September 2005 Vol. 34, No. 3
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Vol. 34, No. 3 September 2005 Journal of the International Planetarium Society Special Focus: Digital Domes and the Future of Planetariums. The Planetarian (ISN 0090-3213) is published quarterly by the International Planetarium Society. ©2005, International Planetarium Society, Inc., all rights reserved. Opinions expres- September 2005 Vol. 34, No.3 sed by authors are personal opinions and are not necessarily the opinions of the International Planetarium Society, its officers, or agents. Acceptance of advertise- ments, announcements, or other material does not imply endorsement by the International Executive Editor Planetarium Society, its officers or agents. The Editor welcomes items for consideration for publica- John Mosley tion. Please consult "Guidelines for Contributors" at www.GriffithObs.org/IPSGuidelines.html. The Griffith Observatory Editor reserves the right to edit any manuscript to suit this publication’s needs. 2800 E. Observatory Road Los Angeles, California 90027 USA (1) 323-664-1181 daytime phone Articles (1) 323-663-4323 Griffith fax 6 Digital Full-Domes: Future of Virtual Astronomy Education . Ka Chun Yu [email protected] 12 Feeding the Beast . Jim Sweitzer 15 Planetarium Paradigm Shift . Ryan Wyatt Advertising Coordinator 20 Some Thoughts From an Artist on Fulldome Theaters . Don Davis Chuck Bueter 23 The Sun Festival . Jean-Michel Faidit 15893 Ashville Lane 26 IPS 2006: Under the Southern Sky, July 23-27 . Tanya Hill Granger, Indiana 46530 USA 27 DomeFest 2005 . Jennie Zeiher (1) 574-271-3150 28 IPS 2008: Invitation to Morelia, Mexico . [email protected] . Genoevo Figueroa Silva and Gerardo Trujillo Jimenez http://www.ips-planetarium.org/planetarian/ ratesheet4.htm Columns Membership 31 What’s New . Andrew Buckingham Individual: $50 one year; $90 two years 33 Reviews . April S. Whitt Institutional: $200 first year; $100 annual renewal 40 Forum: Good Planetarium Shows . Steve Tidey Library Subscriptions: $36 one year 47 NASA Space Science News . Anita Sohus Direct membership requests and changes of address to 49 President’s Message . Martin George the Treasurer/Membership Chairman on next page. 53 Digital Frontiers . Ed Lantz 55 Mobile News . Susan Reynolds Button Back Issues of the Planetarian 59 International News . Lars Broman IPS Back Publications Repository 67 Gibbous Gazette . James Hughes maintained by the Treasurer/Membership Chairman; 72 Last Light . April S. Whitt contact information is on next page Index A cumulative index of major articles that have Index of Advertisers appeared in the Planetarian from the first issue Adler Planetarium ..............................................................................................................48 through the current issue is available online at Astro-Tec Mfg., Inc. .......................................................................................................... 46 http://www.ips-planetarium.org/planetarian/ Audio-Visual Imagineering .............................................................................................. 29 planetarian_index.pdf Bowen Technovations ..................................................................................................... 58 Calgary Science Centre .................................................................................................... 51 Final Deadlines Clark Planetarium ..............................................................................................................32 Detroit Science Center .................................................................................................... 38 March: January 21 East Coast Control Systems .......................................................................................... 44 June: April 21 Evans & Sutherland ........................................................................... outside back cover September: July 21 GeoGraphics Imaging & Consulting ............................................................................. 71 December: October 21 GOTO USA, Inc. .................................................................................................................52 Konica Minolta Planetarium Co. Ltd. ........................................................................... 54 International Planetarium Society home page: Learning Technologies, Inc. ............................................................................................ 39 www.ips-planetarium.org Mirage 3D ............................................................................................................................ 45 Planetarian journal new home page: R.S.A. Cosmos ........................................................................................ inside back cover http://www.ips-planetarium.org/planetarian Scott Electric ...................................................................................................................... 22 SEOS ........................................................................................................................................ 5 Cover: The planetarium in its advanced form vividly Sky-Skan, Inc. ...................................................................................................... centerfold presents the heritage of our astronomical knowledge Spitz, Inc. ............................................................................................................................. 30 and highlights current discoveries by telescopes and Zeiss, Inc. ................................................................................................ inside front cover spacecraft. Above and beyond the traditional 'star show' programming, the possibilities of fulldome pro- jection are virtually limitless. We can visualize past civ- Associate Editors ilizations as symbolized by the reconstruction of the Temple of Artemis in Ephesus; we can visit natural Digital Frontiers Gibbous Gazette Mobile News Reviews environments such as in the view of Monument Ed Lantz James Hughes Network April S. Whitt Valley; and we can follow spacecraft as they conduct Susan Button their missions of exploration. The theater design Forum International News What's New shown here is a tilted dome with a central laser projec- Steve Tidey Lars Broman NASA Space News Andrew tor, a likely common design for many future domed Anita Sohus Buckingham General Counsel Last Light theaters. Artwork copyright © Don Davis. Chris Reed April S. Whitt September 2005 Planetarian 1 I. P. S. Officers President (1) 315-432-4523 (fax) Thomas Jefferson High School Martin George [email protected] for Science and Technology Launceston Planetarium 6560 Braddock Road Queen Victoria Museum Past President Alexandria, Virginia 22312 USA Wellington Street Jon W. Elvert, Director (1) 703-750-8380 Launceston, Tasmania 7250 Australia Irene W. Pennington Planetarium (1) 703-750-5010 fax 61 3 63233777 Louisiana Art & Science Museum [email protected] 61 3 63233776 fax 100 South River Road [email protected] Baton Rouge, Louisiana 70802 USA Treasurer and Membership Chair (1) 225-344-5272 Shawn Laatsch President Elect (1) 225-214-4027 fax P.O. Box 1812 Susan Reynolds Button [email protected] Greenville, North Carolina 27835 USA Quarks to Clusters (1) 252-328-6139 office 8793 Horseshoe Lane Executive Secretary (1) 252-328-6218 fax Chittenango, New York 13037 USA Lee Ann Hennig [email protected] (1) 315-687-5371 Planetarium I. P. S. Affiliate Representatives Association of Dutch Speaking Canadian Association of Science Japan Planetarium Society Russian Planetariums Association Planetariums Centres Shoichi Itoh Zinaida P. Sitkova Chris Janssen John Dickenson, Managing Director Planetarium Ur Nizhny Novgorod Planetarium Director, Europlanetarium Pacific Space Centre Suginami Science Education Center Pokhvalinskii S’Yezd 5-A Planetariumweg 19 H.R. MacMillan Planetarium 3-3-13 Shimizu, Suginami-ku Nizhny Novgorod, 603 600 Russia 3600 Genk Belgium 1100 Chestnut Street Tokyo 167-0033 Japan (7) 831 2 30 51 51 +32 89 30 79 90 Vancouver, British Columbia V6J 3J9 (81) 3 3396 4391 (7) 831 2 30 51 66 fax +32 89 30 79 91 fax Canada (81) 3 3396 4393 fax [email protected] [email protected] (1) 604-738-7827 ext.234 [email protected] [email protected] www.europlanetarium.com (1) 604-736-5665 fax [email protected] [email protected] Southeastern Planetarium Associ- Association of French-Speaking Middle Atlantic Planetarium Society ation Planetariums Council of German Planetariums Paul Krupinski John Hare Agnes Acker Thomas W. Kraupe, Direktor 180 Crandon Blvd. Ash Enterprises Observatoire de Strasbourg Planetarium Hamburg Mobile Dome Planetarium 3602 23rd Avenue West 11, rue de l'universite Hindenburgstr.1b Buffalo, New York 14225 USA Bradenton, Florida 34205 USA 67000 Strasbourg France D-22303 Hamburg (1) 716-681-0204 (1) 941-746-3522 03 90 24 24 67 +49(0)40-428 86 52-50 [email protected] (1) 941-750-9497 fax 03 90 24 24 17 fax +49(0)40-428 86 52-99 fax [email protected] [email protected] thomas.kraupe@planetarium-ham- Nordic Planetarium Association [email protected] burg.de Lars Broman Southwestern Association of Plane- www.planetarium-hamburg.de Dalarna University tariums Association of Mexican Planetariums SE 791 88 Falun Sweden Tony Butterfield Ignacio Castro Pinal European/Mediterranean (46) 2310 177 Houston Museum of Natural Science Torres de Mixcoac, A6-702 Planetarium Association [email protected] One Hermann Circle C.P. 01490, México D.F. México