PLANETARI N Journal of the International Planetarium Vol. 27, No. 2, June 1998
Articles 5 Aniara: Space Epic and its Author ...... Aadu Ott & Lars Broman
12 Building a Spectrometer ...... 0 •• 00 ••••••• 0 ••••• 0 Barbara Baber
Features 15 What's New ...... Jim Manning
20 Book Reviews ..... 0 •••• 0. e ••••••••••••••• 0 •• 0.0.0 •••••••••••••••••••••••• 24 Planetechnica: Check those Slide Trays ...... 28 Forum: Downsizing ......
32 Gibbous Gazette ...... 0 ••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• 34 Computer Corner ...... Ken Wilson 36 Opening the Dome ...... Jon U. Bell 38 International News ...... Lars Broman 45 Mobile News Network ...... Sue Reynolds 48 Planetarium Memories: Campfire Stars ...... Kenneth Perkins 50 Jane's Corner ...... Jane Hastings Seeing Is Believing! In The U.S. & Canada contact Pearl Reilly: 1-800-726-8805 fax : 1-504-764-7665 email : [email protected]
Aufflonzoo DlSlntJur", of ZetSS Plaflelilnums In The Umtoo Stares & Canada Carl Zeiss, Planelarium Division 0-07740 Jena ~SEILER +49-3641-642406, fax: -643023 email: [email protected] I N B TRLJIVlENT 170 E. Kirkham Ave ., St.louis. MO 63119 Planetarium Office: #28 Houmas Place, Destrehan, LA 70047 The Planetarian (ISN 0090-3213) is published quarterly by the International Planetarium Society. ©1998, International Planetarium Society. Inc.. all rights reserved. Opinions expressed Planetarian by authors are personal opinions and are not necessarily the opinions of the International etarium Society. its officers, or agents. Acceptance of advertisements. announcements. or Vol. 27, No.2 material does not imply endorsement by the International Planetarium Society. its officers agents. The Editor welcomes items for consideration for publication. Please consult (or request) June 1998 "Guidelines for Contributors" printed on page 56 in the September 1997 issue and posted web site. The Editor reserves the right to edit any manuscript to suit this publication's needs. Executive Editor John Mosley INDEX OF A ERTISER Griffith Observatory 2800 E. Observatory Road Adler Planetarium ...... Los Angeles, California 90027 USA Audio Visuallmagineering ...... (1) 213-664-1181 work phone (1) 818-708-7314 home fax Davis Planetarium ...... [email protected] East Coast Control Systems ...... ,...... Advertising Coordinator Evans &: Sutherland ...... cover Sheri Barton Trbovich The Clark Foundation Goto Optical Manufacturing ...... PO Box 9007 ITA - Explore ...... Salt Lake City, UT 84109-0007 USA (1) 801-725-2771 voice Joe Hopkins Engineering ...... (1) 801-583-5522 fax Learning Technologies, Inc...... [email protected] MegaSystems, ...... Membership Individual: $40 one year; $70 two years Miami Space Transit Planetarium ...... Institutional: $150 first year; $75 annual renewal Minolta Corporation ...... inside back cover Library Subscriptions: $24 one year Direct membership requests and changes ofaddress Planetarium Concert Management ...... to the Treasurer /Membership Chairman,- see next R. S. Automation ...... page for address and contact information. Seiler Instruments ...... inside cover L P. S. Job Information Service Sky-Skan, Inc ...... To receive word of new pOSition openings in the planetarium field, send up to six Spitz, Inc ...... self-addressed stamped envelopes to: S. Fentress, Director Strasenburgh Planetarium P.O. Box 1480 tors Rochester, New York 14603 USA Jon U. Bell Opening the Dome Back Issues of the Planetarian Available from: Lars Broman Christine ..... rT,rrT"", Charlene Oukes International News Gibbous Gazeltte IPS Back Publications Repository Strasenburgh Planetarium Jane G. Hastings Steve Tidey P.O. Box 1480 Jane's Corner Forum Rochester, New York 14603 USA Richard McColman A cumulative index of major articles that have Planetechnica appeared in the Planetarian from the first issue Jim Manning Ken Wilson through the current issue is available on paper What's New COlmlou1ter Corner ($12 ppd) or disk ($5 ppd) from the Exec. Editor. Kenneth Perkins Final Deadlines Planetarium Memories March: January 21; June: April 21 September: July 21; December: October 21 International Planetarium Society http://www.GriffithObs.org/IPSPlanetarian.html World Wide Web Home Page: http://www . ip s-p lanetari urn. org
Vol. 27, No.2, June 1998 Planetarian President Executive Secretary IPS 2000 Conference Chair Elections Colmnru.t1tee ChairIrultn Thomas W. Kraupe Lee Ann Hennig, Planetarium Pierre Lacombe, Director Steven Mitch EuroPlaNet @ imagicX Thomas Jefferson High School Planetarium de Montreal Benedum Natural Science Rumfordstr. 41 6560 Braddock Road 1000 rue Saint-Jacques O. Center D-80469 Muenchen (Munich) Alexandria, 'Virginia 22312 USA Montreal, QC H3C 1G7 Ogle bay Park Germany (1) 703-750-8380 Canada Wheeling, WV 26003 USA +498921031531 (1) 703-750-5010 fax (1) 514872 4530 (1) 304-243-4034 +498921031532 fax [email protected] (1) 5148728102 Fax (1) 304-243-41 10 fax [email protected] pierre_Iacombe@astro. umontreal. ca [email protected] Treasurer/Membership Chair President Elect Shawn Laatsch Historian/Photo-Archivist Awards Comnlit1tee Dale Smith Arthur Storer Planetarium John Hare Phyllis Planetarium 600 Dares Beach Road Ash Enterprises The Adler PlanetariUlrn Physics & Astronomy Dept. Prince Frederick, MD 20678 3602 23rd Avenue West 1300 S. Lake Shore Drive Bowling Green State University USA Bradenton, Florida 34205 USA Chicago, Illinois 60605 Bowling Green, OH 43403 USA (1) 410-535-7339 (1) 941-746-3522 (1) 312-322-0319 (1) 419-372-8666 [email protected] (1) 941-750-9497 fax (1) 419-372-9938 fax [email protected] [email protected] 1998 Conference Chair International Planetarium Undine Concannon Publications Chair Past President Planetarium Administrator April Whitt Jim Manning London Planetarium Fembank Science Center Taylor Planetarium Marylebone Road 156 Heaton Park Drive NE Museum of the Rockies London NW1 5LR Atlanta, Georgia 30307 USA Montana State University Bozeman Montana 59717 USA England (1) 404-378-4314 ext 221 600W. Blvd. (1) 406-994-6874 (44) 171-486-1121 (1) 404-370-1336 fax Bozeman, Montana 59717 (1) 406-994-2682 fax (44) 171-465-0862 fax [email protected] [email protected] conference: June 28 - July 2 IPS Web Site: http://www,ips-planetarium.org
/.. S.. Association of French-Speaking European/Mediterranean (81) 3-3396-4393 fax Russian Planetariums Assoc~iatio>n Planetariums Planetarium Association KHF 11 [email protected] Zinaida P. Sitkova Agnes Acker Dennis Simopoulos Nizhny Novgorod Planetarium Planetarium Strasbourg Eugenides Planetarium Middle Atlantic Planetarium Society Pokhyalinsky SYezd 5-A Universite Louis Pasteur Syngrou Avenue-Amfithea Laura Deines Nizhny Novgorod. 603 001, RUSSia Rue de L'Observatoire Athens, Greece Southworth Planetarium (7) 8312-34-21-51 6700 Strasbourg, France (30) 1-941-1181 PO Box 9300 (7) 8312-36-20-61 fax 33-388212042 (30) 1-941-7372 fax Portland, Maine 04104-9300 [email protected] 33-388 212045 fax dps@eugenides_found.edu.gr (1) 207-780-4249 [email protected] (1) 207-780-4051 fax Southeastern Planetarium Great Lakes Planetarium Assoc. [email protected] John Hare Assoc. of Mexican Planetariums Susan Reynolds Ash Enterprises Ignacio Castro Pinal Onondaga-Cortland -Madison Nordic Planetarium Association 3602 23rd Avenue West Museo TechnologiCO C.F.E. B.O.C.E.S. Planetarium Lars Broman Bradenton, FlOrida 34205 USA Apartado Postal 18-816 P.O. Box 4774 Broman Planetarium (1) 941-746-3522 CP 11870 Mexico City, D.F. Mexico Syracuse. New York 13221 USA Ostra Hamngatan 1 (1) 941-750-9497 fax (52) 5 5-16-13-57 (1) 315-433-2671 S-791 71 Falun, Sweden [email protected] (52) 5 5-16-55-20 fax (1) 315-433-1530 fax (46) 2310 177 [email protected] (46) 2310 137 (fax) Southwestern Association British Assoc. of Planetariums [email protected] Planetariums Undine Concannon Great Plains Planetarium Assoc. www2.nrm.se/cosmonova/tc-wnpa.html Wayne Wyrick London Planetarium April Whitten, Business Mgr. Kirkpatrick Planetarium Marlybone Road Mallory Kountze Planetarium Pacific Planetarium Association 200 NE 52nd St. London NW 1 5LR, England 60th & Dodge Streets Jon Elvert Oklahoma City, OK 73111 (44) 171-487-0227 Omaha, Nebraska 68182 USA Lane ESD Planetarium (1) 405-424-5545 work (44) 171-465-0862 fax (1) 402-554-2510 2300 Leo Harris Pkwy (1) 405-424-5106 fax [email protected] (1) 402-554-3100 Eugene, Oregon 97401 USA wayne. [email protected] [email protected] (1) 541-461-8227 Canadian Council of Science (1) 541-687-6459 fax Ukranian Planetariums Centres Italian Planetaria's Friends Assoc. [email protected] Dr. Alexander P. Lenin John Dickenson, Managing Director Loris RanlPOni http://www.efn.org/~esd_plt/ Republical Planetarium Pacific Science Centre National Archive of Planetaria 57/3 Krasnoarmeiskaia Street 1100 Chestnut St. c/o Centro studi e ricerche Serafino Rocky Mountain Planetarium Kiev 252 005, Ukraine Vancouver, BC V6J 3J9 Canada Zani Association (744) 227-51-66 604-738-7817 ex 234 via Bosca 24, CP 104 Mike Murray (744) 227-51-43 fax 604-736-5665 fax 25066 Lumezzane (Brescia), Italy Taylor Planetarium, Museum of the [email protected] [email protected] (39) 30 298 3686 Rockies (39) 30370 1048 fax 600 W. Kagy Blvd. Council of German Planetariums Bozeman, Montana 59717 Prof. Dr. Dieter B. Herrmann Japan Planetarium Society (1) 406-994-6891 Zeiss-Grossplanetarium Berlin Soichi Itoh (1) 406-994-2682 fax Prenzlauer Allee 80 Suginami Science Education Center [email protected] D-10405 Berlin, Gemlany 3-3-13 Shimizu, Suginanli-ku, +49-30-42184512 Tokyo 167 Japan +49-30-4251252 fax (81) 3-3396-4391
Produced at the Griffith Observatory, Los Angeles, California;
4 G G Martinson grew up and spent his rh,"r'I.,~~.rI I r I He went to sea at the age of sixteen worked as a stoker, • often and drifting around the continents I h the world by foot and by boat. This restlessness during the formative years life gave him a lot of material and I1tp-1 ~<,tit1l education, he had a hard time in "A)'<=>riO.,.., sometimes even begging on the streets 74 Goteborg or sleeping out at [email protected] of his own design in Stockholm. He came, however, in contact with other original music for the show. The lyrics used young poets and initiated his career as in the show were also this time by Klass' and author. His marvelous of paiintiing Harry Martinson's Aniara was published in Sjoberg's acclaimed translation. We were words and the hard but unique eXl)enlenCes 1956 and has given rise to several different asked by Hare to write the text for a booklet of his life, which he was able to utilize stage versions but - strangely enough - not with some background and explanatory writing, soon gave him a national and Scan yet any movie. Most well-known is the opera information about Martinson and Aniara. dinavian reputation as an author. "I version of Aniara by the Swedish composer With minor changes, it is the text from this spent my whole life painting with words", Karl-Birger Blomdahl and with a libretto by booklet that follows. he said later on. Erik Lindegren; the opera had its premiere at the Stockholm opera house in 1959. The first planetarium version of Aniara For many years Martinson had a vision of writing a story about was produced by Bjorn Stenholm using some kind of spaceship traveling through deep space. He had, music by Dmitrij Shostakovich for Lund's course, in this vision an idea of writing a story about life on Planetarium in Sweden in 1988. It was fol lowed by a rather different but still Swedish ship Earth with its promises and shortcomings. Aniara produced by Mariana Back for Kos morama Space Theater in Borlange, 1989. She Aniara continues to inspire composers and Martinson married a female author, used contemporary Swedish music by the artists in Sweden. This spring a new stage ver Swartz, in 1929. Their paSSionate and stormy electronic music composer Ralph Lundsten sion called Aniara - a musical journey in marriage lasted until 1940, and in and others. time and space has been shown to a large remarried and had two with The show was well received, and in the audience in Stockholm with music by Car] wife Ingrid nee Lindecranz. meantime the translation of the Aniara Axel Dominique and featuring the interna The autodidact, sailor and was songs into English by Stephen Klass and Leif tionally well-known musical artist elected into the honorable Swedish Acade Sjoberg was well on its way. Back subse Korberg. We hope that the publication of my in 1949. He also became honorary doctor quently made a version in English based on our text in the Planetarian will make a few at the University of Goteborg in 1954. their translation, a show that had a rather more planetarians take an interest in Aniara, Martinson received the Nobel Prize dramatic premiere on 16 July 1990 in the read the complete epic, and set up the Hare erature in 1974. The motivation for the presence of Martinson's widow Ingrid and Back-Serrie show. was: "For an authorship that catches the children, as well as the some 250 delegates of of dew and reflects the Universe". the IPS'90 Conference themed "The Bound Martinson died in 1978, Th<,~~hTY less Planetarium" in Borlange - the premiere The Author ending a fabulous life story in which he once was all but wrecked by a sudden thunder The epic Aniara is one of the main works started steam as a hand storm. by the Swedish author and Nobel laureate and ended as a member in one of the oldest One of the delegates was John Hare, then Harry Martinson. and most pn~stigi(>us academies of the world. director of Bishop Planetarium, Bradenton, Martinson was himself an autodidact and Florida. He liked the show, the story, and the had received his poetical experience far poetry so much that he decided to produce a away from traditional academic circles. He Reasons new Aniara planetarium show, which could was born in the southern part of Sweden in In the authorship of Martinson we be packaged and distributed to English 1904. His father died when he was six years counter a world of intense and sensitive speaking planetariums. This show was com old and soon after, his mother left him and tures of nature. In poetry as well as prose pleted and presented to the international his five sisters and emigrated to America. he was able to catch the nature around him planetarium community during the IPS'92 The children were left in custody of the and transform his visions into poetry. Conference in Salt Lake City, Utah in 1992. society, which in the early 20th century He wrote in Swedish, and it is difficult In the production, Hare co-operated with rural Sweden meant that they were taken make full justice to his poems in translation both Back and composer Jonn Serrie, Future care of by the farmer who demanded the to other languages. Therefore he remained Music, Atlanta, Georgia, who wrote new least money for taking them. This is how above all a Swedish poet. Vol. 1998 Planetarian The poetry of Martinson started with tra Harry Martinson dictated the story for his sion on its readers. It tells about a sP'Keship ditional themes, but his interest in the way wife while laying on his back. He later com which meets a disaster and drifts into the Universe worked brought these matters mented on this with the words, "I am not nal journey without an end. It is into his writing. He tried to make poetry out making up this poem, it just reveals itself for about modern man traveling in the of modem science. This is a difficult task for me". and inner emptiness of himself. It can also a poet and is seldom undertaken. In the fall of 1953, Martinson published a visualized as a picture of our modern He describes the difficulties for a person collection of poems called Cicada. In the few lization, characterized by its perfection trying to understand what the Universe weeks time the last section was changed and means but lack of aim. actually is like. "We know that we cannot a part called "Doris and Mirna" was added to adhere to earlier beliefs, but we do not the book. Doris' understand the modern conception of the The full story about spaceship Aniara was The culmination of the epos is found in world". completed in 1956 and published later that poem 79: Martinson is maybe best remembered as year. the poet who undertook the task of acting as The name Aniara has been interpreted in We came from Earth, from Dorisland a mediator between science and poetry, several different ways. In his earlier poetry the jewel in our solar system, between the wish to understand and the dif Harry Martinson sought a word which could the only orb where life obtained ficulty to comprehend. name the strange space in an atom where the a land of milk and honey. He was also utterly concerned about the electrons moved around. This word later Describe the landscapes found back there, strange dissociation of intellect and emotion became the space through which planets the days those dawns could breed. in our culture and he wanted to bring into and stars move. Aniara has also been inter science that holistic way of thinking which preted from the chemical symbols for argon, In this poem, Martinson describes his feel is the essence of poetry. one of the elements in air, and nickel, an ele ings for the planet Earth in a very sensitive For many years Martinson had a vision of ment in the ground As the letter a implies a way. Following his approach one could writing a story about some kind of spaceship negation, the word Aniara can be imagined expect the poet to extend his lyrical traveling through deep space. He had, of to mean not in air and not on Earth; i.e. in of Earth, but he continues abruptly with the course, in this vision an idea of writing a empty space. Another interpretation is that following lines: story about life on spaceship Earth with its the word contains several letters a, as in the promises and shortcomings. The inspiration word mama. This could be a sign of his life Describe the creature fine and fair to start composing was, however, lacking. long longing for his mother who deserted who sewed the shrouds for his own seed In the year 1953 many events took place him. till God and Satan hand in hand on the world stage. Among other things the through a deranged and poisoned land Soviet Union tested its first hydrogen bomb; The Composition of Aniara took {light uphill and down the United States had one already. The ten The epic contains 103 songs. The journey from a man: a king with ashen crown. sion between the two superpowers reached a itself is described in 100 songs (2 -101) divid maximum with insurrections in Eastern ed into four sections. This verse tries in a condensed form to Europe and military planes were even shot The first song tells about the situation in transmit to the reader that feeling of rever down. These events made deep impressions the departure hall before the spaceflight to ence which the poet has towards the Earth on Martinson. The final impulse for writing planet Mars. and at the same time to give through the the poem Antara carne, however, from In songs 2 to 29 the first part of the jour poem a warning that man is the another and unexpected direction. ney is described. This phase ends with the frames for life given by nature. He death of the Mirna. himself as giving a Cassandra-warning. From Andromeda to Aniara Songs 30 to 68 make up the second phase The author also calls attention to the fact Martinson recalls himself that one night and tell about attempts to repair Mirna and that one can find protection from he was studying the Andromeda Galaxy an attempt to recreate reality by creating a but mankind (poem 26): with his small home telescope and found the nearby galaxy shining more intensely than One profound thought in the poem is that we, who inhabit the he had ever seen before. He even went and woke his wife Ingrid so she could share this Earth, still possess a place to dwell and live in, as opposed to experience with him, but she was not espe space travelers in the doomed spaceship Aniara. cially impressed. This forceful experience of outer space turned his imagination towards his old spaceship. world of visions. This phase ends with secret Soon afterwards he began having the illu wishes that the journey might corne to an There is protection from almost everything, sion of actually being in a spaceship. At first end. from fire and damage due to storms and his feeling was chaotic and he felt himself Songs 69 to 80 constitute the third phase frosts, filled with anxiety, but gradually the visions of the space odyssey and this part is domi add whatever blows may come to mind began to clarify themselves inside him, and nated by memories about life on Earth. but there is no protection from mankind. the songs about Doris and Mirna carne into Songs 81 to 101 make up the fourth and being in a couple of weeks' time. Doris is the last phase of the space journey to its final One profound thought in the poem is that name of one of the Greek god Oceano's end we, who inhabit the Earth, still possess a daughters and symbolizes earthly fertility The last two songs are comments on the place to dwell and live in, as to and womanhood. Mirna comes from the poetic cycle by the author. space travelers in the doomed Greek word for miming. The Aniara story makes a strong impres- Aniara. 6 Planetarian Vol. In a radio interview on the eve before the A swerve to clear the Hondo asteroid understood as mankind's attempt in publication of Aniara, Martinson painted (herewith proclaimed discovered) took us off cold attitude to forget these events, out that what he wanted to say was just that course. of repenting as the sinner Mary M,uwal€~ne we should be careful with the bountiful We came too wide of Mars, slipped from its did. planet Earth, "We live in a Paradise, but we orbit do not take care of it; that is the essence of and, to avoid the field oflupiter, A to 1I what I want to say in my epic. settled on the curve ofLCE.-twelve After the disaster the spaceship within the Magdalena Field's external ring; towards interstellar space with the steering Departure and Disaster but, meeting with a huge number ofleon ids, system locked so that the nose-cone is we headed farther offto Yko-nine. The poem cycle Aniara begins with a song ing steadily in the direction of Lyra, the con In Field Sari-sixteen we gave up attempts to stating the background to the story: stellation of poets. The life supporting sys turn around. tems onboard are intact with heating, My first meeting with my Doris shines tation and lighting functioning with light added loveliness to light itself. The description of the disaster gives hints Having overcome the initial shock of find to the poet's profound symbolic concep But the simple truth is that my first ing out the consequences of the disaster, the tions. He expresses his aim with the poem in and just a simple meeting with my Doris people on the spaceship are filled with hor disguised sentences which could be inter is now a scene that anyone can see ror because of the fate which is preted as follows: every day in front of him in every hall them. After a while, they manage to calm funneling the refugees to lift-off zones on forced migration to the tundra globe, The continuing epic describes how the journey through space pro in these years when Earth has come to such a ceeds. Space is in this context regarded as the outer endless pass space surrounding the spaceship, but the journey also takes that for her toxic radiation she's prescribed rest and quiet under quarantine. in the internal space of minds of the travelers. The Earth is thus made uninhabitable by down and try to go back to the same habits There does not exist any asteroid named pollution and radiation and the people are they had on earth. They make attempts to Hondo, but this name alludes to the Japanese sent off to other planets to try to survive live, love, and spend their lives in as normal island Honshu, where the first atomic bombs there until the Earth has recovered. The ways as possible. As on Earth, different were dropped. The term LCE.-twelve could character Doris turns up in the poems in dif groups of people act in different ways. together with the words Magdalena Field be ferent shapes, first representing a female beauty to be loved and worshipped and later in the epic as the planet Earth and even as a symbol for life itself. We observe the take-off of one of gigan tic spaceships, the huge golgonder Aniara, which is due to make a purely routine start for Mars with 8000 people on board. The word golgonder can be interpreted in differ ent ways, one being associated with the gondola of a balloon. Golgonder Aniara's locked, the siren gives a wail for field-egress by the old routine and then the gyrospin commences towing the go 19onder upwards to the zenith light where magnetrinos blocking field-intensity soon signal level-zero and our field-release occurs. And like a giant pupa without weight, vibrationless, Aniara gyrates clear and free ofinterference out from Earth. A purely routine start, no misadventures, a normal gyro magnetic field release. Who could imagine that this very flight was doomed to be a space-flight, like to none, which was to sever us from Sun and Earth, from Mars and Venus and from Doris va Ie. However, some time after lift-off a disas ter happens, as told in poem 3: Vol. 27, No.2, June 1998 Planetarian start different cults, out of which the sexual During the travel into eternity the Mirna I'm no sleeping chadwick, one attracts the most people. is thus extremely valuable as it creates piC my pipes are working, I am The continuing epic describes how the tures and diverts thoughts from the hope gondel, journey through space proceeds. Space is in lessness in the situation. It is interesting to my date's a gander and my fate'S a this context regarded as the outer endless notice that the Mirna, contrary to the Mima and wathed in taris, gland in delt and space surrounding the spaceship, but the robe, nowhere is mentioned to have any journey also takes place in the internal space influence on the technical operations of the And lusty swings the yurg, I'm of minds of the travelers. spaceship. the griefI nurse might well be thrown away The spaceship is filled with echoes of its The Mirna is also a seeker and takes its upon this person who, full ofyurg, own past life and is thus a picture of our own visions from other places than the empty slings at Death 's void world spinning in space, filled with history space they are traveling through. It also and artifacts of time gone by. In a subtle way transmits pictures and scenes from other In an interview, Martinson has ""''',n,rOr'l Martinson describes how earlier cultures worlds, but never tells where those worlds out that stands for pure have existed and how explorations into sci are located ness without deeper reflection. In ence have been undertaken. poem in Aniara the Mimarobe meets With profound symbols the author catch Words Change their Value Doody again and she still has the es parts of the modern conceptions of the The feeling of loneliness which the travel tude to life. One could reflect that world, including strange notions like anti ers have is described in the verse: course is good to be able to be but matter, the curved Universe of Einstein and picture Martinson paints of her is at the concepts from the microcosmos. The empty sterile space provokes our horror. time one of a stagnant character. Another Glass-like its stare encircles us. point of view is that the yurg and the The Mirna and its Tender of Dorisburg is the manner Daisy has, Situated in the center of the spaceship The poet points out how words begin to to keep disaster as a distance and to survive Aniara stands the Mirna. This is a strange change their values: in these tragiC circumstances. device: The word for Star has now become indecent, like a OtJIU&.,PIC in The inventor was himself completely dumb- the low names high for loins and woman's One of the most profound poems struck breast. Aniara is the famous poem 13, in which the day he found that one halfof the mima The brain is now a shameful body-par~ chief astronomer tells about space he'd invented lay beyond analysis. for Hades harvests us at its behest while holding a bowl of glass in his hand: That the mima had invented halfherself. This is strong criticism of the purely intel We're slowly coming to suspect that The way the Mirna is working is also lectual development which is so important we're traveling in is ofa different sort described: in our culture. In another poem the poet tells from what we thought whenever that about the responsibility of the people in the "space" And her electron-work pulls in, foreship. They are the intellectual leaders was decked out by our fantasies on Earth electro-lenses give the screening-cells and their responsibility is now eternal. their coded programs and the focus-works col- With these words the author wants to We're coming to suspect now lect pOint out that after mankind has been able is even deeper then we first believed, the tads of the third indifferent webe to break the seal of nature and succeed to uti that knowledge is a blue naivete and sounds and scents and images arise lize the powers hidden deep in the nucleus of which with a measured quantity from lavish fluxes. the atom, a wholly different world situation imagined that the Mystery has structure. has developed. Mankind has become hostage We now suspect that what we claim The Mirna stands for culture, poetry, and of those having the key to firing buttons of and glassy clarity around Aniara's hull maybe also for the author himself. This is in the atomic bombs. is spirit everlasting and impalpable, contrast with the spaceship, which is a prod In another context we may say that the that we have strayed in spiritual seas. uct of technology, a perfect technical artifact same is valid regarding the storage of nuclear but in strong contrast with the life and waste. The responsibility is now eternal for Our space-ship Aniara travels on nature. The Mirna also has mind and con mankind to take care of these poten tiall y In something which exists science and is in this way completely differ lethal environmental threats. but does not need to take the ent from mankind's other technical thought: constructions. Frenzy and Dancing a spiritgreater than the world ofthought. The man tending the Mirna is named the After the extent of the disaster has been Through God and Death and we Mimarobe. He is not only the operator but clear for the passengers, a sense of despera race also, as the Mirna has a mind, its confidant: tion spreads around. A hectic and frantic on space-ship Aniara without goal or trace. dancing absorbs many of the passengers on o would that we could turn back to our base I tend the mima, calm the emigrants board now that we realize what our space-ship and cheer them up with scenes from far flung Even the Mimarobe is touched by this a little bubble in the glass reaches, feeling and he dances with a young girl from ofthings in thousands which no human eye Dorisburg, Daisy Doody, who tries to seduce I shall relate what I have could never dream of seeing, but the mima him, lustily singing: and then you'll understand. In tells no lies. that stands untouched for a (:, dfir;",,,,t gradually a bubble in the glass will move 8 Planetarian Vol. infinitely slowly to a different point This is the end of the Mirna who dies as a A fevered demon rose into in the body ofglass, and in a thousand years consequence of mankind's cruelty. The origi Her pupils widened towards her the bubble makes a journey in its glass. nal story, "The Songs of Doris and Mirna" well. was told this far in the first publication in She heard appeals and echoes Thus the astronomer compares the bubble the year 1953. in the glass with the spaceship Aniara. This is Unseen by us, she slipped away to where a way of trying to visualize the four-dimen Isagel the Laws ofAleph Numbers all are stored: sional space-time structure of the Universe as In the year 1956 the complete version of there infinite reserves are to be drawn when Chance approves, the world's new described by Albert Einstein. The concept of Aniara was published In this work the story a bubble in glass has also a bearing on micro continues. lord. cosmic phenomena, and according to the A demonic dictator called Chefone turns physicist P. A. M. Dirac, anti-matter can be up. He has doubtlessly been modeled after The last verse alludes to the modern regarded as holes in existing matter. In an Hitler, and the name also has some hints to cepts of the world where chance and bility have substituted determinism. analogous way the spaceship Aniara van be Al Capone. verse can also be interpreted as a hint regarded as a hole in an existing reality, a A hard time starts for the intellectuals and negative hole in a positive reality. The poem especially for the Mimarobe, because Che start of the Universe an immense also contains a glimpse of Martinson's fone is angered by the death of the Mirna. dial explosion, the Big Bang, when Taoistic view of life, "clarity is the cloak of Every dictator has a need of some sort of time and matter were sinlUltarleously the mystery", as well as a criticism of knowl diversion for the people. The Mimarobe is ed. edge, "a blue naivete". thrown into jail together with other scien Later on the Mimarobe understands tists, while non-intellectuals are ruling: Isagel was the very soul of the Mirna. of the Mirna Suddenly the steady pace of the space Chefone now orderedpersecutions, Some Aniara travel is interrupted by a violent event, as and [ and many others were detained We also make acquaintance with another told by the Mimarobe in song 26: in shelters farthest down in the goldonder female person, Nobia, who is the until the bowls offury had been drained. of mercy and kindness, a sort of Florence Then the mima is blinded by a bluish bolt Nightingale in space. Typically '-H'W',"","'" and I am struck dumb at events that pour In an earlier part of the poem cycle, we Nobia never enters the goldonder Aniara, as on wretched Earth; out here the lightnings had a short encounter with a remarkable she is there only in the form of a tale. There bore person, the female pilot Isagel. She is also is no mercy to be found on board the space down through my heart as through an open jailed together with the Mimarobe. ship Aniara. sore. It is however not possible to keep such a A third female character is the blind poet And [the mima's faithful priest in blue high-tech construction as a goldonder in ess from Rind She sings very beautiful receive in blood run cold the evil news working condition without experts, and and represents the eternal archetype that Doris died in far-offDorisburg. Chefone had to release the Mimarobe: ty. She has the talent to make up the beautiful songs, but the listeners are In this poem the faraway Dorisburg is Then [was led out from the bottom jail of her songs: destroyed in the final nuclear war and the - the female pilot too was in those cells - faithful Mirna shows this to the dumstruck back into the holy mima's halls. Enthralled, we listen to the sightless passengers. Then several speak from where This is a turning point in the epic, and Love now unites the Mimarobe and Isagel: tight-lipped: since the Mirna has a conscience, as related What lovely words she summoned to her aid. by the Mimarobe in song 28: And our eyes meet and lock, and soul to soul What lovely words she came upon in Rind. we stand, unspeaking. IsageZ [ love heart words they are, and merely wind. She bade me tell the high Command that she whole. for some time had been just as nice of con In the songs we also meet a group of beau science Later in the poem cycle we get closer tiful Women who practice the art of love. as the stones were. She had heard them cry acquainted with Isagel. She is a character Libidel, Heba, Vaal, and Chebeda are all lead their stonely cries in distant Dorisdale. who has a platoniC background and she rep ers of the sex cult. This is, however, a sexuali resents the pure intellect and incarnates the ty of the same kind that is shown in the Darkened in her cellworks by the cruelty archetype of truth. Later on, the author tells movies, only for the sake of lust but without man exhibits in his hour ofsin us that Isagel is a reincarnation of the god any biological purpose of reproduction. For she came as long expected, to that point dess Isis, who according to ancient Egyptian example, the name Chebeba of one of the (as mimas do) offinally decaying. beliefs ruled over space and knowledge. courtesans means "chi baby", L e. no Isagel is described as a parson with seemingly The dancing is also preferentially The final word she broadcast was a message a contradictory personality. Through her place in front of mirrors; it is a self <::::Itkf,,,in,cr from one who called himself the Detonee. intellect she is capable of the most profound and exhibitionistic self-centered eroticism as She let the Detonee himself bear witness mathematical studies but at the same time told in song 36: and, stammering and detonated, tell she is taking part in the sexual rites on board. how grim it always is, one's detonation, In spite of her incarnation as a goddess she And there's Chebeba in a yurghic how time speeds up to gain some prolonga dies as told in song 88: whirling towards the tion. where dance eightfold Chebebas to The candid spirit [sageZ broke down. with breasts and feet repeatedly on show. Vol. No.2, june 1998 Planetarian The engineer, mentioned in this poem, is When Martinson was asked to comment are who were responSible for this. an expert on yessertubes. This gadget is noth upon this song he said that he had the of wisdom is an alchemic concept for Ing we know in a technical context. But if we Sermon on the Mount in mind and its drous matter which could tum, for eXclm]Jle, instead consider the word yesser, we might request to do unto your neighbor as you cheap lead into precious gold. pronounce it as "yes sir". The poet obviously would have him do unto you. In order to get rid of this vision the means an engineer who on all occasions is gers start using drugs, song 66: willing to put his ability at the hands of Space Cadets those in power. Another subtle point in this On board the spaceship a daily routine is Deeper and deeper each one among poem is the use of an exact date in an empty tried, song 62: doomed space where days have no meaning. found the Eden I must herewith name. We try the wheel ofa routine. I lecture But every time our opiates were consumed Hardness of Ufe to space cadets upon the Gopta theory. and paradisa1 visions were dispersed Eventually the hardness of life in space Through the vista windows suns look in, in the shrieking Xinombrano's burst affects the travelers more and more, as apparently composed, although we know all sworn to vengeance for Xinombra1s shame. described in song 35: the thunderous roaring in their roentgen forge, But space's rigor drives us into rites their weltering in the eternal gorge. This song has an origin in the ancient tale and alter-services we scarce performed And while inside my head I hear them boom about how Orestes, after since pre-goldonic times now half forgot. ing mother and her lover, to refuge in And Aniara's four religious forms like fearful drumbeats in the war which but was haunted by the goddess with priesthood, temple-bells and crucifixes, light vaginal cult and clamorous yurghing-girls forever wages on the dark's great might. and tickler-sectaries forever laughing I hear my own voice answer, pussyfooting, As the space travel continues, appear in space, jostling one another the Gopta questions I had just been putting. become increasingly worn out, and many for the eerie deserts ofeternity. passengers are dying. The vast halls of the "It took this epoch's re-evaluations golgonder are cold and empty as told in And I in service as the mimarobe, and new expansion of the tensor system poem 99: the one responsible for all illusions to open up the possibility burst now, make room in Mima's sanctuary offinding the proportioned symmetry I paced the halls and it was very late, and recoil their spectacles and sounds which by the Gopta formula through qwi paced Mima's hall one night and I was cold. when Ubidine joins with voluptuary was simplified and proved the right approach Still colder, far from all things temperate to snare their god in orgiastic rounds. for every longer trip in heaven's coach" roared memory in my soul for Doris world. We notice that at this stage the Mirna, In this poem we are presented a picture of Ever more mute and numb which already has lost its originality and a dynamic astronomical event in the grand a proud goldonder once, now sarcophagus become just an onboard movie with the scale. The Gopta is an art consisting of the which, having lost all power, through empty only aim to create distractions, is degraded most profound aspects of science. The for space was flung even lower and that the different cults even mula Gopta through qwi ia a form of the in line with the loxodrome take possession of the holy hall of the Mirna. Heisenberg uncertainty principle. A hint is to which in her fall she clung. also made to old Manichaean traditions of The Files of Thought the eternal war between light and darkness, a Here is another allusion to the curved In poem 44 a little hope for the space jour motive found in several of the songs. Universe where all and everything just falls neyarises: eternally along lines in the geometry of four Xinombra dimensional space-time, which the author In Chamber Seven are the Files of Thought For Martinson, one essential motive which here names loxodromes. Scant attendance. Still, there are things there we encounter every now and then in the worth thinking over many times on end. epic is the motive of a town annihilated by Ceases on L.lI.InI''''''''"," There is a man they call the Thinker's Friend an atomic bomb. In poem 64 is told: The end of the journey is approaching in who gives to everybody so inclined song 101: the fundamentals of the laws ofmind. Hear us who from Xinombra He points in sorrow to a group ofthoughts harrow you with memories. That was our final night in Mima's hall which could have saved us ifthey had been We dead ones wise too late Selfafter self broke down and disappeared; set harrow you with visions. but while the self had not ceased to be to work upon the soul's development the souls will come more clearly into view, but which, since soul was not much evident, The stone of wisdom extricating time at last from space were hung up in oblivion's cabinet contained in the slaughter mask ofgenius and lulling fast asleep the Doric race. hit Xinombra City in the heart But as our days ofvacancy would drag which died a third time. In one of the last poems, 102, the author someone always came here and besought Oh, that jewel. lets the Mimarobe express his visions a look at this or that old line ofthought what future he had wanted for mankind: which, given a new twist, could briefly snag The author tells how cold, intellectual new interest it too would flag. mathematics results in the hot inferno of an I had hoped to make them an atomic explOSion and he asks where those but since we left the one we 10 Planetarian Vol. our only home became the night ofspace With undiminished speed out to the Lyre today than in the mid-fifties? where no god heard us in the endless void. for fifteen thousand years the spacecraft Even if the drove false happy ending which In an earlier version Martinson had tried like a museum full of things and bones accustomed to from the cultural r"",-"ri",,,jrC' to have a happy ending of the epic. "But as and desiccated plants from Dorisgrove. little as a furnace forgives the child who places his hand on a hot plate will nature for In our immense sarcophagus we lay sion of writing the give mankind for its behavior when man as on into the empty sea we passed positive sign in the strange bri.ghtmare kind is breaking the cosmic laws", is the where cosmic night, forever cleft from day, world has turned into. comment by Harry Martinson when asked around our grave a glass-clear silence cast why the tragedy had to be fulfilled. Sources The author expresses the difference be Around the mirna's grave we sprawled in Excerpts are made from: tween the physical laws which are valid in rings, the cosmos and the fundaments for life in fallen and to guiltless ashes changed, Harry Martinson, Aniara: A Review delivered from the stars' embittered stings. song 102: Time and Translation And through us all Nirvana's currents Klass and Leif Vekerum, Box ranged. The firmaments' eternal mystery S-240 15 S6dra and wondrous physics ofthe constellations are law, but they are not the gospel truth Compassion flourishes at life's foundations. As sources we have used: "But as little as a furnace forgives the child who places his hand on a hot plate will nature forgive mankind for its behavior when man Tord Hall, Naiturvet4::ns.kafJ Stockholm 1981. kind is breaking the cosmic laws" Sonja Glimset Hall, Aniara studiehandled for skolor, Vekerum, 1991. Martinson comments on this song in an Erland Lagerroth, Aniara - en dikt av Many years have passed since Harry interview: " ... Aniara is a cruel epic. It gives Vekerum, S6dra 1991. Martinson wrote his epic cycle. We can fol the law, but not the gospel. When it has gone Gunnar Tidestr6m, low his thoughts and even locate the origins so far with mankind as in Aniara, then we Malm61975. of them. In the foreword to the edition from will not get the gospel easily. We may only ]ohan Wrede, year 1963 he writes that Aniara is a product regain it by making repentance." Abo 1975. The author describes the ultimate end of from his imagination and composed by his the space journey in the final poem 103: contemporary time. One could speculate over the question of I turned the lamp down, I appeal for peace. what such an epic would look like today. Do Our tragedy is done. Occasionally we have all the threatening problems still I've used my envoy's warrant to release around us? Have we learned to live with views ofour fate through the galactic sea. them, or do the prospects for life look better Annual .JLI'LO'·...... JLJLJL'O:;' The Griffith Observatory, in the interest of stimulating the flow of information between scientists, science writers, and the announces the sponsorship by Boeing of an annual offering of awards for the best articles in astronomy, astrophysics, and space science. The stipulations are as follows: Awards will be made on February 1, 1999, for the articles which best communicate to the average reader, material of current or historical interest in astronomy, astrophysics, and space science. Articles must be a minimum of 10 pages and a maximum of 15 pages in length, typewritten, in a brief biographical sketch of the author. At least two finished, camera-ready ink diagrams, or phot()gI'aphs, be included. The author's name and title of the article should appear only on a cover sheet and not on the pages of the article itself. The cash amounts of the awards are: $750 First Prize,; $350; Second Prize, $250; Third Prize, $200; Fourth Prize; $75 Honorable Mention All articles must be postmarked by December 1,1998. The contest is open to all interested persons (Griffith Observatory and ees excepted). All winning articles become property of the Griffith Observatory. The winning articles will be published in the Griffith Observer. Previously published articles will not be accepted Any number of articles may be submitted to the contest by one person, but only one prize will be awarded to a Judging will be done at the Griffith Observatory, and the decision of the judges is final. Each entry is judged so author's identity is unknown to all of the judges Address articles to: Awards Committee, c/o Griffith Observatory, 2800 East Observatory Road, Los Angeles, California 90027; (213) uu-,,- LlLUL. Vol. 1998 Planetarian foam side line up it and bottom cardboard diffraction nuts are over the strip is then slid into the curved wide end of the spectrometer. To U"",,..U'~·UL' the construction, detailed on included with easy written ;.""-ho",-.f-.;,-, ...... ,, the construction with I am delighted that Barbara Baber has ual offers a variety of activities, questions Students can observe a agreed to conduct this column for the Commit and answers, and tables about absorption with the spectrometer: Inc=arlQE~so~nt tee on Astronomical Accuracy/Astr%gy. The lines in the sun's spectrum. fluorescent request for the Committee to add this work to middle schools, high schools, and its agenda was first put forth in 1992, and I colleges include spectroscopy in their curric searched for a long time to find a person to ula, so the Learning Technologies spectro direct it. I thank Barbara for being that person, scope and activity book should be of interest and I hope that many IPS members will benefit to many planetarium and classroom teach from her subcommittee's review articles. She ers. begins this new work with a discussion of the Students can build the spectrometer and cardboard spectrometer produced by Learning use it to identify the spectra of different Technologies. sources. The kit materials for the spectrome ter are: top and bottom heavy cardboard Jeanne E. Bishop, Chair, Committee on tiollS,2 foam side pieces,S of nuts and Astronomical Accuracy/Astrology screws, a film strip scale, a plastic diffraction grating disk, and a 3/4-inch support tube. The spectrometer is easy to assemble. The 48) In the mid-1600's Isaac Newton demon strated that a prism could break a beam of white light into a band of colors called the spectrum. In this century it has become pos sible to obtain a great amount of informa tion about stars by studying their spectra. In fact, half of the telescope time of large tele scopes is occupied with spectrometry. With a simple spectrometer, one can learn the prin foam ciples of identifying chemical composition side and physical conditions in stars and can apply the principles to analyze various light sources. Diffraction gratings, which can replace prisms in breaking light apart, are used in many spectrometers. Tiny grooves etched in plastiC, about 1O,OOO/inch, spread the different wavelengths apart, either by transmission or reflection. A simple and inexpensive spectrometer with a diffraction grating is available for classroom activities from Learning Technologies, Inc. (59 Walden Street, Cambridge, MA 12140, phone 800-537-8703). This company sells an Astronomical Instrument Kit for Astronomy, which is at $18.00 with a shipping/handling fee nuts(5) of $6.00. The kit contains one spectrometer along with two other items. A set of 10 spec trometers without other items can be ordered from Learning Technologies for $50.00 with a shipping/handling fee of $6.00. An activity book accompanies the spectrom Figure 3 eter in both order formats. The man- 12 Planetarian Vol. ANSWER: That's easy. Everybody asks about our theme song which is the classic 'Arabesque # l' by Claude Debussy performed by Tomita on the still available "Snowflakes Are Dancing" album (RCA) , At what and days the week can I see 'STAR GAZER'l • ANSWER: Most TV stations air 'STAR GAlER' just before nightly sign-off. However, due to 'STAR GAZER'S' enormous popularity a number of stations find the show's 5-minute format can fit any where during the broadcast day and air the show more fre quently. Local TV listings seldom include 5-minute shows, so it's best to call the station for the broadcast schedule. If I cam't ISTAR GAZER' om PBS staltiolrl~ how can I see it ANSWER: 'STAR GAZER' is provided f.ref. of ~ by WPBT, Miami to all PBS stations. If you can't find it, write or call your local PBS station and ask if they will air it and remind them that it li avai lable fre.e. of ~. E Is it necessary to get to use 'STAR GAZER' for astronomy meetings, in the Cla.ssr'oo,m. SCBc~nc:e museum or planetarium usel ANSWER: No. In fact, many astronomy clubs, teachers, science museums and planetariums have been taping 'STAR GAZER' off the air and using it regularly as a way to reach their public. ". .. one of the few writers who can translate sophisticated dIS/'::/D,!im?S Is there any way I can get 4STAR GAZER' other than popular language without my local PBS station 1 Dr. Fox, Nobel Laureate ANSWER: Yes. A month's worth of 'STAR GAZER' episodes are fed monthly to a satellite from which all PBS stations take it for their If... knows how to come down from local programming. Anyone with a satellite dish is welcome to the ivory tower and make ~C!1'Yrlf"r"In"J the satellite feed. Again, no permission is required. For satellite accessible. " feed dates and times call Monday through Friday (Eastern time) 305-854-4244. Ask for Ms. Harper or Mr. Dishong . • am a teacher and would like several 'STAR episodes in ad "... 1never miss it. As someone vance, but I do not have access to a dish. involved in science fiction, I'm anl~h .. ,o>lI~,rl Is there any I can obtain 'STAR GAlER'l with Jack Horkheimer's science fact. .. John Nathan ANSWER: Any teacher anywhere around the world can obtain Executive 'STAR GAZER' episodes in advance through their NASA e.O.R.E. 'Dr. Who' Teachers' Resource Center. For details write:NASA e.O.R.E.; Lorain County Joint Vocational School; 15181 Route 58 South; Oberlin, OH. 44074. Or visit our website: www.jackstargazer.com Produced in i"'f'\,"\n.ol''l,tir.,n Miami Museum of Planetarium Shonandai Culture Center GSS-Helios The GSS-Helios (GSX) features 25,000 stars rel)roduclTIlg a sky seen only from without stray stars twinkling the functions without replacing the lecturer. The of goes on and on. 'LIVU"'"'''' your nearest re1prE~Sentatl find out what your could be The GI014si offers GOTO's exclusive automatic No more shows lost to action console . ...,-'-'..... !-'-'-'-', Planetarium. 4-16 Yasaki-cho Fuchu-ship TEL: IntI No. +81-423-62-5312 FAX: IntI No. +81-423-61-9571 Email: ini'o@)g-oto.lco.jv tion videos of the Mars Pathfinder "Mars '98/1 missions for the Jet tory. Now the company has a excellent seven-and-a-half-minute video of the Stardust mission. Stardust, part of NASA's "faster-better Series, is scheduled to on a mis- sion to rendezvous with Comet Wild in January, 2004 when it will take ~'r,"~"~ tures of the nucleus, record the flux of dust uu"-,,.. ,,-u. and most collect cometary dust particles on a smeared Aw ... Mars has lost face. Or it's been with which will be returned to defaced-pick your metaphor. The point is in 2006. that where pulp-science writers found The video does an excellent job of ancient Martian-made monuments in ing and demonstrating all of this, Cydonia for the last 20 years, the unblinking full-color computer animation and narra eye of Mars Global has found a tive. Here is yet another excellent short rather lovely wind-sculpted and entirely nat video to have for your for use in ural-looking butte. your shows, and for sale on your Actually, when the pictures came through video shelf. in early April, one of my staff mentioned The new video arrived slyly that NASA might have its to the deadline for this budget picture by giving the mountain a bit umn, so I was unable to hunt down cost of an airbrush make-over especially around availability. But you can contact Jennifer the "eyes" and "mouth"-but such is the pro Lombardi, EM's Director of Commu cess of true science: what you see is what you nications, the contact information get. given above. The previous Mars videos As we wait for this latest news from Mars available for approximately $10 and $15 U.S. Global Surveyor to spawn new conspiracy apiece, and I would guess this shorter theories about what MGS really found and video to be similarly priced. why NASA had to cover it up, it's interesting Incidentally, at the time of my to note the welcome flurry of activity in the 1997 review, it wasn't clear how or where the solar system-even if in small steps. MGS "Mars '98" would be available. But I continues its study of Mars while it waits to did receive a second copy with the new get into its mapping orbit to start char "Stardust" video, so I presume that "Mars acterizing the surface; Galileo continues its veyor '98" is now also available from EM. extended mission to scrutinize Europa; them both; wonderful Lunar Prospector appears to have found the in of"~'~~~;~~ signature of polar ice on the moon; NEAR missions. heads for Eros after a successful at the EM also sells an interactive porous dark asteroid Mathilde; com- called "Mars pletes its first monstrous orbit around viewed last time and is well the sun. Meanwhile, new missions to Mars of $9.95 U.S. are in preparation, the first components of Lombardi above, and the International Space Station are being readied for launch, and little Stardust pre pares to meet its destiny early next year. the glorious late-winter Who knows what new things we may learn! in the Caribbean (a To learn about the Stardust mission in par scheduling!), I spent a ticular, I can recommend this column's first in Florida with friends to at offering. Kennedy Space Center's Visitor ,-,VHIIJIC:A and was delightful their recent enhancements. In the September 1997 column, I reviewed All the "regular" stuff was still there: the the work of a company called Engineered rocket the IMAX theaters, the Multimedia, Inc., 800 Old Roswell Lakes exhibits, the acres of eateries, and one of the Parkway, Suite 100, Roswell, Georgia 30076 biggest stores in the world devoted to space USA, telephone +1 770 993 8384, fax +1 770 related merchandise. There's now a "Center 993 8352, e-mail: web for Education" which I hadn't recalled site: Vol. This tour concentrates on the Merritt (also opened last December), you can see a course of the year for mid-northern 'UULU~A\"'J, Island facilities-the actual Kennedy Space short orientation film on the ISS and wander with Polaris in the center. The poster Center site-and now constitutes three stops. through an exhibit area which contains attractive with white star dots COlnneCtea You drive around the imposing Vehicle mock-ups of space station modules with blue lines against a U"~~.UA" Assembly Building (VAB) with its associated interpretive information. The exhibit area is ground, and when you turn off Orbiter Processing Facilities and Launch quite interesting-and not surprisingly, it's the stars glow pleasingly in the dark. Control Center and go a little more than the living areas and especially the bathroom the size of the star dots and the half-way up the "Crawlerway" (the path facilities that seem to attract the most atten small differentiation of size to bnghtn!:ss, which takes the shuttles to the launch pads) tion. Finally, you get to cross a walkway into size of the poster, and the extent of to the new Launch Complex 39 Observation the actual processing facility to view (from a covered, it's difficult to make out individual Gantry. This visitor facility opened last visitors gallery) the clean room where space star patterns in the dark. But turn December, and is dominated by a several station modules are being readied for launch. ligh ts and the connecting lines story glassed-in building with an observa We could peek through the glass and see the maps don't tell you which part of tion walk around the top floor which pro first section scheduled to go up this year. you'd see in which season-but Star vides panoramic views of the area: the VAB The new tour sites are really an excellent has other products for that. complex to the southwest, Pads 39A and B to enhancement of the Kennedy Space Center The second item offered by Star the northeast, and the Titan launch pads in experience. I'm less enthusiastic about the the Star Finder: a lO-inch (25 cm) wide the distance to the southeast. The site also new Pad 39 Observation Gantry than the sphere made of sturdy plastic ,\"'~,cU'U.'F, includes a small theater providing an orien other parts-perhaps because I enjoyed past prominent classical constellations and tation film, an exhibit area, food service, and tour experiences where you'd stop at the tifying 60 of the brightest stars by name. a souvenir stand VAB and would actually drive right past Pad stars are a black on a white ba(:k~~round The second stop takes you back past the 39A and tarry at a small observation plat (and show greater and more accurate size dif VAB in the direction of the shuttle runway form right along the ocean between Pads ferentiation according to brightness than the to the recently developed Apollo/Saturn V 39A and B, which gave you a better and clos poster), and are connected by nice, Center-which opened around 1996, if I'm er look. But the new observation facility is black lines which make H. L. Rey-like not mistaken, and is the best of the new facil still very nice, the new home of the Saturn V (as does the poster). A piece of thick red ities. You begin in a sort of prologue theater is absolutely first-rate, and the Space Station tic is conveniently provided to mask a flash to view a "pre-show" on the moon missions, Center is a welcome and needed addition for light for referring to the planisphere outside and then file into the Firing Room-a recre covering the current focus on a manned at night. The back of the planisphere is ation of the Apollo-era launch control room presence in space. ed with useful, basic information about housing the original consoles-where you My only quibble with the Visitor Com using the device and things to be found in witness a very effective simulation of the plex is a surprising tendency to get NASA's the sky. There is also an accompanying sheet launch of Apollo 8. From there, you enter a own world-famous Apollo Earth shot wrong. which expands on the information-all it cavernous exhibit hall which houses the Whenever I see it (this is the full-Earth view good Saturn V rocket which had been corroding with Africa and Antarctica and the check Star Finders also makes a five-inch for years alongside the VAB parking lot, now mark-shaped cloud in between), I com wide pocket version of the 1-' ..".u.'JI-"U~C' restored and freshly painted and hoisted up pulsively check to see if it's been reversed called, appropriately, the Pocket Star Finder, on pillars so that you can walk around and because it so frequently is. Well, it was back with all of the features of the version under it. I've never seen it look more impres wards in two separate audiovisual presenta induding the square ofred plastic. sive, and it's quite wonderful to see this tions at the Apollo/Saturn V Center and in at I found the poster map to be and moon rocket-one of only three in exis least the English version of the official KSC attractive as an educational decoration for a tence-treated at last with the care and tourbook. Clearly, the KSC Visitor Complex bedroom wall, and the constellation patterns respect it deserves. could use a planetarian proofreader for its on the planispheres have a nice Around the Saturn V centerpiece are a AV and print materials! central rivet holds the sections variety of additional exhibits and space Quibble aside (and it's a small one), the together firmly which makes the top por hardware including an original LEM, the KSC Visitor Complex has always been a great tion slightly more stubborn to turn than for Apollo/Soyuz Command Module, and astro place to visit, and it's even moreso nowi it's other planispheres I've had, but it works fine naut Jim Lovell's Apollo 13 spacesuit-as well getting to the point that it's hard to see and and it's not going to get pulled apart I as the ever-present snack bar and souvenir do everything in just a day. If you're passing enjoyed these productsi these are shop. There's also a third theater: the Lunar by, do stop in to see what's new there. weatherproof devices (listed for ages 8 to Landing Theater which uses a combination adult), and they do very well what of video and stage effects to recreate the Star spheres do. Apollo 11 lunar landing. Especially effective While cruising the Caribbean looking for The glow-in-the-dark constellation map were the vintage TV clips played on moni the eclipse, I met a fellow named Larry wholesales for $4.99 each in lots of tors in the assembly area prior to entering Deckman, president of Star Finders, Inc., 2406 and included the rolled maps in full-color the theater, which showed the news media Lawrence St., Eugene, Oregon 97405 USA, box with a J Hook. Suggested retail is $9.99 covering events on the fateful day, and a telephone +1 800 990 1998, fax +1 541 343 U.S. The Star Finder wholesales for $5.99 each full-sized LEM descending from the rafters 0194, e-mail: 16 Planetarian Vol. m THE WORLD'S ONLY CIRCULAR MOTION·BASED PLATFORM, continuous 3600 revolution, superior tilt and soft stop capabilities. Total 3600 surround-view projection • Pre/post show design. and total surround-sound. • Educational content based on scientific Advanced technology for periectly research with every detail verified by tOp expertS. syncopated movement ancfvisual . • Visually breathtaking footage A cost-effective way to completely from NASA. Discovery BBC and more ... revamp your operation. • Leading edutainment products • Full customization to your include Explore the Universe and Explore site requirements . the U.F.O. s • Full adaptability to your existing • Increased throughput to your site exhibits and shows. including: students, families and touristS. Educate X Ent:ert:aln )C Excit:e = Explore see us at- The International Planetarium Society Conference, 98 london June 29-July 1 _... I.T.A.ltd. Tel : ++972-3-670-1793 Fax: ++972-3-670-1798 .·mail: drubinst , ita·.xplor •.com 1 / The reader is also treated to a chapter on Galaxies and VIA, ...... '« ... the history of robotic and manned explo Debra ration of the moon by both the United Hall, Upper Saddle River, States and Soviet Union. This is a subject that ISBN 0-13-779232-8. could fill, and has filled, an entire volume. Given this, the author does a commendable Reviewed by Francine Jackson, job of limiting the topiC and primarily dis Rhode Island Planetarium, cussing only how such exploration has Rhode Island, USA. expanded our understanding of lunar com position, origin, and evolution. When I first received this book The author dedicates a chapter to the for publisher, I really thought I had found [email protected] mation of the moon and the competing the thing that I had spent a time .'V~n" ••,.. ories thereof, providing dynamical and for: a one-semester text on Solsticial salutations, bibliophiles. Read chemical evidence bolstering the "Big my for the general student. And for any good books lately? Our gracious review Whack" theory of lunar origin. This is a fasci believed this was it. The first three ~h'~-n+'nvC' ers have, and have taken time to write out nating topic - it was disappointing that this are an excellent review of their thoughts and suggestions. chapter is so brief. my: an overview of galaxies and Anyone who is interested in a free book or In the final three chapters, Spudis exam in the universe; the new, and the two, and who will write a review can join ines the issues germane to a human return classification systems and their their illustrious ranks. Contact me at either and permanent presence on the moon. He an introduction to the various astrolOOlml,cal address above. Happy mid-year celebrations! provides numerous rational and compelling catalogs; a review of such topiCS as Our thanks to this issue's reviewers: Kevin reasons arguing for a renewal of manned and tudes, spectra, the H-R diagram. Oh, Grazier, Francine Jackson, John Schroer IV, robotic missions back to our nearest celestial the necessary equations to reinforce April Whitt. neighbor. Reflecting the author's back materials, but a basic knowledge of ground, many of his reasons are, understand seemed to be all that was needed. ably, geological in nature. The author exam Each chapter begins with its The Once and Future Moon, by ines critically the societal and political prob tive and a "Toolbox" containing new Paul D. Spudis, Smithsonian lems with a return to the moon, as well as nology, and ends with both Press, 470 L'Enfant Plaza, Suite the technical. He finally presents a rational, Reading" and "Useful Websites," '-~.ULL"U''''r 7100, Washington, DC 20560, staged, plan for a return to the moon - this wealth of supplemental material. The 1997, ISBN 1-56098-634-4, $29.95. time to stay. full of beautiful images (although black Some readers may be turned off by aspects white), many of which are taken Reviewed by Kevin R. Grazier, Griffith Obser of the latter chapters, finding them too STScI sky surveyor other websites. vatory, Los Angeles, CA and Jet Propulsion "preachy." Others (myself included) find many graphs help to clarify the Laboratory, Pasadena, CA. them simultaneously inspirational and frus very welL trating, as the author clearly points out the But, then I began to read some A must for "lunatics" everywhere is The scientific, technical, and potential economic Chapter problems: "Look up the Once and Future Moon by Paul Spudis. It is benefits of establishing a permanent lunar galaxies in one of the standard '- ... ',un.;,., .... well-written and the material is accessible presence, but Similarly points out how our "From the web, the phot()Illletl'Y not only to the professional scientist, but to culture has lost the impetus to do so. from ... /1 "Print out a radial the layperson as well. The author is a Unfortunately, because of the often the galactiC center ... " Granted, what renowned lunar scientist, so much of what volatile nature of the space program, some of for is mostly available on the he relays is first-hand information, and we the material presented is already dated. It but the 'Net is not available for are privy to an insider's view of lunar would be quite fascinating to see a second general science student in every small research. This book represents a nice mar edition of this book - one which incorporat lege in America. riage of scientific information and history. ed information gleaned from the recent Elmegreen gives "Unsolved Problems" Lunar Prospector mission, as well as further every chapter, explaining that she wants the author clearly pOints out speculation on how the X-33 single-stage-to student to understand that all is not orbit vehicle may impact and/or accelerate a in astronomy. But, what is the instructor the scientific, technical, and human return to the moon. do? Give them as potential economic benefits The color plates in this book are quite (hopefully) creative class discussion? of establishing a permanent spectacular, and include images ranging Attempt to have the students come up from artist's conceptions, to lunar rock thin some kind of answer? Or just give them lunar presence ... sections, to multispectral images returned as general factinos for our thinking I-In::".:> \.-u c; from the Clementine mission. Further, the And, then, in the very After an introduction in which he briefly appendices provide useful basic data about Chapter Six topic, "Gas," came the examines the history of lunar study, Spudis the moon and lunar exploration, and the every lower level science teacher: the examines small- and large-scale lunar struc glossary of people, places, and terms is quite first integral. Yes, I know, galactic astronomy ture with particular emphasis on how in-depth. cannot be readily understood impact events have shaped the moon's geo This book is a fun, enjoyable, and relative out math logic evolution. There are also entire chap ly easy read. The author's enthusiasm for the ters dedicated to the nature and composition moon and for lunar study is not only obvi of the lunar regolith, lunar volcanism, and ous, but contagious. crustal structure, formation, and evolution. 20 Planetarian Vol. · tific or technical career. However, I am find Society, the Astronomical League, and the Reviewed by Francine Jackson, UI1liV~2rsitv ing many more students who need their two San Diego Astronomy Association. She also Rhode Island Planetari urn, Providence, semesters of general science requirements publishes an amateur astronomy newsletter Rhode Island, USA. gravitating toward astronomy. "Clear Skies." Unfortunately, most college astronomy Thoroughly illustrated with color and Apparently, there are scientists out courses are the one-semester-finish-as-much monochromatic images and charts, the who worry about their jobs. Author of-the-book-as-possible challenge. Some stu authors take you on an easy to follow discus Horgan begins his tour of paranoia as result dents, if they could, really would continue in sion of the sun's impact on humanity, of an offhand remark by Roger Penrose, who, astronomy rather than touch upon a including some excellent photographs of in The Emperor's New Mind, stated that the semester of something totally different. early observatories and monuments from unified theory were worked out, it would This is a good book. As a higher-level, Stonehenge in England to the Mayan obser represent the unification of physics degree-seeking galactic astronomy text, this vatory El Caracol at Chichen Itza in Mexico. philosophical solution to the link between could be a good alternative to the old stan The photograph of Stonehenge at summer mind and matter. According to dards. But, what it isn't is one for the basic solstice sunrise on the cover is worth the would represent The Answer, the .... ".UHU'' astronomy student who wants more than a price of the book alone. end to research as we know it. one semester text can offer. If Elmegreen The following chapters explore the To confirm this end theory, would write a complementary general read advancement of solar astronomy; the explo writer for Scientific American, goes an er, she might have a bigger audience. Those sive growth of data from space-based robotic interviewing spree, setting up times with of us looking for a more basic book than this and human exploration; discovering the renowned scientists and philosophers from one would probably thank her and more basis of our sun's power; exploring the differ Thomas Kuhn to Fred Hoyle, Carl to importantly, be able to get a whole new set ent layers to the sun's atmosphere; the Stephen Jay Gould, aU of whom had written of students to read her. impact on life on earth by solar radiation or expressed opinions of some type concern and outbursts; explanations of solar eclipses ing the end of science as we know it, and what we have learned from observa whether we have reached the limits of both Beginner's Guide to the Sun by tions of the sun during an eclipse; and specu our understanding and the uni- Peter O. Taylor & Nancy L. lating on what lies ahead in solar studies and verse. Hendrickson, Kalmbach Books, power. The final chapter gives some tips and The answers he receives range from the 1995, ISBN 0-913135-23-2, $19.95. suggestions on how the reader can begin to definite - we are running out of stuff to learn get involved in solar astronomy. - to the "There's always another decimal Reviewed by John A. Schroer, planetarian-at At the end of the first chapter there is a pOint," to "We haven't scratched the sur large, Ohio, USA. timeline comparing historical events to dis face." He compares this topic to the of coveries in solar astronomy. After chapter I, the 19th century patent office commissioner From being worshipped as a god to being each chapter finishes with a suggested pro who allegedly stated that there was notnlmg relegated to its current role as an average yel ject for readers to further their understand more to invent, and recommended the office low dwarf located in the Orion arm of the ing of the sun. Projects include a reflected be shut down; surprisingly, Horgan refutes Milky Way galaxy, this object has played sundial; accessing images and data on the this. According to our author, the commis many roles for humanity. Serious studies of sun via a home computer (America On-line, sioner actually expanded the office this object did not begin in earnest until the CompuServe, and sites on the World Wide his time there. Is Horgan trying to give us 17th century with Galileo's telescope. And it Web); comparisons of our star to other visi hope? took another two centuries before a basic ble stars in the evening skYi a magnetometer Although the people Horgan chose to understanding of its processes began to to measure disturbances in the earth's mag interview were those who had emerge. While many astronomers dedicate netic field caused by solar activity; and painted a peSSimistic picture of the future of much of their nighttime observations on recording a solar eclipse with a video cam science, many of them seemed to back off large ground-based or space-based telescopes corder. when faced with the stark "Yes" or "No" of towards learning more of stellar evolution, a As you may ascertain from its title, their earlier writings; many seemed to have small but dedicated number of daytime Beginner's Guide to the Sun strives to be a reconsidered their portents of and astronomers have been making progress complete introduction and guide to solar doom. Also, unfortunately, many of those studying the closest to earth, namely, our astronomy. And to a large measure, it suc interviewed were long retired, and a star Sol. ceeds admirably. There was a typographical cant number died within a short time after error on page 57 regarding the sun's physical the discussion. each chapter finishes with a measurements. The scientific notation is Because this book was written by a popu suggested project for read incorrect. For example, the sun's age is 4.6 x lar writer as opposed to a researcher (the 109 years, not 4.6 x 109 years. author admits he was an English ers to further their under I highly recommend this title to anyone don't think we in the science field have any standing of the sun. wanting to learn more about the sun and thing to worry about. This seems to have solar astronomy. been more of a book on the author's The Guide's authors are Peter Taylor and to get to know and speak with famous peo Nancy Hendrickson. Peter Taylor is a solar ple in philosophy and the sciences, and astronomer and chairman of the American The End of Science, by John being allowed into their private lives. For Association of Variable Star Observers' Solar Horgan, Helix Books, 1 Jacob this, the book is entertaining. that Division, while Nancy Hendrickson is an Way, Reading, Massachusetts, Fred Hoyle is mesmerized by TV cricket and ama teur astronomer and freelance writer 01867, USA, 1996, ISBN 0-201- that David Bohm was a follower of Tibetan who participates in the American Sundial 62679-9. mysticism was enlightening. Vol. 27, No.2, June 1998 Planetarian But as for the basic I feel I know no more of belief on the than I did before I read this book. For us in of some other science books the sciences, that means we can young readers. He states that when keep working for awhile. conference to discuss the "martian orite" was called, NASA Administrator Daniel Golden invited Martian Fossils on Earth?: The Story ofMeteorite ALH 84001 team to Fred Bortz, The Millbrook Press, res.pe1cted Plarlet.lfV SCientist, discussed Inc., 2 Old New Millford Road, piece of evidence and gave alternative Brookfield, Connecticut, 06804, pre tat ions for some of them." 1997,0-7613-0270-0, $21.40. And I found a most remarkable statement in the Author's Note at the end "This Reviewed by April Whitt, Fernbank Science about rather than answers. Center, Atlanta, Georgia. my you will want to ask your ques- tions as new scientific discoveries When this book arrived, my first reaction announced." Bravo for a book that was, "Here we go again." I was reminded of engage young readers with its colorful the cartoon of the lab-coated scientist appearance, and them an overqualified "there might be some real substance in its text. evidence that could possibly indicate that perhaps in the distant past Mars may have had some primitive life form" statement to the press and being met with yells of "DID YOU HEAR THAT? LIFE ON MARS!!!/I as wild eyed journalists rush to file their stories. But this book is nothing like the cartoon. This is a carefully written, understand able account of ALH84001: its discovery, the Reviewed Francine Jackson, study of it by different scientists, and their Rhode Island Planetarium, conclusions. Aimed at the middle school Rhode Island. audience (grades 5 and up, age 10 and up), the author begins by asking "Why Are Scientists Usually, when So Excited About a Rock?" in chapter one, ets, I expect the and that chapter's very first sentence should planet - in the be in every science book any child reads. spacecraft. The "Because scientists love the excitement of to have sand discovery, sometimes love the search my for answers even more than the answers basic themselves./I Because scientists love the excitement of discovery, they sometimes love the search for answers even more than the answers themselves. The reader is then led through the process ence fiction creatures of all kinds, ,u\."u.'.uu.]<. es, experiments, questions and discussions Zsa Zsa Gabor's Queen of Outer that surround this remarkable meteorite. Each chapter begins with an overview or a question that researchers wanted to explore. Concepts such as radioactive dating, the use of false color images, and decoding a story written in the language of mineralogy and tening to a recount geochemistry are clearly and objectively ing his love and work in eXI)laiinect.Color and black-and-white diagrams are noted with little arrows embed Ii I ded in the text body, so that readers can easi ly see what picture goes with which words. 22 Planetarian SPITZ, INC. P.o. Box 198, Route 1 Chadds Ford, PA 19317 USA Tel 610.459,5200 Fax 610.459.3830 www.spitzinc.com from spilling out during transport. By the way, in all of my comments you Fortunately, most tests and will notice that I do not address 140-slide tray's working parts can be done capacity trays. There are several reasons, the slides still loaded. the main one being that you cannot use the down to the moving parts (anlotJtler thicker, glass-mounts in these trays. As I've good reason to make sure the lid mentioned in previous installments, glass tight). First, check the circle of 81 inclexing mounts are the only sure-fire way to ensure pins on the tray bottom 2). consistent focus when projecting slides, so to do a decent job in slide presentations glass mounts should always be used. Audiovisual professionals consider auto-focus technology to be a poor substitute for glass mounting as it's not always reliable and cannot ensure even focus across the entire image. Another reason I won't address the 140 trays is that For a slide projector to work correctly, it's they are mechanically inferior to the 80- host of moving parts- the motor, drive belts, capacity trays, and prone to causing slide fan, cams, levers, switches. and so forth drop and lift problems during normal projec must all function properly. Given the com tor operation. In fact, some camera-store plexity of the mechanical and electrical owners steer users away from the (/140" mod parts inside, we usually tend to focus on the els for this very reason, despite the fact that projector whenever there's a slide-related they stock some of these trays. problem. But in the case of Ektagraphic-type slide technology, the slide tray itself can Don't Your 2 cause problems, too. In this installment, we'll As with the projector, the Ektagraphic should all be show you how to spot some of the more slide tray experiences deterioration with use. with no cracks or present. Even a common tray difficulties, and how to deal The most evident degradation is usually seen defect could make the projector with them. at the retaining ring (Figure 1), or in the case jam up during operation. The of Ektapro trays, the clear plastic cover. After areas that can be tolerated would be A Mechanical Beast removing and replacing the top of the tray facing completely away from tray-center. Like the projector with which it is paired, repeatedly, the little notches that keep the any of the pins are cracked or the Ektagraphic-style slide tray is a mechani lid or ring locked in place will wear away. If in those areas adjacent pins cal apparatus, albeit a passive one. Molded this happens, the lid can be accidentally the center of the tray, then the tray into that squat plastic cylinder are the slot rotated to an "unlocked" position though be discarded and the slides loaded ted compartments which hold the slides handling. If you find that the lids or rings no replacement tray. themselves, as well as a series of pins under longer "click" into a locked pOSition, be very Avoid the to neath the outer edge designed to interface wary, as you could easily dump a tray-full of or part of a with the projector's indexing and transport slides onto the floor in a nightmarish mess. joint is suspect from the outset, in levers. Together, these levers and pins rotate Unless you keep a perfectly-accurate and d-"':>r'I(Tth and Remember, and position the tray, which in turn, accesses ordered list of all the slides in your trays, it a plastic model which will the desired slides in appropriate sequence. might take you hours to reinstall all the a shelf to be looked at. Each one of those Additionally, the tray has a slotted bottom slides in their proper order. Unfortunately, will undergo frictional and torsional plate through which slides drop into the pro the only reliable way to protect yourself each and every time the tray jector, and upon which the upper tray turns from such a calamity is to replace the offend It will do no good to glue a pin back during operation. The bottom plate is held in ing tray before disaster strikes. tray, only to have it break off once the zero-position by a special lock-tab when The "working" parts of the tray are usually a show a couple of weeks later. ever the tray is removed from the projector. ignored by most of us, but these should be addition, any dried cement which And, of course, topping everything off is the inspected periodically. If a projector starts to around the repair will offset the tray from locking ring or lid, which keeps the slides miscycle, it's always prudent to check for standard position for slide drop and lift, proper tray operation first, before tearing that could affect the proper into the projector or sending it off for repair. tion of tray and projector. In fact, if the A quick and easy check of tray operation is bulge at the repair is too -less than to keep a spare "test tray" around with "dum millimeter thick - it can even the my" slides loaded into it. If a projector ever port or indexing levers during slide ad'varKI" gives trouble, simply change to the test tray or reverse. As the old saying goes, don't and see if the offending behavior stops or "penny-wise and dollar-foolish". continues. If the problem vanishes, it's a pret bucks and get a new tray. ty good guess that the original tray is the cul prit (though you should also check to see if at any individual slides have begun to pop Another area with open, or exhibit other problems). slide trays can be found with the Figure 1 tion lock, which prevents the metal 24 Planetarian Vol. Jamming Problems - Bottom considerable force to be spun Plate tray. Just remember that the more which is required of your finger, the Perhaps the most insidious problem force will be required for the Dr~8ject<)r encountered with Ektagraphic-style slide rotate the tray, too. trays involves the bottom plate (Figure 5). In Often, the problem can be fixed before damaging the tray - or the 000000 0 000 the fix can be done without o _------slides. Start by inverting the tray, remove the bottom plate. This is done on some trays by removing the three Figure 3 screws mentioned earlier. Instead of screws, Ektapro trays have three large plate from rotating away from the "home" (Figure 6) molded into the position when it's removed from the projec tor. Actually, the newer trays have an improved, plastic lever-style zero-position lock which has proven to be relatively trou ble-free. It's the older trays with a sliding metal lock which pose the most problems (shown removed from the tray, in an under neath view in Figure 3). These sliding mecha nisms are susceptible to bending and having their integral leaf-springs jump up over a Figure 5 molded plastic bump near the center of the o tray (underneath the metal slider) when the these situations, the rotation of the tray atop tray is placed into the center hub of the pro the projector - a motion which is typically jector. When this occurs, the slider will get smooth and easy - requires much greater stuck in the retracted, or unlocked position. torque than normal. If left unchecked, this If this happens, the bottom plate can freely problem can get so bad that the projector rotate when off the projector, allowing slides cannot properly cycle the tray. At some Figure 6 to drop out of the tray one-at-a-time. pOint, the tray may actually jam on the pro main tray-part itself. In this case, pun up gen To fix this problem, temporarily unload jector - sometimes even breaking off index tly on the inverted bottom plate it the slides into another tray, as you'll need to ing pins on the tray-edge. at the slide-slot opening), while simultane remove the bottom plate and flip the tray This rotational binding happens when the ousl y pressing the closest plastic over and back several times. Next, simply bottom plate becomes warped, causing the toward the tray-center with your invert the tray, remove the three Phillips plate to bind up between the inner and outer Once the plate is released from this first screws, lift off the bottom plate, turn the edges of the plastic tray-part. This binding catch, you can work your away around to tray right-side-up, pull up on the center of leads to much greater friction as the tray the other two catches, releasing the bottom the metal slider, and work it out of the tray. rotates atop the plate. Warpage on the plate plate completely. These trays have little Once removed, you can simply straighten may result from tray handling, particularly metal leaf-springs between the bottom out the center of the slider (Figure 4, seen in when carrying a stack of loaded trays. and plastic tray-part, and sometimes these side-view) and the leaf springs, and reassem Sometimes when changing shows, planetari come out when removing the plate, so ble the tray in reverse order, making sure ans may stack as many as a half-dozen trays er up any that may stick to the plate or fall that the leaf springs first slip over the outside which they then carry between the planetar into the tray's slide-slots. edge of the tray's molded bump. ium theater and slide-preparation area. Now, check the metal plate by placing it Since these older trays are rather prone to When the bulk of those trays are over half bottom-side-up - onto a flat tabletop. A repeating this problem, think about eventu full with glass-mounted slides, and the plane good, un-warped bottom plate should rest ally replacing them with the newer, lever tarian places one hand under the bottom flat on the tabletop with the entire outer style zero-posit ion-lock trays. tray's metal plate, the downward pressure of most circular ridge contacting - or the loaded tray-stack can distort the plate. contacting - the tabletop all the way It is usually difficult to see much evidence around. Since you cannot actually see the of bottom-plate warpage on an assembled underside of this stamped ridge in the plate, tray. However, you can detect it another J'- I i~~ try pressing down on the ridge at several way. First, place the tray upside-down on a pOints, working all the way around. On an "" bent table (making sure that the slide retaining un-warped plate, you should see the metal ring is locked in place first, of course). Then move very little - less than about 1/2 mm release the zero-position lock and try rotat before it contacts the tabletop. The inner ing the bottom plate around with a finger, most ridge of an un-warped bottom grabbing the plate at the slide-slot area. An should float about 1 millimeter above the ~\I Ii 'ib un-warped bottom plate should rotate easily tabletop, and you can check it by doing the under "finger-power" with only minimal same finger-press test around the ridge while straightened drag. On the other hand, a warped tray-bot holding a metric ruler end-down the tom will bind in its motion and will require Figure 4 table just inside the bottom-plate's inner Vol. 27, No.2, June 1998 Planetarian 25 hole. you're making very little progress, as you rotation, then it's probably If the bottom plate fails the above test, may actually be as much new the tray aW)getnE~r. you know that it is warped. the way, most warpage as you're But with a little Before final reinstallation warpage problems will be quite evident as patience, you should be able to get rid of soon as you lay the plate on the tabletop. In most of the warpage. Do keep in mind, these cases, you can easily see areas where though, that you probably won't ever get the inner or outer edges of the plate are sepa the plate straightened-out quite as good as a rated from tabletop as much as 2 to 4mm or new one. But most of the time with a more. measure of time and - you can At this point, the fix simply involves pick improve the shape of the plate enough to sal ing up the bottom plate, and gently and vage the tray for satisfactory operation. Once slowly bending it back into shape, checking you get the plate reshaped to your satisfac inner the result of each small adjustment by plac tion, try reinstalling it to test the smoothness ing the plate back onto the tabletop (upside of rotation. If, in the end, you find you can down, of course). At first, it'll seem like not significantly improve the smoothness of continued from page 16) ing, and can be powered by batteries for short lengths or by 110/60 Hz for lengths up check out for your gift shop or for your own to 800 feet (250 m) with a life of 25,000 use. For quantity discount information, sam hours. The company claims an even output out. ples to examine, or other information, con of and color throughout its and What tact Larry Deckman as given above. a remarkable energy efficiency of less than Contact 0.1 milliamps used per foot 30 cm); the above for that other intorrna1tioltl. power needed for a 100 watt bulb could power 1,000 feet of this fiber. It's cold to the We may spend a lot of time in the dark touch, water resistant, non-toxic, durable, but it doesn't mean we're not searching for One of the little bits of ml:orm,Hion and comes in a variety of colors, "''-'_V~'''''Ujl''' illumination. The following may offer some up at to the information I have, new options. the Johnson in the "Best New Earlier this year, I received a sample of a category at the new award-winning product called "Live obtained elsewhere, but 1997 annual convention of the International Wire" from Live Wire Enterprises, Inc., 374 nient list-and since Association of Amusement Parks & Attrac Troutman Street, Brooklyn, New York 11237 tions, and is presently being commercialized USA, telephone +1 718 456 3020 or +1 888 548 in industries ranging from and traffic 3947, fax +1718 3817595. The accompanying to display and entertainment. It's been used news release described it as a new type of in movies and in the Smithsonian's illumination that you can "tie in knots." Wars exhibit. The product is made of very thin flexible I received a ba1ttel'v-l,)o'Nf'l'ed copper cable coated with electrolumines era! feet, blue-green in color; it's cence semiconductors (phosphors) which ful, you can have it shine or emit light in 360 degrees with AC current is and off-and you can indeed tie it into knots, applied. The cable is 1/16-inch (1.6 mm) in Of course, the mind boggles at how diameter encased in protective plastic tub- ways it could be used for dark environments .nasa.gov> Other Sites: 26 Planetarian planetarium shouldn't compete with any one - it is a market unto itself (at least it would be in a perfect universe!). In the actual universe, planetaria do com that we need many more, not pete for the attention and dollars of the pub throughout the world. lic, and even of schools. However, I don't see reach those who otherwise how reducing the number of domes would able to visit a For '-",,-UU 28 Planetarian seek partners in related and non-related areas do is to help each other - communicate and Where does a plalne~tarlUJm (we're in a library), but shrink the number of visit with other planetariums, get more cultural eXiper'ieIlCe'l domes-never! Especially since planetariums involved in your regional organizations and are becoming more and more the only place IPS. Write articles, go to meetings. That's houses or museums. you can find a truly dark sky. And how else how other professions "keep up"! many times I've been forced to can you stimulate the masses to learn and Mike Murray, Assistant Director question, "What time does the care about this crazy and Taylor Planetarium At Hansen, ticket are based incredible universe. Ok, ok, there are Museum of the Rockies in the movie and whether many other ways to extol the wonders of Bozeman, MT 59717 accept credit cards as payment astronomy and I've lost any objectivity here. been based on what the movie I tried. *** doing, with a noticeable absence Robert Bonadurer the opera, or local Director, Minneapolis Planetarium Planetariums each have their own discrete doing. 300 Nicollet Mall markets. Individually we do not have a glob Also, I, Minneapolis MN 55401 al reach, as large corporations do. Reducing tariums that seem to be notnllllQ: the number of planetariums around the 'permanent exhibit' of a *** globe so that the remnants are somehow last Planetarian Forum enhanced makes no sense: economically we red to the as diorama, Actually, our community is very different. are independent of one another. A shrinking brings to mind the traditional, static All planetariums are not the same, woven budget in one planetarium is not going to um exhibit behind a barricade, together under the influence of one "corpo directl y enhance the budget of another. ever-present Do Not Touch (I rc:>r'c:>-ni-h, rate office." How well each planetarium Geographically we are scattered, serving dis visi ted the Denver Museum of functions depends on its ability to find its parate populations. I don't believe that peo History's new multi-million dollar .... ALnu.',Uu. "niche" in the community, fit within the ple (other than planetarians) travel to vaca (excuse me, exhibit). The two m{~mlones mission of its parent institution, develop an tion destinations expressly because of the stand out most are a effective funding base, and promote itself great planetarium facilities that are there. sounds came from a effectively. Every community and institu The general public uses the planetarium that and behind me, and an interactive rr.''Y>r\,,,h''r tion is different, so every planetarium needs is located closest to them. Unfortunately, game on natural selection with an r.h',Tir..lldu to "adapt" to fill those conditions. they are not going to seek us out in the same fixed outcome.) The number of domes may in fact already way they might seek out an amusement be shrinking, due in part to funding cuts but park or a zoo. Therefore, reducing planetari also due to our inability to "keep up" with um numbers has the adverse effect of mak changing attitudes, expectations, and ing us harder and less likely to find. Thirdly, demands in the business and consumer mar since we do serve populations unique to our ketplace. I'm not advocating that we become individual operations, we have opportuni overly business-oriented; that kind of obses ties to interact with communities in ways sive attitude on the part of certain adminis that are personal and meaningful to resi trators, if gone unchanged, is what leads so dents. We can tie our shows into local tive audience, eSl=)eciaH many to mis-label planetariums as "profit events, history, and features, and make the clouds n"'I'hl'hl·~" centers," and when they don't "perform" to planetarium a place that enhances the com their expectations, they cut them back or munity it serves, rather than a place that has close them entirely. a generic experience for every American. So what's the answer? We need to be more Businesses that support the plalnetar'lUlm actively involved in projects that build visi industry will suffer with fewer planetariums bility in the community, so a broad base of around. Fewer planetariums means that we um to survive it must present itself public support can be generated. It means would be more spread out, making attractive, environment. getting out of the office and meeting with us more costly for businesses that ..-.. ... '.... ""£10 A should never be c01nparE~Q people, soliciting sponsorship and under planetariums with service and supplies. to a movie house. Planetariums writing or "membership," and giving them In short, the planetarium community is horrible death if try to compete concrete benefits in return. Getting to know different from global companies. While we 20th Fox. I remember the science teachers in your local school sys are interested in profit to keep the doors prClQUlction houses feared for their futures as tem can be a plus. Keeping up with advanc open, we are also frequently non-profit, edu VHS became a household word. Yet, ing technology is certainly a must, but we cational organizations with the goal of buster films still succeed because need to do the best we can to play to the reaching a large number of people with planetarium's unique strengths as an envi lessons about the vast world around us. 200 other ronmental theater, instead of trying too hard Lisa Daly with surround sound, that to replicate other media in an attempt to Upton Middle School where else. compete head-on. 800 Maiden Lane Why would anyone pay lt's better to focus our energies on how we St.Joseph MI 49085 tickets when should evolve in order to satisfy our audi sound system ences, our underwriters, and our bosses than *** to get overly fixated on the "survival" issue by itself. And one of the best things we can Vol. No.2, june 1998 Planetarian NEW! Solar System Panorama S ~ Panorama Set includes: • The Sun (a very active chord view) • All nine planets (separate ring for Saturn) S • The Asteroids • Earth's moon The set is shot in standard 25% overlap and comes to you al ~asked and mounted. 50% overlap sets are available Order From: Joe Hopkins En i I ...... if Call 1-800-JHE-5960 4301 32nd treet Bradenton, F • continue to provide the IPS Job Service. past, under the direction I to Aaron Guzman (Planetarium Coordi the Hansen Planetarium nator, Don Harrington Discovery Center, fine reputation of the !-'"CUHUH.'-U Amarillo, Texas) received a Silver Award address of the IPS, hosted IPS'92, l·n~rlt-".r! from Addy Gras 1997 from the American Professor Advertising Awards for his original show them twice and co-wrote a show "Who's Scared of the Dark?" He received the sought and received numerous award for Script Writer/Event Producer. The bution grants 3 NSF show also received an award for Musical NEH), and su(:ce~;sftlllv n ... ,aca-nt-ar! eX1:rernely Score. popular science theater shows, HH,'U'UUlr:, two featuring the Tesla Coil. Good on the Move... of them. Sheri Barton Trbovich (former Assistant Director at the Hansen Planetarium in Salt Did Lake City) is now working for the Clark Sheldon Foundation, also in Salt Lake City. She will Programs and Facilities, Lakeview continue to be associated with the astrono of Arts & Sciences, Peoria, Illinois) my education community (the Clark Foundation's first supported program is bringing the Astronomical Society of the winter with Pacific's Project ASTRO to Utah). And of Chicago, course she'll probably be joining her hus favorite. Pink band John Sohl, director of Weber State but Pink University's Ott Planetarium, on occasional most to Reed (Spitz, Inc.) whom I mistak- conferences. winner. enly stated was retired from Spitz. He did Aaron T. McEuen (former Planetarium Are you interested in lAT::ltrl,ina retire from West Chester University in 1995 Director at the Coca-Cola Space Science buil t? Zelko and moved to lovely Lake Tahoe. George still Center, Columbus, Georgia), is returning to works for Spitz in sales, marketing and train Hansen Planetarium in Salt Lake City, Utah ing, and he is also still writing, cartooning as the Digistar II programmer and Digital and involved in public speaking. Media producer, on June 8th. Aaron still to Richard Monda (Planetarium Director, works as a consultant for Digistar UII sys Schenectady Museum & Planetarium, New tems. York) and Brian (Planetarium Gij!seIlbergs (former Director at the Assistant, also at Schenectady Planetarium) Europlanetarium of Genk, Belgium) is now for my lengthy delay in announcing that making programs for the Artis Planetarium Owens Science Center, Lanham, MD) Brian was hired last fall as the new at Amsterdam in The Netherlands. His new inten~sting solution to the argument over Planetarium Assistant. email [email protected]. when the next millennium New at the Ward Beecher Planetarium in gests that we let the current mlHennlUln Youngstown, Ohio, is Sharon Sh.anks. Sharon on Dec. 31, 1999, but declare the next to David E. Parker (now Director of has managed the Physics and Astronomy be Jan. 1, 2001! In other words, Technology, Tipton Community Schools Department office for years, and has now 2000 has the Planetarium, Tipton Indiana) who was pre joined the Planetarium team full-time. sented with GLPA's first service award on lennium behalf of the entire membership at GLPA's Our computers will Surmc)se(lly 1997 Cleveland conference. Dave served as to Tom Hoddlng (Moderator for Dome-L is 1900 instead of 2000. Electric trains in the GLP A's Secretary/Treasurer for over 16 years, Digest, and Show SpeCialist, SpaceQuest (Planetarium Director, and has been a GLPA member for 25 years. Planetarium, Indianapolis, Indiana) who to Dr. David H. Menke (Director, Buehler recently lost his father. Gillette, uses a HO model that runs around the cove of the p12me'taI'l- Planetarium, Ft. Lauderdale, Florida) who to Assistant Director Sheri ...... ,... ~,,? ~ was appointed by Thomas President Facilities Manager relatIonShip to the season. (Director, Sudekum of IPS, to serve as Chairman of the IPS Graphic Artist KT;UlIPV 1:::.1"""''''''n....,'n'''.11 Professional Services Committee to help duction Assistant tarium, Nashville, TN) and her staff planetarium professionals improve their Technician David Audio Engineer scary this as rOlm'l.Q()es blew through Nashville. Kris reports jobs, salaries, and/or get better jobs and high Rueben Fox, and Secretary Sue Cl1lIistol)h~~ er salaries. who were released last January by the museum, and staff to Steve Fentress (Director, Strasenburgh Director of the Utah Museum of Natural though Nashville suffered substantial Planetarium, Rochester, New York) who is History, which is now overseeing operations age across the entire The Museum also on the new committee. IPS now has two at the Hansen Planetarium in Salt Lake City, "evacuated" to tornado POSltlOllS representatives of institutions who can look Utah; and to Fred Babcock (Theater Programs Goldner four times in three back at a rich experience with training pro Manager) who was also released from Hansen The staff had a great view as the rot,atirlg grams involving planetarians from around this past April. Fred has enjoyed working tex descended on the downtown Museum sits on the north side of a hill the globe. Within that context, Steve will with planetarians for the past 30 years. In the 32 Planetarian Vol. looking downtown, less than a half mile Keith Johnson (Assistant Director, Fleisc zone differences, but in Nevada it from us. Kris was pretty concerned because hmann Planetarium, Reno, Nevada) had a happened yesterday, so you all missed " the roof above the Planetarium dome may creative April Fool's Day joke as part of the Dennis Mammana (Reuben H. Fleet be the weakest part of the building. Kris' hus "Fleischmann Flyer", their monthly newslet Theater, San Diego, California) is rn'<>nOlrirllT band Allan said that when they saw things ter. They mailed it out with a spoof calendar, series of lectures about the northern moving horizontally past the windows, it and then, one or two days later, they mailed the peoples of the north, was time to head for the basement. out a one-page insert with the real calendar and NW Canada. Amazingly, there are no reported fatalities. and chart, with an apology and an explana Bill Gutsch (planetarium consultant) has Taylor Planetarium has opened a laser tion that space aliens must have injected a been busy producing shows lately. He has show called "Laser Southern Cookin1l1 featur virus into the computers. Some examples of finished a family/school solar system based ing ZZ Top, Allman Bros., Lynyrd Skynyrd, the spoof calendar include "5 Wed. The peak show in conjunction with Broderbund Stevie Ray Vaughan. Mike Murray (Program of the Persimmon Meteor Shower. From a Software, Inc. and PBS entitled "Where the Assistant, Taylor Planetarium Bozeman, dark location you can see up to two Universe is Carmen Sandiego?" The show is Montana) says it's "a kick $#%@ show! (Yes, Persimmons per hour... most of those are visi already playing in Calgary, Vancouver, and confederate boogie is popular in Montana!)" ble only with 14x87 binoculars. Fleischmann Boston, and will open soon in Denver, David Menke (Director, Buehler Plan Planetarium will hold a Meteor Watch start Oklahoma City, Salt Lake Columbus, etarium) reports that the 9th annual Buehler ing at 11 a.m." and 1/13 Mon. Empty Moon. and Orlando, Bill has also just created the Intern, Ms. Kristin Lester, will complete her This event may be listed as happening opening show for the new, gigantic Center internship on June 30. Congratulations! tomorrow on your calendars, due to time for Arts & Sciences in Valencia, Spain, U (planetechnica, continued from page 26) Removing the distortions from a slide tray's bottom plate will greatly improve for tray-part with a few alcohol-soaked cotton ward and reverse cycling. But the best way swabs. This is particularly important on to avoid this problem is to prevent the tray trays with the plastic catches and leaf g bottom from getting warped in the first springs, as the original factory lubricant sproinspnng. place. When carrying a stack of loaded slide placed in this area will tend to dry out and trays, avoid supporting the weight via the collect dust and little particles of worn-off bottom plate if at all possible. plastic. (While you're at it, it's also a good Make sure to check your trays on a idea to give the entire bottom plate an over odic basis - perhaps once or twice per year. all cleaning as it will collect a film of dust pring This check should include the top slide over time.) Once you've done your cleaning, retaining ring, the indexing pins, the zero spread a thin film of petroleum jelly on the position lock, and the smoothness of leaf-springs and where the plastic catches tion in the bottom plate. Performing this contact the lower inner edge of the bottom occasional check will go a long way toward plate. However, do not lubricate the outer Figure 7 minimizing tray problems and jammed pro edges of the bottom plate or plastic tray-part. jectors. I;:; (Forum, continued from page 29) school groups to the theater in order to come a knocking on your door. Turn them point out Orion the Hunter. A planetarium native, avert their gaze from the balance with 1000 other people, staring at a live should not pride itself on slapping the latest sheet and send them away with their minds orchestra, that you can't get anywhere else. image from Hubble on its dome. A planetari filled with wonder about our crazy universe. Why would anyone pay for opera tickets, um can be so much more; it is an experience Here is the topiC for the next Forum col musical performances or other stage shows ... that cannot be had anywhere else. With this umn: you get the idea. These experiences are vision, and money to play with, a planetari unique. People will still flock to see the um can survive and thrive. Every home has a Dev'eiO'pmc:mts in the plruletall'iUltn P1LOteSSl.Cln Show. VCR, yet the theaters are still full on Friday can sometimes take on a life of their own, For a planetarium to survive, it must pre night. Every home has a CD player, yet the "Dwhir.1.g ahead in some areas faster sent itself as an attractive, unique experience. concert halls are still full. So what if every than we feel comfortable A planetarium must advertise that under the high school has a dome. The public planetar areas frustrate us dome the patron can experience things that ium can still fill its seats with people excited they cannot get in a classroom, on a comput to see, no, to experience. er screen, or even under the nighttime sky. Richard S. Cox Though there will always be the need for the Education Program Manager siona) This is the Sky Tonight program, a planetari Hansen Planetarium um can be so much more. Technology has 15 S. State St. I shall be delighted to receive your given the planetarium the ability to travel Salt Lake City, Utah 84111 thoughts on this by the deadline ofjune S. through time and space, to give the patron Until then, I wish all of you the views of the heavens from just about any *** IPS conference in London a pleasant I conceivable location. Planetariums were the can't be there, but I know the hosts in my first virtual reality theaters. So, there you have it. Lots of ammunition home country will make it a memorable A planetarium should not be inviting here, should the suits predicting closure experience. U Vol. 27, No.2, 1998 Planetarian web site for search engines. Here you can Here you'll find interactive street simultaneously search over a dozen search Mapquest with an added latitude engines with a single query. tude feature. Just enter an address If you're searching for an on-line, interac a map and you'll get back the 'U~j".U"'J."" tive road atlas try Mapquest (http://www longitude to five decimal .mapquest.com). Not only can you get a very handy when you need this detailed street map to any address you enter, astronomy program. but driving directions as well. If you have a Time and calendars are oerermiall web site for your planetarium you can use lar planetarium themes. A related Mapquest to generate a map of its location many of you, no doubt have visited Custom Search Do gpile RerilOte Search at Home Help w-tih Syntax As any planetarian who's explored the MetaFilld Search World Wide Web knows, cyberspace con tains a treasure trove of resources. The big challenge is finding the "cyber-needle" in the "digital haystack." One finds useful web sites i S~m:hfur oo:l.dh.ost)'Ollr : (DOl:Xl.ain with SiwpM!Nrt in many ways. There are, of course, the : fur $'.lOI.m.o! : famous search engines like Yahoo (http:// i jd o-it-n ow. com: i www.yahoo.com) and Lycos (http://www. lycos.com), but they're less and less compre !.':i:i::§,~tt,:::::f" . ~ll~Ullll:'! Searches: hensive every day. You can also discover a lot of great stuff by shear accident - sort of 1lreWeb: Yahoo:~Lyco~ 'A2Z,Ex.cite Guide, Go Tq.com; PlanetSearch,TYrundersti:m 'cyber-serendipity.' Perhaps less fun, but .What U Seek, Magellan, Lyco:s, WebCl'awler, InfoSeek, Excite&.AltaVf:sta. " Use.net: Reference, Dejanews, .Alta Vista and.Dejanews' old Database. more efficient, are published sources. This ITP: Ii'll ez and FI'PSearc h. (Clr:lij theJ'im word willb~pa.mdon to FTP Seurch.) includes everything from computer and web NewsW:ires: Yahoo News Headlines,. Excite New :sand Infoseek New s ~res. magazines to newspaper articles, TV and radio news stories, DOME-L, and professional journals such as this one. What follows is an that you can save as a .gif file to use on your episode of the latter method. site. Mapquest will grant you permission to Speaking of search engines, have you use up to 2S such maps on your web site free heard of Dogpile? No, it's not a traffic jam at of charge. All they ask is a link back to their the local animal shelter! Dogpile (http:// site. www.dogpile.com) is a "one stop shopping" If you prefer numerical geography, check plain vanilla web page you out Etak Guide (http://www.etakguide.com). and time in almost any calendar system you can think of - and then Throw in a huge selection of calen dar, time, and astronomy links and you've got a great resource for any planetarian doing a show this subject. Job hunting is a favorite tarian pastime. This is seldom a local endeavor. If you find that rare planetarium job announce- ment that quotes a up front, you may wonder how that salary is vs. the cost of planetarium's location. web can be a great Economic Research Institute's site (Please see Cmntnlw' on 43) 34 Planetarian Vol. see a topical program about astronomy that includes a view of the current evening's stars and constellations; I want them to be able to look at some exhibits regarding astronomy, possibly even interact by asking questions and having conversations; and I c::HJC ....LUH want them to look through a LL''-..,,_V~'~ something astronomical in nature, so that they make the connection between the sim ulation in the planetarium theater and the stuff of the real sky outdoors. Astronomy clubs, on the other hand, typi cally have the following mission: members want to learn about astronomy and tele basic LL, __ ..> ... '-''-''- operatioln, scopes; they want to talk with each other done a wonderful about their experiences and make plans for look throu~~h upcoming club and individual activities related to skywatching; and they want to enjoy the social aspects of club membership. objects, such as the Orion Nebula. "Opening the Dome" addresses strategies and Ideally, they want to also promote member On the down side, there is logistics for conducting active, aggressive ship (not all clubs want this there is a cer turnover in Ambassadors. This is a tain comfort in restricting membership); real sky observation programs as adjuncts to and, often, but not al ways, they want to hold planetarium shows. star parties and do talks for the I'm trailnirlg lie. around the wayan astronomy dub mE~mlber While planetariums and astronomy clubs But are reliable, can work well together, it's to able, and after all, I don't have understand the reasons to teach telesC:OIle opel:atlon always maintain a symbiotic well be them. And we get For the past five years I have been at Just understanding why there are conflicts benefits from this arrangement. Indian River Community College in Fort can go a long way toward accepting whatev Pierce. in Florida, making and running plane er limitations are inherent in any given situ liThe best that we're put here tarium shows and teaching astronomy and ation. see; earth science classes. It's been enjoyable, Keep in mind that I maintain very good The strongest that's us challenging and rewarding, but if there were relations with the club and its members. I with's one thing I could change about the job, it attend many of their meetings; I lec A teleSCOlJe. would be in regard to the way I provide regu tures and planetarium shows to the dub on a Seems to lar sky observing sessions for folks who visit regular basis; and there are a couple of mem one. my planetarium. I have no staff, and, despite bers who are very enthusiastic and who are In Littleton my talent for enlisting the help of the local always the ones who do show up, whenever astronomy club, it has been difficult to get their busy schedules permit. So I'm not them to set up their telescopes on a regular, left in the lurch because they're upset with reliable basis. me, or because they don't like me. It's the Von Daniken says we have been This is partly because the astronomy club nature of the beast. UFO guys say we are visited; folk are volunteers - and volunteers work In the first year of operation here, I was tional say we are best when there is someone to manage them fortunate in that the astronomy club ited And I'm not sure there's very (which is a full-time job in itself.) Another dent was a planetarium sort, who had essen ference among the three of reason for them not showing up when need tially the same mission as me, and I could ed is that if it's cloudy, (or if various club count on him to hold people's feet to the fire members' E.S.P. tells them it's possibly, and get them to show up. Then he left, and The evolution of the world can be COlmr:lan~d maybe, perhaps, going to be cloudy), then club participation has been spotty ever since. to a of fireworks that has they don't participate. I have tried explain The last two weekends of shows, some few red ashes, ing to them that they must show up even if I've not had a single astronomy club mem ..· .. n~.rl'~N on a well-chilled cinder, it's raining, because, 1) the public is being ber show up, this despite clear skies and slow of the suns, and we try told that they'll be there, and 2) even if assurances that someone would be there. In the vanished brilliance of the weather is bad, it's possible to show people this particular go-round, the reasons worlds. the telescope and let them look through it at me for their absence was that, first, there some astronomical picture or target down at were some regional outings that the active the far end of the hallway. But ultimately members of the club were going to, and, this explanation doesn't work because, at sometimes we forget, heart, the mission of astronomy clubs is not But, you know, it is okay, because deep the same as the planetarium's mission. down I wasn't counting on them to show up. I want people to get a full spectrum of It's okay because I have a "Plan B". As I men astronomy when they visit: I want them to tioned, I don't have a staff, and with back-to- 36 Planetarian SHOW KITS AVAILABLE FROM THE A fun, friendly and exploration of the sky! Designed especially through 1st graders, this is an ideal first primary school audiences. Your presenter program blending live interaction with segments. 820 minutes / 108 slides / $450 AncllriQr the possibility of life elsewhere in our galaxy and throughout the universe. Production with annotated 831 minutes / 368 slides / $350 visual list, special effects notes, and educal"ional materials UNIVERSE, Soundtrack on cossette, Journey into the future from a space station out to the stars . Dolby B, ( or dbx • 38 minutes / 321 slides / $350 ~~, Slides Distribution, Davis rlOnEltamJm Investigate some of the exciting discoveries made about Maryland Science the worlds in our Solar System. 601 Light Street 825 minutes / 314 slides / $350 Baltimore, * our planet from its violent birth to today and its wealth of resources make life possible. noise reduction: how we can better preserve and enioy the the world. / 250 slides / $350 Prnnrnm'l: funded by the Westinghouse Electric (nrnnrntinn II SCIENCE Iglesias' lecture Human Evolution in Space. Cultural Center Astronomical Among topics dealt at the meeting was the lecture on recent activities such n I total solar eclipse of 26 February, which was timing of star and asteroid occultations, seen as partial throughout Mexico. Several example of cooperation between planetariums have participated by explain Astronomy and the Alfa ing to school children on field trips, as well Center Planetarium. as having shows and activities related to the lt was agreed by all members sun and the spring equinox. morally support the Morelia site for After a long debate, members decided not meeting and to Gabriel Munoz, LPI1LC,,".lVI to hold another AMP AC meeting this year, of the Morelia Planetarium, the AMP AC vote which was originally planed to coincide at the IPS Council at the DVH~"'VH with the PPA meeting in October in Los meeting since he will be the Angeles. Most members excused themselves member attending. 2310 177 +46 since they will not be able to attend due to The distribution of the slides and 2310 137 fax their tight budgets this year. Nevertheless nomical material from JPL has co'ntinued, [email protected] Adriana Rios, who will be our host in 1999 at and a good number of them the Tijuana Cultural Center Planetarium, reproduced at the Luis E. Erro Planetarium. www.dalnet.se/-stella/ will probably attend as AMP ACs Delegate. Probable dates for the XXIX meeting will When in March I begun thinking about be, 10-13 March at the Tijuana Cultural next the Regional Roundup Feature for the Center's Planetarium, in the State of Baja Aberdeen: The Aberdeen Planetarium Planetarian, I sent a reminder to contributors California. It will be AMP AC's last meeting a very successful 1997 year with a of worldwide. While doing so, I suddenly real this millennium! special events, inc! uding Comet Week in ized that maybe the name of the column, After a long wait and tremendous effort March, which ended up as Comet "Regional Roundup", ought to be changed It by Adriana Rios and the Tijuana Cultural Months. Shows are being enhanced certainly was appropriate many years ago, Center as well as AMP AC's President Miguel grating artistic and scientific content. when most Affiliate Associations were Angel Delgado, the United Nations' book crews of the Tall Ships were regional US Associations, but this is no Planetarium: a Challenge for Educators was slightly off course on a musical and longer the case. Out of 18 AAs, nine are finally published in Spanish, but in a very journey to winter under the stars national (two North American, six European, limited edition. The idea is to have it as a South Pole. Music and poetry was also one Asian), one covers the Nordic countries, resource material for each of the member in programs about the moon and '-''-llIJO'\.-J. and eight are US Regional Associations. planetariums. Promised copies will be deliv Arlma,gh: Planetarium lecturer Subsequently I suggested to Planetarian ered by Dr. Hans Haubold of United Nations. has designed a new Mars exhibit, Editor John Mosley that the column should A new planetarium is at the drawing ers the four periods of Mars eXl)iOratlon be re-named, and he agreed So while the out board stage at Arq. Domingo Rodriguez Schiaparelli and Lowell to the future. line of the feature continues as before, we Semerena's office, for the capital city of ~ ...... ,,,, ....,1. Autumn show hope that the new name better reflects what Merida. Yucatan. It will be sponsored by the looked at the history of our fascination it really contains - planetarium news from municipality of Merida as part of a larger cul the night An Internet link was all over the globe. tural center complex with library, patio, the first time with school groups in And as it happens, this time I have news cafeteria. etc. The main planetarium projec ber. Events a Astronomers' from more Affiliate Associations than ever tor hasn't been decided yet, but it will be a Day included planetarium sessions, before, making it particularly appropriate to 30 foot dome. Arq. Rodriguez address is Calle society members, and a change the name just now. Thanks to Bart 62 SIN entre 61 y 63, Palacio Municipal London: The London Planetarium team is Benjamin, Ignacio Castro, Tom Clarke, (altos), Merida, Yucatan, Mexico, tel (52) almost too busy with organising IPS'98 to eat Undine Concannon, John Hare, Shoichi Itoh, +99+28-39+72, and fax: (52)+99+24-13-42. or sleep! Two interactive exhibits have how Donna Pierce, Loris Ramponi, and Christine Jose de la Herran from the Universum ever been installed - one showing the differ Shupla for your contributions to the very Science Museum, who may eventually have ent of the atmosphere and anotJ1er first International News. You are welcome in the near future a medium-size planetari using astronaut's gloves to build small mod back with new reports, and I look forward to um, gave some practical tips in organizing els. reports from other associations as well. Please meetings and symposiums, since some plane Penzance: The Peripatetic Planetarium remember that a short note is also appreciat tarians have not organized a general meet partiCipated most successfully in the St. ed! ing. Mary's Arts Festival with programs The entrepreneurial people of TIO, Tecno with music and literary extracts, under the logia en Innovaciones Opticas, a small Mexi Association of Mexican general theme of spectacular events and can factory of amateur telescopes, showed Planetariums what to do about them. Great attention was their excellent products, including lens kits The 1998 annual AMPAC meeting took focused on how to watch and ph.otl:)j;!;1~ap'h for constructing an amateur telescope from place on 18-21 February at the Planetario de the 1999 solar eclipse safely, the most the mirror up. TIO's address is Av. Gabriela Ciudad Victoria, recently named for Dr. tant safety advice being not to travel away Mistral no. 305,Col. Santa Anita, c.p. 20170, tel Ramiro Iglesias Leal, who is a noted research from your home on the big since the and fax (52) 49 75-11-38. er in space medicine from the State of country is expected to be J;:.U.U1\J'-1.',,-,U Jose Garcia from Kosmos, local representa Tamaulipas, Mexico, whose capital is Ciudad visitors. tive for Mead and Celestron telescopes, and Victoria. The AMPAC Planetarians who South The Guinness Rafael Chavez Rangel, President of the Alfa attended had the opportunity to listen to Dr. Book of Records has accepted their model of 38 Planetarian Vol. the solar system as the largest scale model in guests to discover some intriguing astronom day of the can be answered the UK. It is based on the planetarium dome ical themes. First there was Comets: Science with a quick planetarium demo. as the sun, with planets placed in schools in and Superstition from January to June and evenings when the is not the area. Pluto is 34 kms away in Hartlepool. then An Island in Space from June to January visitors have the opportunity to Schools Planetarium: Ray 1998. It is interesting to note that the latter is night the Museum's 15" Worthy has simplified the construction of a traveling exhibition that will be presented ing telescope. his portable domes, and inquiries and orders at the Musee du Semina ire de Sherbrooke in The planetarium is also the main teaching are reported to be flooding in. the spring of 1998. A free workshop present aid of the Introduction ed by the planetarium's lecturers rounded up Science a visit at the Planetarium de Montreal after Centers each show. Here are some of the workshops offered: Cooking a Comet, Sun Time is the Starlab of The Atlantic Sciences Right Time, Watch out! Falling Stars!, Mars in years. Foundation, Nova Scotia: The plane 3-D and The Star Finder. The Museum is committed to tarium, which travels the province, visiting As well, those responsible for our public ence and technology accessible for schools and taking students, parents and programmes created The Pocket Planetarium, past year, a team of 20 educators delivered teachers into outer space, is an unqualified a free publication teeming with astronomi excess of 300 programs in the plametar'iUlm success. The response from teachers, students cal information readily available to the visi over 10,000 visitors. This is one aid and parents to the Starlab has been over tors. The Pocket Planetarium helps amateur that really makes a difference, learn- whelmingly positive. Starlab has visited astronomers plan their nightly observation ing about astronomy FUN! For further nineteen schools, the Discovery Centre, the session. Further, the Planetarium de mation contact Michel Labrecque, Educa Fundy Geological Museum, the University Montreal hosted the conference of the Asso tion and Interpretation Officer, tel (1) College of Cape Breton, the Halifax Shop ciation des Planetariums de Langue Francaise 991-9219. ping Centre, and it has been featured in a (APLF) in July. It was an excellent opportuni Ontario Science Centre, staring role on Breakfast Television. It has ty for the 35 participants to learn about the The Centre has a small custom-built traveled from Sydney to Digby and many activities of the Planetarium de Montreal tarium within its space and astronomy points in between. 8700 students and 1600 and to prepare their return in the year 2000 leries called, before the era of inflatables, The general public have experienced Starlab, for the IPS Conference! Starlab Planetarium. It offers several levels of bringing total attendance up to 10300 an For 1998 the planetarium has added the programming to schools as welJ as excellent result for a program in its infancy final touches to its adaptation of Seeing the demonstrations. School shows include The and certainly above and beyond expecta Invisible Universe, a show purchased from the Night Sky for grades K-3, Forces and Planets for tions for the first year of operations. Adler Planetarium. A temporary exhibition grades 4-9, and the new Accessing Operationally, with its rental income and about the Hubble Space Telescope has also for grades 6-9 teacher workshop fees, it is paying its own been prepared. The main show of the year, operating costs. With an expected increase in which deals with the search for extraterres Museum, Toronto, Ontario: The news the number of school bookings for this sec trial intelligence, is already up on the draw Toronto are not encouraging. On 5 ond year of operation, it is anticipated that ingboard. 1998, Dr. Director and Starlab will realize a profit, which will be For more information contact Pierre La President of the Royal Ontario Museum applied toward upgrading and eventually combe, Director, tel (1) 514 872-3611, fax (1) (ROM) announced that the ROM had adding another unit to Starlab's mobile 514 872-8102, e-mail pierre_lacombe ized an agreement to Children's astronomy program in Nova Scotia. For fur @astro.umontreal.ca Own Museum to the ROM's Planetarium ther information, please contact Mary Lou Starlab Planetarium at the National building. The Children's Own Museum Whitehome, Starlab Operations Manager, tel Museum of Science and (COM) will occupy the two middle floors of (1) 902 864-7256 or (1) 800 511-3500, fax (1) Ottawa, Ontario: For the past 6 years, the the McLaughlin Planetarium building under 902 492-3170, e-mail tassf@hercules Museum has been using the Starlab inflat a three-year lease agreement." In his .stmarys.ca and URL http://apwww.stmarys able planetarium. The planetarium is used announcement to museum staff, the Direc .ca/space for the evening astronomy program as well tor went on to say: "This arrangement a Planetarium de Montreal, Montreal, as for special events and is one of the most win-win situation: the COM needed a home Quebec: During 1997, The Planetarium de popular experiences with school groups and we had the great asset of the Montreal offered shows that tied in extreme Plane~ daily in the Museum. tarium building for which we have yet to ly well with current astronomical events: Initiated by the late Mary Grey, then cura secure a long-term redevelopment "...","'--."-"r,,,~1 Comets aanuary - June), Destination: Mars tor of physical sciences, the evening astrono As you all know, the ROM undertook a two aune to November), Halloween (October - my program had its beginnings at the year search for a private sector partner to November), and Star ofthe Magi (November - Museum with the acquisition of the old develop this site. Although we were close to January 1998). While Star of the Magi has Dominion Observatory telescope in 1975. To a deal with a large-format cinema rlQ'[Tc>l,,,-n,~'" been a recurrent Show for many years, the make the program more appealing, particu last summer, it did not come i-A Vol. 1998 Planetarian astronomy programming through our edu Lawson Planetarium ofllie Diduck at the helm. Diduck has cation department, as we have since the London Children's Museum, busy of late. In the first three months Planetarium was closed in 1995. Over the .L4V...... , Ontario: The planetarium accom- season, Diduck covered the entire coming months, Senior Management and modates approximately forty people. Its star corner of the province of Manitoba. the Board of Trustees will be reviewing the shows feature five easily-found constella offering of differen t shows raIlg1ng long-term options for the planetarium." tions of the season with plenty of story from astronomy to to When the planetarium closed in Decem telling and tips on stargazing. Currently, two is something for everyone, and at ber 1995, the Royal Ontario Museum had public star shows are presented daily. grade level. In the months, already established a Management Working Throughout the school year, additional edu has been taking the show into Northwestern Group for Planetarium Renewal and a corre cation programs and demonstrations on the Ontario. Contact Bert Valentin, ''''':l,n'·~r.r'., sponding Board Committee. Through the solar system and space exploration are done Museum of Man and Nature, tel (1) first half of 1996, a vision and process for as well. The Children's Museum has had a 0625, e-mail [email protected] planetarium renewal was developed and Starlab planetarium for many years and this information. approved by the ROM Board In June 1996 a is their most popular outreach service. They newspaper advertisement announced a call serve schools within a 125 km radius, for "Expressions of Interest" from potential The museum hosts public stargazing ses partners who could bring substantial equity sions a few times a year with the RASC - illinois: The Illinois State Meenrlg and expertise to the project. This resulted in London Centre and is happy to report that on Saturday 25 two dozen inquiries and ten substantive the London Centre of the Royal Astronomi responses. Through the summer and fall of cal Society of Canada now meets on the 1996 the original ten were short listed to third Friday of each month at the Children's part in a state-sponsored four. The scale of projects proposed ranged Museum. Contact Kim Kathan tel (1) 519 434 N ear and Far Science from a few million to as high as $30 to $40 5762, fax (1) 5194341443 for more informa (NFSI). This initiative n1'f",-Ullr!Or! eJlerrlentary million with an equally wide range of finan tion. middle and high school teachers the cial arrangements. early 1997 the ROM Manitoba Planetarium of the Manitoba tunity to in a series of w()rKsh(ms Board had accepted management's selection Museum of Man and l. ... aLu.~<=. ~viImipe:~. and job exercises related to the of the preferred proposaL Manitoba: Bert Valentin reports that atten sciences of meteorology, astronomy and It is important to understand that the dance continues to trend upward. As the geology. worked Royal Ontario Museum was not looking for a weather stayed warm (comparatively with astronomers to and major donor or sponsor or offering a large ing) through the fall, winter, and into present workshops at each of their naming opportunity or any of the more January, he thought that things might take a facilities. Now entering the final familiar schemes used to secure private sec bit of a down turn. Much to his delight, they phase of the project, NFSI has been tor support. Rather the Museum was seeking have not. This is attributed in part to the cessful! a business arrangement with an investor family show Dancing With The Dinosaurs. The Cernan Earth and Space at who would fund the project and operate it as This show continues to draw public audi Tri ton in Ri ver Grove is a business in the expectation of recovering ence strongly after seven months of run running the C-360 film The the investment and making a profit while time. Dancing (as we call it around here) has and its own program The Moon: paying the museum a fee or share for the use also really pulled in a young school show Imagination to Exploration as its of the site and its contribution to business. audience. From visitor surveys it is clear that This whole process is quite complex and parents find that the show holds and enter shows,'YLJ"UJ~AAuu.A~u Rickety Rocket and its own program Dino- throughout we were advised by consultants tains their children. This show is available saurs in as its children's shows, and lawyers. for sale, and you can call Valentin for a demo three different laser shows. In Negotiations on a non-binding letter of package. The planetarium has also been run Cernan Center welcomed back Dr. Edward intent continued over the late winter and ning the Hansen Planetarium/Timothy (Rocky) Kolb from Fermilab to the spring of 1997 and were quite detailed. Ferris Galaxies and it too, really held it's own. annual Event for its members. Kolb's Unfortunately in the summer of 1997, as that Valentin suspects that part of the attendance topic was A Primordial Soup: A Little Taste stage of negotiations was about to be com success is due to some of the many astro the Big Bang. On 30 and 31 the pleted, the other party withdrew and the nomical events that the media has picked up Cernan Center co-hosted the astronomy por renewal concept died. on of late. Hopefully, they'll continue to tion of the NFSI for Region I, the Dr. Lindsay Sharp joined the Royal help promoting these events. In "The Waubonsie High School Planetarium Ontario Museum as Director and President in there is already considerable media interest in Aurora. February 1997 and the Museum has since in the Leonids, the planets/moon event in The ISU Planetarium in Normal is present entered into a total revisioning and planning April, the Lunar Prospector mission, and oth The Light-Hearted Astronomer thI'Ough initiative. The eventual use of the planetari ers. The planetarium, in co-·operatlon um building and the role of astronomy and a The spring show is called Orion Rendez the ISU campus recreation unit and planetarium will be resolved as part of that vous. The show was run during the summer a astronomical is a two-meet major planning exercise. In the context of few years ago, and the planetarium staff ing adult education program on observation the Director's statement of "a new form of thought it was worth trying on the very dif al astronomy. The ISU Planetarium also host partnership", there are discussions at an early ferent winter audience. This show examines ed its region for the astronomy n'-'1'1",,-,n stage about other possibilities and options stars in their various evolutionary stages. the NFSI Project. for the future of the McLaughlin Plane The children's show that started late in The Strickler Planetarium at tarium. Further information can be achieved March is Zeke's Dazzling Sky. Nazarene University in Kankakee hosted from Thomas Clarke, tel (1) 416 586 5739, fax The planetarium'S Mobile Planetarium laser shows in December 1997, in an auditori- (1) 416 586 5887, e-mail [email protected] Project continues to operate with 40 Planetarian Vol. urn on campus. The shows were presented its own Winter Stargazing program. New faces at this CRAP HL~_'- LJl"", by Laser Fantasy International from Seattle. The Henry Ford Community College in include Laura Odeal and Dan Mott, the Attendees were very impressed by the pro Dearborn has recently expanded its service planetarians at Strongsville, and Fran fessional nature of the shows and the artistic to the campus and visiting field trips, and planetarian-to-be at Euclid and current! beauty of mixing light, technology and hopes to eventually set up a regular field trip training with Dan Francetic. Welcome sound. On 30 and 31january, Strickler hosted program. Visitors to Youngstown's Ward Beecher the astronomy workshops in the NFSI for The Shiras Planetarium in Marquette is Planetarium were vicarious astronauts Region 2. Seventeen teachers, four presenters showing Galileo at Jupiter in February and Mars this winter in Destination: Mars! (two teachers, Brock Schroeder, and astrono March, Hansen's Cosmic Catastrophes in April duced at the Houston Museum of mer Elizabeth Roettger and the ROE from and May, and the Davis Planetarium's Life in Science and Johnson Space Center. The Joliet) participated. Great weather and excit our Universe in June. chronicles the exploration of the red ing astronomy activities encouraged these The Longway Planetarium in Flint reports and is narrated by six NASA astronauts. teachers to go back and integrate astronomy a new and original program in the works, Skywatchers at the Green in order to improve student knowledge in entitled Sky Myths of Ancient Greece, which tarium are roaming the cosmos in BGSU's astronomy. premiered in February. The Little Star That own production of The Lakeview Museum Planetarium pre Could is their current children's show and stop astronomical sampler the letters sented Destination Mars from February Learning to Fly is their current laser light of the alphabet as guides: A is for B is through April. As a prologue to the show show. ... ,etc. Some of the letter choices are package, visitors had a chance to look at 3-D The McMath Planetarium at the Cran dictable -J for Jupiter, V for Venus - but slides from Pathfinder. Four different laser brook Institute is undergoing renovation, were not: A for Antarctica, L for and light shows ran through the end of March: while it runs its Spring Stars program for eighty-eight (astronomy's 88 constella Pink Floyd Dark Side ofOz, U2's Greatest, Garth The Delta College Planetarium in Bay tions are matched by Ohio's 88 counties). Brooks'Laser Country and the Beatles Sergeant City reports that attendance is exceeding Wisconsin/Minnesota: The WIMPS (Wis Pepper's. In May, Honey I Shrunk the Universe predictions for the first year of operation. consin, Iowa, Minnesota Planetariums) host- opened. On Saturday mornings, a different They are showing Sudekum's Planet Patrol: A ed its spring meeting on 17-18 at the school is shown each week, preceded by a Solar System Stakeout, Abram's From Stardust University of Wisconsin-Fox Plan- make-it, take-it activity. This show time has to Life: A Cosmic Journey, and Drinking Gourd. etarium. Their new planetarium is scheduled consistently been the planetarium's most The Peter Hurst Planetarium in Jackson is to open this March with Karen Kliminski heavily attended. Lakeview also hosted its running Light Years from Andromeda and The from Houston, Texas as director. region for the astronomy portion of the NFSI Cowboy Astronomer in April and May. On Valentine's Weekend in February, the Project. The 1998 Interplanetary Bicycle Ride Ohio: The Ohio State meeting was held on Minneapolis Planetarium ran its 4th annual is scheduled for 25-26 July. April 25 at the Vandalia Planetarium. Constellations of Love show. This immE~ns,ely Indiana: The Indiana State meeting was CRAP (Cleveland Regional Association of popular program is also known as The held at the Seasons Conference Center in Planetariums) began its 1998 series of month Out Show. In April, took out of Nashville, Indiana on Saturday 25 April. ly meetings with a 27 January conclave at balls Edmonton's Black Holes. Indiana GLPA members Amera Platt (from Garfield Heights. Host Bob Sledz teaches Dave DeRemer in Waukesha and the Wayne High School Planetarium in Fort astronomy to students at Garfield and at Allen in LaCrosse have successfully ca"(:)tured Wayne) and Alan Pareis (from Fort Wayne other area schools by means of a state-of-the all Apollo 11's triumphs in their and The Adler Planetarium and Astronomy art distance learning network. The February newly refurbished kids' show Moon Museum in Chicago) worked on the GLPA CRAP meeting assembled on the 19th at LaCrosse ran its own Origin and Fate Russian Slide Project with Fort Wayne Lakewood with Jim Comienski as host. Solar System in March and Death Astronomical Society volunteers Chris High Participants were treated to a look at the of the Dinosaurs in April. Waukesha present len and Phil Hudson during the Christmas venerable Spitz A2 star projector with its ed its own Startracks in Meanwhile at Holidays. Some 2400 slides were inspected, dodecahedron star "ball". This year, Comi the Stevens Point Planetarium, Randy Olson numbered, and sleeved in clear plastic note enski and the A2 are celebrating their 25th showed Light Years From Andromeda from book pages. Alan hopes to be able to anniversary together as a stellar team. Since Loch Ness in March and Hansen's Adventures announce the conclusion of the project in 1973, Jim has opened the wonders of the cos the Spectrum in April. the summer solstice issue of the GLP A News mos to thousands of fortunate Lakewood letter. students through his classes and programs. Milctllig;m: The Michigan State meeting As levies have passed and failed and adminis Association was held on Saturday, 30 May at the Delta trators have come and gone, Comienski's A Meeting of Planetaria was held in College Planetarium in Bay City. teaching talents have remained a steady in Palermo, during the annual conference of The Chaffee Planetarium in Grand Rapids inspiration to a generation now of students. the Italian Astronomical Society, or~~an.izE~d has extended its show about the Renaissance. Among his former students is Alex Mak, who by the Astronomical Observatory of the Loch Ness' The Cowboy Astronomer returns as now oversees the operation of the During the Meeting invited from its family show. In mid-February, they start University of Toledo's Ritter Planetarium. different planetariums participated, as well ed a Beatles light show and in mid-March Comienski's predecessor at Lakewood was as, astronomers, teachers and from they premiered Buhl's Mars: Return to the Red Alton Varian, who the veterans among us Sicily interested in planning new -nl ~,-n.a,i-"'T·l_ Planet will remember. Alton is enjoying retirement urns. On 11 October, Milan Planetarium The Kalamazoo Universe Theater and and joined the many current CRAP members (www.brera.mLastro.it). the biggest in Planetarium is showing Davis Planetarium's who met for the annual Christmas pot-luck will be the seat of the XIII Meeting of Italian Partnership Earth as its family show, Hansen's on 13 December at the home of Jeanne and Planetaria. Chairman of the is Cosmic Catastrophes as its feature show, and Allan Bishop. Gianluca Ranzini. Vol. 1998 Planetarian A list of Italian Planetaria is available at Middle Atlantic Murray is also still the following Internet address: www.city tarium Primer, with information line.it (pages about Science and culture). The variety of It will act as The MAPS 1998 conference was held at site contains also information about the Day ence and an aid for new plall1E~ta:rians. Oglebay Resort and Conference Center in ofPlanetaria (the next Day will be held on 21 Trbovich in Salt Lake Wheeling, West Virginia, 22-25 April. Host March 1999). Several planetariums outside Murray her assistance with the institution was Benedum Natural Science Italy participated in the Day of Planetaria Schmidt has been Theater and conference chair Steven Mitch. this year, including Genk Europlanetarium planetarium at the US Air Force Acad{~mv The organizers had made a concerted effort (Belgium), Grudziadz Planetarium and Colorado He has been TATr, ...1r;,ro .... to cut expenses and to keep costs of the con Observatory (Poland), Olsztyn Planetarium one man staff and that may be case ference as low as possible. A conference fee of (Poland), Nizhny Novgorod Planetarium anywhere from a few weeks to a few m<)n1ths $100 including banquet shows that it is still (Russia), Jodrell Bank Science Centre & as TSgt Glosson is NOC AcadlPmv possible to arrange affordable planetarium Planetarium (United Kingdom), and Presov and is to to an '-U'"'-U'-F.',U'-.'- conferences. Among several interesting Planetarium and Observatory and many field. workshops were a Lunar Sample Certifica others from Slovakia. The Internet site about Gates Planetarium in Denver p12mrted tion Workshop, conducted by Verne Smith, the Slovakian Day ofPlanetaria (www.ta3.sk/ opening Where In the Universe NASA Goddard Space Flight Center. hvezdarne/general) is prepared by Patricia Sandiego 22 Lipovska. shows! Planetarium Director Near Rome, in the municipality of Frasso Association also just received a prc)moUon Sabino, inside an old mill, a 4 meter dome This spring Sweden has taken back the the head of both IMAX and the Planetarillm. planetarium built by the Italian craftsman world record of largest scale model, using the The staff Gianpaolo Gambato has recently opened. 115 m dia. Stockholm Globe Arena as the sun. Also a public Observatory is available. The Gosta Gahm, professor at Stockholm's Planetarium-Observatory is managed by the Observatory, is responsible for the project. Amateur Astronomers Association of Rome. Franck Pettersen, Troms0, who owns a Starlab Planetarium, has held teacher train positions in the restflLctl.l1 ing courses in many towns in northern and urn is now under the " llr<=>rt-r,.... c h western Norway as well as in Oslo. His .",,,,,..,,1+.,, of Utah's Museum of JPS annual conference was held at Starlab is also used in schools in Troms Fylke, Morioka Science Hall for Children and Hotel History. the region surrounding Troms0. This is spe The third annual Montana Astro was Winds from Forest Oushuku in Iwate on 10- cially important, since too few young 12 June 1997. A number of regional meetings a great success at Planetarium, Norwegian students want to study physics were held on 12 - 13 June at Hotel Ohsawa Museum of the Rockies, Bozeman, M()n1:an.a in high school. Pettersen has however been On sen in the Hanamaki Hot Spring Area, in early March, co-sponSOlrea very successful in making students interested Iwate; on 4 August at Sendai Astronomical west Montana Astronomical in science: Next year, 35% of the students Observatory in Miyagi; on 31 October and 23 event was a full of telesc:o]:)e Y\'OrJKSlll0P'S, applying for entry at Tromsdalen Videre February at Goto Planetarium in Tokyo; on 9 slide shows, guest lectures, kids activities, gaende skole have chosen physics. October and 16 December at Yaizu Discovery and planetarium shows. Tycho Brahe Planetarium in Copenhagen Park in Shizuoka; on 11-12 November at become a great way for the plamE~taI'iUlm is presently involved in the planning of a Fukuoka Science Museum for Youth and at astronomy dub to work to~~et11er major meteorite expedition to Greenland. Munakata Yurix in Fukuoka; on 15 Novem ing both (and astT01101TIV More information is given at ber at Shiroi Town Cultural Center and Plan course!), and attendance has .astro.ku.dk/tycho.html where you click at etarium in Chiba; on 11 January at Kurashiki year. "Groenlandsmeteoritten". Planetarium rar'Dnt-l" ... c.r·.a;'T~rl Science Center in Okayama; on 22-24 Falun Science Center set up their Science February at Kawasaki City's Yatsugadake grant from the Montana NASA Circus for the first time at Ludvika gard, Nature House for Youth in Yamanashi; and Consortium to two mini-features, Lingongarden, Ludvika 9-15 March. The cir on 6 March at Kobe Science Museum for titled Wild Universe and Planetbound. cus consisted of a Starlab and several hands nhllc>sonhv is to try a shorter, ridel! Youth in Hyohgo. on exhibits. The Starlab featured the brand JPS journals, Twilight Numbers 11 and 12 apPf()ac:h to offer the summer crowds, which new video versions of Broman Planetarium's and the Special Issue No. 13 Planetarium are tourists on a limited time shows in Journey in Space and Close Encounter Handbook, have published though they were schedule. A distributable version of each pro with Cosmos; the latter narrated the delayed. gram will also be in antiCllpatiom Swedish TV personality Kattis Ahlstrom. The The new Yamanashi Science Museum has of the program to other facilities. exhibitions included Mathematical Puzzles, installed Goto's Helios projector and 70mm Wild Universe will open at the Museum of Electrical Workshop and a few exhibits from Astrovision in the space theater, which the Rockies in late while Planetbound Water Laboratory. opened on 1 April 1998. Mariko Takahashi, will come out sometime in 1999. The planetarium director, has supervised the also received an IDEAS grant in COlrljull1cticm installation and preparation of planetarium with the Montana State equipment. Department to collaborate with Dr. Tadao Nakano, past conference chair RMPA Treasurer Nello Williams has been physics group to a program of IPS 1996 Osaka and the director of Osaka busy this spring, organizing membership sun, based on their work and other Science Museum, retired on 31 March last materials. President Mike put togeth research. This show may be made year. Tatsu Arai, planetarium director of Kat er a new membership form for the RMPA to the planetari1llm conrlmuni sushika Museum, got married on 26 October. newsletter, the High Altitude Observer. 42 Planetarian Vol. Science Center is now running their new SEP A will hold its next conference in June Chaz Hafey and John Cotton, show, If the Earth Were the Size of a Baseball, 1999. The host facility is the Alexander Brest Place 2 Planetarium. hosted The Local to great audience response. The show high Planetarium at the Museum of Science and on 31 March. Attending were Donna lights the sizes and distances of the planets, History in Jacksonville, Florida. from Highland Park Planetarium, comparing their positions to those of famil The SEPA web site is up and running Balog from St. Marks School Planetarium, iar map coordinates in Phoenix. The audi thanks to the efforts of committee chair Donna Favour from Richardson I.s.D. ence votes during the show on whether to George Fleenor of the Bishop Planetarium. It tarium, Joe Vines from Richland increase or decrease in scale after the initial is expected that the fledging site will grow Planetarium, Linda Irby and Lester section. Their choices include increasing to a with more pages, photo galleries, and links to from Richland College Planetarium solar system-sized baseball, and a galaxy member facilities. You can check it out at Science Place 2 Planetarium. sized baseball, or decreasing to a bacterium http://kptl.tricon.net/org/baysmtn/sepa The new lighting system installed sized baseball, and a proton-sized baseball. pagel sepa.h tml Cotton for star map identifications was The show ends with a bang, as they compare EXisting in planetarium regional isolation, demonstrated. This interactive program the history of the universe to a calendar this next item is included because of their included the moon phase lab demonstrated year. proximity to SEPA: The nation of the by Chaz Hafey. Members elected to meet RMPA members are looking forward to Bahamas recently opened their first planetar the Highland Park Planetarium meeting in Van Nuys, California, this fall, ium. Situated at the Adventure Learning SWAP President Donna Favour bf()Uj;[ht with the other western regionals of the Centre (http://www.alcbahamas.org) on the group up-tO-date on the JOint Conference United States. island of New Providence, the new facility with the Pacific Planetarium Association includes a refurbished Spitz A3P projector hosted at the Los Angeles Southeastern Planetarium under a 24 foot dome. The planetarium will Planetarium in October. Association be utilized in a variety of programs conduct Planetarians Barbara Baber, Abilene, ed by the center, ranging from zoology to Donna Favour, Richardson and The 1998 SEP A Conference is hosted by astronomy. Pierce, Dallas, are taking a 2-week around the Hopkins Planetarium in Roanoke, England, Scotland and Wales this summer Virginia, 9-13 June. A trip to Greenbank instead of attending IPS'98, because can Radio Observatory in West Virginia is in Southwestern Association not afford this very conference. U cluded in the itinerary. Planetariums (ComputeT; continued from page 34) and useful in the above sample of Internet know that many of you have other favorite web sites. To save you some typing, I'll place sites bookmarked that may be of interest to ing in 4,500 U.S. and Canadian cities and an HTML copy of this article with hyper your fellow planetarians. If so, 1,500 international locations. links to the various sites on the web at me their URLs for inc! usion Looking for someone's telephone number (http://www.smv.mus.va.us/ccurls.htm). I future edition of the Computer Comer. I~ or e-mail address? Try Fourll (http://www.fourll.com). If you know the person's name and city or state you just might be able to track them down through the web. Lost you Funk and Wagnalls? Try the OneLook Dictionaries (http://www.onelook.com) where you'll find a search engine to 1,690,875 words in 254 on-line dic tionaries. Sometimes the information you seek is on such a narrow topic that it may not have a web site or even a web page dedicated to it. Nonethe less, the topic may have been dis cussed extenSively in one of the many Internet newsgroups (e.g., scLastro.planetarium). To find out, go to the Dejanews site (http:// www.dejanews.com). Here you can search the newsgroups to see who said what, when, and about what (or who!). This is also a great way to gain access to newsgroups if your Internet service provider doesn't allow direct access to them. I hope you find something new Vol. 27, No.2, June 1998 Planetarian Shawn AJa.,(1L>::>\L..U, Arthur Storer ...... ~,~~.<-~.'""'. 20678 Please me for Name: ______1 year individual HlC:UlU'C.I.;:J,!l.lU individual U'\CUlUC.l.:l·1L1U Planetarium name: ___ 1 year institutional AUC:l"UC1.:l.LL.l.U Institution: Address ------.------Method of ..... "... ,.,.,,.."'...... enclosed find US bank check in Postal Code amount of Province, Shire or Prefecture: ------my Postal Code: circle: VISA MasterCard AmEx Diners Country: Card No. Office 1"ol"-nh'...... "· ------...... hIJUCll..J.\.IH Date Fax telephone: e-mail address: ------Web site: 44 conferences; however, there is nothing like very quick and easy, but the main hands-on experience! Get out there and that people can rest their backs very attend a conference or hold a mini-confer fortably on the wall of the dome. In ence of your own. With just a little effort have not developed the central "'wr,,,'~"~- a~d little or no expense you can get together (we are still but we have m2mu.tac With colleagues in your own area. One day with ~r ev~n one half a day of working and talk effects. We have also Brought to you by and of interest to : mg WIth colleagues can give you a multitude another central with a Powerful Interactive Planetarium Systems of fresh ideas and help keep your spirit and ing up and down that creates your program alive. effects. I will send you of things soon and some brochures of Reynolds Correspondence: school's and museum's activities. Folks are still requesting public domain fortunately are written in Catalan. materials and advice about all kinds of not sure if I am to London, but things. Many times they can be pOinted in f~om Paris (APLF go the direction of the GLP A Tips #18 book BIannual Meeting (Biannual EUTOl0e21n which is a 172-page source for answers t~ ing of Small and Mobile Planetaria) hope we will meet. When you get what most questions about small and portable planetaria. TIPS #18, "Tips For Small and sending you, [email protected] Portable Planetarium Users," is available I am sure he would be to share from the Great Lakes Planetarium Associa information with others too. Just e-mail tion (GLPA) under the following two condi at the above address. I can't wait to see he has rln,·,~~~~rI tions: Your Sverre Barth (teleplholne: Interact With Colleagues: 1) You must become a member in GLPA. GLP A membership costs $20.00 per year. For 42; address: Xvre 3690 In previous columns it was pointed out Norway e-mail: [email protected]) membership information, or to send a check that mobile and small planetarium users in the beginning of December to say for membership contact: Gene Zajac, GLP A alike can benefit from interacting with pre looking for a used Starlab. He had been Membership Chair, Shaker Heights High senters who either run a business with their School, 15911 Aldersyde Drive, Shaker some multi-media shows in a borrowed portable planetarium or run some form of Heights, OH 44120, phone: (216) 295-4251 fax Starlab (borrowed from my friend outreach program. Both small stationary and (216) 467-577 4, E-mail: Vol. 1998 Planetarian dome, but I thought it presented too diffuse .aol.com) wrote, "I am a Starlab user in dome, but I would not exclude the or stars! I was not satisfied with it. The tent itself Lansing, Michigan. My company is Star Dogs other mobile planetarium A was perfect though. On our way south we Astronomy, Inc., and our business is taking paid job would be the best, of course. will went west to Cape Cod and walked along the the planetarium into public schools, private not have any other income my stay enormous beaches by the Atlantic Ocean. It schools, home-school groups, scout troops, in the USA. My aim is to get as much would take just a short swim back home! We and church related groups. We have done edge and experience regarding the plcme~tar'i got to New York the evening before take off, very well our first two years in business and urn jobs for my own business and to and stayed overnight just outside the Big are really beginning to be noticed in the chances for a possible Apple. We went early to JFK IntI. to check public and private sector in tri-state area of Germany in the future. out the sights and possibilities to transport Michigan, Ohio, and Indiana. Much of that "I appreciate any help and assistance you the enormous amount of luggage that we exposure is due not only to my own market could provide. Perhaps you can con- had. We were told that we should get away ing, but also to the programs booked for us tact the right people. The duration the with just two extras for seven boxes and $180 by an assembly agency near Detroit. My temporary position should not exceed half a in freight! Cheap, don't you think? After question is, do you know of any Internet year. From my side it might also be !-,'-',JJA'JH_ checking out with the airline agents, we addresses of agencies that book school assem to stay several times for few months, if that went back for a ride in Manhattan with the blies or how I might look for them? If not, makes sense." planetarium still in the car. We had dinner in that's fine, I'll keep searching. But if you do I am to spread the word his a street level restaurant with a direct view to and could respond, I'd sure appreciate the search for a position and training anyone the car just outside the window for a quick help. We've had great success gearing our got any ideas? Please contact Hans-Peter rescue, just in case somebody wanted a plan programming to meet the educational guide directly and contact me with the informa etarium (remember, the Hayden Planetarium lines of the elementary and middle school tion and I will pass it along to others who was closed for fresh-up!). When the time was student." may ask in the future. right, and it was possible to check in, we I responded, but not with the help he Edgardo Cerpa, Director of nl<1'rl",t him a brochure on Starlab. He didn't even /I As Thomas Kraupe told to you (I assume), I between our institutions. We have a Starlab want to see in my boxes, my receipt, or any am a teacher in astronomy and physics by and besides we are beginning to build the other proof of the value. I think he trusted profession with ten years practice. Because of structures of cinema, library, auditorium and my honest face!? I told him the true value my great interest in astronomy I was in a planetarium dome for about 100 and I paid the appropriate taxes. vol ved in several astronomical tasks and We would like to be frequently in touch "Then we got on the bus just outside the events in Thuringia, which is the part of with you." terminal (which we filled up) and bounded Germany where I live. I worked on the cur I sent a greeting back and asked more homewards for a two hours ride. My wife riculum of astronomy in Thuringia together about their program. They are out and father in law fetched us on the bus ter with some other dedicated teachers and I and all you Starlab users and small plametari minal back home with a huge trailer! have been the head of teacher training in the urn users need to think about natHrr...... I?i.",'rr "Well, back home, I tried out the planetari field of astronomy for five years. Now I am with them. The address is above! um on 220 V.c. with the adapter I bought in the owner of a Starlab Planetarium (one of Marian Vidovenec (Slovek Cetral Observa Norway. It all worked out. There was minor very few in Europe) and I have created a spe tory, Hurbanovo, e-mail: [email protected]) damage on the extra light regulators button cial Hubble Space Telescope exhibition needed some papers translated into "",Ul"lH"U; (which was crushed) on the extra house together with a friend of mine. It is the only He speaks my language better than I could lighting cabinet. But it still works and it's one in Europe, consisting of more than 40 ever speak his! He sent the papers to me in nothing serious that I can't fix myself in due large format picture panels and a model of .uU'l"lAJ'''U and I was able to correct the sen time. It was too small an expense to take out the HST (scale 1:4). It is my idea to rent the tence structure and wording-hopefully on the insurance. Now, the presentations are exhibition to shopping malls, planetariums, enough. At the same time, I learned a great next! science museums, etc., and to earn money deal about the "Present Stage and ,... <>,".,-nOI'"_ liPS. It was a pity that your house numbers with the Starlab. Not an easy job, but it tives of Development of the Astronomical were so vaguely lit up! I spent too much time works even in Germany. Observatory at Hurbanovo". to find it. Maybe we can get a longer chat "Well, it is still my hope to find the oppor next time somewhere? I'll be in touch. tunity to stay some months in the United Greetings and thanks from a satisfied plane States for two reasons: tarian, the midnight sun specialist, in other 1/1. I have to improve my English. There I know I repeat myself, but, you are all words, the midnight special: Sverre B. Barth" fore I want to attend a language crash course very busy and sometimes need relJe(lte~d Thank you for telling me of your adven in (American) English for about four weeks reminders to jog the memory and/or for me tures Sverre. It will be wonderful, my new or longer. to take advantage of possible times when friend, to hear of all the exciting things you "2. After that, I hope to be well trained to you have a moment to spare. I still need will be doing with the Starlab. work in a to learn all about the Rod Bisher (e-mail: [email protected] or American style of planetarium business. Organization: AOL at website http://www "Preferably I would be with a stationary 46 Planetarian Planetarium Concert Management A company dedicated to the Promotion of Concerts in Planetarians seeking to expand their Special Activities Program. Now on tour in Europe "THE UL TIM A TlE PIANO EXPJERI1El'\fCE " Direct Booking: P.C.M. Tel/Fax 004533147005 See Tycho Brahe Planetarium Web .. Site: http.l/www.astro.ku.dk/tycho.html click on" Program "Il then "Saerlige Activities" Vol. 27, No.2, June 1998 Planetarian 47 removal grate of the smaller ones on top. Pe1tersbllfg Junior The larger logs were fastened to a scrap bers were led up the elevator to a I rectangle of plywood using wood screws and ened lecture room and were later dry wall screws. As the diameters blindfolds were removed their decreased, lengths of coat hanger wire were greeted by a screen illuminated driven into pre-drilled holes pinning the boring slides from a camp with pieces of wood together. were aU familiar. A one rpm motor was mounted on the Soon, a voice plywood base with its vertical shaft topped let's head for the rO:Hron"FirQ by a cage of aluminum from a perforated Path lights illuminated the way pizza pan squeeze molded to the size and planetarium shape of a one pound cottage cheese con The path were a dozen or tainer. Under the aluminum cage there was carded Bausch and Lomb micf()sc:or)e placed a low-wattage incandescent light stage bulb with candelabra socket. The light bulb They were a was streaked with yellow and orange stripes lamp cord where there were two of transparent light bulb coatings. intervals to allow the insertion of Finger sized ribbons of yellow, orange and terminal red tissue paper were glued at random on the The background music was "Home fireplace logs. A small motor with fan was Range" dubbed from a western Years ago Scout literature told of the added to provide a flow of air to move the The audience was welcomed and procedure for making an artificial campfire bits of tissue paper. The electrical supply ed to stroll away from the of for ceremonial use at troop meetings and it is cord was plugged into an outlet controlled fire to meadow to view likely that they became standard pieces of by a solid state dimmer. the current troop equipment. While in use by our scout The artificial campfire was placed on the troop, the fire was unceremoniously pedestal between the legs of the star projec moved from the storage cabinet to a spot in tor and served as the walk-in light or was there were the middle of the floor and plugged in to an dimmed up to change the mood. group as electric outlet and the room lights were dark the Junior where sat ened. The boys entered the room and were same lecture room and had visited the seated in a loose circle around it. As they Doctor Alan M. Gall, a St. Petersburg Ear tarium. stared almost hypnotically into the reduced doctor, approached with a question: light source, they sang songs, performed skits If the planetarium caters to groups, could a and told stories. special introduction to a star show be r::irnniFirp projector was Later, the idea was adapted to highlight a arranged? Answer: yes. During an up-coming as the conversation of a scout group's visit to the planetarium. month, he was to be in charge of a Mystery gram called Stars," and Several of a tree limb were selected Outing where several young couples would the audience exited the plametar'imTI from 11/2 inch down to one half inch in be taken to an unknown destination for a ber and headed for the diameter and were cut to sizes 18 inches and program. some of the oldsters were humrnirlg 12 inches in length. The group assembled in a shopping center or Starting with the ones and building parking lot and all but the drivers were to the smaller, the logs were lain in log-cabin blindfolded. At the science building of St. fashion to about 12 inches high with a (StJedlron!eh~. continued from page 12) spectroscope, which differentiates types of Director of Hg!hla.nd Park Planetarium in spectra but has no scale, is available from Dallas, Texas, for her AstrcmCHnv stu advanced work can be done using the spec Cenco and Science Kit for $7.50.) use dents to build and use. Donna ror'A1"if.orl that trometer scale, with which a wavelength will wear or tear the foam side and her students had some difficulties. The number can be assigned to a particular color. loosen the screws. Also, the eyepiece can be diffraction disk had to be calibrated Is this spectrometer worth the price? A pulled out. I predict that the Learning Tech several times. The students wished positive aspect of this device is student nologies spectrometer will last with involvement in constructing and then using care through only a year or two of student nA.;:i+iiu.o side, one student took the SPt~ctI:onl the spectrometer. Other pluses are that it is use. Second, because of relative movement eter home to his parents. The relatively inexpensive and it has no unsafe of pieces, the spectrometer often must be re that it worked well, features, such as ends that would cut calibrated. Third, the accuracy is usually less understand and spectroscopy. or pierce an eye. than that obtained with more sophisticated In conclusion, I recommend this I see three drawbacks. First, the cardboard models. The activity book is helpful and good value for middle and device is not very durable. (A plastic spec appropriate for middle and high school lev den ts introduced to SPE~ctr·OS(:or.:'V trometer may be ordered from Learning els, but it seems too easy for college use. Technologies for $18.00 each; and a plastic I mailed a spectrometer to Donna Pierce, courses, including most 48 Planetarian Vol. A planetarium is a spectacle, an event, but above all a tool which amusement in the service of knowledge. To meet all these RS AUTOMATION INDUSTRIE, thanks to its specialization in automation, has developed a complete range of planetariums, all designed to a specific and immediately operational solution. ROVING STAR SN 95 SN 88 II r;r1;];e I:)or't8t1i>ille YIIi. 1milla;ne'ta;~~]t. IIa.ne~a.ril.lm on 'tri]le rmait Z.1. de la Vaure - B.P. 40 - Tel. : +33.4.77.53.30.48 - E-mail: rs.automation@wanadooJr enters. Research (mine) shows that this sim A: liTo find Pluto" ple personal contact sets the tone for the visit. Since I do not allow candy, drinks, gum, Q: "Why are there 24 letters snacks, drinking straws or little pieces of alphabet?" paper in the planetarium, this greeting ritual A: /I Because ET has gone home!" also allows me to check for these contraband items. (In case you are wondering, drinking Q: "How does an astronaut say to a straws and little pieces of paper become planet?" launchers and missiles, respectively, in the A: "APOLLO-gize" darkened planetarium environment.) In the darkness of a night sky lesson, cer Q: " How do martians make their [email protected] tain sounds from the audience are not per A ;"The Milky Way" mi tted. The sound of something being unwrapped and the sound of little pieces of Q: "What planet can you on?" What's happening at your place? Let's try paper being torn off a bigger piece of paper A: "Nep-TUNE" something: You planetarians out there think are not tolerated. The close contact with stu about the following and respond to my e dents in the small room allows me to moni Q: "What do astronauts play badminton mail address: [email protected]. "The tor this illegal behavior. with?" day the planetarium repairman came was With all the aforementioned in mind, I A: " A SHUTTLEcock" the day that ... " simply do not know how the 8th graders managed to trash the place. Apparently they Q: "How do you get a baby astronaut to "Let me see ... who came yesterday? ... I've did it by silently pelting each other with no sleep?" forgotten." I was thinking this as I entered notice by me or the teacher. I was truly A: " You rock it!" the planetarium one morning to begin my impressed at the evidence of their skill in "pre-launch checklist". I have written down this covert operation. I live in constant Q: "What holds the Sun up in the all the settings and set-ups I need for each les amazement at the inventiveness of students! A: "A SUN-beam" son, so I begin each morning by entering the Eva M. Hans, planetarian in South Shields, planetarium and preparing it for the day's England, is also amazed at the creativity of Q: "What do you call a lessons. I simply couldn't remember who students. She has been collecting space jokes watch?" had come last, the previous day. As I arrived from her elementary school customers for A: "A LUNAR-tick" in the planetarium chamber, I looked at the several years, and recently prepared a projectors and star machine position for a brochure of some of the best to celebrate the Q: "What do astronauts have in their sand clue, thinking I would recognize the previ 30th anniversary of the South Tyneside wiches? ous day's ending position for equipment. College Planetarium. The brochure is titled, A: "LAUNCH-enmeat" Nope. Couldn't figure it out. Then I glanced "30 Years in Orbit", and came with a warn at the floor. Suddenly, I remembered ... 8th ing: "the jokes can only really be enjoyed if Q: "Why do space men like Mars bars?" graders! Before they came, the floor was clear you have been 30 years in orbit"! A: "They are getting sick of debris. Now it was littered with candy Here's some from her collection: wrappers and small pieces of crumpled-up Q "What birds fly in space?" Q :"What's sweet, and orbits the paper. As I studied the arrangement of the A: "Starlings." sun? small pieces of crumpled-up paper, I suspect A: "MARS-ipan" ed they had been used as missiles in the dark. Q "What fish do you find in space?" They were strewn all over the room. A: "Starfish" Q :"How many ears has Mr. I could not believe it. How did they do it? A: "Three! A left ear, a ear and final My planetarium is small and has one Q:" Why did Mickey Mouse go into front ear!" U entrance/exit. I greet each student that space?" (Mobile, continued from page 46) niques and inexpensive special effects in the mance. IPS book for portable planetaria. Any other more input from users in many different suggestions you may have are welcome. countries. Please send any ideas you might What are the government-mandated space As you can see by the mail received, the have for developing a publication that will science and astronomy topics for your coun Mobile News Network is working and grow be an excellent resource for portable plane try? Also, keep me informed of any more ing around all parts of the globe! Thank tarium users. I would like to include sources new models of mobile planetariums on the for all the news. of materials, curriculum ideas, lesson tech- market and your opinion of their perfor- People give an ear to an upstart astrologer Joshua commanded the sun to stand still, Let us say there are two sorts of who strove to show that the earth revolves, and not the earth. minds - one kind apt at fables, not the heavens or the firmament, the sun - Martin Luther, 1539 and the other disposed to believe them. and the moon ... this fool wishes to reverse speaking about Copernicus the entire science of astronomy; but the sacred scripture tells us Goshua 10:13) that 50 Planetarian Vol. ~ ~ MINOLTA Minolta opens new world of creative possiblities in the Era 01 Multimedia Planetarium . .' .. Minolta leads all other manufacturers in the development of control interfaces for multimedia equipment. Using the SMPTE control standard along with *SPICE Automation, it is possible to combine the INFINIUM's Space Traveling System with motion pictures, all-sky computer graphics projector displays, laser graphics, video projectors, as well as slide and special effects projectors to create the powerful multimedia theater. *SPICE Autometion is registered trademark of Sky Skan, Inc. North America: Minolta Corporation / Planetarium Division 101 Williams Drive Ramsey, N.J. 07446, U.S.A. Tel: (1)-201-934-5347 Fax: (1)-201-818-0498 Southeast Asia: Minolta Malaysia Sdn. Bhd. / Planetarium Division No. 12, Jalan SS 8/2, Sungai Way, 47300, Petaling Jaya, Selangor, Malaysia, Tel: (60)-3-7761133, 7756541 Fax: (60)-3-7761767 Minolta Planetarium Co., Ltd. 2-30, Toyotsu cho, Suita, Osaka 564, Japan Tel: (81 )6-386-2050 Fax: (81 )6-386-2027 ONLY FROM THE MIND OF MINOLTA ANNOUNCING STAR RIDER W komc to the next models. (\Imost 30 rear:. of experience has made us dirnl'llsion in dome ('xpcrls at imag(' generation \('dmolog), ,lIld d:llabase presellt,lIion SYS(CIllS. erc.lt iOIl. [\ 's :I]SO allowed us \0 make St.1r Rider technology St.lrRidcr" from [v.ms & ll\UTe open, so you Gin integrate video. slides .mel Digist.lf I[ Su thcrhllld gives you the ability to show full-domed. ckmcll\s into your show. You can e\'en ere,lte j'OUT own full -color, fully itlleracliv{' 3· D environments in }'Ollf models using popul;u software tools like MultiGen and l'xisting dome facility. This nU'Jm your ,Illdicnce isn't Photoshop. [n short, SlarRider i~ ewrythi ng you could ;mt learning "bout the universe, they're cxploring it- W.Ult in a domc presentation .),Slcl11, and like nothing in TI.'.ll-time vi.1 Evans & Su therland image gClll'ratof:., )'ou'n' ('vcr seen bcforl'. sc.unlcssly via Ev;ms & Suthcrl.md projcclOrs. and For more information, illll11crsivdy via Evans & Su thcrl.md cuStom and <.'xi:. ting call 801 -588-1000. EVANS & SUTHERLAND