc- study focuses on early elementary-aged stu- in The Moon planetarium program. tion is particularly important (Georghiades, dents’ conceptual constructs in the area of lu- 2000). nar observational astronomy content. 1. The surface features of the moon Although several longitudinal studies have Methods: The research reported here is The planetarium instruction included live been conducted on children’s conceptual a significant extension of an earlier study components that allowed students to com- constructs within the area of astronomy, only (Small & Plummer, 2014), which examined pare and contrast the surface of the moon and one by Kikas exceeded one year (Lelliott & the impact of classroom instruction and plan- the Earth and the surface of the near side and Rollnick, 2009). Kikas (1998) uncovered that etarium programming for first grade students’ far side of the moon. Students were encour- students showed a regression in their scientif- understanding of lunar phenomena in a Phil- aged to use the vocabulary Maria, highlands ic understanding of the day/night cycle and adelphia suburban school district. In the orig- and craters as they were comparing and con- attributed this to a “rote learning” memoriza- inal study, children selected from four partici- trasting. During the pre-recorded portions tion style of instruction. pating classes (N=36) were interviewed before of the program, students watched a boy (the Other studies on astronomy interven- and after instruction. In this current paper, we main character) drawing his observations of tions show short-term success in changing examined the extent to which a selection of the moon’s surface features in a sketchbook. children’s conceptual constructs (e.g. Hob- those students’ retained what they learned son, Trundle, & Sackes, 2010; Plummer, 2009). from instruction one year later. Submitted: 7/8/2014 However, determining if changes in children’s Instruction: The instructional interven- Review returned: 9/30/2014 conceptual understanding persist across lon- tions included in this study featured the fol- Accepted: 10/21/2014

18 Planetarian December 2014 The boy continued to label the surface features and was informed of what each of the Table 1. Students’ drawings of lunar surface features surface features were and how they were created. Pre (N=11) Post (N=11) Delayed-Post (N=11) Classroom instruction included an oppor- Maria, Highlands, Craters 0 5 (46%) 1 (9%) tunity for students to view a variety of pho- Two scientific features 0 3 (27%) 3 (27%) tographs of the moon and discuss which ones could help scientist learn more about the One scientific feature 9 (82%) 3 (27%) 7 (64%) moon’s surface and why. None or other 2 (18%) 0 0

2. The daily apparent motion The live components of the planetarium instruction encouraged students to actively engage by pointing to where they predicted the moon would rise in the sky, where it would set, and drawing with their arm the path that it would take throughout the day/night. Dur- ing The Moon program this concept was mod- eled as the boy did the same gesturing. The boy also drew a sketch, similar to one of the interview question, of the daily apparent motion of the moon rising in the East, moving in a curved path, and setting in the West. The program respectively stated that this was the Figure 1. One student’s drawings of lunar surface features: pre-instruction (one surface feature), post- instruction (three surface features), and delayed-post (three surface features, one year later). apparent motion of the moon in one day and mentioned that this was caused by the fact that the Earth rotates. tures of the moon, the daily apparent motion of student learning through this instruction- Classroom instruction included a manip- of the moon, and monthly observations of the al intervention. ulative opportunity for small groups of stu- moon. Each student was originally only asked Results: The results presented below in- dents to organize a set of images (with East questions from two of the three subtopics re- clude pre-, post-, and delayed post (1 year af- and West labeled) of the moon at different sulting in 11 students interviewed for each ter) data. The analysis we present will focus times of the day to show rising, curved path subtopic in the longitudinal study. Interview on comparing students’ delayed-post respons- motion, and setting. Students then drew pic- questions focused on observational features es to their immediate post-responses and their tures of the apparent motion of the moon in rather than causal explanations (i.e. students pre-instructional knowledge level to consider their small groups. were not taught or expected to know the rea- the relationship between students’ retention son for the phases of the moon; instead, they of new astronomy ideas and how this may re- 3. The monthly observations/phases learned the monthly observable pattern). late to the instructional intervention. Within the live components of the plan- Analysis: Codes describing students’ ideas etarium instruction, students were asked to were developed for each interview protocol 1. The surface features of the moon state the different ways that they have seen and were used to analyze interviews collected Students were asked to draw a picture of the moon in the sky. As students respond- at all three data collection time periods (pre- the moon. These drawings were coded for the ed an image of the phase that they identified interviews, post-interviews, and delayed post- number of scientifically correct surface fea- was placed on the planetarium dome. Stu- interviews). We first developed codes based tures they included (Table 1). The desired re- dents also had time to discuss the amount of on prior research on children’s conceptions sponse was for students to include three sur- time that it takes to see the entire moon phase about the moon (e.g. Plummer, 2009; Trun- face features (Maria, highland, and craters). cycle. During the pre-recorded segments of dle et al., 2007a) and then developed addition- Statistical analysis using the Wilcoxon the planetarium program, the boy organized al codes to capture the essence of all interview signed-ranks test suggests that there was sig- moon phase cards into a complete cycle and responses. To determine whether or not codes nificant improvement between students’ watched the complete cycle in the sky. could be used reliably, both authors coded a pre and post-instruction interviews (Z=2.879, Classroom instruction allowed students the subset of the interviews (~20%) and an inter- p<0.01). There was also significant improve- opportunity to organize moon phase cards rater agreement of at least 80% was reached ment between students’ pre-instructional and into a complete cycle. for each category. A detailed interview proto- longitudinal interviews (Z=2.333, p<0.05), sug- col and coding document are available upon gesting that students retained some of what Data collection request. they had learned a year later. Sixteen of the children in the earlier study The Wilcoxon signed-rank test was used to However, differences between students’ participated in a follow-up interview, one statistically compare student responses across post-instruction and longitudinal interviews year later, using the same interview proto- the three time points. However, we note the suggest that students did not retain all of col. The interviews engaged children in creat- limitations to this statistical analysis; the what they had learned over that year (Z=2.271, ing models and drawings related to lunar phe- small sample size for the longitudinal group p<0.05). When comparing the longitudinal to nomena. In all interviews (one week prior to reduces the confidence in the findings. We the post-instruction responses, zero students instruction, one week after instruction, and a present them here as a way to suggest possi- improved, five stayed the same, and six re- delayed one year after instruction), three lu- ble trends that will allow us to draw tentative gressed; four of these six regressed back to nar subtopics were featured: the surface fea- conclusions about the long-term durability their pre-instruction response while the other

December 2014 Planetarian 19 Table 2. Students’ drawings of the apparent motion of the Moon two maintained a level higher than their pre- Pre (N=11) Post (N=11) Delayed-Post (N=11) instructional level. Moon rises E to W 1 (9 %) 9 (82 %) 6 (55%)

2. The daily apparent motion Moon rises and sets on 0 1 (9 %) 2 (18 %) Students were asked to illustrate how the opposite sides of the sky moon would appear throughout the day/ (not E to W) night on a piece of paper with East and West Moon appears to move 5 (45 %) 0 2 (18 %) labeled at the bottom. To capture the levels Does not describe Moon’s 5 (45 %) 1 (9 %) 1 (9 %) of understanding, codes were developed with apparent motion the desired scientific correct conception including that the moon rises in the East, moves across the sky in a curved path, and sets in the West. Table 2 summarizes the overall findings. The Wilcoxon signed ranks test suggests that generally the students improved from pre-to-post instruction (Z=-2.714, p<0.01) and retained the same level of knowledge from the end of Year 1 to the end of Year 2 (Z=-1.063, p=0.288). Eight students showed improvement and three students remained the same Figure 2. One student’s drawings of the apparent motion of the moon: pre-instruction (moon appears to move), post-instruction (moon rises/sets East to West), and delayed-post (moon rises/sets East to (including one that was at the target level of West). understanding) from pre-instruction to delayed-post. Five students maintained the same level of knowledge, two students improved, (Z=2.041, p<0.05). The comparison of students’ cant short-term impact that intensive instruc- and four students regressed from post-instruc- pre-instruction drawing to their longitudinal tion can have on children’s understanding of tion to delayed-post instruction. drawing was not significant at the 0.05 level science concepts. but is suggestive of a trend towards improve- Perhaps more important here was the du- 3. The monthly observations/phases ment (Z=1.838, p=0.066). There was no signifi- ration of the desired conceptual change in Students were asked to draw all of the ways/ cant difference between their post-interview many areas of the instruction. Similar to oth- shapes that the moon can be seen in the sky. and longitudinal interview (Z=0.647, p=0.518). er longitudinal studies with students and pre- The desired scientific construct included rep- Because of the improvement found from pre service teachers, some participants showed resentation of each of the eight phases (new, to post, with no difference between post and evidence of partial or full decay in their un- waxing crescent, first quarter, waxing gib- longitudinal, we suggest that some of the im- derstanding of the target constructs as they bous, full, waning gibbous, last quarter, wan- provement may have been maintained over shifted back towards their prior understanding crescent). the year, though the small number of stu- ing (Kikas, 1998; Trundel et al., 2007b). Students drew a mean of 5 phases (S.D. = dents limits the strength of this conclusion. The topic that showed the least amount of 2.7) prior to instruction, 7.6 phases (S.D. = 3.8) decay in this study was on the daily apparent post-instruction, and 6.4 phases (S.D. = 3.9) in Conclusions and Implications motion of the moon. In interpreting these re- delayed-post interview. A paired-sample t-test Similar to other educational studies, posi- sults, careful attention should be paid to the was used to compare the number of moon tive post-instruction results reflect the signifi- elements of instruction on the daily apparent shapes the children drew. While none of the differences were significant at the p < 0.05 level, two of the compari- Table 3. Students’ drawings of the cycle of lunar phases sons suggest a trend. Students drew more lunar Pre (N=11) Post (N=11) Year 2 (N=11) phase shapes immediately after instruction Full cycle 0 4 (36 %) 0 (t=2.189, p=0.053). There was limited improvement in comparing the longitudinal results Half cycle 2 (18 %) 1 (9 %) 6 (55 %) to the students’ initial number of drawings Increasing pattern 0 0 (t=1.273, p = 0.195) and students drew some- Decreasing pattern 1 (9 %) 1 (9 %) 0 what fewer drawings from immediate post to the longitudinal interview (t=-1.273, p=0.061). Random order 7 (64 %) 4 (36 %) 5 (45 %) Students were also asked how long in time Alternative pattern 1 (9 %) 1 (9 %) 0 it would take to observe the entire moon phase cycle. Prior to instruction 36% of students stated about one month. After instruction 73% reported about one month and 55% said the same in delayed-post interviews. The organization of the moon phases that students drew was also analyzed with a target construct being a full cycle from new to full and back to new (Table 3). Students’ organiza- Figure 3. One student’s drawings of the cycle of lunar phases: pre-instruction (random order), post-in- tion increased significantly from pre to post struction (full cycle), and delayed-post (half-cycle, increasing pattern).

20 Planetarian December 2014 motion of the moon that the students experi- though, such activities may seem daunting work for K-12 Science Education: Practices, enced in order to understand why this topic in a unique environment such as a planetari- Crosscutting Concepts, and Core Ideas. Wash- had the most promising results for long-term um, we encourage creative solutions to incor- ington, DC: National Academies Press. student understanding of the scientific con- porate suggestions of these findings for last- NGSS Lead States. 2013. Next Generation Sci- cepts: ing positive impacts on children’s conceptual ence Standards: For States, By States. Wash- The instruction for daily apparent motion constructs. ington, DC: National Academies Press. of the moon included engagement in a vari- Acknowledgment: We would like to thank Plummer, J. D. (2009). Early elementary stu- ety of scientific practices, such as observing Joanne Young and Audio Visual Imagineering dents’ development of astronomy concepts and predicting, and instructional modalities for the development of The Moon program. in the planetarium. Journal of Research in such as modeling, kinesthetic learning, and This work was partially funded by a Middle Science Teaching, 46(2), 192-209. use of manipulatives. Instruction for the oth- Atlantic Planetarium Society Education Re- Plummer, J. D., Kocareli, A., & Slagle, C. (2014). er two topics did less to fully engage students search Grant. Learning to explain astronomy across mov- in constructing a new understanding through ing frames of reference: Exploring the role these types of instructional strategies. References of classroom and planetarium-based in- Students were actively engaged in the ap- Georghiades, P. (2000). Beyond conceptual structional contexts. International Journal parent motion of the moon construct during change learning in science education: Fo- of Science Education, 36(7), 1083-1106. both the planetarium and second classroom cusing on transfer, durability and metacog- Small, K., and Plummer, J.D. (2014). Impact on lesson; the second classroom lesson’s activi- nition. Educational Researcher, 42(2), 119- children’s conceptual constructs regard- ties for the moon’s surface and lunar phases 139. ing observational features of the moon: A did not fully engage students in the aspects of Hobson, S. M., Trundle, K. C., and Saçkes, M. look at elements of program and instruc- the constructs that were most challenging to (2010). Using a planetarium software pro- tion design for early elementary-aged stu- them and thus limited their opportunity to gram to promote conceptual change with dents. The Constellation, Summer 2014, No. further work with the ideas they learned in young children. Journal of Science Education 2, 2-4, 7. the planetarium. and Technology, 19(2), 165-176. Trundle, K.C., Atwood, R. K., & Christopher, J.E. The instruction for this topic included ac- Kikas, E. (1998). The impact of teaching on stu- (2007a). Fourth-grade elementary students’ tivities that were more similar to the actual dents’ definitions and explanations of as- conceptions of standards-based lunar con- interview questions, which may have rein- tronomical phenomena. Learning and In- cepts. International Journal of Science Educa- forced their understanding of the construct. struction, 8(5), 439-454. tion, 29, 595-616. Students were asked to make predictions Lelliott, A., and Rollnick, M. (2009). Big Ideas: Trundle, K.C., Atwood, R. K., & Christopher, J.E. within this area of instruction allowing them A view of astronomy education research (2007b). A longitudinal study of conceptu- to compare any alternative beliefs that they 1974-2008. International Journal of Science al change: Preservice elementary teachers’ might have already to the scientific concept Education, 32(13), 1771-1799. conceptions of moon phases. Journal of Re- presented during instruction. National Research Council (2012). The Frame- search in Science Teaching, 44(2), 303-326. I Implications of this study include the need for educators to pay close attention to how we match the constructs we are targeting for children to learn with how we design active New source for astronomy education research instructional strategies, both in the planetarium and the classroom. We base this on our A new educational evaluation, with an emphasis of significant scien- research resource tific results derived from ethical observations and observation that the construct that students is debuting this systematic experimentation in science education improved the most in, the apparent motion month. It’s called and evaluation. Research is welcome from across of the moon, was most directly targeted with the Journalf o As- the broad area of Earth and space sciences, includ- instruction that engaged children both phys- tronomy & Earth ing astronomy, climatology, energy resource sci- ically and mentally during the planetarium ence, environmental science, geology, meteorolo- Sciences Educa- gy, planetary sciences, and oceanography. and classroom instruction. tion (JAESE), and Access to the articles in the quarterly publica- Our findings also suggest that engaging it’s got one of the tion will be free of charge, although there is a pa- children with scientific practices, such as pre- top names current- per submission fee and, if the work is accepted, dicting and modeling, may allow students to ly in this niche re- an open access fee based on the number of words search field as its (from $300 for shorter work; up to $1,100 for pa- build on their current conceptual constructs Timothy Slater editor in chief: Tim- pers of 10,001 words or more). and then modify or change them, if needed. othy F. Slater at the International in scope, JAESE is one of the publi- Trundle and colleagues (2007b) drew sim- University of Wyoming. cations under the Clute Institute umbrella. The in- ilar conclusions in a longitudinal study con- The JAESE will publish refereed papers “that sig- stitute, which was founded in 1985, disseminates nificantly contribute to the scholarly understand- ducted with pre-service teachers focused on the latest academic research on a broad range of ing of cutting edge issues across science educa- topics within academia. the moon. They suggest strengthening in- tion. The institute hosts the journal’s manuscript struction by encouraging more “intention- Using a wide range of systematic education re- submission system and publications information, al learning” and providing a modest set of search methods including statistical analysis, qual- found online at: www.cluteinstitute.com/jour- instructional activities that would actively itative inquiry, analytical work, case studies, field nals/journal-of-astronomy-earth-sciences-educa- research and historical analysis, articles examine tion-jaese. engage participants in psychomotor model- significant science education research questions A shorter address to use www.jaese.org, a ing. from a broad range of perspectives.” launch pad to the Clute Institute site. Trundle and colleagues also recommend It will be an open access journal that is “essen- The JAESE Editor can be contacted via email that students predict and explain, preferably tial reading for academic education researchers at: [email protected] and education professionals.” in writing prior to instruction, and then pe- Articles submitted to Clute Institute publications JAESE will be looking for articles dealing with are subjected to a double-blind, peer review process. riodically compare observations and simu- original discipline-based education research and —Sharon Shanks lations with their pre-instruction views. Al-

December 2014 Planetarian 21 Real Science!

Live Music!

Astrobiology!

It’s Life Out There: An astrobiological multimedia experience for digital planetariums

Abstract: Planetariums have a long history of into four separate themed musical move- experimentation with audio and visuals to cre- ments, with an improvisatory mix of music, ate new multimedia experiences. We report dome visuals, and spoken science narrative on a series of innovative experiences that which resulted in no two performances being began in the Gates Planetarium at the Den- exactly alike. ver Museum of Nature & Science, combining Post-performance dissemination is continu- live performances of music and navigation ing via a recorded version of the performance through scientific visualizations. available as a DVD and online streaming vid- The Life Out There productions featured a eo. Written evaluations from visitors who were story showcasing astrobiology concepts at present at the live shows reveal high satisfac- scales ranging from galactic to molecular, and tion and subsequent interest in astrobiology told using video jockeying of immersive visu- topics. Life Out There concerts have been alizations and musical performances from the used to inaugurate a new evening program House Band of the Universe. Partially funded to draw in a younger audience demographic by the NASA Astrobiology Institute’s JPL-Titan to DMNS, and have been taken on the road to Team, these hour-long shows were broken other venues in other cities.

22 Planetarian December 2014 Ka Chun Yu Denver Museum of Nature & Science Denver, Colorado 80205 Julia DeMarines Department of Atmospheric & Planetary Sciences Hampton University, Hampton, Virginia 23668 and Blue Marble Space Institute of Science, Seattle, Washington 98109 David Grinspoon Library of Congress Washington, D.C. 20540

Introduction The Life Out There concerts followed a tra- JPL-Titan Team, the Life Out There program Planetariums have a long history of exper- dition of experimental programming that was was a continuation of this experimentation. imentation with audio and visuals to create first developed at the Gates Planetarium at the But this multimedia digital planetarium ex- new multimedia experiences, starting with Denver Museum of Nature & Science (DMNS; perience was also designed to be a more bal- filmmaker Jordan Belson and composer Hen- Neafus & Yu 2007; Yu et al. 2009). With sup- anced mix of a musical light show and a ry Jacobs’ Vortex concerts, shown between port from the NASA Astrobiology Institute’s presentation focused on concepts from astro- May 1957 and January 1959 at the Morrison Planetarium in San Francisco (Moritz 1999; Youngblood 1970). The long affiliation of laser shows with planetariums began later with the Laserium concerts pioneered by Ivan Dryer at Griffith Observatory in Los Angeles (Daukantas 2010). Light show experiences using lasers and other staging effects have since become a mainstay of planetarium programming involving both pre-recorded and live music (Brill 1984; Kinsel- la 1984; Kaiser 1998). The technology has now evolved to digital (Herbert & Rubin 2010), e.g., SonicVision (American Museum of Natural History 2003), Sounds of the Underground and Rock on De- mand (Clark Planetarium 2003), Metavista (Mediendom Kiel 2006), and Bella Gaia (www. bellagaia.com). Debate in the planetarium community about the appropriateness of musical light shows started almost immediately. Critics contended that such events are not consis- tent with the astronomy educational mission of planetariums, while advocates pointed out that light shows can help increase not only a facility’s revenue but also its public profile (Hare 1984). Such tension between the goals of education and entertainment existed from the start: the Vortex concerts were ended after opposi- tion from the Morrison Planetarium’s director, who was uncomfortable with the “Bohe- The House Band of the Universe in Washington, DC, July 2014 (left to right) Rick Benjamin-Tebelau, Dan mian” element that they attracted (Marché Sjogren, Dane Terry, Craig Gilbert, Sandy Pryor, David Grinspoon, Merisa Bissinger, and Ka Chun Yu. Pho- 2005). to by Julia DeMarines

December 2014 Planetarian 23 biology, therefore addressing the concerns of past critics of planetarium musical programs. The key components of the 60– to 90-minute show include: live performances from the House Band of the Universe, both scientific and abstract visualizations digitally projected onto digital planetariums and other venues, and a spoken-word narrative focusing on cosmic evolution, the importance of water and organic molecules to life, and the places elsewhere in the solar system that may be condu- cive to life. Eleven Life Out There performances have taken place between 2009 and 2014. The de- but show took place as a standalone event at DMNS’ Gates Planetarium on 3 Novem- ber 2009. Two performances on 18 February 2010 occurred for DMNS’ inaugural Science Lounge, an evening event geared towards attracting adult audiences with ages 21 years and over. Encore performances include ones on 7–8 July 2011 in the Gates Planetarium; on 24 Sep- tember 2011 for a Lazos, Inc. fundraiser for the Asociación Nuevo Amanecer in Denver; and one on 13 July 2013 at the Center for the Arts Theater for the Art Association of Jackson Hole, Wyoming.

Success leads to national tour Success with the Gates Planetarium programs led to NASA Astrobiology Institute funding that allowed for a national tour for the House Band of the Universe. The goals of this tour were not only to engage a wider audience for this type of programming, but to help gather visitor evaluation data to test this The House Band of the Universe flying over the surface of the Moon in Washington, DC, July 2014. Da- vid Grinspoon explaining the pulses of sulfate aerosols emitted across east and south Asia. Photos by Ju- novel approach to astrobiology education lia DeMarines. and public outreach (EPO). This funding partially supported the Jack- son Hole performance in 2013 and four pro- four movements, with each movement con- music such as jazz. Although the performanc- grams in summer 2014: two at the Navy Me- taining a musical light show consisting of es for each movement followed the same gen- morial Theater for the Smithsonian Associates a performance of a song by the House Band eral theme, the actual performances were on 25-26 July, 2014 in Washington, D.C.; and of the Universe (including co-author Grin- unique, with no two exactly alike. two shows at the Adler Planetarium in Chica- spoon), accompanied by a series of on-dome The end of each song was followed by a par- go, Illinois on 29-30 July, 2014. visuals. tial recapitulation of the visuals that the audi- Although designed for a digital planetari- Although each movement had a central ence had just seen, but paired with a spoken um, demand for the program by organizers musical selection and a set of visual assets that narrative describing what the audience had in venues without a dome (e.g., the Center needed to be shown, the actual performances seen or was currently seeing. for the Arts Theater in Jackson Hole, and the had an improvisatory component. Not only The goal of this performance format was Navy Memorial Theater in Washington, D.C.) did the musicians play off of each other, re- for the first part of each movement to provide meant some of the programs were done with sponding to auditory clues, but they played an entertaining musical visual segment that visuals from a laptop projected onto a large 2D off of the dome visuals as well. could interest and engage an audience based theater screen. At the same time, co-author Yu, who was on their aesthetic and creative tastes. The nar- Although this was not the same immer- manipulating and “flying through” the visual rative that followed would impart scientific sive experience as the planetarium programs, content, also was improvising to some extent information to an audience that was already the development of a flat version of the show in response to the musicians, leading to some excited and engaged by what they had seen meant more venues and audiences could par- level of two-way interactivity between the vi- and heard. ticipate in the experience. sual and sonic components. For the audience, both the visible and au- The musical talent The Life Out There concept dible components had some of the engaging The musical talent who joined together for The Life Out There show was broken up into fresh, spontaneous elements of improvisatory Life Out There were local Denver musicians,

24 Planetarian December 2014 Left: Sound engineer Gannon Kashiwa in Washington, DC, July 2014. Photo by Julia DeMarines. Above: The Navy Memorial Theater in Washington, D.C., July 2014. Photo by Ka Chun Yu.

At the Gates Planetarium, additional visuals Although there were explanations during came from pre-rendered fulldome sequences, the four musical movements of what the au- including a moon formation sequence from dience was seeing, on balance, more time was Cosmic Collisions (AMNH 2006) and a solar se- spent on the purely musical sections than on quence from Cosmic Journey (DMNS 2011), and the spoken narrative and thus many of the vi- real-time abstract visualizations from Nebu- suals were left un- or under-explained. This lus Design’s Phonic-FX, a VJ tool designed ex- final briefing allowed inquisitive audience plicitly for multi-channel edge-blended video members to satisfy their curiosity. projection systems. For shows “on the road” away from DMNS, The four musical movements content was generated exclusively using Uni- The four movements that make up the view. We are currently exploring creating ver- show have evolved slightly over time. Al- sions of Life Out There that can run from other though original compositions dominate, real-time planetarium software, such as Sky- the early shows also featured Thomas Map- Skan’s Digital Sky, which will open up the fumo’s “Pidigori,” performed for the third program to those venues without a Uniview movement, focusing on the central impor- installation. tance of water for life as we know it. Starting One challenge encountered was the need in 2013, this was replaced by the song “Outer to provide clear amplified sound in dome set- My Way” by House Band member Sandy Pry- five of whom were from the indie rock-funk- tings—which are typically sonically dead—for or, for a new third movement focused on the jazz collective Perry Weissman 3. The various a live band consisting of two electric guitars, Anthropocene Epoch, the current period in incarnations of the House Band of the Uni- one electric bass guitar, an electric vibra- which human-driven change dominates all verse included Rick Benjamin-Tebelau (trom- phone, a drum kit, saxophone, trombone, and global environmental change on Earth (Crut- bone), Merisa Bissinger (flute), Craig Gilbert flute. zen & Stoermer 2000). (drums), co-author David Grinspoon (guitar), The most recent version of the show now Sandy Pryor (guitar), Dan Sjogren (saxophone), We had a great sound engineer involves all original musical compositions, Dane Terry (bass), Dave Watts (drums), and Both the Denver and travelling versions of which is preferable from a legal, financial, and Matt Amundsen (drums). the show benefited greatly from the expertise performance rights perspective. The visual component included displays of of sound engineer Gannon Kashiwa, who used The first movement, “Light Bubble” (R. Ben- scientific visualizations from real-time simu- innovative signal processing to create a cus- jamin-Tebelau & M. Serviolo), consisted of a lation software, pre-rendered fulldome mov- tom soundscape for this application. journey through space-time from the begin- ies, and abstract visualizations. The real-time Finally, most of the programs followed the ning of the universe at the cosmic microwave aspect of much of the visuals mean that there main concert program with a question and background to the outer edge of the solar sys- is flexibility in the nature of the story and answer session with the audience. Audience tem’s Oort cloud. Using the Uniview software, what is shown. members were given the option to leave af- the audience experienced flight through cat- The Life Out There program has evolved ter the show or stay longer for the discussion. alogs of quasars and galaxies from the Sloan substantially from its earliest iterations, with On each night when this was offered, the vast Digital Sky Survey, nearby galaxies, a simula- updating of some of the visuals as the software majority of the audience chose to stay. They tion of the dark matter halo around the Milky is upgraded. The Uniview visualization plat- were encouraged to ask questions about the Way, and stars from the HIPPARCOS catalog. form from SCISS AB has provided the majori- scientific content, the nature of the visuals, or The second movement, “Trip to the Sun” ty of the content for the concerts. Tito Dupret the music itself, and the process of combining (D. Grinspoon), focused on the history of the provided spherical panoramic imagery that these elements together. Audience questions solar system and the origins and evolution of were used in story segments associated with were equally divided between all of these top- life. Uniview visuals include the Oort cloud, the evolution of life and humans. ics. the Kuiper belt, asteroids, and continental

December 2014 Planetarian 25 program at DMNS, marketed through social media and aimed at luring adults 21 years (the drinking age in the U.S.) and older, for “entertainment, mind-expanding science, and cock- tails.” Evaluation results suggest that these initial goals were met. Out of a N = 90 sample returned for analysis that night, 92.2% (83/90) indicated they learned something new from the experience. Roughly equal numbers were once-a-year/annual visitors (30%, 28/90) and regular visitors (once every 3–6 months; 28.9%; 26/90). The audience expectations were exceeded for the most part (68.6%; 59/86), while a quarter felt the event met their expectations (25.6%; 22/86), while only 4.7% (4/86) felt that it was not as good as they had expected it to be. This first Science Lounge event attracted a younger-skewing group then the audiences that normally attend evening programs at DMNS, with the under 40-year-old demographic mak- Top: The House Band of the Universe against the ing up 60% of the attendees (21–25 Earth and its magnetosphere. Photo by Julia DeMa- rines. Right: David Grinspoon in the Gates Planetari- years old: 20.2%; 26–30: 14.6%; 31–35: um, February 2010. Photo courtesy DMNS. 14.6%; 36–40: 14.6%) Although evaluation results from the July 2011 shows were not as extensive as for the Science Lounge Life Out drift on Earth. Pre-rendered sequences showed There, the audience satisfaction num- the impact formation of the moon, as well as bers were again high. Out of N = 10 the active sun. and N = 13 responses for the July 7 and In early Gates Planetarium shows, the Pho- 8 shows, 80% (8/10) and 69% (9/13), re- nic- FX VJ software gave abstract depictions spectively, felt the shows were better of molecular and cellular evolution. Power- than they expected, while 20% (2/10) Point slides (and in later performances, slides and 15% (2/13), respectively, felt that it embedded in the Uniview visualization soft- was as good as they expected. ware) were used to depict other scenes from The 2013 Jackson Hole concert had the formation and evolution of the planets, as over 200 attendees, from which N = 60 well as the evolution of life. returned evaluation surveys after the When the third movement focused on the program. When asked about whether theme of water and its importance to life (and they found the show interesting, the featured “Pidigori”), visuals included solar sys- the Saturnian system, with the appropriately- average score was M = 8.84, with a median tem-related content from Uniview, abstract titled “Titan Haze” (D. Sjogren). This sequence score of 9 on a 1-10 scale. When asked some- water modules from Phonic-FX, a pre-ren- was dominated by Uniview flight showcasing thing new they had learned from the pro- dered sequence emphasizing the fractal-like the Galilean moons around Jupiter, Saturn, gram, 35% (21/60) of the replies mentioned Ti- recursive patterns often found in life, and the Cassini spacecraft, Enceladus, and Titan. tan. Almost all of the attendees (90%; 54/60) spherical panoramic photography showing The show closed with an in-depth explo- mentioned that they wanted to learn more the diversity of living environments on Earth. ration, accompanied by explanatory narra- about science after watching the show. For the Anthropocene-focused third move- tion, of the many contemporary data-sets ment featuring “Outer My Way” in later involving Titan from the Cassini/Huygens An impact model for summer ‘14 shows, the evolution of life and humans on mission, a discussion of the astrobiological For the Summer 2014 tour evaluations, Earth is represented by 2D slides. Time se- significance of Titan, and ideas about future we followed an education and public out- ries animations of global data layers showing exploration. Complementary slides showed reach (EPO) impact model developed by the black carbon and sulfate aerosols from fossil the exotic yet familiar landscapes of Titan, NASA Astrobiology Institute (Davis & Scalice fuel burning show one aspect of the human including representative examples of moun- 2014). The model follows the recording of re- impact on Earth, while the “Black Marble” da- tains, lake-like features, and river systems. sults following five different effects on partic- taset from the Suomi NPP satellite shows the ipants (behavior, attitudes, skills, interest, and electrified human footprint via the beauti- Visitor evaluations knowledge, or “BASIK”) normalized by a Rig- ful, but light polluting, pattern of night lights Extensive visitor evaluations were done for or rating (from 1-3) to reflect the confidence (Carlowicz 2012). the February 2010 Science Lounge iteration of of the data based on how they were collected, The final movement moved its spotlight to Life Out There. The Science Lounge was a new (Continues on page 28)

26 Planetarian December 2014

December 2014 Planetarian 27 lia Spalding-Beegles, Sean Tseng, Terry Moore, David Champlin, and Deirdre Goldsworth, with the final Impact value defined as: who enabled and helped stage the pioneering Impact = Results × Rigor concerts at DMNS. For example, evaluation results using com- Additionally, we are grateful to the NASA parisons between pre- and post-tests would Astrobiology Institute, especially Daniella have a higher rigor rating (3), compared to pre- Scalice, for considering our proposal and pro- and post-self report (Rigor of 2), versus a post- viding funding for the 2014 tour. Final kudos only survey (Rigor of 1). This process reflects go to Emily Boespflug and Dave Muskat (Jack- the diversity of projects and the evaluation son Hole Center for the Arts); Cat Abouda- methods used within the EPO community. At ra (Smithsonian Associates); and Mark Webb the same time, it distills the evaluation results and Mark Subbarao (Adler Planetarium), who to a few numbers that can be used to compare enabled the shows on the road in 2013-2014. widely different programs. Based on a preliminary analyses, the partic- References ipants from the Washington, D.C. concerts (N Brill, L.M. 1984, “Planetarium Lightshows— = 91) rated their interest in the show with an Past, Present and Future,” The Planetarian, average of M = 9.2 (with a median of 10) on a 13, 4–7. 10-point scale. Although this is self-reported, Carlowicz, M. 2012, “Out of the Blue and Into meaning that Rigor=1 is low, the overall im- the Black: New Views of the Earth at Night,” pact on Interest is high=3. NASA Earth Observatory, http://earthob- Similarly for the audiences from the Chica- It is quite expensive to go on the road with servatory.nasa.gov/Features/IntotheBlack/ go shows (N = 114) gave an Impact = Results so many live musicians and technicians, and Crutzen, P.J., & Stoermer, E.F. 2000, “The An- × Rigor = 3 × 1 = 3. In Washington and Chica- dome venues typically do not hold large au- thropocene,” IGBP Global Change Newslet- go, respectively, 89% and 92% of the partici- diences. Yet each of the 2014 shows sold out, ter, 41, 17-18. pants reported that they were more interest- often with minimal advertising, indicating Daukantas, P. 2010, “A Short History of Laser ed in science after watching the Life Out There that a show combining live music with excit- Light Shows,” Optics & Photonics News, concerts, and 36% and 24% reported learning ing immersive digital imagery and authorita- 21(4), 42-47. something new with regards to Titan. tive scientific narration is appealing to public Davis, H., & Scalice, D. 2014, “Defining and The preliminary visitor evaluation data audiences. Measuring Impact for Ourselves,” in En- from the sold-out 2014 concerts reveal that This fact, plus the extremely enthusiastic suring Stem Literacy: A National Confer- the main objectives of the NASA-funded tour audience response and reviews gained from ence on STEM Education and Public Out- were met, including taking data to assess best the 2014 tour, suggests that audience demand reach, ASP Conference Series Vol. 483, Eds. methods to promote a novel approach to as- might support longer runs at individual ven- J.G. Manning, M.K. Hemenway, J.B. Jensen, trobiology EPO and gaining the momentum, ues, with the total number of tickets sold & M.G. Gibbs, San Francisco: Astronomical while raising interest and excitement, to help combining to cover the costs of mounting the Society of the Pacific, 163. book future shows in other venues to contin- show. Hare, J. 1984, “(In-House) Laser Shows … A Long ue the Life Out There concerts. One audience comment posted on the Term Proposition,” The Planetarian, 13, 8–9. We continue to analyze the data to iden- Goldstar Website after the last of the Adler Kaiser, H. 1998, The Visionary Art of Jordan tify what can be improved for future shows, Planetarium shows in 2014 perhaps exempli- Belson, http://www.henrykaiser.net/bel- since the just completed Life Out There presen- fies why the participants and attendees of this son.html. tations clearly demonstrated audience inter- innovative show felt that it was, indeed, quite Kinsella, B. 1984, “Cosmic Vibrations: Live Mu- est and enthusiasm, while increasing aware- worthwhile, further encouraging us to con- sical Programming in the Planetarium,” ness of the science and content knowledge tinue this effort: The Planetarian, 13, 12–14. about Titan. It is a wonderful show! The fact that it was Marché, J.D. 2005, Theaters of Time and Space: real data (not an animation) makes it very spe- American Planetaria, 1930–1970, Rutgers Continuing and future variations cial. I got the feeling of really belonging, be- University Press. Video footage from the July 2011 perfor- ing a part of the universe—How wonderful it Moritz, W. 1999, “Jordan Belson, Last of the mances have been edited into a DVD. In addi- is! The music was very good too. I took my Great Masters,” Animation Journal, 7, 1–17. tion to the disk being available upon request 5-year-old with me and she loved it too. All Neafus, D., Yu, K.C. 2007, “Performing and Vi- from the authors, online versions can also be morning she talks about “small sun” (like it’s sual Arts, The Sciences: Visualization Brings streamed from https://vimeo.com/39717439 seen from Saturn) and that she wants to fly Them Together at the Gates Planetarium,” and http://solarsystem.nasa.gov/naititan/ and see the world with “lots of molecules” (I The Planetarian, 36, 6-17. multimedia/. think she means Titan). The task of inspiring a Herbert, S.E., Rubin, J. 2010, “Live from the Dig- Discussions are underway now with sever- new generation is accomplished. ital Dome,” The Planetarian, 39, 39–41, 52. al venues for a possible tour in the summer Youngblood, G. 1970, Expanded Cinema, P. or fall of 2015, which will incorporate lessons Acknowledgments. Dutton & Co. learned from the 2014 tour. We would like to the thank the other mem- Yu, K.C., Williams, K., Neafus, D., Gaston, L., One challenge for this future tour will be bers of the House Band of the Universe, past and Downing, G. 2009, “Gaia Journeys: A financial. Can a tour like this be self-support- and present, without whom Life Out There museum-based immersive performance ex- ing, and not dependent upon outside funding, would not be possible. We would also like ploration of the Earth,” International Jour- such as the NASA Astrobiology Institute grant to acknowledge Gannon Kashiwa, Dan Nea- nal of Digital Earth, 2, 1, 44–58. I that financed the 2014 tour? fus, Tito Dupret, Greg Mancari, Liz Davis, Ju-

28 Planetarian December 2014 DynamicEarth_8_5x11_WithAwards_Option01.pdf 1 10/21/2013 11:07:46 AM

NARRATED BY LIAM NEESON

D Y N A M I C

Exploring Earth’s Climate Engine

CMY

December 2014 Planetarian 29 Putting sustainability at the heart of managing the Rio Planetarium

Celso Cunha, Rio de Janeiro Planetarium Foundation [email protected] Fatima Ludovico de Almeida MariaPontifical Fatima Catholic Ludovico University de Almeida of Rio de Janeiro PontificalRio de Janeiro, Catholic Brazil University of Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

From June 20 to 22, 2012, Rio de Janeiro tive of planetariums, sustainability is associ- relevant aspects of planning and collabora- hosted the United Nations Summit on Sus- ated with education, culture, entertainment, tion that are particularly effective in address- tainable Development, known as the Rio+20 economy, tourism, community and social en- ing planetarium sustainability issues. The sus- Conference. World leaders, along with thou- gagement. Getting the balance under three tainable management model and the process sands of participants from governments, pillars is vital to secure a stable future. of strategic management here described were the private sector, non-government organi- There are two processes that people who situationally unique, but there are general el- zations, and other groups, came together to work for and with planetariums can use to ements of the model and procedures that can shape the global debate on ways to reduce augment key resources thereby helping in- be replicated by congener institutions. The poverty, advance social equity, and ensure crease sustainability: planning and collabora- authors argue that the dissemination of the environmental protection on an ever more tion. proposed model can contribute to significant crowded planet. It is often said that planning is the process organizational changes towards sustainability In the wake of Rio+20 Conference, Rio Plan- used to manage the future. Generally, plan- in these institutions. etarium initiated in the same year a process of ning is an effective strategy for planetarium significant changes in its management model sustainability because it helps them to antic- A new management model towards sustainability. ipate their needs and allocate resources more One of the assumptions for building a new From the perspective of its stakeholders, Rio efficiently and effectively. management model based on the three pil- Planetarium put sustainability at the heart of The second process concerning collabora- lars of sustainability was the establishment of its management. Aligned to its long-term role tion is also powerful for increasing sustain- a dynamic management required for self-sus- of diffusion of astronomy and related scienc- ability because it can reduce the need for tainability, dissemination of astronomy and es, the institution began to think explicitly scarce resources and enhance community en- related sciences in all social classes of Rio’s and intentionally about what sustainability gagement. population, and low-carbon operations. is and why it matters to its present and future. In this article, we would like to touch on Such understanding supported both the design of a new model itself and the “Meeting the needs” way to develop and perform in- Sustainability means “meet- novative services aligned to an in- ing the needs of the present with- clusive philosophy of educational out compromising the ability of and cultural services. This philos- future generations to meet their ophy was expressed by a set of own needs.” It is usually consid- values called “Planetarium 3.0,” an ered under the three pillars of en- allusion to the concept of “Mar- vironmental, economic and so- keting 3.0” posed by Philip Kotler cial, according to triple bottom and others authors (see Box 1). line (TBL) concept first intro- According to them, the future duced by John Elkington in the of marketing lies in creating prod- late nineties. ucts, services, and organizational Sustainability also concerns the cultures that inspire, include, and long-term role of organizations reflect the values of target cus- and their relationships with com- tomers. munities, as well as the future of The new management model the planet. is presented in Fig. 1. It integrates Fig.2: Inclusive dialogue with stakeholders by Rio Planetarium Particularly, from the perspec- management and strategic plan-

30 Planetarian December 2014 Box 1. Planetarium 3.0: a set of values of Rio Planetarium • Innovation • Operational excellence • Transversality: culture-education-entertainment • Social Equity • Universal accessibility • Human capital enhancement • Collaboration • Sustainability ning good practices to the concept of Plane- tarium 3.0. The core elements of this management model are: •• Analysis of driving forces from the external environment and diagnosis of strengths and weaknesses of the institution (internal environment); •• Establishment or revision of Rio Planetari- um’s strategic drivers of mission, vision, and values; •• Strategic planning for defining strategic objectives, short, medium and long term goals, indicators and metrics for evaluating sustainability performance; •• Deployment of strategic objectives and goals into action plans comprising Rio Plan- etarium’s Tactical Plan; and •• Systematic evaluation of sustainability performance based on the concept and values of Planetarium 3.0. Fostering a two-way, inclusive dialogue with stakeholders, ranging from collaborators, educational institutions, and NGOs to governments and civil society, was the key to the success of developing a participative and balanced process under sustainability pillars, as show in Fig. 2 on facing page. There was an opportunity for their voices to be heard, or for them to influence the strategic planning itself and future outcome in some way. Guided by the concepts first intro- duced by Kaplan and Norton, Rio Planetari- um adopted the tool called Balanced Score- card, aiming at effective measurement of organizational performance and also successful implementation of a strategy towards sustainability.

Providing a framework The scorecard provided a comprehensive framework that translates Rio Planetarium’s strategic objectives into a coherent set of action plans and key performance indicators and metrics. It represented a fundamental change in the underlying assumptions about performance and helped it to focus on institutional vision towards sustainability. It could demonstrate interrelated perspectives for examining Rio Planetarium’s success in resource accountabil- ity, intellectual production, public accessibility, and social and environmental perspectives of sustainability. The process was structured in two phases as showed in Fig. 3. Results from Phase 2 were consolidated on a

December 2014 Planetarian 31 strategy map of Rio Planetarium, built in four planetariums and congener institutions. tional policies to encourage balanced sustain- perspectives: sustainability, customers, inter- In turn, there are general guidelines and ability in all practices of planetariums. This nal processes, and learning and growth. This models for measuring sustainable perfor- would contribute to the development of ac- strategy map illustrated in Fig. 4 shows graphi- mance—e.g. Sustainability Reporting Guide- tion plans for sustainability to be implement- cally how Rio Planetarium creates value for its lines Version 3.0 (G3) from Global Reporting ed by the focused institutions. Comparable customers and stakeholders. Initiative—which can be adapted. Adaptation data would be easily collected as most plane- Strategy mapping started with creation of and alignment to GRI Guidelines were the as- tariums would follow their state or municipal about 20 strategic objectives that were the sumptions for building a set of key perfor- policies concerning sustainability; building blocks of Rio Planetarium’s corpo- mance indicators associated to the four per- A set of benchmarks or targets should rate strategy. The objectives were then linked spectives of Rio Planetarium Strategy Map be established for planetariums as reference in cause-effect relationships to create a strate- (Fig. 4). points to guide these institutions on how to gy map. Once strategic objectives were devel- By way of illustration, the table on the fac- make their current practices sustainable. At oped and the map was collectively created, ing page shows a pair of indicators established the international level, as a suggestion, this institutional values (Planetarium 3.0), perfor measuring performance and progress to- initiative could be coordinated by the Inter- formance indicators, and strategic initiatives wards sustainability regarding the bottom national Planetarium Society (IPS); could be clearly identified for each objective. two perspectives of Rio Planetarium Strategy Permanent improvement of manage- In Fig. 4, one can see how the pieces come Map (Fig. 4). ment methods and practices under the sus- together to tell the strategic story. The ovals tainability pillars and dissemination of plane- in the Fig. are the strategic objectives, which Concluding remarks tariums’ sustainability good practices through are placed in perspective layers. The bottom The sustainable management model and periodic meetings organized for this purpose two perspectives contain the driving objec- the process of strategic management present- (local, national or international meetings); tives and the top two perspectives comprise ed in this paper involved approximately sixty and collaborators from the many different areas of the supporting objectives. Collective construction of specific guide- Rio Planetarium and several representatives The top objectives—concerning sustainabil- lines based on the planetarium experiences of external stakeholders. ity—are the final desired outcomes that the in- that could be addressed to Global Reporting From 2013 onwards, both the management stitution has been working towards. Initiative as already occurred in other sectors model focused on sustainability pillars and By linking the 20 objectives at corporate that have specific guidelines based on their the Strategic Plan (2013-2022) have been dis- level with objectives at departmental areas sustainability best practices. and employee levels, line-of-site alignment seminated throughout all internal and external stakeholders in special meetings and sem- among institutional mission, corporate and References inars. departmental strategy, and personal goals and Kaplan, R.S.; Norton, D.P. (1996). The Balanced As mentioned, we believe that the sustain- accomplishments can be achieved. Likewise, Scorecard: Translating Strategy into Action. able management model and the process of strategic initiatives and performance indica- Boston, MA: Harvard Business Review Press. strategic management here described can be tors can be linked to each objective. The table Kaplan, R.S.; Norton, D.P. (2004). Strategy Maps: below summarizes the results of Rio Planetari- replicated by other congener institutions. In Converting Intangible Assets into Tangible um’s strategic planning process. addition to encouraging planetariums to put sustainability at the heart Outcomes. Boston, MA: Harvard Business Re- view Press. Perspective Strategic objectives 2013-2022 Initiatives of their management, as il- Sustainability 3 - lustrated here by the case Kotler, Philip et al. (2010). Marketing 3.0: From Customers 4 12 Products to Customers to the Human Spirit. Internal processes 7 16 of Rio Planetarium, we rec- Learning and growth 6 7 ommend: New York: John Wiley and Sons. Total: 4 20 35 A consultation with Elkington, John (1999). Cannibals with Forks: the various stakeholders Triple Bottom Line of 21st Century Business. London: Capstone Publishing Ltd. Measuring sustainability should be undertaken to ascertain what the institutions should consid- Global Reporting Initiative. GRI (2006). Sus- Developing a set of sustainability indicators er for for their their sustainability, sustainability, what what is important is important to tainability Reporting Guidelines Version 3.0. for Rio Planetarium was a real challenge! The beto be measured measured concerning concerning sustainability sustainability indi- in- Accessible at www.globalreporting.org/Re- main purpose was to provide a set of key per- cators,dicators, and and what what sustainability-related sustainability-related activi- ac- portingFramework/ReportingFramework- formance indicators that may be used to mea- tiestivities they they should should implement implement in short, in short, medium me- Downloads. I sure progress towards becoming a sustainable anddium long and terms. long In terms. con- institution. The data gathering for commu- junctionIn conjunction with a with deep a nicate performance is also crucial, since sus- reviewdeep review of existing of existing gov- tainability reporting became a powerful way ernmentgovernment policies policies and for institutions getting funding to help them legislation,and legislation, this con- this achieve sustainability goals. Be prepared with sultationconsultation may may be use- be Ultimately, a set of good indicators is a way fuluseful for for the the revision revision of of keeping an institution balanced, and mak- great ideas! currentof current indicators, indicators, and ing sure the outcomes of decisions that im- itand may it be may used be as used a tool as prove one area do not make another unsus- toa tool achieve to achieve consensus con- tainable. onsensus sustainability on sustainabili- is- Everyone’s Universe At the international level, the annual re- suesty issues between between Planetar- Plan- ports of some major science and history mu- iumsetariums of a given of a region given (Second Edition) seums and planetariums of Europe and North orregion country; or country; America have made little mention of sustain- by Noreen Grice Establishment of ability. As a matter of fact, there are no indicators that have been specifically designed for local, regional or na- www.YouCanDoAstronomy.com

32 Planetarian December 2014 December 2014 Planetarian 33 The nation celebrates after India reaches planet on first try

The Indian Space Research Organisation, IS- fully reached Mars on 22 September. In fact, RO’s Telemetry Tracking and Command Net- on 22 September MOM’s liquid engine motor work (ISTRAC) in Bangalore, India was the fo- was test fired for 4 seconds after having lain Piyush Pandey cus of attention of the entire country on the idle for the past 300 days! As one expert said, Provident Welworth City morning of 24 September 2014. we are wary because you leave your car home Marasandra, Bangalore 562163 India About 610 TV news channels of India tele- for two weeks and you are not sure wheth- casting in more than 15 different languages er it will start; here the motor was idle for 10 [email protected] were showing the same scene and the same months. feed right from 6 (IST) in the morning. Experts of all hues from scientists, aerospace experts, professors, and science educators were airing their opinions on these channels. The entire country was waiting with bated breath for the clock to strike 7:17 a.m., when the main engine and eight thrusters should start firing without any command from Earth and start the Mars orbit insertion manoeuvre. But ISRO had no means of knowing what Indian MOM exactly was happening there in real-time because at that mo- makes it to Mars sions/missions/log). ment, the Mars Orbit- Indian science er Mission (MOM) was and technology fol- not only in the shad- lows the Indian tra- ow of Mars, operating on dition of doing things its batteries, but also was in innovative and fru- eclipsed from Earth. It was gal ways. MOM was in- functioning on “autono- spired by the success of mous” mode, which means its Chandrayaan-1, an or- the craft had brains to “think biter that was sent to the and act” on its own. moon in October 2008. Its operations were now depen- ISRO used almost the same dent on the commands from its on- design for its MOM. One expert board computer that had been upload- quipped, “we have spent only $75 ed on 15 September. million for this 680 million kilometre Thirteen minutes later (due to signal travel journey; that works out to just 11 cents per time from Mars), ISTRAC centre received the kilometre, one third of what a taxi-cab charg- signal. The engines were required to run only C h o k e d with joy es per kilometre in India.” What many forgot for 24 minutes, so they should have stopped and disbelief, a TV commentator said “India was that the force of gravity that silently did at 7:41 a. m. The Earth got the signal at 7:54 a. has become the first country to reach Mars its job when the engines were not burning. m. The command centre erupted with cheers, in its maiden attempt.” This was repeated ISRO chose 5 November 2013 as the launch claps, hugs and pats. over and over again on several news channels date because it led to a minimum energy op- and everyone seemed to have forgotten the portunity for Earth-Mars travel. On 1 Decem- MOM was in orbit! Mars Express Mission of ESA, which also had ber 2013, the Earth, Mars, and the sun offered Thus India’s MOM got successfully inserted reached Mars on its first attempt in 2004. this opportunity. In the meanwhile, the probe into its orbit around Mars and with that, India It is true that Mars has proved to be a verita- made about six loops around Earth and each became the fourth member of a select group ble graveyard of probes. USA and Russia (then time its orbit was elevated using thrusters. that has done this before, joining USA, Russia, the USSR) had failed in their earlier attempts. Low fuel consumption and shortening of and ESA. It also is true that several failures cannot be at- travel time were the primary considerations The mood in the control room became elec- tributed to Martian distance or harsh space for choosing these dates. Had ISRO missed this tric and erupted in joy as Indian Prime Minis- environs, as many of them failed to reach opportunity, it would have to had waited for ter Mr. Narendra Modi stood a happy witness. even the Earth orbit for a variety of reasons. another 780 days until such favourable con- The orbital insertion took place two days The failures have been too many, 25 out of figuration would happen again. after NASA’s Mars Atmosphere and Volatile 45 attempts, or a staggering 58% failure rate! Thus, on 1 December 2013, using very little Evolution Mission (MAVEN), too, had success- (Please refer to mars.nasa.gov/programmis- fuel, the probe was catapulted from Earth or-

34 Planetarian December 2014 bit onto a hyperbolic trajectory toward Mars. tific instruments. This small-car-sized object of indigenous technology. Indian companies Everything about MOM is indigenous, right weighs 1337 kg, accounting for the structure, like Larsen & Toubro, Godrej & Boyce, Wal- from its launcher (PSLV C25 rocket), its cryo- solar panels and fuel. chand Nagar Industries, and Hindustan Aero- genic engine, the satellite MOM, and its scien- The five scientific instruments aboard nautics have contributed most of the parts; tific payload. The project was approved by the MOM are the Mars Colour Camera, Thermal the first two alone have contributed almost government of India on 3 August 2012 and Infrared Imaging Spectrometer, Methane Sen- two-thirds of the craft’s parts. The success of ISRO took just 15 months to get everything sor, Mars Exospheric Neutral Composition MOM also means engineering success for the ready. NASA’s deep space network was used to Analyser, and Lyman Alpha Photometer. The part suppliers. This can expand to a huge busi- track the spacecraft when it reached beyond Mars Colour Camera started sending the pic- ness opportunity in future. the range of India’s IDSN (Indian Deep Space tures of the red planet within hours of its or- There is no dearth of detractors for India or Network). bital insertion. its ISRO’s ambitions. Poverty and insanitation MOM’s objectives are simple and just two. MOM’s success will pave the way for ISRO’s are often cited as examples of misplaced pri- The primary goal is the technology demon- future ambitions, like revisiting the moon orities. However, there is an answer to that. stration of having attained interplanetary with an unmanned rover, and human space- The 75 million dollar expenditure on MOM travel capability. The MOM carries a mod- flight. or the annual expenditure of 1.2 billion dol- est payload weighing just 15 kg of five scien- It will also be a boost for the development lars to keep ISRO going is like small change for India’s two trillion dollar economy (based on GDP 2013-14), the latter being just 0.06% of its GDP. I

Left: Prime Minister Mr. Na- rendra Modi (left) congrat- ulating Dr. K. Radhakrishnan, the ISRO chief; center, launch of the MOM mission; right, a view of the Indian subconti- nent, among the first images from MOM’s color camera. All pictures courtesy ISRO.

December 2014 Planetarian 35 There’s been a digital revolution in the Czech Republic

Jiri Dusek the charming city of Prague with its many Director of Brno Observatory and Planetarium historical monuments. The second half of the Kraví hora 2, 616 00 Brno 20th century saw an establishment of several Czech Republic projection planetariums here, with dome di- [email protected] ameters of 6 to 23 meters. All of them were equipped with projectors from the company Carl Zeiss, understandable because of the iso- Seemingly hidden in the heart of Europe, motion, and compiled the Rudolphine Tables lation those days, which made another sup- the Czech Republic has had an interesting as- forecasting the positions of the planets of the plier out of the question. They were usual- tronomical history since the Middle Ages. As solar system for the next decades. These tables ly projectors ZKP-1, and later Spacemaster or early as 1410 (and maybe a few years earli- were then used by astronomers for the entire Cosmorama. er), one of the world‘s most sophisticated as- 17th century. For the whole time, all eight Czech plane- tronomical clocks started ticking in the Old There are other big names connect- Town Square in Prague. Even today you can ed with the Czech Republic. Ernst Mach still read various times and the positions of was born and worked here; Albert Ein- the sun and moon, including the lunar phas- stein worked in Prague for two years; es, on its dial. It ranks among the world‘s old- Antonin Becvar drew an amazing piece est astronomical clocks and it is a clock that of work, the Atlas of the Heavens, in the has been the longest in operation. middle of the last century, which be- Later on, the court of the Bohemian emper- came a model for many modern star or Rudolf II invited Danish astronomer Tycho sky atlases; Antonin Rukl is an author of Brahe to become the official imperial astron- many moon maps, including the very omer. Brahe lived the rest of his life in Prague popular Atlas of the Moon; and Lubos and is even buried here. Kohoutek, a discoverer the 1973 com- Tycho brought along another famous as- et and an author of a frequently quoted tronomer, Johannes Kepler. While there, Ke- planetary nebulae catalog, also comes pler observed the supernova of 1604, devel- from the Czech Republic. The author in the Brno facility. All photos provided by the oped the first two of his three laws of planetary But the Czech Republic is not only author.

36 Planetarian December 2014 tariums were run and financed from municipal or regional budgets. Unfortunately, due to the lack of motivation and since the Iron Cur- tain those days prevented any import of modern technology to the states under the Soviet influence, the planetariums were not usually modernized. An interesting thing about the most Czech planetariums is the fact that they are parts of classic observatories. They offer educational programs under the planetarium’s artificial sky during the day and lead guided public observations of the real sky at night. The employees and collaborators of the observatories and planetariums are even engaged in various scientific activities, of which very popular are for example observations of variable stars, meteors and the Sun.

A fight to survive The break up of the communist system (as well as the former Under the dome at the Brno Planetarium Czechoslovakia) in the early 1990‘s was followed by two decades of transforming the whole society, a time when the existing planetariums literally fought to survive. The Czech people found the newly- gained freedom, the possibilities of traveling abroad, and other kinds of entertainment easily available then were much more attractive than astronomy. However, it was also the end of the embargo on modern technologies and the open borders made it possible to exchange experience with the rest of the world. At the beginning of the 21th century, the turbulent period of economic and political changes ended and the Czech Republic, particularly the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports, started supporting the dissemination of science, critical thinking, and, of course, the achievements of Czech scientists. The support program also includes the existing planetariums and several projects for building big science centers. In addition to that, the Czech Republic has become a member of the European Southern Observatory and the European Space Agency and Techmania Science Center participates in constructing the Pierre Auger Observatory, ALMA, and CERN. Prague itself hosts one of the headquarters of the Galileo navigation system.

Investing in the future In the last several years, the Czech Republic has invested over 100 million euros in construction works, new expositions, and audiovisu- al technology. There have been nine big science centers built here, of which five have new digital planetariums with fulldome projection. They have domes with a diameter of 5 to 17 meters and are equipped with 2D as well as 3D technologies with a resolution of 1k to 4k. Now- adays, the Czech Republic, with its population of 10 million, has as many as 6 digital planetariums. iQLANDIA Science Center Moreover, following global trends, the Czech planetariums are now revising the offer of their shows. While in the past they focused pure- observatory and a smaller interactive exposition. ly on basic astronomical education, they have changed into multime- Observatory and Planetarium Hradec Kralove dia centers popularizing various scientific topics, organizing culture From January 2015. A projection screen of 12 m in diameter, 95 seats events, and informing on interesting scientific projects. and a powerdome system from Carl Zeiss Jena. Includes an observatory The Czech planetariums are now at the start of a great transforma- and a smaller interactive exposition. tion. The total number of visitors is likely to reach over 750 thousand iQLANDIA Science Center Liberec already in 2015. And yet their ambitions are even bigger. Some plan- Since April 2014. A projection screen of 9 m in diameter, 52 seats and etariums have set up teams that want to do their own shows and, of a system 2k 3D RSA Cosmos. A part of a big science center with more course, they are thinking of international cooperation. So if you ever than 10 expositions. visit the Czech Republic or just feel like cooperating with us, certain- Citadel of Knowledge Olomouc ly contact us! The Czech planetariums are looking forward to meet- From March 2015. A projection screen of 7 m in diameter, 50 seats ing you. and fish eye projection. A part of a bigger science center. Techmania Science Center Pilsen Czech Digital Planetariums Since April 2014. A projection screen of 14 m in diameter, 90 seats and Brno Observatory and Planetarium a system 4k 3D Sky Skan. A part of a big science center with a total area Since November 2013. A building in a modern functionalist style of 30,000 square meters. with a planetarium. A projection screen of 17 m in diameter, 189 seats Planetarium Ostrava and a hybrid system 4k RSA Cosmos + GOTO Chronos II. Includes an Since November 2014. A projection screen of 13 m in diameter, 100

December 2014 Planetarian 37 Observatory and Planetarium Hradec Kralove seats and a hybrid system 2.5k Evans and Sutherland + GOTO Pandi. Includes an observatory and a smaller interactive exposition. Observatory and Planetarium Prague A digital planetarium since 2008 with a new projection system since September 2014. A projection screen of 23 m in diameter, 230 seats and a system 8K Sky Skan. An independent projector Cosmora- ma from Carl Zeiss Jena. Includes an observatory and a smaller interactive exposition. Apart from the digital planetariums, there are also several mobile planetariums in the Czech Republic and half-century-old projection systems Carl Zeiss Jena ZKP-1 or ZKP-2 in domes of about 8 m in diameter. These can be found in the towns of Ceske Budejo- vice, Cheb, Teplice and Most. I

Central European Fulldome Festival Brno 2015 No lectures, no workshops, only fulldome projections. What else and planetarians, which means there are no fees for show presenta- to say? It is the Central European Fulldome Festival Brno, scheduled tions and you can have your booth in the premises of the Brno Ob- for 13-14 April 2015! The Central European Fulldome Festival Brno is servatory and Planetarium free of charge. to show the best of the fulldome production market and to connect Or, if you like, you can just come to the festival as a member of the the producers and creators from all round the world with new plan- planetarium audience. We also would like to invite you, the produc- etariums and planetarians from Central and Eastern Europe. ers, to social events in which you can hold further discussions with The Czech Republic is a charming country with friendly people. the representatives of the Central European planetariums, and they Here in Brno, we have one of the most beautiful planetariums in Eu- can do the same with you. rope and we are longing to watch fulldome shows. Moreover, it is New planetariums already exist or are being prepared also in Po- not far from here to Prague, the jewel of Europe, or to Vienna, the land, Hungary, Bulgaria, Romania, Ukraine, and the Baltic States. capital of Austria. The festival is organized by the Brno Observatory and Planetari- Our fulldome festival is also connected with the biggest European um, Czech Republic, and it is not just about Central and Eastern Eu- festival of science documentary films. To make it more interesting, rope. Planetarians from all the world are welcome. See more and fol- your show might be the winner of our competition. The Central Eu- low us on www.strarrylab.com/festival. And put on your calendar ropean Fulldome Festival Brno 2015 is completely free for producers Brno Observatory and Planetarium, 13-14 April 2015. I

FOR MORE INFORMATION OR TO WATCH THE TRAILER www.planetarium-st-etienne.fr/pro/

360

FULLDOME

The Blind Man with Starry Eyes is a lovely tale for young children. Introducing basic astronomical concepts such as night and day, rotation of the Earth, stars and the Sun, shooting stars and meteorites, the show is also a profound story about life, knowledge and our relationship to Nature. Best Fulldome Show 3rd Prize at the 2013 International 23 minutes DISTRIBUTED BY “Reflections of the Universe” Festival, Yaroslav rsa cosmos (Russia) CONTACT : [email protected]

38 Planetarian December 2014 December 2014 Planetarian 39 40 Planetarian December 2014 December 2014 Planetarian 41 would borrow from one of a number of au- Book Reviews thoritative databases. The author clearly recognizes the importance of the distinction between confirmed and unconfirmed craters. The section on putative Antarctic craters explains why proper geologic investigation of a April S. Whitt few possible structures is understandably dif- Fernbank Science Center ficult in that environment. The author could have elected to list and 156 Heaton Park Drive NE discuss both confirmed craters and those sus- Atlanta, Georgia 30307 USA pected of being craters based on ample, but [email protected] incomplete, studies. However, the author instead seems to have created his own unique A More Perfect Heaven: life of someone we all have heard about in list that includes some barely possible craters our history lessons: It brings the Copernican while neglecting other highly probable sites. How Copernicus Revolutionized theory of the universe, and the man behind The author also includes some controversial the Cosmos it, to the forefront, and then shows its impli- possible structures, such as Azuara and Ru- Dava Sobel, Walker & Company, New York, cations to the study of astronomy, from Gal- bielos de la Cerida, and incorrectly states that 2011 ileo and all the way to the Hubble Telescope, coesite has been found at these sites. Reviewed by Francine Jackson. in an easy-to-read account that should please Anyone who has read any of Dava Sobel’s even the nonscience-oriented reader. Sit back, Flags of the Night Sky: When books knows that she really gets into the his- and enjoy. tory of her subject. It was very evident with Astronomy Meets National Pride André G. Bordeleau, Springer, 2013 her first masterpiece, Longitude, and we see it Impact Craters of Earth again with her almost day-by-day account of Reviewed by April Whitt, Fernbank Science the life of Copernicus. with Selected Craters Elsewhere Center, Atlanta, Georgia, USA. We often think of him as just a person who Thomas Wm. Hamilton, Strategic Book Pub- First, abject apologies to the author. M. Bor- did nothing in his life but sit around and con- lishing and Rights Co., Houston, Texas, 2014 deleau was kind enough to send an electron- template the destruction of the age-old theo- Reviewed by R. Scott Harris, Fernbank Sci- ic copy of this great book months ago, and ence Center, Atlanta, Georgia, USA. ry of the universe. In fact, he was, in addition the review is only now appearing. I am really Although a current and concise compendi- to a cleric, a landowner, a politician, and a per- sorry, mostly that I haven’t shared this work um of Earth’s impact craters and structures son who found himself with others before now. It’s a “must have.” It would be a welcome addition to the librar- mourning the life of is available both in electronic and print form. ies of both earth science educators and im- his brother, who died Flags of the Night Sky explores the stars and pact geologists, Impact Craters of Earth pos- at a young age of lep- constellations found on national flags from es some challenges. rosy. Each of these fac- numerous countries, all around the world. I In the brief introduction, the author uses ets of his life is given to have seen presentations on this topic by IPS old and inaccurate terminology and dem- us with the humanity past president Dale Smith, who has collected onstrates some fundamental misunder- we feel he deserves, and flag images in an impressive group of slides. standings of im- the strength he needed This book tells the rest of the story. pact cratering and to put all of his life to- We’ve all seen them: the southern cross on shock mineralogy. gether. flags of New Zealand and Australia, the sun on For example, the In an unusual as- Argentina’s banner, a single star on the flags of pect to her work, the Israel and Vietnam, a crescent moon and author included a dif- star for Turkey or Pakistan, multiple stars ferent way to acknowledge two very differ- arranged on China’s flag, and even stars in ent aspects of his life, presented as “A Play in neat rows on the United States’ “star-span- Two Acts.” One part of this shows the unique gled banner.” This book explains those interaction believed to have occurred with a symbols from the sky, and offers an inter- student, Rheticus, to whom he tries to teach esting way to teach some basic astronomy his revolutionary new theory of the universe, term “siderolite” is used along the way. and the reaction of this young person to such to refer to iron meteor- Astronomical objects found on nation- an idea. ites. The correct, but still al flags are listed, and information about The other is Copernicus and the Bishop of antiquated, term is “sid- the political reasons for choosing those Varmia, to whom Copernicus must not only erite.” objects is included. You might check the keep secret his heliocentricity, but also listen The author also im- Springer web site for the description of to charges of his (gasp!) having a female house- plies that the raised rim Brazil’s flag that includes a true sky chart. keeper under his roof. around an impact crater results from the ma- The discussions of why particular ob- Some of us in New England were privi- terial “tossed out” of the hole, when, in fact, jects were chosen, and how a particular flag leged to see a sampling of this part of Sobel’s the raised rim is a characteristic structural el- evolved, are fascinating. One gathers an edu- book when she appeared at Harvard College ement of shockwave excavation caused by cation in politics, science, and vexillology, all and played the part of Rheticus to Owen Gin- both uplift and overturning of rock, not ejec- in one handy volume. gerich’s Copernicus. It truly brought this time tion. Consider this as a gift, as an item for your gift in history right out of her pages. As for the list of impact craters and struc- shop, as a wonderful browsing opportunity, A More Perfect Heaven is more than just the tures, it might be assumed that the author and as a source of great information. I

42 Planetarian December 2014 Hidden within some of mankind’s oldest monuments may lie the foundations of modern science.

ANCIENT SKIES

available in 25 and 46 minute versions SKY-SKAN EUROPE & GRANT WAKEFIELD PRESENT a film by grant wakefield music by steve roach, banco de gaia & zhenia mahdi

December 2014 ANCIENTSKIES.INFO Planetarian 43 Introducing groundbreaking user interface

DigitalSky Dark Matter represents the next evolution of intuitive, unified fulldome theater software. Designed by planetarium directors for planetarium directors, there’s no solution DigitalSky that understands you better or meets your needs more robustly.

THE BRIDGE UNIFIED The Bridge is command AUTOMATION central. Always docked on the Automating a theater that top of your screen, this user- simultaneously runs projectors, defined configurable window house and cove lighting, sound, contains commonly accessed and multimedia demands a features and controls all of your superior control system. Today, planetarium’s functions and hundreds of the world’s top devices, from what’s playing on planetariums and large format the dome to lights, projector, theaters rely on SPICE Automation. and sound levels. Now SPICE and DigitalSky are unified, eliminating the need to have separate applications.

TIMELINE DATASET Drag and drop 3D models, EXPLORER video, images, or audio onto The dataset explorer allows the timeline for quick show quick access to any asset that is assembly. Using the auto contained in the database. You key framing feature, modify can quickly perform common position, scale, and other access task such as load, object properties and view navigate, label and fly to simply frame-by-frame changes by selecting an icon. Designed live in the Viewport or on for intuitive live presentations, the dome. the dataset viewer gives the presenter flexibility to go “off script” during a live show and then return to pre-rendered content seamlessly.

SHOW VIEWPORT MANAGER View everything on the dome directly integrated into The next evolution in intuitive, Start, stop, pause, scrub forward and backward. Play your DigitalSky Dark Matter screen. You can view dome unified fulldome theater software. fulldome content with the push of a button. The Show from multiple camera angles, Manager is fully integrated including fisheye and direct into the Viewport, giving front view. The dome view is you a live view of what’s also used for interactive and happening as you control intuitive navigation during your show content. real-time shows. skyskan.com 44 Planetarian December 2014 Introducing groundbreaking user interface

SHOW VIEWPORT MANAGER View everything on the dome directly integrated into The next evolution in intuitive, Start, stop, pause, scrub forward and backward. Play your DigitalSky Dark Matter screen. You can view dome unified fulldome theater software. fulldome content with the push of a button. The Show from multiple camera angles, Manager is fully integrated including fisheye and direct into the Viewport, giving front view. The dome view is you a live view of what’s also used for interactive and happening as you control intuitive navigation during your show content. real-time shows. skyskan.com December 2014 Planetarian 45 Sky-Skan’s best-selling show for 2013 and 2014

NEW RELEASE: Narrated by Derrick Pitts!

Space Exploration Shaping Your Life

46 Planetarian December 2014 Planetarium, College of Southern Nevada Cheyene Campus North Las Vegas, Nevada 89030

The staff, from left: Pam Maher, Andrew Kerr, and Bob Pip- pin. Below: the Digistar 5 system under the dome. Photos by Bob Pippin

Andrew Kerr, Planetarium Manager to Las Vegas. My original plan was to teach physics and astron- [email protected] omy, but I fell in love with the planetarium world very quick- The Planetarium at the College of Southern Nevada is south- ly in Ohio. ern Nevada’s only public planetarium. We have a 30-ft dome Bob Pippin handles the duties at the controls of the plan- (9 m), and 70 seats in a “Prince Valiant Cut” dome. Our Digi- etarium and does it very well. Pam Maher keeps everything star 5 system gives us 1920x1920 pixels up on our screen, and straight for us. In fact, I don’t even know how she handles ev- allows us to do everything a digital projection system should erything that ends up dumped in her lap. for the audience. We also have several people who help in in many differ- Our audience is quite diverse. We cater to Las Vegas area stu- ent ways, keeping us up and running and ready for the pub- dents during the morning (9:30 and 11 a.m. time slots for tours), lic shows on the weekends. Even with the transition, I think and then our own students at the college in the afternoons. On we’ve jelled very quickly, and the planetarium runs very well. Fridays and Saturdays, we have our public shows. We are open Of course, as with all planetariums, we are trying to adapt for shows at 6, 7, and 8 to the changing times. With entertainment p.m. both Friday and available with the flick of a finger on a cell Saturday, as well as a phone, it is a challenge to bring people out to 3:30 matinee on Sat- learn about science. Add to that the incredible urdays. bright lights allure of Las Vegas, and we find Our shop is open ourselves competing for visitors. for the public shows, To that end, we are planning to create our and we sell a variety own content. Just like all actors (and make no of science novelties mistake, anyone who has ever done a program and toys; the favorite inside a dome knows that they are entertain- is probably the freeze- ers as well as scientists), I want to direct. dried astronaut food. Despite our problems, we also have a lot go- We open our observa- ing for us as well. Our skies are normally clear. tories after the 8 p.m. While we do have clouds, they are very occa- shows (weather per- sional. We also have several astronomy profes- mitting) and show off the night sky. sors at the College of Southern Nevada, and people like to be The Las Vegas Astronomical Society calls our dome home as able to talk to an astronomer about their questions. well, holding their monthly meeting in the dome and helping By far, the best part of being involved with a planetarium out with telescopes for special events. is the reaction when someone “gets it.” The eyes light up, and The Planetarium publishes the monthly magazine onOrbit, that look of recognition flashes across the whole face. It is of- in conjunction with the Fleischmann Planetarium in Reno ten easier to see in children, and children are nearly always (at the University of Nevada Reno), which we send out to the more receptive to astronomy than adults. That’s not to say friends and supporters of the two planetariums. Back issues that you can’t get the same experience with adults, but the fire can be found on our website (www.csn.edu/planetarium) in to learn inside children just seems to burn that much brighter. pdf form. In fact, as I write this, I should also be getting our De- I have never been asked a silly question inside the dome (at- cember issue ready. tempts at astronomy potty humor are always met with a seri- We have a small but dedicated staff here at The Planetari- ous answer), and if my expectations hold out, I never will be um. My name is Andrew Kerr, and I started as the planetarium presented with a silly question. manager here in July. I replaced the retiring Dale Etheridge, The planetarium world is changing. We just need to remem- who was the only director the planetarium had until now. ber that our audiences’ entertainment needs have changed I’ve been running planetariums for the last 11 years, start- as well. As long as we continue to accept those changes and ing at the University of Findlay in Ohio, moving on to Blake- adapt with the times, we should be able to stay strong and via- more Planetarium in Midland, Texas, and finally arriving here ble into the future. I

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DecemberMTE proudly2014 serves as the exclusive North AmericanPlanetarian distributor of Konica Minolta Planetarium systems. 49 When Pittsburgh got its Planetarium

The 75th anniversary of America’s 5th major planetarium

By Glenn A. Walsh SpaceWatchtower It was one hundred years ago this past Feb- ruary that the concept of a projection planetarium was born at the Carl Zeiss Optical Works in Jena, Germany. The Deutsches Mu- seum in Munich, which had opened in 1906 as the first modern-type science museum, was looking for a realistic way to reproduce the stars of the night sky, similar to a mechanical celestial sphere that had opened at the Chica- Glenn A. Walsh served as Astronomical Observatory coordinator and a planetarium Lecturer at Pitts- go Academy of Sciences in 1913. burgh’s original Buhl Planetarium and Institute of Popular Science, then known as Buhl Science Center, However, Chicago’s Atwood Sphere only during the 1980s and early 1990s. Additionally, he created, and served as curator for four years, of a very showed the stars, and German astronomer popular embryology exhibit where chicks, and occasionally ducklings, were hatched in front of visitors’ Max Wolfe urged the Munich museum to find eyes every weekend, year-round. He served as a life trustee on the Board of Trustees of the Andrew Carnegie Free Library and Music Hall in the Pittsburgh suburb of Carnegie for five years in the second a way to also display the motions of the sun, half of the 1990s. He now heads a small non-profit organization called Friends of the Zeiss and authors moon, and planets. a blog called SpaceWatchtower at spacewatchtower.blogspot.com. This article ©2014 Glenn A. Walsh Two Carl Zeiss scientists, Walther Bauers- and used with permission; all rights reserved. feld and Rudolf Straubel, offered an alterna-

50 Planetarian December 2014 Facing page: View of a rendering created by J.A. Mitchell of the new Buhl Planetarium. This view is one of the planetarium’s front entrance designs under consideration. Below, this page: View of a drawing created by Ingram & Boyd Architects of the new Buhl Planetarium. This view is a close-up of the initial 1st floor layout of the planetarium. Copyright Brady Stewart Studio Inc., used with permission. (bradystewartphoto.photoshelter.com) Facing Page, below: Buhl Planetarium in the 1980s. During the spring school field trip season, students would often eat lunch in the Allegheny Square Plaza directly in front of the building. The Chil- dren’s Museum of Pittsburgh now uses the building as part of their complex. Photo Source: F.G. Gra- ham, provided by author.

tive: replace the small celestial sphere with a ium came the next day. The first public plan- tember 2014) is the only original star projec- giant hemispheric dome, and use a bright cen- etarium show, Stars Over Pittsburgh, began at tor that continues, to this day, providing edu- tral lamp to project the planets and stars onto 3 p.m., with additional shows at 8 and 9 p.m. cational star shows to the public. the dome sky. At that time, the five exhibit galleries (15,000 The good folks at the Springfield Science In 1923, the Carl Zeiss scientists first demon- square feet of exhibition space in two galler- Museum have shown that restoration of a strated a large-scale projection planetarium in ies on the first floor and three on the lower pre-World War II star projector, for the con- a 16-m dome set-up on the company’s factory level) in the Institute of Popular Science were tinued presentation of star shows to the pub- roof in Jena. Two years later, the Zeiss I plane- open seven days a week from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. lic, is quite doable without extravagant ex- tarium projector was permanently installed in and, for the first year, the exhibits were free penditures. the Deutsches Museum. of charge. There was a small charge for admis- The genesis of Buhl Planetarium came from This new educational tool greatly im- sion to a planetarium show. a North Side plumber, Leo Scanlon, who co- pressed scientists and civic leaders in Germa- It was closed only one day a year: originally founded the Amateur Astronomers Associ- ny, resulting in 11 other German cities receiv- New Year’s Day, but in the 1960s that one day ation of Pittsburgh in 1929. A year later, Leo ing Zeiss planetarium projectors by the end of became Christmas Day. developed the world’s first all-aluminum as- the decade. A much-improved Zeiss Model II It should be noted that another star projec- tronomical observatory dome for his back- soon superseded the Zeiss I. tor, one which does not display the motions of yard observatory, proving for the first time In 1927, the first Zeiss projector outside of the planets, was built in America and opened that aluminum was strong enough to hold-up Germany was installed in Vienna, and then in Massachusetts in October of 1937. And, af- such a dome. a projector was installed in Rome in 1928 and ter a 1996 restoration project, the Korkosz star That same year, Leo and fellow amateur as- one in Moscow in 1929. Other European cit- projector (see Planetarian Vol. 52, No. 3, Sep- tronomers went to Chicago to visit the newly- ies to receive planetarium projectors from the Carl Zeiss Company, prior to World War II, included Stockholm (1930), Milan (1930), and Paris (1937). The first Asian planetarium projectors appeared in Osaka in 1937 and Tokyo in 1938.

Five projectors came to America Five Zeiss II projectors were installed in America during the 1930s. The first was in the new Adler Planetarium and Astronomy Mu- seum in Chicago in 1930. In New York, the Hayden Planetarium was built as an addition to the American Museum of Natural History in 1935. In Philadelphia, Fels Planetarium opened as part of the new Franklin Institute Science Museum in 1934. And, in Los Angeles, a new Griffith Observatory was built in 1935 with a planetarium, just above Hollywood. This year marks the 75th anniversary of America’s fifth major planetarium, and the last one built before World War II, the Buhl Planetarium and Institute of Popular Science in Pittsburgh. Dedicated at a gala event on 24 October 1939, the new educational facility was constructed for $1.07 million by the Buhl Foun- dation and completely gifted and legally conveyed to the City of Pittsburgh. It was the first publicly-owned building in the city, and possibly in the state, built with air-conditioning. The grand public opening of Buhl Planetar-

December 2014 Planetarian 51 Supervolcanoes_8_5x11_WithAwards_Option01.pdf 1 10/24/2013 10:03:04 AM

Top: School children with the Zeiss II projector. The projector is now on display (but not in use) at the Carnegie Science Center. Photo courtesy of Carnegie Science Cen- ter. Right, top: In a beautiful brass and marble display in the Great Hall is Buhl’s Foucault Pendulum, swinging on a 35-foot wire, which was trucked to Buhl from a South Side

Pittsburgh steel mill without being coiled (a special permit was required for trans- C port of the completely straight wire). The Foucault Pendulum continues swinging in the same location as one of the exhibits of the Children’s Museum of Pittsburgh. M Right, bottom: Pittsburgh-area native and Carnegie Tech (now Carnegie Mellon Uni- Y versity) graduate George Kaufman built this one-million-volt Tesla Coil in 1911, in-

spired by Nikola Tesla, who had worked in Pittsburgh for George Westinghouse for CM about a year in 1888. The Tesla Coil, shown here during a demonstration in Buhl’s Great Hall, was donated to Buhl Planetarium in 1950, and it continues to be publicly MY demonstrated at The Carnegie Science Center. Photos provided by author. CY

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K opened Adler Planetarium. ried the dedication ceremony. Attending the Beautiful astronomically-related reliefs by They were so impressed with this new as- dedication were scientists from Franklin Insti- sculptor Sidney Waugh adorn the facade of tronomical institution that as soon as they re- tute in Philadelphia, Hayden Planetarium in the Buhl Planetarium building, and the names turned home, they started lobbying for con- New York, Perkins Observatory near Colum- of seven historic astronomers are inscribed struction of a Pittsburgh planetarium. In bus, Ohio, and Cleveland Observatory, as well just below the outer planetarium dome. As- 1935, the Buhl Foundation announced plans as the secretary of the Amateur Astronomers tronomical art inside the building included to build a planetarium and institute of popu- Association of America. murals by Benjamin Byrer displayed in black- lar science in the memory of Henry Buhl Jr., Buhl Planetarium was built in the center of light in the Hall of the Universe, the huge Nat who had owned the Boggs and Buhl Depart- the city’s North Side business district on the Youngblood mural The Rise of Steel Technol- ment Store just one block south of the plan- site of the former Allegheny City Hall (Pitts- ogy, paintings on the mezzanine by Daniel etarium site. burgh’s “twin” city, Allegheny, was annexed Owen Stephens, and a 1985 painting of Hal- At the same time the Buhl Planetarium was by Pittsburgh in 1907), just across the Alleghe- ley’s Comet from England donated by Pitts- being built, just across West Ohio Street the ny River from Downtown Pittsburgh. burgh industrialist Willard Rockwell, Jr. (and city was converting the original Allegheny At 40,000 square feet, the building was a delivered to Buhl in his limousine). town square into Ober Park. Since that time, modest facility, but it included one of the larg- Pittsburgh’s Zeiss II was the only Zeiss II this park has been redeveloped twice, most re- est planetarium chambers in the nation, with to never receive any major modifications. cently in 2012 as Buhl Community Park at Al- an exterior dome size of 65 feet. The Theater Hence, by the 1990s, it was the oldest opera- legheny Square. of the Stars was designed to seat 500 visitors; ble major planetarium projector in the world. the city fire marshal restricted the occupan- After being dismantled in 2002 to make-way An exciting opening cy to 490. for building reuse by the Children’s Museum The opening of the Buhl Planetarium and Over the years, as the control console grew of Pittsburgh, in 2010 it was reassembled for Institute of Popular Science was a big deal, par- larger and laser show controls added, the per- display only at Pittsburgh’s Carnegie Science ticularly coming in the middle of the Great manent seating declined to 381, with portable Center, where it still can be found today. Depression, at a time Pittsburgh only had six seating increasing capacity to about 425 for Buhl’s Zeiss II was the first such projector to major museums. the holiday shows and the busy spring school be placed on an elevator. This special elevator, Three of Pittsburgh’s five radio stations car- field trip season. (Continues on page 54)

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December 2014 Planetarian 53 with four huge worm gears, was custom-built cation, Buhl also started a new planetarium at the Carnegie Science Center. by Pittsburgh’s Westinghouse Electric Com- show and opened a new temporary exhibit. The People’s Observatory was constructed pany. When the projector was lowered below The sky show, Bombers by Starlight, showed to research observatory specifications at a cost floor level into the Zeiss pit, a stage would be how military aviators used celestial naviga- of $30,000, but was specifically designed to automatically installed above the projector, tion to find targets at night; during World be a public observatory. Public observatories allowing the Theater of the Stars to be used War II, military aviators were taught celestial were a new idea in the 1930s, although there for other presentations. navigation in Buhl Planetarium. had been a couple earlier ones. Both the Cin- However, this was just one of two stages in The new exhibit, titled “Can America Be cinnati Observatory (1845) and the Allegheny the Theater of the Stars. Buhl Planetarium was Bombed?,” opened two and one-half weeks Observatory (1861) had opened as public ob- the first planetarium to also include a perma- before the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor. servatories, but some years later both became nent theatrical stage. The stage could be used affiliated with universities. where constructed, or, by the push of a but- It was the wrong telescope However, when the new Allegheny Obser- ton, the stage could be expanded into the Before the observatory was finished, Buhl vatory opened in 1912, famous local telescope planetarium theater. used a 4-inch refractor telescope which had maker John Brashear insisted that one of the Buhl Planetarium’s first director, Dr. James come with the planetarium projector from three domes (the smallest one housing the Ob- S. Stokley, had used a temporary stage servatory’s original 13-inch Fitz-Clark when he directed Fels Planetarium Refractor) be set-aside as a public ob- at Franklin Institute in Philadelphia, servatory. to allow a costumed actor playing In the 1930s, public observatories “St. Luke” to tell the Christmas sto- also opened at Franklin Institute in ry during the annual Star of Bethle- Philadelphia (1934) and in Los Ange- hem planetarium sky drama. When les, where Griffith Observatory was he came to Pittsburgh to open Buhl built with a planetarium (1935), before Planetarium, he suggested a perma- Buhl’s opened in 1941. nent theatrical stage be added during In 2008, Carnegie Science Cen- construction. ter Co-Director Ron Baillie present- Additionally, this permanent theat- ed the master plan for expansion of rical stage was used for other presenta- the science center to the Pittsburgh tions throughout the year, including Planning Commission. Although the student skits during the annual For- master plan did not include a sidero- eign Language Festival. stat-type telescope observatory, Mr. Baillie agreed to provide the commis- Sound for the deaf sion with the legal memorandum of In 1939, Buhl Planetarium’s Theater understanding between the city and of the Stars was also the first planetar- the science center, which states that ium theater, and perhaps the first the- the telescope would be reused in a ater of any kind, to include a sound building expansion. Although plan- system specifically designed for the ning for this expansion continues, hearing-impaired. The hearing-im- there is no timetable for construction. paired could pay a one-dollar depos- it for a set of earphones, which would Many physical sciences plug into special receptacles; the de- In addition to astronomy exhibits posit would be returned to the visitor (classic push-button and diorama ex- with return of the headsets. Two vari- hibits, and the fifth largest meteorite eties of earphones were available: air- fragment from Arizona’s Meteor Cra- conduction and bone-conduction. ter), Buhl’s Institute of Popular Sci- Buhl Planetarium’s People’s Obser- ence included exhibits in many oth- vatory, located on the third floor, was er physical sciences, and even a few in dedicated on 19 November 1941, with the life sciences. As such, it joined the the keynote address given by famous This is Buhl's first telescope, a 4-inch refractor from the Carl Zeiss Deutsches Museum, Chicago’s Muse- Optical Works in Jena, Germany, which also produced Buhl's Zeiss II astronomer Harlow Shapley, then dium of Science and Industry, and Phil- Planetarium Projector. However, the factory sent the wrong tele- rector of the Harvard College Obser- scope, a terrestrial refractor, instead of an astronomical refractor. adelphia’s Franklin Institute in pi- vatory. Due to the outbreak of World War II, it could not be returned and oneering the modern type science The primary instrument was a 10- replaced. It continues to be used at The Carnegie Science Center. museum, today known as the science inch refractor produced by the Gaert- (Photo Source: F.G. Graham) center. ner Scientific Company of Chicago. Major facilities in the institute in- The telescope used a sidereal coelostat or sider- Carl Zeiss in 1939. But, the factory sent the cluded a 250-seat lecture hall, later known as ostat arrangement for accessing the sky. This wrong telescope, a terrestrial refractor instead the Little Science Theater. A full chemistry/ allowed the public to use the telescope from of an astronomical refractor. Just a month ear- physics science lab table at the front of the a heated observing room, while the sidero- lier, Hitler had invaded Poland and World War theater allowed for many different types of stat and most of the telescope remained in an II had begun, hence the 4-inch Zeiss could not science lectures and a large projection booth open-air telescope room. be returned for a replacement. provided the ability to show educational First light through the telescope was Saturn. Buhl Planetarium had to make do with the films. On the evening of the observatory dedi- terrestrial telescope, which is still used today (Continues on page 56)

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Full dome laser projector with shows December 2014 Planetarian 55 The Carnegie Science Center on the bank of the Ohio River. Aerial photo by Johnny Beavers, used with permission. Cour- tesy Carnegie Science Center.

Amateur science clubs, such as the Ama- Carnegie Hall), which also provided Buhl with either expand Buhl Planetarium to including teur Astronomers Association and the Great- steam heat (hence, Buhl had a boiler room a new, large underground exhibit gallery and er Pittsburgh Aquarium Society, met here with no boilers!). an Omnimax Theater in the center of the Al- monthly, and the theater was used sever- In the spring of 1940, Buhl started the Pitts- legheny Square Plaza or to construct an entire- al weeks in the spring for local rounds of the burgh Regional School Science and Engineer- ly new science center building. Western Pennsylvania Spelling Bee. ing Fair, which today is the oldest regional sci- With the merger of Buhl Planetarium and The Little Science Theater was also home to ence fair in the country (two older fairs are Carnegie Museums in 1987, it was decided to two life sciences programs. Beginning in the state-wide fairs). For many years the students’ build a new science center near Three Rivers 1940s, the Micro-Zoo combined a microscope science projects were displayed throughout Stadium, on the North Shore of the Ohio Riv- with an early version of an overhead projec- the Buhl Planetarium building, but in later er. Buhl Planetarium closed as a public muse- tor to display miniature life, such as in a drop years were displayed nearby in the Communi- um on 31 August 1991, and the Carnegie Sci- of water. Starting in 1965, Transpara the Talk- ty College of Allegheny County gymnasium. ence Center, with the new Henry Buhl Jr. ing Glass Lady was added; it was a transparent, During the Christmas season of 1954, Buhl Planetarium and Observatory (Digistar I and life-sized model showing the major organs Planetarium opened the Miniature Railroad 50-ft dome with 156 seats; 16-in reflector tele- and bones of an adult woman, explained dur- and Village, a display that had originated in scope in an observatory dome), opened on 5 ing a pre-recorded program. the Brookville, Pennsylvania home of Charles October 1991. The exhibit galleries included another very Bowdish in 1920. One- to two-hour waiting After using a Digistar 2 projector for sever- popular (particularly for young children) life lines, particularly during the Thanksgiving al years, a $1 million Buhl Foundation grant al- sciences program in the 1980s, an embryology and Christmas holidays), to view the display lowed the planetarium to install a full-dome exhibit where chicks, and occasionally duck- quickly turned it into a Pittsburgh holiday digital projection system in 2006. lings, were hatched in front of visitors’ eyes icon. Each year, admission revenues from the Originally, classrooms were not built in the every weekend, year-round. four-month exhibition (November through Carnegie Science Center, as the original Buhl A sex-education program taught by a spe- February) would pretty much pay for the rest Planetarium building was to be used for sci- cially-trained nurse was offered to students in of the year’s operation of Buhl Planetarium. ence center classes and special programs (the school groups, with permission of their par- From 1982 to 1991 the facility became city had requested that the science center con- ents. known as the Buhl Science Center. In 1983, tinue to use the original building). However, As with most such educational institutions, a Computer Learning Lab was added, along in a cost-cutting move, what was now called Buhl Planetarium included a small science li- with an early touch-screen computer called Carnegie Science Center Allegheny Square brary available for public use by appoint- Pixel Paint Pots, where the public could Annex was completely closed in February of ment, located in Buhl’s beautiful wood-pan- “paint” with their fingers on the screen. The 1994. The Children’s Museum, which had been eled Board Room. At its peak, the library only 1980s also saw newer, large thematic exhibits founded across the street in the old Allegheny reached 800 volumes, but fortunately a larger on light and perception (Image/Imagination), Post Office building in 1983, expanded into library was not necessary. Just across the street sound (Sounds Sensational), and movement the Buhl Planetarium building in 2004. from Buhl was America’s first publicly-fund- (The Right Moves). More details on Buhl Planetarium history can ed Carnegie Library (along with the very first By the 1980s, plans were being developed to be found at www.planetarium.cc. I

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December 2014 Planetarian 57 58 Planetarian December 2014 Goodman from Harvard) convinced Curtis to Data to Dome make his concept reality. A couple of years later, “genius program- mer” Jonathan Fay had been brought on The Science & Data Visualization Task Force board and an early version of WWT was developed. The WorldWide Telescope combined narrative tools with a viewing platform The WorldWide Telescope: Past, for the Virtual Observatory (ivoa.net). Cloud-based imagery from a variety of present and future sources could be pulled in, stitched together and layered on the sky. From my perspective Mark SubbaRao as a galaxy researcher, WWT was a revelation. Adler Planetarium For the first time I was able to see the objects I 1300 South Lake Shore Drive was studying in the context of the entire sky. Chicago, Illinois 60091 USA [email protected] Telling the story of scale As planetarians, perhaps the most power- With millions of us- forward. However, the good news is that there ful story we tell is the one of scale, using soft- ers, WorldWide Tele- is a commitment to continue with WWT ware to illustrate the tremendous distances scope has become an technology and the planetarium communi- between planets, stars, and galaxies. The sky indispensable tool for planetarians, educators, ty is being consulted in the process of shaping mode of WWT opened up a new way to dis- and amateur and professional astronomers. that future. play the immensity of our universe by explor- No wonder, then, that the rumors circulating Here is the official word from Microsoft Re- ing the huge range in angular size that tele- in our community about uncertain future of search: scopes allow us to explore. WWT have engendered quite a bit of concern. We are working with the planetariums, Around 2008, Dinoj Surendran, a computer The reality of the situation is that there museums, research and educational com- scientist from University of Chicago who had have been significant changes at Microsoft Re- munities to plan the next phase of expand- taken a position with the WWT group at Mi- search and these changes will impact the fu- ing access and utility of WWT technologies crosoft Research, began to advocate for a plan- ture of WWT. for even greater impact in the years ahead. etarium version of WorldWide Telescope. At As of the writing of this column there is still Stay tuned for some of the exciting develop- first the idea seemed to make no sense: WWT some uncertainty as to how things will move ments in the upcoming months. works by animating the field of view, but in Considering that a planetarium you are always looking at half we at a critical junc- the sky. ture in the history of The solution was to place the sky imagery WorldWide Telescope, on a sphere, view that sphere with a virtual I thought it would be fisheye camera, and zoom in by moving that an appropriate time to camera closer to the surface of the sphere. In reflect on the capabili- the dome it gave the impression that the im- ties and opportunities agery was flatting out and squashing you on that WWT has opened the head. Remarkably, the viewing of two- up inside the dome, dimensional imagery became an engaging and why it is critical three-dimensional experience, with that third that these capabilities dimension serving as a proxy for the change be maintained and the in scale. opportunities contin- In 2011 we opened a sky show at the Adler ue to be explored. titled Cosmic Wonder, which was created and WorldWide Telescope Data sheet, from www.worldwidetelescope.org played back entirely in WWT. Jonathan Fay Some history was a close collaborator throughout the pro- During an astrovi- duction process and added several new fea- sualization workshop tures to WWT for planetarium production, hosted at the Universi- enabling us to create the show we envisioned. ty of Chicago in 2005, At the start of the show we introduce the Curtis Wong present- audience to the concept of using the dome as ed the idea of creating a portal to the Virtual Observatory with the a platform to explore presenter saying: narrative and story- We will explore the story of Cosmic telling in the context Wonder, with some of the same software of a content rich area used by astronomers—World Wide Tele- like astronomy. The scope, developed by Microsoft Research. We idea generated quite a will turn this theater into a virtual observa- bit of excitement, and tory, one that can pull in and stitch togeth- encouragement from er the best imagery from telescopes across people at the confer- the globe as well as in orbit above it. And we Cosmic Wonder in the Adler Planetarium’s Grainger Sky Theater. Courtesy ence (notably Alyssa won’t be limited by what the human eye of Chris Gunn Photography.

December 2014 Planetarian 59 can see, we will layer in images taken across tutorials in the columns (and others) is avail- Here we will only visualize the data in the spectrum: in the infrared, ultraviolet able on the IPS Science and Data Visualization WWT. While similar visualizations are pos- and x-ray light. Task Force webpage (www.ips-planetarium. sible in other planetarium software packag- Originally planetariums presented a view org/?page=visualization). es, the process of creating them is somewhat of the naked-eye sky; not just any view, but For this month’s tutorial, we will create a awkward. an idealized view as seen from the darkest lo- visualization of gamma ray bursts. The tutori- The time domain is the next great fron- cations. WWT is now enabling us to present al was created for a Kavli Institute for Cosmo- tier for astronomy, and I encourage software the telescopic view of the sky, and not just the logical Physics short course for museum and vendors to follow along with the tutorial and view from a single telescope, but a synthesis planetarium staff about the Evolving Uni- think about how they can streamline the pro- view from potentially all of the world’s major verse (kicp-courses.uchicago.edu/2014/index. cess of creating a similar visualization using observatories. php) held this September. their software. I

The planetarium’s third wave Step 0: Setup The sky mode of WorldWide Telescope We will use astroquery to connect to the VizieR catalogue access tool which contains rough- opens up an entirely new type of sky show, ly 13,000 astronomical catalogs. the planetarium’s third wave. # Import python modules The first wave simulates the naked eye from astropy.table import Table,Column view of stars and planets. Enabled by opto- from astropy.time import Time mechanical star projectors, these shows tell from astroquery.vizier import Vizier stories of constellations, seasons, and plane- from pywwt.mods import * tary motions. # Create Vizier object, turn off default row limit The second wave of planetarium shows v = Vizier() simulates our models of the universe. Enabled v.ROW_LIMIT = -1 by digital projection and datasets such as the # Connect to WWT American Museum of Natural History’s Dig- wwt = WWTClient() #Can pass a IP address here if WWT is running on a remote machine ital Universe, these shows explore the scale, wwt.new_layer_group("Sky","Dynamic Universe") structure and evolution of the Universe. The third wave simulates our telescopic Step 1: Acquire Data view of the universe. Enabled by WorldWide For our data catalog we’ll choose the second Fermi/GBM GRB catalog (von Kienlin et all., 2014, Telescope and the Virtual Observatory, these Vizier catalog id: J/ApJS/211/13/GBM). This catalog contains Fermi GRB events from July 2007 shows tell the story of contemporary astro- to July 2012. physical research using real imagery. This framework provides a useful way to Cats = v.get_catalogs('J/ApJS/211/13/GBM') talk about the spectrum of planetarium expe- grbCat=Cats[0] riences. Here are three different ways to con- grbCat.keep_columns(["GRB","RAJ2000","DEJ2000","Time","ObsTime","Fl.w","Fl.n"]) ceptualize the universe, and each of these is re- grbCat.rename_column('RAJ2000', 'RA') grbCat.rename_column('DEJ2000', 'dec') flected by what we present in the dome. One grbCat # print the table wave doesn’t replace the previous; they build upon each other. GRB ObsTime RA dec Time Fl.w Fl.n At Adler we are simultaneously showing "h:m:s" deg deg ms mJ / m2 mJ / m2 first, second, and third wave shows. This framework also avoids some of the 080714B 02:04:12.0534 41.9 8.5 512 6.8e-07 3.5e-07 stale arguments in our community. Let’s talk 080714C 10:12:01.8376 187.5 -74.0 4096 1.8e-06 9.8e-07 about the experience we are trying to create, 080714A 17:52:54.0234 188.1 -60.2 1024 6.3e-06 3.3e-06 not the technology used (optical vs. digital) or what the computers are doing (real-time vs. 080715A 22:48:40.1634 214.7 9.9 256 5e-06 2.5e-06 playback). 080717A 13:02:35.2207 147.3 -70.0 4096 4.5e-06 2.4e-06 From this perspective, the importance 080719A 12:41:40.9578 153.2 -61.3 4096 7.7e-07 3.9e-07 of WWT to our community is clear. It has opened up a new class of planetarium experi- ...... ence, providing a natural platform for explor- Extracting the time of the GRB event from this table is tricky. The time of day is in the Ob- ing tremendous quantity of imagery flowing sTime column, but the date is embedded in the GRB name. We’ll do some string operations to in from the world’s observatories. It is critical extract the date from the GRB name and combine that with ObsTime column in the format for the health of our community that the ca- that WWT can read. pabilities enabled by WWT are maintained #Add GRB event time in WWT format to table and expanded upon. grbList=grbCat['GRB'] timeList=[] Tutorial: Visualizing GRB in WWT for i in range(len(grbList)): I’ve gotten some nice feedback about last timeString= grbList[i][2:4]+'/'+grbList[i][4:6]+'/'+'20'+grbList[i][0:2]+\ month’s column which took the format of a ' '+grbCat['ObsTime'][i] tutorial, using Python to process and visual- timeList.append(timeString) ize a dataset. As a result we will include a tu- grbCat.add_column(Column(timeList,name='TimeAndDate')) torial as part of each month’s Data to Dome column. The code (and often results) for the (Continues on page 63)

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December 2014 Planetarian 61 ue. (Sorry, I know this a wild address but it was From the Classdome the easiest way for me store the document.) This is an activity that uses the planetari- Jack L. Northrup um’s cove lighting1 to manipulate the color of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Planetarium the room. I printed enough of worksheets so King Science and Technology Magnet Center that I have one per row (or one for a group of 3720 Florence Blvd., Omaha, Nebraska 68110 USA four students), then laminated them so I can +1 402-557-4494 use them over and over again. This is where [email protected] you get to show off how well you know the floor plan of your planetarium. You will have to turn off as much light as Even though the school year started several square or area the students can write in. I tried possible, because you want students not to be months ago, I feel it is important to mention a to make it cute by making the writing areas able to cheat and see the colors.Each row is few things that have happened this year. “thought bubbles” off the word, but the stu- given a worksheet and wet-erase marker. The This year is a rebuilding one for my curric- dents were more likely to make a mistake and table below shows the 8 rounds that I used for ulum, meaning I have been going through ev- not understand the sequencing. It is just a lit- the students to check the perceived colors. I ery presentation, clip, and video vignette with tle easier to keep it simple with just squares wrote a script file for my cove to follow with the goal of re-rendering improved versions of with one word in them. manual cues to trigger the next round. everything. This is also the year I got to re- Below is a sample of one sequence from build my render farm from the ground up be- when we were talking about the birth of a cause of a computer program issue. Which, as star. Students, at times, will get the grand idea Round Dome Color you may predict, really slowed the re-render- but miss parts of the process and I found this 1 Red ing, to the point I am only about 5% done. worked quite well for bring it in focus. 2 Orange I really wanted to focus on fine tuning my 3 Yellow lessons and activities to match my instructional goals. I know they are in alignment, but 4 Green there are times that I have made notes of pos- 5 Cyan sible changes to activities after completing 6 Blue the lesson. 7 Violet/Magenta This is not something new and visionary; master teachers have been doing this for cen- 8 White turies. The hard part is finding the time to im- You might notice that Round 7 is violet or plement the changes (other than 20 minutes magenta, because my dome’s violet is rath- before you do the lesson). er dim. With a small group it is fine, but with I worked with my principal to get some a larger group it seemed to work better with time once a week to spend 45 minutes evalu- magenta. ating my curriculum. So far this has worked When you trigger the first round, the dome quite nicely, and I am seeing a change in how will turn red and the students who have the my students and visitors are engaged in the color coding chart will record the color they lesson. see for each of the color swatches. Sequencing activity Most of the kids are willing to advise each other, but I wanted to make sure everyone I observed from the students they had some gets an opportunity to try and see the colors, very odd misconceptions about sequence of so with each round the paper is passed one events in the life cycle of a star. I had a cou- person to the left. When it reaches the end of ple of presentations that I thought addressed the row it is passed back to the start. this problem, but it evidently wasn’t enough. The first few times I ran this presentation I As a result, I went down the hall and talked found it went too slowly and ate up a lot of with my physical education teacher, who has time. A teacher I work with suggested that students use descriptive writing to prepare a I have an interval timer at the console that plan for how to do different athletic activities. gave the students 45-55 seconds to check out Personally, I was very impressed with some of the colors and 10 seconds to pass the paper. I the students’ steps for how to do a basketball used www.online-stopwatch.com/interval- free throw. timer and ran it on a computer plugged into She suggested that I use a “Before-Then- the planetarium’s sound system so it would After-Later-End” format. I kind of gave her This chain idea was useful for understand- keep going even if I was working with a stu- a dazed expression, thinking she just said ing stellar evolution, but I think it would use- dent. a bunch of random words. Then it got me ful also for teaching the change of potential Generally, by round 4 the students have thinking about the script writing workshop and kinetic energy and chemical reactions. guessed the colors and the rest of the rounds from WAC 2014, “The Power of 3: Framing Sci- are the students predicting the color that the ence Stories for the Dome” by Toshi Komat- Activity: Perceived color “red” might become. During one of my test su, and there were enough parallels to make Print out the Color Code Worksheet groups we experimented with taking the cove this work. stored at kingscience.ops.org/LinkClick. The format of the organizer is pretty sim- aspx?fileticket=-j9aHYXuqDY%3d&tabid=52 1 I have East Coast Control’s Pleiades LED cover light- ple. Each of the five terms is the topic of a 7&portalid=0&mid=3491&forcedownload=tr ing.

62 Planetarian December 2014 Color Coding Write the name of the color you see next to the color swatch. Color Round Round Round Round Round Round Round Round Swatch 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

back to off between each color, but found have also experimented with the students us- Conclusion that it would cause the students to think we ing anaglyph glasses and seeing the dome cy- When was the last time you cleaned house were going to take a break from the activity cle through a series of colors, but most of the on your activities and presentation materials? and do some more stars. students complained that the original part of It may seem like a great deal of work, but it After the third time they were denied stars the lab were they did the writing and passing is worth it. I find it very powerful that I now the kids got a little cranky. It is just easier to of the color paper was better, so I don’t think I know my tried and true activities are now bet- do a 5-second transition between each color. I will add that into the lesson. ter focused on the instructional goals. I

(Data to Dome, continued from page 60) Step 2: Visualize Data Now we can send the data table to WWT for visualization. Now inside WWT, we can choose how we visualize the data, we can show all the data at once or playback the events as they happen watching the GRB’s go off like pop- corn across the sky. I

#Set up WWT layer grb_layer = wwt.new_layer("Dynamic Universe", "Gamma Ray Bursts", grbCat.colnames) #Set visualization parameters in WWT props_dict = {"CoordinatesType":"Spherical",\ "MarkerScale":"Screen",\ "PointScaleType":"Constant",\ "ScaleFactor":"64",\ "ShowFarSide":"True",\ "RaUnits":"Degrees",\ "PlotType":"Gaussian",\ "ColorValue":"ARGBColor:255:255:255:255",\ "TimeSeries":"False"} grb_layer.set_properties(props_dict) Four years of Gamma Ray Bursts in white in #Send data to WWT client front of the gamma ray sky grb_layer.update(data=grbCat, purge_all=True, no_purge=False, show=True)

December 2014 Planetarian 63 ium is a unique laboratory. A planetarium is Seeking What Works primarily visual. The eyes record 10 of the 11 million possible simultaneous sensory signals The IPS Education Committee impacting the body. Perhaps in the spatial visual setting of a planetarium, not all extrapo- Jeanne E. Bishop lation from educational research in other set- Westlake Schools Planetarium tings applies. 24525 Hilliard Road Westlake, Ohio 44145 USA Can other research be applied? 440-871-5293 Let’s look at some possibilities for applying other research ideas specifically to the plane- [email protected] tarium. David Sousa, in How the Brain Learns (4th ed., 2011, Corwin), reports changes in reten- I’m happy to report that the IPS Educa- iums are involved in astronomy education in tion during a 40-minute learning period—a tion Committee is very busy. The commit- Argentina, Scandinavia, Italy, Japan, Malaysia, typical time for a planetarium program. tee, which reorganized this summer, consists New Zealand, and Newfoundland, with Spain In a non-planetarium setting, researchers of many enthusiastic educators from different soon to follow. By sharing what is happening found that there was a “prime-time 1,” a peri- countries. A list of the committed individuals in astronomy education with planetariums od of about 7 minutes between the 5-minute appears below. we have a foundation for understanding and mark and 12-minute mark in a lecture when An original list of possible IPS Education collaboration within our organization. retention was at a very high level, the highest Committee goals and projects was prepared. Rachel Thompson is working to design a in the 40 minutes. Between 20 and 25 minutes During the last two months these have been survey that will assist in the collection of in- into the lecture, there was a distinct “down refined by comments from many committee formation. We hope to have the survey on- time,” in which retention was much less. Then members. Below is a revised list our goals. line by early 2015. at 35 to 40 minutes, again there was an opti- The IPS Education Committee will: mal time, a “prime-time 2,” in which learning •• Emphasize international participation. Working toward an archive was almost as high as in prime-time 1. •• Collaborate with other IPS committees on Although it may be difficult, the commit- If we can extrapolate this to one of our relevant projects. tee hopes to eventually build an archive of planetarium programs, it seems that we might •• Initiate the collection of information about topic/method lessons found successful in dif- want to try one or more novel methods of astronomy education, related other science ferent planetariums worldwide at different presentation in the 5- to 12-minute period, education, and planetarium education pro- age levels. Both IPS member response and re- and we might want to pack prime-time peri- grams in different countries. The commit- search will be important factors. ods with more information. tee will prepare and disseminate a set of I am delighted that several experts in plane- But is an extrapolation to the planetarium guidelines to assist collectors of in The com- tarium research have joined the IPS Education warranted? Is the planetarium itself novel mittee will facilitate publication of this in- Committee, namely Ka Chun Yu, Shannon enough so that the retention cycle found else- formation in Planetarian. The committee Schmoll, and Julia Plummer. Each has com- where does not really apply? will develop and post an online survey to pleted major research projects in the help collect information. planetarium. •• Work in various ways to help substantiate Research allows us to learn the The IPS Education Committee the important role of planetarium use in as- best, or at least better, methods of tronomy education, and, as possible, in oth- doing something. A lot of things ex- (E-mail information for committee members er subject programs presented in the plan- plored in research projects, although can be found on the IPS website: www.ips- etarium. not in planetariums, can be extrapo- planetarium.org/?page=edcom. •• Encourage educational research in plane- lated into the planetarium setting. Please contact me if you would like to join tariums and suggest topics for planetarium I did this with the article in the this working Committee. research. The committee recognizes that September issue of Planetarian, “Sug- there great diversity in planetarium facili- gestions for Some Best Educational Azreena Ahmad, Malaysia Simonetta Ercoli, Italy ties and audiences, so different research pro- Practices.” In this column I will con- Fernando Jauregui and Nieves Gordon, Spain grams are appropriate in different facilities tinue to share very interesting con- Alan Gould, USA with different audiences. clusions from non-planetarium re- Thomas Graf, Czech Republic •• Share results from both general educational search studies. However, it would be Francine Jackson, USA research and from specific planetarium re- best if methods could be tested specif- Aase Roland Jacobson, Denmark search and encourage publication of plane- ically in a planetarium setting. Jill Jessop, New Zealand tarium research details in Planetarian. Yes, research takes some addition- Kaoru Kimura, Japan •• Promote and participate in developing IPS al work—design, implementation Oded Kindermann, Argentina standards for certification at IPS-sponsored of alternate methods, and evalua- Jack Northrup, USA planetarium workshops. tion—and it is best if an expert in re- Julia Plummer, USA Shannon Schmoll, USA •• Prepare a document that can be used by dif- search design works with the plan- Patricia Seaton, USA ferent planetariums to convince teachers etarium to ensure that the project is Jenny Shipway, UK and administrators that use of the planetar- done well. The outcome of a good re- Anita Sohus, USA ium is important and worthwhile. search project can show how to make Rachel Thompson, USA Currently, in a number of areas worldwide, the most of the limited time we have Michele Wistisen, USA individuals have begun collection of astrono- with an audience. Ka Chun Yu, USA my education information and how planetar- Many would agree that a planetar-

64 Planetarian December 2014 How about setting up a research project for live conversations. Would it be more effective tual motion (smooth versus jumpy) that are a particular program you give to a particular for a planetarium teacher to be partly visible best for learning particular content? age group in which you vary what is done in to an audience, using enthusiastic gestures, to And third, can we learn just what aspect the period identified in lecture situations as convey information than to talk in complete or aspects of a live planetarium presentation down time? A basic premise of research is that darkness? makes the program effective? Is it merely the you vary only one thing at a time, to see what A research project also could compare learn- presence of a live person? What is the effect makes the difference. ing with and without lighting. This could be of recording the presentation of a live present- With people, this is always difficult. But one evaluated with a simple written test or with er and then playing this back with live visu- can match two audiences as closely as possi- a follow-up survey checking student enthusi- als? Does seeing a person in the room or know- ble or have the same class return to the plane- asm for the astronomy topic. After all, interest ing that there is someone to ask questions that tarium and receive a different method in the and motivation to learn more about astron- heightens effectiveness? down time. One could evaluate differences in omy can and should be an important goal of retention with a simple recall test at the end of our planetarium programs. Two big areas for research the program or possibly use behavioral obser- Shannon Schmoll says that the following vations during the presentations. Some thought-provoking ideas possible planetarium research areas are “two At the recent Great Lakes Planetarium As- Ka Chun Yu offers these thought-provok- big ones I think about a lot.” sociation meeting in Muncie, Indiana, Tim ing ideas on areas for productive planetarium 1. What are the best practices that support Slater of the University of Wyoming empha- research projects. The first two deal with per- student learning during a planetarium presen- sized the value of story-telling in teaching and ception, an important part of learning in the tation visit that help them make connections learning. Framing a message in the form of a planetarium. to classroom learning? She notes that her dis- story pulls in the learner, focusing attention. First, for smaller planetarium theaters, audi- sertation explored this with a small sample ence members sit closer to the surface of the size. She would like to see similar work done Research into story messages dome than in larger theaters. Therefore, there in different planetarium situations. A research project could explore the effec- are more visual cues to make you sense that 2. How does choice and control in learning tiveness of placing a story message in the as- you are seeing projected visuals. Does this dif- within a planetarium affect learning? How do serted down period of learning in a plane- ference cause detectable difference in one or clicker devices and audience voting on how tarium program. Independent of a possible more factors—retention, engagement, atti- to proceed in a program affect learning and down-time effect, if one plans to use story- tude? What exactly are the cues that cause the motivation? And how do the different variet- telling at some point in a given program, the experience to seem less real? ies of choice and control affect learning? timing of the story method could be varied to Ed Lantz1 suggested that visual accommo- If you would like to carry out one or more find its optimum location within a program dation (focusing on imagery at the screen dis- research projects at your planetarium, guid- It is well documented that a person’s work- tance) and binocular disparity (the differing ed by someone familiar with educational re- ing memory easily becomes overwhelmed parallax angles of the two eyes) as the two ef- search, ask questions that will help you in when novel terms and information are pre- fects. Could we confirm this? One possible test your day-to day operations. sented. is to mask one eye so that vision is from the Even though your results are best applied to A research project in which the number of other eye only. This will remove binocular your audiences and your types of programs, specialized astronomy terms used in a plane- disparity as a possible effect. please share them with all planetarians via an tarium program could be the variable in how Second, what are results of simulated mo- article in Planetarian. well an astronomy concept like seasons or tion in the planetarium? How fast can we Although the Education Committee first moon phases is understood. (Just be sure to travel before motion sickness becomes appre- thought about posing a few questions that test the concept learning without using the ciable? Are there best ways of producing vir- might be explored by many planetariums, we specialized terms.) soon realized that planetariums and their au- 1 Lantz, E. 1998, “Large-Scale Immersive Displays in Previous research has shown that children diences are too diverse to make such a sweep- Entertainment and Education,” in Proceedings of the are strongly affected by adult gestures. It seems 2nd Annual Immersive Projection Technology Workshop, ing project meaningful. I to apply in television and movies, as well as in May 11-12, 1998.

PARTYcles #020 - Dec.'14 Alex Cherman But unlike you You heard him guys... I'm an guys, I didn't Attack! Attack! electron... form an atom!

Attack! I'm a free electron... uh-oh... Attack! We figured I can interact Attack! that out... with photons of oops... Attack! any wavelength... Attack!

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December 2014 Planetarian 65 Digital Fulldome & Immersive Media News Collected from here and there around the globe

well as live programming in Morrison Plan- etarium and other venues. www.calacademy.org/fulldome-show-licensing Register now for the IMERSA Summit, Feb- ruary 25-March 1, 2015, Denver, Colorado. The sixth annual gathering will energize the synergies between converging business sectors and help shape the industry with fulldome film showcases, technology sessions and the next phase of fulldome standards efforts. As in previous years, the summit will have abundant opportunities for Congratulations to AMNH University in Sweden. networking and discovery. Presentations The finalist screenings in the Immersive Receiving the award on behalf of the will cover: “The Present and Future of Im- Cinema (Fulldome) category from the 2014 AMNH production team was Dark Universe mersive Content,” “Defining Our Medi- Science Media Awards were held at the Bos- Producer Vivian Trakinski. um,” “Business Stories,” “Building Your Au- ton Museum of Science on September 16, As the director of “Science Bulletins,” the dience,” and “Thinking Outside the Dome.” thanks to generous sponsors Sky-Skan and the museum’s current science exhibition and Visit Imersa.org for information. Charles Hayden Planetarium. online program, Vivian Trakinski has over- Central European Fulldome Festival Brno, The finalists were Moons: Worlds of Mystery, seen the production of more than 50 short April 13-14, 2015, a festival focusing purely Charles Hayden Planetarium & Boston Muse- documentaries about researchers working in on showing fulldome content, held in con- um of Science; Bella Gaia: Beautiful Earth (per- all parts of the world, as well as an ongoing junction with the Academia Film Olomouc formed live featuring Kenji Williams), Reme- stream of Earth and space science visualiza- Festival, the biggest European festival of dy Arts, LLC & Denver Museum of Nature & tions. popular science documentary films. starry- Science; and Supervolcanoes, Spitz Creative Trakinski began her career at the Children’s lab.org/festival Media, Mirage3D & Thomas Lucas Produc- Television Workshop’s award-winning PBS FullDome Festival, May 28-30, 2015, the tions in association with Denver Museum of science series “3-2-1 CONTACT” and has since ninth annual gathering in Jena, Germany, Nature & Science. gone on to write, direct, and produce media will take the theme “romantic circles.” full- And the winner was Dark Universe, Ameri- for a variety of audiences and venues. She dome-festival.de can Museum of Natural History. joined the Museum in 1999 and received her SIGGRAPH, August 9-13, 2015, Los Angeles, Congratulations to out to the entire AMNH bachelor’s degree from Wesleyan University California. The annual SIGGRAPH confer- production team: Curator Mordecai-Mark in Connecticut. ence is a five-day interdisciplinary educa- Mac Low, writer Timothy Ferris, composer tional experience in the latest computer Robert Miller, Dark International Fulldome Arts graphics and interactive techniques. Universe curator and Alliance (IFAA) Fiske Fulldome Festival, August 6-15, 2015, executive producer The fulldome arts and entertainment net- a new festival that will include a pub- Rosamond Kinzler, work of venues for artists will soon launch lic showcase for fulldome films as well as and director Carter their new web site. IFAA seeks to secure full- a three-day showcase for filmmakers and Emmart. dome arts and entertainment as a viable me- professional judges. fiskefest.com Carter Emmart, dium and accelerate the widespread distri- Carter Emmart the AMNH’s direc- bution of dome programming through a Join the sizzle reel tor of astrovisual- network of member venues. Finally, are you looking for a fulldome ex- ization, has been in- IFAA is an open alliance welcoming all per- perience that demonstrates the impact of im- volved in all five of manent and mobile fulldome venues and sup- mersive cinema? IMERSA is excited to an- the museum’s space porting organizations to build a collaborative nounce that the IMERSA Sizzle Reel 2014 is shows, four of which network for the creation, distribution and/or now available. This 5-minute fulldome mon- are now playing in touring of arts and entertainment experiences tage features the work of dozens of innovative Vivian Trakinski planetariums all for digital domes. producers. IMERSA has arranged with them to over the world. distribute the Sizzle Reel 2014 at no cost. Emmart directs the in-house space show Save the dates To learn how to receive your free copy con- production at the museum. Emmart, who pre- There is a lot happening around the world tact [email protected] for all the details. viously worked at NASA Ames Research Cen- of fulldome in 2015. Mark your new calendars The IMERSA team is hard at work on a ter and the National Center for Atmospher- now with these important events: new Sizzle Reel 2015. Do you want to high- ic Research, received his bachelor’s degree in Morrison Planetarium Open House, Febru- light your work and see your favorite full- geophysics from the University of Colora- ary 6-7, 2015, San Francisco, California: the dome scenes included? Just send your sug- do, where he was an organizer of the “Case second annual open house, free to all in- gestions to [email protected] and we will for Mars” conference series. In May 2006, he terested planetarium professionals, will fo- arrange to audition your clip for possible in- received an honorary Ph.D. from Linköping cus on the Academy’s production process as clusion in the 2015 reel. I

66 Planetarian December 2014 December 2014 Planetarian 67 Planetario Dr. Arcadio Poveda, part of International News Sinaloa Science Center, in collaboration with the Sinaloa Astronomy Association, held a se- Lars Broman ries of astronomy activities, which included Teknoland and Strömstad Academy moon and celestial bodies viewing through Stångtjärnsv 132 telescopes, specially oriented for children and SE 791 74 Falun, Sweden the general public to foster interest in astron- +46 2310 177 omy. [email protected], [email protected] www.teknoland.se, www.stromstadakademi.se European/Mediterranean Planetarium Association The International News column is built on Sendón spoke about the Challenges of Dif- There is not much news from the EMPA contributions from IPS Affiliate Association fusion of Astronomy and the hybrid projec- corner of the world this time, so the Eugen- representatives. For contributions to this In- tion system the planetarium has, and Kraupe ides Planetarium staff got in touch with their ternational News column, I sincerely thank participated in a panel with three other Mexi- colleagues in the planetarium of Biblioteca Al- Vadim Belov, Bart Benjamin, Ignacio Castro, can planetarium directors on the “Tendencies exandrina, in Alexandria, Egypt. What follows Alex Delivorias, Jack Dunn, John Hare, Loris of Mexican Planetariums Towards Year 2020” is their input: Ramponi, Aase Roland Jacobsen, Patty Seaton, as part of the IPS Vision 2020 white paper. The Planetarium Science Center of the Bib- Christian Theis, and Rachel Thompson. Simultaneous workshops included: devel- liotheca Alexandrina, which hosted the 20th For me, it is time to say goodbye. For 19 oping and presentation of a planetarium’s IPS conference in 2010, organized on 11 Sep- years I have been an associate editor of Plan- own content, alternative diffusion and the- tember 2014 a new “Astronomy Night.” The etarian, in charge of the International News matic, and development of scientific and out- monthly program began with a public astron- column – or, as it was called in the begin- omy lecture, given by Prof. Ashraf Tad- ning, Regional Roundup, editing a total ross, head of the astronomy department of 76 columns. of the National Research Institute of As- During the years 1996-2005, John Mos- tronomy and Geophysics. ley was Planetarian’s editor, and since Through numerous interesting pic- 2006, Sharon Shanks. Many thanks to tures and movies, Prof. Tadross present- both of you—it has been a rewarding ed basic concepts in astronomy and also task to work with you. John was a rigor- highlighted the key differences between ous editor and he taught me some strict astronomy and astrology. rules: Never ever submit your manu- The lecture was followed by the regu- script after deadline. Never send addi- lar planetarium live show, an astronomy tional material after your submission. contest, and an observing session. During Sharon has always accepted my submis- the night sky watch, visitors had the op- sions with no complaint. You both gave portunity to observe the planets Saturn me a feeling that my work was for the good of reach scripts. An excursion to Cuatrocienegas and Mars and learned how to identify some the planetarium community. took also place, with a star gazing night in the of the brightest stars and important constel- When I write this, I don’t know who will Coahuila desert, narration of sky legends and lations of the autumnal skies. About 150 per- take over International News after me, but other cultural activities. sons, mostly youth and children, joined the whoever you are, I wish you good luck with The end of the year end is near and star gaz- September event. your new task. It is really interesting to have ing activities have again been key issues sup- regular and friendly contacts with planetari- ported by the national committee of partici- Great Lakes Planetarium ans all over the world and to help planetarians pant planetariums, astronomy associations, Association keep track of what goes on in the planetarium and academic institutions in 52 cities in vari- Illinois. Complementing the Peoria River- field worldwide! ous states in Mexico, such as the 29 November front Museum’s major summer exhibit The star gazing party Noche de las Estrellas. This Science of Ripley’s Believe It or Not, the plan- Association of Mexican year theme is “The Universe as seen through etarium ran a popular live show titled The As- Planetariums the crystal it is looked upon.” Mobile plane- tonishing Universe: Believe It or Not! It took vis- AMPAC´s International Planetarium Festi- tariums participated as well, among them the itors on a whirlwind tour of some of the most val, part of its XXXVI annual meeting, took Ekbe Planetarium in Queretaro. incredible places in the universe, using their place 3-7 December 2014 at the Planetari- um Torreón, in the State of Coahuila, Mexi- co, hosted by Eduardo Hernandez, director in A changing of the Lars As we thank Dr. Lars Broman for many faithful years of editing International News with collaboration-sponsorship of the Mexican Sci- a passion for promoting the international nature of our Society, IPS welcomes Dr. Lars Pe- ence and Technology Council (CONACYT). tersen to the team of Associate Editors as the new editor of International News. It was indeed an international event, and The new Lars earned his Ph.D. in astronomical research, and then found his true calling in invited speakers included Lucia Sendón, direc- planetariums. He heads the Orion Planetarium in Jels, Denmark and at the 2014 IPS confer- tor, Buenos Aires Planetarium Galileo Galilei, ence in Beijing shared exciting plans for expansion of the exhibit area around the planetar- Argentina, as well as Dr. Thomas Kraupe, Plan- ium dome itself. etarium Hamburg director and IPS president. Having once spent a year in Canada and being a regular at IPS conferences since the 1998 It was the most relevant event for AMPAC London event, Lars brings a truly international viewpoint to our work. We are grateful that since the 1984 IPS Conference, which was held he has agreed to take on this column and look forward to his good work for many years to at the Alfa Planetarium, Monterrey, Mexico. come. -Dr. Dale Smith, IPS Publications Committee Chair

68 Planetarian December 2014 GLPA: Definitely in the “how cool is that” category at The Cernan Earth & Space Center, which recently received space art solar cells for the south side of the building. They are part of a large Triton College environmental grant that has added an array of solar cells to the Cernan Center’s roof and a water reclamation system to the nearby parking lot. In addition to the main array of solar panels on the roof, a group (left) features an Apollo 17 lunar landscape overlay, complete with Eugene Cernan’s autograph; another group (right) is arranged into the pattern of an orbiting satellite. Photos by Bert Benjamin.

Zeiss ZKP4 system and Uniview. Indiana’s other planetarium vendor for 28 Lake Erie Nature and Science Center This autumn, the William M. Staerkel Plan- years, Indianapolis-based Bowen Technova- opened the doors to their completely reno- etarium at Parkland College in Champaign tion, was busy this summer conducting non- vated Walter R. Schuele Planetarium on 14 presented Fall Prairie Skies, Dynamic Earth, and vendor technology and exhibit workshops at June. Director Fran Ratka writes that “we cel- both fulldome Zula Patrol programs. In No- SEPA and WAC in July. In September, Bowen ebrated with 12 hours of fun indoor and out- vember, Santa’s Secret Star and Loch Ness’ Sea- conducted a two-hour immersive theater de- door astronomy activities as well as a special son of Light returned to the dome. Their World sign workshop at the Western Museum Asso- preview of our new OmniStar digital projec- of Science lecture series returned for the 2014- ciation in Las Vegas for the non-planetarium tor. We were blessed with almost 1,000 visitors 2015 academic year. museum and display world. And, in October, and clear skies for our evening stargazing. Our The Cernan Earth & Space Center was one hosted a free two-day Bowen Technovation public programs have been very well attend- of several campus beneficiaries of an envi- Exhibit and Immersive Theater Expo that of- ed since then.” ronmental grant obtained by its parent insti- fered detailed workshop sessions on audio, Installation of the new Spitz SciDome tution, Triton College. Among other projects, video, lighting control from leading equip- Touch XD fulldome system is complete at the the grant funded the construction of an array ment and software companies. Bowling Green State University Planetarium. of solar panels atop the Cernan Center roof Michigan. At the University of Michigan It is the first cove-mounted SciDome system. that creates electricity for the Triton College Planetarium in Ann Arbor, the new museum The planetarium’s infrastructure was renovat- power plant. In an artistic flair, project design- planning process continues. This fall, exoplan- ed in the summer of 2013, including new seats, ers augmented two solar panel structures on ets will take center stage, along with star talks new floor, and wall carpet, repainting of the the south wall of the building with a space-re- and other programs. dome, and installation of a star projector ele- lated theme. (See photographs.) The Roger B. Chaffee Planetarium at the vator. Director Dale Smith is keeping the Mi- Indiana’s newest planetarium that opened Grand Rapids Public Museum had a busy nolta, so both traditional and fulldome pro- early in 2014—the Koch Immersive Theater summer of sky shows and special activities, grams will be available. within the Evansville Museum— had a strong much of it concentrated in the radically up- Wisconsin/Minnesota. Planetarians in spring and summer. The remainder of the year dated Digistar 5 sky theater. Several public sky Minnesota are pleased to announce that the featured two children’s shows, three weekly shows were offered daily, including the won- state has awarded funds to the University of installments of its Skies Over Evansville, and a derfully updated Little Star that Could and the Minnesota to build a new Bell Museum of Nat- new general audience show. brand new SpacePark360: Infinity. Planning is ural History and Planetarium. It will be a 8300 The Edwin Clark Schouweiler Memorial well underway for the gala 50th Anniversa- m2 (92,500 square foot) facility with a 120-seat Planetarium, University of Saint Francis, Fort ry GLPA conference, to be held in October of planetarium and visualization theater, built Wayne had a busy summer with production 2015. on 12 acres of land on the University’s St. Paul work and its participation in the city’s annu- Ohio. The old Erie Planetarium, first in- campus. Groundbreaking is tentatively set for al Three Rivers Festival. Work is under way on stalled in late 1959, is continuing its move to 2015, with an estimated 24-month build time. the Schouweiler version of SEPA’s The Planets. a new location at Penn State University Beh- From Larry Mascotti, “It has been a pleasure Veteran four-year Planetarium Educator Niki rend, where it will occupy the space of a for- to be inspired by your dedicated efforts to Habegger left in July for graduate school in mer plastics engineering lab. Electrical and air support my work as an astronomy educator. Charleston, South Carolina. conditioning were installed during the sum- I have officially retired from the Mayo High Indiana now boasts being the home state mer, and the dome, cove lights, seating, and School Planetarium and it is my pleasure to for two world-class planetarium vendors. The Spitz 512 were installed early this fall. The new introduce Paul Larson as the new planetarium first of these is GOTO’s USA liaison officer Ken Erie planetarium will try to incorporate some director for the Rochester, Minnesota School Miller, who recently moved from Hawaii to old with the new as they reinstall their Moon- System. Best wishes to all.” Indianapolis. base 2100 exhibit and constellation wall. This fall, the Allen F. Blocher Planetarium

December 2014 Planetarian 69 in Stevens Point, Wisconsin presented Auro- sume their duties at the ra in September and October, changing to The beginning of 2015. Jack Star Gazer in November. The nearby Arthur J. Northrup of King Mid- Pejsa Observatory reopened this fall after last dle Magnet School Plan- year’s total renovation of the dome, cameras, etarium in Omaha be- and telescope computer controls. comes GPPA president. The UW-Eau Claire Planetarium held an- Kristin Testin of Uni- other successful Astronomy Day for the Chip- versity of Nebraska at pewa Valley last May, which was held in Omaha Kountze Plane- partnership with the Chippewa Valley Astro- tarium becomes treasur- nomical Society. The planetarium director, er and Zach Thompson Lauren Likkel, with support from the CVAS, of Mueller Planetarium coordinates a monthly astronomy column in becomes secretary. Jack the local newspaper to help promote the plan- Dunn will be past presi- etarium and CVAS outreach. dent. The UW-Milwaukee Planetarium started Most important for the semester with The Red Planet, which re- GPPA at the Arlington views our exploration of Mars and plans for meeting, the organiza- the future. Later in the fall, the Friday night tion adopted a new set IAP: The construction of a miniature solar system in a workshop at the program changed to The Constellations of of by-laws to replace I Casali del Toppello agriturismo in the small village of Mantignana near the Zodiac. The October lunar eclipse was ob- the old ones which were Perugia for the “Villages Under a Starry Sky” project. Courtesy of Star- served (according to plans) despite the unfor- sorely out of date. GPPA Light. tunate early morning time it occurred. has is agreed to hold an informal meeting at Science City in Kansas and the sky on the day of each party and of Great Plains Planetarium City in the fall. As usual, there’s no registration the observation of the night sky by naked eye Association fee for these informal meetings. and by telescope. Those present participated Jack Dunn has retired as the planetarium co- In Arlington, GPPA members enjoyed a ter- in some simple workshops, for example the ordinator for Mueller Planetarium at Univer- rific conference hosted by Levent Gurdemir. construction of a miniature solar system and sity of Nebraska-Lincoln after some 43 years From the shows to the amazing Turkish res- the simulation of a comet. in that post. He remains as GPPA President till taurant to fine Texas hospitality, we had a Another experience, new for StarLight, was the end of 2014. At the GPPA meeting at the great time. We were pleased at the good del- the participation in the first Amateur Histor- Western Alliance Conference in Arlington, egate attendance as well as strong vendor par- ical-Archaeological Documentary Festival or- Texas new officers were elected and will as- ticipation. All bodes well for the next WAC, ganized by the Perusia Archaeological Group which will be held in Albuquerque, New Mex- (GAP). ico in 2015. The association presented two works: Au- gusta Perusia, a video made for the From Pe- Italian Association of Planetaria rugia to Brescia on a Starry Night event which During the summer StarLight, a hand plan- was presented by a panel at the IPS Confer- etarium, developed its “Villages under a Star- ence in Beijing, and “Under the Dendera Sky,“ ry Sky” project by organizing some star parties a report that traces the ancient Egyptian view in small villages in the Perugia territory where of the sky as it is represented in the Hathor there is low light pollution. The events con- temple in Dendera. The first video won third sisted of the explanation of the phenomena place and the second, fifth place. StarLight will be in partnership with the GAP for the organization of the 2015 festival, where the basic topic will be light, as next year will be the International Year of Light. The 29th PlanIt Meeting was at the Frances- co Martino Planetarium in Modena on 13-14 April 2014. It was very interesting and full of new proposals, for example three PlanIt Priz- es: Planit prize, talking with stars, and tell your experience. There were many speakers, many of whom were teachers, who talked about the importance of the planetarium in education. Some Italian planetarium operators spoke about their experiences in schools and with the general public. Much interest was aroused by the 10-m (33- ft) portable planetarium, inflatable in 3 hours, which was demonstrated by the Russian company Fulldome.pro in a garden near the plan- GPPA: Top, Incoming GPPA President Jack Northrup with Donna Pierce. Photo by Jack Dunn. Below: Cur- etarium. Its projection system is the Fulldome. rent GPPA President Jack Dunn with Robin Sip. Photo by Zach Thompson. Right: Zach Thompson (on left) and Ron Proctor at the WAC Conference in Arlington, Texas . Photo by Jack Dunn. (Continues on page 72)

70 Planetarian December 2014 December 2014 Planetarian 71 cludes Astronomical Trails in Brescia and posal is in place which would allow teams of Perugia where the historical and scientif- students and scientists to attempt to gather ic sites of both cities can be discovered. data on the atmosphere of the planet. The invitation was described this past They are also part of an international net- June during the IPS conference in China. work of observatories that the Internation- Interested parties are invited to contact al Dark Sky Association put together with Starlight Association at mirusi7678@gmail. help from the Vatican Observatory work- com, or Centro Studi e Ricerche Serafino ing to map the night time sky as far as its ac- Zani at [email protected]. tual brightness. The observatory also houses a weather station, making the observatory a Middle Atlantic Planetarium multi-purpose facility centered around their Society 32-in Ritchey-Chretien telescope. In its second year of a collaborative ef- Steven LJ Russo, director of East Kentucky fort, George Mason University of Fairfax, Science Center and Planetarium (an active IAP: Fulldome.pro’s portable planetarium was inflated Virginia and the Winkler Botanical Pre- MAPS member even though his facility is in a garden in front of the Francesco Martino Plane- serve of Alexandria, Virginia successful- technically outside our geographic region), tarium in Modena during the 29th PlanIt Meeting. In ly implemented a portable planetarium reports continued success with outreach pro- the photo are Gianluca Ranzini, Planit president, Mar- co Cosmacini, Skypoint, and Marco Garoni, Ravenna program about the moon with science grams, including Astronomy Day in May 2014 Planetarium. Courtesy of Simonetta Ercoli. camp students in the summer of 2014. with over 200 people in attendance for plane- This year’s new program was titled tarium shows, hands-on astronomy activities, pro Digital Cube MK2, a 2.5K fulldome packed The Moon & Apollo Missions. It was de- NASA handouts, and some outdoor solar ob- into one unit. signed to help teach about the moon and to serving. The important new event of the 2014 meet- honor the 45th anniversary of the Apollo 11 The EKSC opened up the new show Solar ing was the organization of two workshops mission. The 2013 planetarium program was Quest from the Buhl Planetarium. After this on Digital and fulldome projection and dome- titled Constellations & Asterisms. 11-minute recorded program on the sun and master and fulldome production, run by Sky- The Moon & Apollo Missions planetarium space weather, the staff at EKSC adds on a point, Sky-Skan and Fulldome Database. program was field tested in the spring of 2014 10-minute live section showing current views To promote the knowledge of a foreign lan- with 100 students from the Mount Vernon El- of the Sun via SOHO and SDO, and a 15-min- guage, is very useful to introduce in countries ementary School of the Alexandria City Pub- ute live night sky/question and answer ses- like Italy lessons in English about different lic School System. sion. topics. In the field of astronomy, it could be Fourth grade students were enrolled in an They held 10 summer camps on a variety of interesting to prepare different audio lessons afterschool reading program for at-risk stu- (Continues on page 74) for planetarium programs that can be shared dents. These students spent a between colleagues of non-English countries. month reading books about the These are the material necessary for each moon and then participated in a audio lesson: field trip to the Winkler Botan- •• A complete script (detailed description ical Preserve, where they were of the lesson, including the celestial sky exposed to the Starlab Porta- showed during the lesson); ble Planetarium System and the •• Audio file (mp3) registration in English of moon. the main part of the lesson (for students The full lunar program was that learn English); implemented during the 10- •• Written text of each registration, that can week summer session that start- be projected during the lesson to help stu- ed in late June and drew more dents; and than 550 children during the •• Images or power point presentation used months of June, July and August. during the lesson. The program integrated the Star- The project will be developed with the col- lab, an interactive PowerPoint laboration of the winners of the prize Two presentation, and video presen- Weeks in Italy. In fact, each year are involved tations, and concluded with an American teachers or planetarians that easily outdoor hike that tested the stu- can prepare the registration of the lesson pro- dents’ knowledge as presented in posed to Italian students. The idea is to collect the planetarium program. The an archive of these lessons available for every- Winkler Botanical Preserve in- one. vested in a customized Starlab The astronomical association of Brescia and cylinder to add to the planetari- Perugia invites colleagues from everywhere to um system inventory. Italy in 2015 on the occasion of the World Ex- At the George Mason Uni- position in Milan (May–October). The two or- versity Observatory, scientists ganization have prepared a special itinerary and students have been moni- to discover two Italian cities, both world her- toring exoplanet HD189733b to itage sites, Brescia and Perugia, the first only measure the dimming of its sun MAPS: Top, the George Mason University portable planetarium one hour from Milan and the second between when it passes between it and at the Winkler Botanical Preserve. Courtesy of Dr. Harold Geller. Bottom, the GMU Observatory. Courtesy of Greg Redfern. Florence and Rome. The itinerary also in- observers at GMU. A current pro-

72 Planetarian December 2014 December 2014 Planetarian 73 to receive the proceeds from this is a white square that used Starry Night Pro 6 year’s scramble, which raised al- projection software. most $30,000 from a town of This room was used for one year before the only 3400 people. renovated center was re-opened 1 July 2014. The renovated center has a 10-m planetari- Nordic Planetarium um. The topics of the shows are the science of Association celestial cartography, Estonian space discov- The new Energy Discovery eries, and events in the night sky. Memorable Center just re-opened this July. movie nights are also held here. The planetar- It is situated in a very remark- ium seats up to 40 people. able building, a 101-year-old for- For conducting shows, Starry Night Pro Plus mer electric power plant, and 7 is used and the programs last from 30 to 40 the building itself is a unique in- minutes. The planetarium dome is also used dustrial monument and a histor- as an interactive landscape model, for exam- ic landmark. ple to introduce shale quarry dynamics, how The Cosmic Electric Center is shale is mined underground, and how electric- located in the heart of the city of ity comes from the power plant to your home. Tallinn, capital of Estonia. Here There are three different planetarium you can discover the secrets and shows to choose from: Star Family, Estonian interactive exhibits of the pow- Space Discoveries, and Twelve Months and er plant, travel to distant plan- Starry Night, and they can be booked for ets and learn about discoveries groups spoken in Estonian, English, Finnish, in space, raise your hair by walk- Norwegian, and Russian. ing on a lightning bridge, and In addition, the center keeps people up-to- see a unique lightning demon- date with Estonia’s first satellite. ESTCube-1 MAPS: Top, summer camp fun and bottom: Ready to launch at stration. was launched into orbit at Kourou on 7 May East Kentucky Science Center and Planetarium. Photos courte- Visitors also have a chance to 2013. Its main mission is to test its electric so- sy Steven Russo. discover space in a virtual plan- lar wind sail. science topics, including astronomy, rocket- etarium and learn about different scientific The most important showpiece of the cen- ry, chemistry, biology, magnetism, and robot- phenomena at the science theatre, workshops, ter is a Tesla transformer, which is surrounded ics. All camps were filled to capacity with 30 and special educational programs. by a Faraday cage. The device can make imita- students in each. They also offered outreach The history of Energy Center Planetarium tions of lightning up to 3 meters large. programs to housing projects in surrounding started in 2009 when Estonia’s first fully dig- The center is in the middle of beginning counties, and programs in the library system ital planetarium was opened for visitors. In a collaboration with Tallinn University of as part of the Fizz, Boom, Read nationwide 2012 the center was closed for renovation. At Technology. The project aims is to spot sat- Collaborative Summer Library Program. This the same time when Energy Science Centre ellites moving by and locate their position in summer’s program was a science based theme, was being built, Rauno Pilvik started to devel- real time. An antenna will be placed on the and was designed to keep kids reading over op planetarium programs for the center. roof of the building, and a television screen the summer. A temporary discovery center was set up will be placed somewhere near the planetari- Support for the EKSC remains strong in the underground at the Freedom square in Tal- um to receive the live feed; the feed can also community as proven by the money raised in linn. Unfortunately, there was no specific be projected to the planetarium itself. the annual William G. Duke Golf Scramble. place to conduct planetarium shows. The so- In the planetarium the biggest attention Each year, Big Sandy Community and Tech- lution came unexpectedly when one room is on planetarium guides and their perfor- nical College (the organization that runs the was left over, an old office. Pilvik and his team mance skills. All events are live presentations EKSC) holds this annual fund raiser. The pres- decided to design this room to somewhat of so the audience can ask questions and add ident of the college chose the science center a “stargate” platform, and they used spray subjects in the discussion. Sometimes they cans to make a float- also show a short film, and in the future they ing “plasma gate” to are planning to get a new projection system. space. In the middle (Continues on page 76)

NPA: Above, the Cosmic Electric Center Planetarium under construction, and right, its Tesla transformer. Courtesy of the Cosmic Electric Center.

74 Planetarian December 2014 Evidence of a Restless Planet

Earthquake explores the forces that Narrated by Academy Award winner Jodie Develop a renewed appreciation for our transform the surface of our planet and Foster, Life launches the audience on a fragile planet. Sigourney Weaver narrates this influence the course of human history. journey through time to witness key events immersive excursion that explores a universe Narrated by Benjamin Bratt. since the Big Bang that set the stage for life. filled with the possibility of life.

nominated Winner Winner Best FullDome Program Best FullDome Program FullDome Award of Excellence Jackson Hole Jackson Hole Jena FullDome Festival Wildlife Film Festival Wildlife Film Festival

nominated Winner Best Visual Effects Best Integration of Scientific in a Special Venue Data and Best in Narration Visual effects society Jena FullDome Festival

FINALIST Best Video the international science & engineering visualization challenge

ForDecember more information2014 on licensing our shows, visit Planetarianwww.calacademy.org/licensing . 75 Russian Planetariums Association scope in the small observatory. foreign suppliers of equipment and software. Barnaul. As usual, the planetarium had The large observatory welcomes visitors for Over 30 films were demonstrated. The lead- lots of festivities on 1 September, the Day mass observations of the moon, planets, neb- ers included Journey through the Solar Sys- of Knowledge. Serious, well-groomed high ula, multiple stars, and star clusters. Amateur tem from Donetsk Planetarium, Ukraine; The school students and laughing, beautifully- astronomers typically participate in the event Navigator of Outer Space from Point du Jour, dressed first-graders all were joyful and excit- very actively, bringing their own instru- France; Journey to a Billion Suns from ESA, Ger- ed from interesting meetings and a sense of a ments. Visitors’ communications with schol- many; We are Aliens from NSC Creative, UK; triumphal moment. ars promise to be very interesting. To Space and Back from Sky-Skan, USA; Flight Wise Skywatcher was checking how much Nizhny Novgorod. On 24 September, the of Fancy from Fulldome Film Society, Rus- the schoolchildren managed to forget during Planetarium organized a fall research-and- sia; Gopal: Prince of the Cow`s Planet from Full- the summer and called upon their resource- methodology conference on astronomy for domelab, Thailand; and Faces of the Sun from fulness and imagination. Cheerful but hapless school teachers of natural sciences, called As- Large Novosibirsk Planetarium, Russia. “Don’t Know” kept provoking the kids with tro-Space Education in the Modern School. tricks. Celebratory assemblies and funny con- The Head of the Methodology Department, Society of the German-Speaking tests and trivia games on the astronomy site E. Zasypkina, presented a new program in the Planetariums or in the star hall continued alternating with planetarium, The Palette of the Universe. In 2013, 10 planetariums in Germany coop- each other. A senior researcher of the Institute of Ap- erated to produce a new show about the his- At mid-day balloons with the word “Plane- plied Physics, L. Pirogov, discussed the latest tory of the universe, called Time Travel–From tarium” went off to the sky. Overall, 300 peo- author’s studies on radio astronomy and birth The Big Bang To Mankind. This show combines ple visited the planetarium that day; festiv- of stars. A researcher of the State Education- astrophysics with other sciences. It takes the ities included six celebratory assemblies in al University and Planetarium, A. Kiselyov, viewer on a journey through time, from the front of the planetarium and six shows. shared vast materials about the “First Results big bang and the birth of the first stars, past Moscow. On 1 September Moscow Plane- of the Rosetta Mission.” the formation of the galaxy, the sun and the tarium officially opened its small observatory A scholar of the Institute for Educational earth, towards the emergence of life, animals, with a state-of-the-art 40-cm Richey-Chretien Development, A. Belenov, showed Elements and finally, mankind. refracting telescope. By the start of an annu- of Quantum Physics in the “Author’s Course On 31 July 2014, the show had its first open- al international event—–100 Hours of Astron- on Astronomy.” The planetarium hall was full ing at the planetarium in Münster, followed omy—the astronomy site in the planetarium of guests who were very interested in the pre- by the other participating planetariums all formed a robust astronomy set: a Zeiss-300 sentations. over Germany. refracting telescope in the large observato- Novosibirsk. The weekend of 26-28 Sep- This production was the largest coopera- ry, and a radio telescope and a refracting tele- tember was marked with KinoKupol Inter- tive project that German planetariums have national Multidome Fes- realized so far. It was only achieved through tival. Its signature feature the contributed funds and assets of all 10 part- was multiple domes: the ners, as well as the advice of more than 20 con- sites included the 16-m tributing scientists. The production was coor- dome of Large Novosi- dinated in Münster and in Bochum. birsk Planetarium and It is the second such project done by a group several 7-m assembly of planetariums in Germany, and will be fol- domes installed in differ- lowed by a third one that has just started. ent districts of Novosi- Since Spring 2014, Planetarium Hamburg birsk. uses a unique new sound system and is the The festival brought to- first planetarium in the world combining gether representatives of Fulldome 3D Sound and Vision, offering a planetariums from Russia new dimension of immersion and audience and abroad: research and experience. educational centers, uni- The new Atmosphea sound system uses 64 versities and institutions speakers and is based on SpatialSound Wave of culture, Russian and technology of Fraunhofer Institute for Digital foreign producers of full- Media Technology (IDMT). Atmosphea is the dome content, and repre- result of a collaboration between the Fraun- sentatives of Russian and hofer IDMT and Shure Europe GmbH. Directional audio content and acoustic environments are now conveyed in three di- mensions. Audiovisu- al objects can be placed anywhere in the room opening up new and virtually untapped possibilities for staging im- RPA: Top, the small observatory of the big Moscow Plane- tarium. Photo by Yulia Kim. Center, the sundial in front of mersive media content. Novosibirsk Planetarium, which is placed at the “sun” in a The poetic musical beautiful park-like solar system model. Courtesy of Novo- (Continues on page 78) sibirsk Planetarium.

76 Planetarian December 2014 December 2014 Planetarian 77 SGP: Above, a scene from the new German production Time Travel-From The Big Bang To Mankind. Courtesy of Björn Voss. Right, Tabaluga appeared live at the premiere of the animated fulldome show at Planetarium Hamburg in April 2014, having fun with Plane- tarium Director Thomas Kraupe. Courtesy of F.M.Arndt, Planetarium Hamburg. journey Lichtmond-Universe of Light has al- ed. Watch this column for more information. Museum of Science, followed by an amazing ready been adapted to the new 3D sound sys- A new slate of officers has been elected and Turkish meal at Istanbul Grill. tem and the world premiere of Tabaluga and will serve two-year terms beginning 1 Janu- Jack Dunn, past GPPA president, spent a few the Signs of Time was making use of this sys- ary, 2015: President elect, minutes during lunch to reminisce on his ca- tem. Derek Demeter; secre- reer as a planetarian as he prepared for retire- Tabaluga is a unique collaboration with tary/treasurer, Patsy ment this summer. The post conference tour the German Rock legend Peter Maffay and Wilson; and IPS Coun- included a trip to the Fort Worth Museum of his team. This family entertainment show cil representative, John Science and History and the Historic Stock- centers around the fantasy figure of a young Hare. yards District. Thank you to everyone who at- and curious dragon, which is exploring the Continuing officers tended the conference and to the conference world around him. Since the world premiere include Ken Brandt, who hosts and that entire team at the planetarium in Hamburg, this family entertainment show will move from presi- for a successful conference! is now already playing in half a dozen plane- dent elect to president; On 4 September, the Noble Planetarium tariums in Germany. SEPA: President Elect and David Dundee, who (Fort Worth Museum of Science and Histo- The use of the immersive sound has prov- Derek Demeter. Pho- will move from presi- ry) and Portable Universe Planetarium (Perot en to be an extremely attractive asset towards to by John Hare. dent to past president. Museum of Nature and Science) brought staff creative minds and for tapping into new audi- Further information together in a workshop for planetarium pre- ences. Since July 2014 Planetarium Hamburg regarding SEPA can be found at sepadomes.org. senters. Over a dozen staff, working in groups is even offering pure audio experiences three of two or three, performed night sky talks in times a week. Southwestern Association of miniature. In collaboration with Sony Family Enter- Planetariums In each presentation, peers gave immediate tainment, three new stories of the very pop- The Planetarium at University of Texas- feedback. This allowed each presenter an op- ular three detectives (Called the 3 Question- Arlington hosted a very successful Western portunity to work on volume, speed, clarity, marks in Germany) were produced for the Alliance Conference (WAC) this July in Ar- and delivery of information. I Atmosphea sound system and are present- lington, Texas. Over 90 del- ed exclusively at Hamburg Planetarium as a egates and vendors attended pure, 90-minute long listening experiences in the conference, despite tem- complete darkness under the dome. Since July peratures around 100 de- the three weekly shows have been selling out grees F. The four-day confer- weeks in advance. ence schedule was packed with two laser demos, sev- Southeastern Planetarium eral projector and software Association demos, two inflatable plane- Plans for the 2015 SEPA conference are pro- tariums, dozens of fulldome ceeding. The conference will be hosted by the shows, workshops in Blend- Tellus Museum in Cartersville, Georgia. Con- er, Light Wave, After Effects, ference dates are 23 June thru 27 June, 2015. Illustrator and fisheye pho- Cartersville is situated in the mountains of tography, paper presenta- North Georgia, just a little over one hour tions covering a variety of north of Atlanta on Interstate 75. The central topics and much more. The location makes it easy to drive or fly to the conference included a mid- SWAP: Mike George, Arizona Science Center, gives ART 360 presen- conference site and a large turnout is expect- conference tour to the Perot tation at WAC. Courtesy of Amy Barraclough.

78 Planetarian December 2014 THE UNIVERSE EXPOSED Host the planetarium show at your venue

The Universe Exposed is a captivating show celebrating the Astronomy Photographer of the Year competition, showcasing spectacular images of the night sky from around the world and explaining how to take your own pictures with a digital camera. Follow Luna and Jeff (and their fictional super-powered phone app, Tycho) on a journey from their back garden to beyond our own galaxy, as they discover the wonders of the universe around us and explore the fascinating hobby of photographing the cosmos. Center of Heart Nebula © Ivan Eder

For further information on hiring our planetarium show the Universe exposed, and coming soon our Astronomy Photographer of the year exhibition please visit http://www.rmg.co.uk/spaceontour, or contact [email protected] Produced by the Royal Observatory Greenwich Available for licensing from Sky-Skan Inc. http://skyskan.com/shows/shows/The_Universe_Exposed.html

The beautiful images submitted every year never fail to capture the imaginations of adults and children alike, generating substantial press and media interest. The competition presents an opportunity for planetaria who want to get involved in encouraging participation, promoting astronomy and attracting new audiences.

About the Astronomy Photographer of the The 2015 competition will launch in early January, Year competition: The Royal Observatory with the winners announced in September 2015. Greenwich has been running the international For more information on APY and associated Astronomy Photographer of the Year (APY) exhibitions and products visit our website at competition since 2009. The number of entries http://www.rmg.co.uk/APY has been growing steadily each year, with more To get free APY content onto your dome now than 1700 photographs from 51 different countries contact Royal Observatory Greenwich astronomer entered into the 2014 competition. Edward Bloomer: [email protected]

December 2014 Planetarian 79 high school level. But I also do special events Mobile News for general audiences, like in museums for example. “I work with the planetarium a few days al- Susan Reynolds Button most every week of the year, visiting different Quarks to Clusters schools from the region. The subjects we talk 8793 Horseshoe Lane about in the shows are usually changed de- Chittenango, New York 13037 USA pending the age of the students, but normally +1 315-687-5371 I like to talk about the sun, the moon, constellations, space missions, Mars and Saturn. I’m [email protected], [email protected] also reading and searching for space news and quarkstoclusters.wordpress.com information about fulldome shows. “If you ask me what the most frustrating American in Italy 2016. Start planning now; remember the dead- part of my job is, I must say that when you do Congratulations to ShiAnne Kattner from line is 15 September 2015! what you like, how can you have any frustrat- Casper, Wyoming! ing moments? The best parts of my job are, ShiAnne has been selected to represent the Argentina of course, the happiness and smiling faces of American planetarium community in Italy News continues to flow from Argentina, young kids during the shows, and when you for 2015. thanks to Oded Kindermann, a valuable con- find out that in their homes they share with We congratulate her on all of the fine work tact. He wrote, “I’m attaching a report from plenty of enthusiasm what they have learned that she has done, first in California and now a mobile planetarium director in Argentina in the planetarium; those are the moments at the Casper Planetarium, in the field of as- who started his activities last year. He is actu- when you say ‘Mission Accomplished.’ tronomy education and research. ally a friend from who I had the opportunity “With the planetarium I have discovered We know that she will do an excellent job to advise for several months before he decided new ways to teach space science and astron- providing planetarium experiences to the stu- to go for it and buy the planetarium after re- (Continues on page 82) dents and the Italian planetarium communi- signing from his actual job that he ty. Her talented ability will admirably repre- worked for the past 10 years. It was sent the culture of America and will be a treat a very important decision in his for the students she will be working with in life and I’m happy to be part of it.” Italy. Oded’s friend, Denis C. Martinez, Her lesson, The Multi-Wave Universe, will reports, “I have felt the passion for introduce the different wavelengths found in astronomy and everything related the universe and will provide students with to space since I was a young kid. In visuals of what celestial objects look like in 1994 I purchased my first telescope these different wavelengths. and ever since that moment my Participants in the presentation will: dream has been to dedicate myself •• Investigate the electromagnetic spectrum; to this great science. I’m also lucky •• Directly analyze the visible, infrared, and to live in a region where the skies ultraviolet light and specific examples of are not contaminated much by how to detect each form of energy; city lights and pollution. •• Comprehend what a wavelength is; “In 2008 I established the first as- •E• valuate the other forms of energy by study- tronomy club in the region with ing the electromagnetic spectrum; and the purpose to teach this science •• Learn about night sky and some celestial and motivate others to continue objects found in different seasons. with observational activities. Since I look forward to hearing her impressions then I have been searching for new when she comes back! I will share the report educational methods and proper of her experience in a future column. Mean- tools to achieve this goal. while, we will be looking for applications for “Then, in 2013, I discovered the amazing world of mobile planetariums and Mr. Oded Kindermann from Jujuy, Argentina, who helped me with much good advice and ShiAnne has always been the adventur- many suggestions that enabled me ous type (here she is to make the correct decisions for climbing the snow- buying the Mobile Planetarium covered Villarrica with my personal budget and help Volcano outside of Pucon, Chile) and from my partner. now that she was “I purchased the Genesis HD Dig- “picked” to go to It- ital projection system with a fish- aly, another adven- eye and I use it in the center of my ture begins! Photo 5-meter dome. Most of the shows So many happy niños! Teacher Daniela Amaya, with students by Carolyn Heffner I do are for educational purpos- from three grade levels at School Estacion Limay, Region of Cipolletti, province of Rio Negro. Photos provided by Denis es at the elementary, primary, and Martinez

80 Planetarian December 2014 December 2014 Planetarian 81 omy, a beautiful way of touching 77 provinces of which many of the stars with our hands and to feel them own mobile planetariums. immersed in the cosmos!” But others only rely on some out- Contact Information: Denismart- reach programs by these mobile [email protected]. planetariums. “So when they show up, for in- England stance, in the Province of Buri- In September, Mario Di Maggio ram in the northeast of Thailand sent me an update about his new where these pictures are taken, work. He announced: thousands of school children “After a year of working free- show up for some astronomical lance I’m beginning to really en- education. joy it. I have two upcoming mobile “The downside of these local dome projects you may be interest- initiatives is that shows inside ed in for the Planetarian. the dome have to be very short “This past weekend the first per- to serve everyone by the end of formance of ‘E-x-p-a-n-d-i-n-g: The the day. But the educators love History of the Universe in 45 min- their job travelling to the poorest utes’ successfully took place in my outskirts of the country. They of- 7-m mobile digital planetarium in ten are weeks on the road before Bridgnorth, Shropshire with an au- returning to their home base.” dience of 25 people: http://bit.ly/e- Johan Gijsenbergs, gysen- x-p-n. Funded by Arts Council Eng- [email protected]; Sukhum- land, ‘E-x-p-a-n-d-i-n-g’ is a Dome vit 101, 713/16 Punnawithi 25, Club-type experience that will be Phrakanong, 10260 Bangkok, travelling to arts and literature fes- Thailand. tivals in England next year. “I’ve just secured funding to take Africa a mobile dome experience to all 35 I recently heard from Antho- of Birmingham’s Community Li- ny Kuria from Uganda, on the braries. This has been as a result of eastern side of Africa. Anthony a few visits I made earlier this year: wrote that he found me through http://bit.ly/brumlibs. What real- Colorful students: Thousands of school children show up for astronomical IPS. He explained that he wants ly helps is the 4m dome, as most of education at a mobile planetarium rally in Thailand. Lessons in the domes to acquire a mobile planetari- these libraries are tiny. were short because of the sheer number of students involved. “This is one um for a young amateur astron- way to excite students in the poorest areas of Thailand!” Photo credit: Prof. “I’ll have more news and photos omers group. They want to teach Chao Bankunhod of the Nakorn Ratchasrima Science Centre for Education to share once those projects get un- (www.koratsci.net) school children in their society. der way. It is very exciting to hear about “I’ve also just moved to Bristol. Quite typ- for fulldome. We are forging the fulldome in- another initiative in this vast continent that ically, now that I’ve left Birmingham I land dustry. Fulldome industry does not yet exist.” has so few planetariums! a big project that will see me travelling back Thank you Mario. I suspect this is true in I pointed him to the documents on the regularly!” many countries and, as you know, I feel the IPS Portable Planetarium Committee web- In October, Mario wrote, “The library proj- portables are a most excellent vehicle for edu- page, especially “What Projector Should I ect kicked off last Saturday (4 October 2014) cating and inspiring citizens whether the por- Purchase?” The other documents do not list and I’ll be filling this album with images, feed- table is fulldome or not! They are certainly a all the projectors and domes in the world back and other updates: bit.ly/bcctiab. very dramatic venue and provide an unfor- but will certainly give him some of the ma- “Interestingly, at today’s library (in a gettable personal experience where fulldome jor manufacturers. (www.ips-planetarium. wealthy part of the city), the librarian, who content is compounded because of the inti- org/?page=portablecom) has been there 38 years (her entire career), has macy in a small dome. Hopefully he can get a look at several mod- not only never had a mobile dome in her li- Contact information: mario@immersive- els to help him decide. I also explained that brary before—but she didn’t even know these theatres.com. price really matters in the quality of the prod- things existed. And she’s not only an educa- ucts. For first time experiences, audiences will tion professional but also a grandmother, so Thailand be impressed with the lower cost versions, her children and grandchildren have not ex- I am extremely happy to hear that porta- however, either digital or analog! perienced one yet. bles are very active in Thailand. This news I also suggested that they could even try to “In my mind this is further evidence that makes me want to go there and help because build their own. I electronically sent him the there is as yet no ‘fulldome industry’; in fact, there is such a huge need! IPS Handbook for Portables. I mentioned that in most parts of the world, there is barely a Johan Gijsenbergs sent some amazing pic- the section on equipment is especially out- planetarium industry. It is people like you and tures of a few small dome events that hap- dated, but the lessons and other material he me and other mobile operators who are lay- pened in Thailand. He explained: should find very useful. ing the groundwork… “Thousands of youngsters show up at mo- I look forward to hearing more from him “At least mobile planetariums daily pene- bile planetarium rallies in Thailand orga- about the progress they make! If you want to trate the community. We are not only expos- nized by the Ministry of Non-Formal Educa- help support him in his research, you can email ing citizens to fulldome, but creating a desire tion. A bit larger than Spain, Thailand counts him at: [email protected]. I

82 Planetarian December 2014 December 2014 Planetarian 83

Cosmic Adventure Ad.indd 1 4/23/2014 12:00:25 PM nior High. Steve Sabo is the current planetari- Waxing New um director there; the person Mason remembers is probably John Toll. An eclectic collection about planetariums, products and people From the company’s website (the-planetar- compiled by Sharon Shanks ium.com): “Did you ever visit a planetarium when you were a kid? The lights went out. The night sky appeared black, but tiny pin- search firm located in Saratoga Springs, New Asteroid John Schroer points of light emerged. The moderator began York, that took its inspiration from a plane- Look to the skies some dark evening this illuminating images that weren’t immediate- tarium, perhaps an inspiration that stuck in winter, when the air is still and the seeing ly visible. The stars began to connect into pat- a young mind years ago from a high school great, and imagine your can see asteroid 10056 terns and the patterns began to weave stories. planetarium? Johnschroer (1988 BX3), a main belt asteroid The vastness of the universe felt sudden- Now you do. It’s called Planetarium, and named for the late John A. Schroer IV (1956- ly navigable. Wonder and curiosity evolved the founder/managing director, Bob Mason, 2014). The asteroid was discovered in 1988 by into newfound understanding.” said that his company emerged from “plan- H. Debehogne at the European Southern Ob- That sounds about right. servatory. ning,” i.e. strategic, ac- As many planetarians know, John was a count, brand, and com- Hamilton books visit Germany munication planning, planetarium and space science educator for Thomas Wm. Hamilton (Staten Island, New with the intent of “con- the Michigan Science Center in Detroit. He York) had two of his books promoted to an in- necting the dots” and was also former president of the Great Lakes ternational audience at the recent 14th annu- “bring insight into the Planetarium Association and an avid amateur al Frankfurt Book Fair in Germany. mix to make the market- radio operator. His enthusiasm and love of as- On display was his 2013 anthology of 27 sci- ing efforts more clear, focused and impactful.” tronomy opened the universe to school chil- ence fiction and fantasy stories, The Mountain Mason remembers attending a planetari- dren and the public at large. of Long Eyes, as well as the just published Im- um “as a kid just outside of Detroit in a city Here’s looking at you, 10056 Johnschroer. pact Craters of Earth. Among the craters it lists called Roseville.” It was called Carl Brablec is the only one known in New York State, not High School at the time; now it is known as Where inspiration comes from far from the popular tourist location of Sara- Roseville Community Schools/Roseville Se- Did you know that there is a market re- toga Springs, nearly circled by Esopus Creek. Hamilton, who worked on the Apol- lo Project for NASA, directed a planetarium Cleveland Regional Association of Planetar- Daniel R. Francetic, 1933-2014 and taught astronomy on Staten Island and iums. Daniel R. Francetic, retired director of for 32 years, finally retiring to write after Survivors include his wife of 56 years, the Euclid High School Planetarium, passed 2003. I away on August Shirley, two daughters, two sons, and nu- 27, 2014. Born on merous grandchildren. March 29, 1933 in The family asks that in lieu of flowers, Clairton, Penn- memorial donations be made to the Amer- sylvania, he was ican Cancer Society. The Dwayne R. Spence a graduate of Funeral Home handled the arrangements. McKeesport Tech High School Pearl L. Riley in 1951 and Pearl L. Reilly, a long time employee of Duquesne Uni- Dan Francetic Seiler Instrument, died June 27, 2014 in versity in 1958, Webster Groves, Missouri, She was 83. and received a master’s degree Case Western Pearl worked at Seiler for 29 years before Reserve University in 1968. retiring in 2001. She will be remembered for He taught for 40 years, first in Pennsylva- her enthusiasm for all things Zeiss and for There is a GLOBE in Italy nia at Glassport High School then in Ohio at her dedication to serving the planetarium The public in Italy’s northeast have the chance Euclid High School, where he was the plan- community. to experience GLOBE, a digital mobile plane- She was the wife for 63 years of Ernest M. tarium that allows 30 visitors at a time to ex- etarium director and astronomy teacher for perience starry skies. It is an offering of Grup- 28 years. He was a consulting teacher for Reilly; mother of Scott, Eric and Kurt Reilly; po Pleiadi, who has given his name to his Project STAR at the Center for Astrophys- and the grandmother of Lindsay, Paige and science and communication company based in ics at Harvard University 1987-1990, a co-re- Sean Reilly. Cadoneghe, Padova. It is a portable system composed of 5-m inflat- cipient of a grant from the National Science Mrs. Reilly donated her body to St. Lou- able dome and a digital projector, accompa- is University School of Medicine. Memori- Teachers Association/Toyota Award in nied by a professional astronomer who accom- 1994, a recipient of the Brennan Award from al contributions may be made to Webster panies the audience in exploring the cosmos. the Astronomical Society of the Pacific in Groves Presbyterian Church. Arrangements Operated since fall 2009, GLOBE’s annual ad- 1996 for outstanding contributions to the were by Gerber Chapel, Webster Groves. mittance is about 20,000 pupils at schools We would love to hear your favorite and kid-dedicated events and the general pub- teaching of astronomy in grades 9-12, was lic at conferences and shows. Among its full- one of four finalists for 1997 Ohio Teacher memories of Pearl; please send them to: dome library are STARS, with animation by the of the Year, and served as a past president [email protected] and we will send them by award-winning computer animation stu- of the Great Lakes Planetarium Association, along with others to the family. dio NSC-Creative; as well as Two Small Pieces of Glass, Losing The Dark, and Back To The Moon For from which he received numerous awards. -Chuck Rau Good. All these are available both in Italian and He also was a founding member of the in English.

84 Planetarian December 2014 December 2014 Planetarian 85 Planetarians’ Calendar of Events www.astrofilibresciani.it/Planetari/Internationa_Calendar.htm Compiled by Loris Ramponi - [email protected]

2 0 1 4 termediate/Advanced sessions) for SciDome/Starry Night Dome 31 December. Deadline of the prize “Page of stars” organized by IPS users, held at Spitz, Inc. facility near Philadelphia. Curriculum, Portable Planetarium Committee in collaboration with Serafino program creation, and presentation for the digital planetari- Zani Astronomical Observatory. The prize rules are available at um. www.spitzinc.com/Institute or contact: jtowne@spitzinc. the IPS Mobile Planetarium Committee web page. Contact: Su- com san Reynolds Button, [email protected] 3-4 August. International Astronomical Union, XXIX General As- sembly, Hawai’i Convention Center, Honolulu, Hawaii, USA. as- 2 0 1 5 tronomy2015.org 6-7 February. Morrison Planetarium, Second Annual Open House, 6-15 August. Fiske Fulldome Film Festival, Boulder, Colorado, USA. free to all interested planetarium professionals, San Francisco, www.fiskefest.com California, USA. www.calacademy.org/fulldome-show-licensing 7-8 August. International Planetarium Society Council meeting at 25 February–1 March. IMERSA Summit 2015. Denver Museum of the Planétarium Rio Tinto Alcan/Espace pour la vie in Montré- Nature & Science, Denver, Colorado, USA. Contact: info@imersa. al, Québec, Canada. org www.imersa.org 9-13 August, 42nd International conference and exhibition on 28 February. Deadline of PlanIt Prize for an original video produc- computer graphics and interactive techniques, SIGGRAPH 2015, tion, organized each year by Italian Association of Planetaria Los Angeles, California, USA. www.siggraph.org (PlanIt), Italy. The prize is open to everyone. First prize 500 euro. 4-6 September. Nordic Planetarium Association Biennial Confer- www.planetari.org Contact: [email protected] ence, AHHAA Science Center, Heureka, The Finnish Science Cen- 15 March. International Day of Planetaria. www.dayofplanetaria. tre, Helsinki, Finland. www.heureka.fi Contact: Kai Santavuo- org ri, [email protected] 10-12 April. Italian Association of Planetaria (PlanIt), XXX National 25-26 September. British Association of Planetaria (BAP), annual Conference, Infini.To Planetarium, Turin, Italy. www.planetari. meeting, Winchester Science Centre and Planetarium, United org Contact: [email protected] Kingdom. Contact: BAP President, Mark Watson, m.watson.bap@ 13-14 April. Central European Fulldome Festival Brno 2015, Brno gmail.com Observatory and Planetarium, Kravi hora 1, Brno, Czech Repub- www.planetaria.org.uk; bapconference.org.uk lic. Contact: Jiri Dusek, [email protected], starrylab.cz/festi- 14-17 October–1 November. Great Lakes Planetarium Association val Conference, the 50th anniversary of GLPA, Grand Rapids, Michi- 1 May–31 October. Expo 2015, “Feeding the planet, energy for life,” gan, USA. www.glpaweb.org World Exposition, Milan, Italy. http://en.expo2015.org 17-20 October. Association of Science-Technology Centers (ASTC) 1-4 May. Gesellschaft Deutschsprachiger Planetarien e.V.,GDP 2015, Annual Conference, Montreal Science Centre, Montreal, Quebec, Annual meeting of Society of German-Speaking Planetariums, Canada. www.astc.org Potsdam, Berlin. Contact: Karin Flegel: k.flegel@urania-potsdam. de www.gdp-planetarium.org 2 0 1 6 7-10 May. Association of French Speaking Planetariums (APLF), 26-28 May. 10th FullDome Festival in the Jena Zeiss-Planetarium, Yearly Meeting, Planétarium de Reims, France. Contact: philippe. “Frameless Frenzy,” Jena Zeiss-Planetarium, Germany. Grand [email protected] www.aplf-planetariums.org opening 25 May (in the evening). Contact: info@fulldome-festi- 13-16 May. Middle Atlantic Planetarium Society (MAPS), Annu- val.de or Schorcht Volkmar, [email protected], www.fulldome- al Conference, Cradle of Aviation Museum/Nassau Communi- festival.de ty College, Garden City, New York (USA). Contact: Patty Seaton, June. International Planetarium Society Council Meeting, Warsaw, [email protected]; www.mapsplanetarium.org Poland. 18 May. International Museums Day, icom.museum 19-25 June. 23rd International Planetarium Society Conference, 27-30 May. 9th FullDome Festival, Jena Zeiss-Planetarium, Jena, Ger- Heavens of Copernicus Planetarium, Copernicus Science Center, many. Contact: [email protected] or Volkmar Schorcht, Warsaw, Poland. Contact: [email protected] [email protected], www.fulldome-festival.de 24-27 September. Association of Science-Technology Centers 11-13 June. European Network of Science Centres and Museums (ASTC) Annual Conference, MOSI, Museum of Science and In- (ECSITE), Annual Conference, “Food for curious minds”, MUSE, dustry, Tampa, Florida, USA. www.astc.org Trento, Italy. www.ecsite.eu 23-27 June. Southeastern Planetarium Association, SEPA 2015 An- For corrections and new information for the Calendar of Events, please nual Conference, Tellus Science Museum, Cartersville, Georgia, send a message to Loris Ramponi at [email protected] More USA.www.sepadomes.org details about several of these upcoming events is included in the Inter- 21-24 July and 27-30 July. Spitz Summer Institute 2015, Chadds national News column in this issue. Ford (near Philadelphia), Pennsylvania, USA. Planetarium educa- The most up-to-date information also is available online at the IPS Cal- endar of Events at www.ips-planetarium.org tors’ development and training (Beginner/Intermediate and In-

86 Planetarian December 2014 December 2014 Planetarian 87

Space Junk Ad.indd 1 10/25/2013 1:07:53 PM there. I had the flou. Last Light That place was educated. Thank you for allowing our Craniums to expand. I learned alot, alot about the planets…and April S. Whitt that Plutos the biggest planet. Fernbank Science Center I leaned that the galxy is biger than I 156 Heaton Park Drive NE thought. I know that Pluto is the coldest planet, but Atlanta, Georgia 30307 USA it is making me cold saying it. [email protected] Im sure I liked it. It was awesome with the star thing. Aren’t thank-you notes the nicest surprise? the sun and it will make you sneeze. Have you explored Mars? I am gowing to. Especially the ones from our youngest visi- I liked the moon. Because it loked nice to Thank you for filling my brain with goodies. tors? live on.: Thank you for the movie it was cool by Keith Johnson, at Edelman Planetarium in I think the word gravity is very intense. putting the stars on the seling it was the cool- Glassboro, New Jersey, shared some of his fa- Thank you for tehenth ues ubout space and est thing Id ever seen because Id never seen vorites in a poster presentation at the Mid- comets and garbage. a thing that could put the stars on the seling dle Atlantic Planetarium Society meeting this Next time I would like to see Star Wars. and it was cool watching it. how come it has past September. With his kind permission, Thank you for keeping us up at 2 o’clock in to be called the plantetaran? Why couldent it here are some of them: the morning. be called the moon lander or something? But I’m going to try to drag my parents there… I like it platerein it sounds better that way. Do My favorite part was the ski show. Someone in our class said that they found you think that youll have any more idieas? Thank you for makeing the char’s cumfey. a tenth planet. Like making the thedeater move? Or some- (making the chairs comfey?) I liked the show. It was naet. I don’t know thing like that. Id like making the thedeater Thanks to you I will get better grades. why I almost fill asleep. move it will be awesome to make it move. I learned about 16 things. I also learned there are things in the sky. Do you like being a scintist? Because if it is The 3rd thing I learned that the sun is a star. I liked the starshow. Even though I wasn’t fun I would like to be a scintist when I grow Not even my Mom knew that! up. And if I am not dead I will be a officer. I brought some licorice into the show and When the stars moved it felt like the stars threw some in the theater during the movie. were moving. I want to apologize to you for doing this…our I liked how it looked like you were in the school is normally pretty good. sky. I just wanted to get up and tuch the sky Io…is the volcanoest moon. and see how it fels. Thank you for letting us come. I was not I felt like I was in space. I still haven’t come there, but I have been down there before. back to Earth yet. It was fun becuse we did not have to do any When your not doing schools what is it work. like? Is it much like the other? I’ll bet it isn’t. I wish I was there but I got a crayon stuck in I wish I could come back today but I live my ear. By Becky in Fallon maybe you can build some kind of I enjoyed talking about Saturn. planetarium here. Maybe a big one Maybe a One thing you forgot was when you have small one who knows. to sneeze and you can not get it out look at I didn’t get to go to the planetarium but I was having a good time in California. Thank you for having us come. I’m sure it was fun. I’m going to be a scienctist when I get older like you I’ll be like you, except I’ll be a girl not a boy. I learned that the sun might disappear some day. I hope the planetarium stays there forever. I

Above, remember that big sunspot that was visible during the October partial solar eclipse? Martin Ratcliffe was kind enough to share his pho- to with to-scale images of Jupiter and Earth added. Image by Martin Rat- cliffe. Used with permission (and thanks!) Closer to home on the left, master gardeners at Fernbank Science Cen- ter planted a Milky Way Garden, complete with a (nowhere near scale sized) glass Earth model. Several varieties of mustard bloom with red- dish blossoms (central bar) and wispy white blooms (spiral arms). Photo- graph by the author.

88 Planetarian December 2014 We Have You Covered Ad - Q4 Final.indd 1 10/27/2014 12:06:33 PM