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Vol. 40, No. 4 December 2011

Journal of the International Planetarium Society

Chinese Art in the Sky: A Journey into the Unknown Page 14

Articles December 2011 Vol. 40 No. 4 8 Eise Eisinga: He reched for the starry heavens and gave the world a planetarium Executive Editor heavens and gave the world a planetarium Sharon Shanks Chris Janssen Ward Beecher Planetarium 14 Chinese Art in the Sky: A Journey into the Unknown Youngstown State University Mark Mark J. J.Percey Percy One University Plaza 18 What else can it be but LIPS? Karrie BerglungBerglund Youngstown, Ohio 44555 USA 22 A payment in planetariums Alex Cherman +1 330-941-3619 22 A payment in planetariums Alex Cherman [email protected] 24 How we do it: Simple scheduling Adam Thanz 28 Under one Dome: Sir Thomas Brisbane Planetarium Advertising Coordinator Mark Rigby Dr. Dale Smith, Interim Coordinator 3630 A Integrating Park for the reading Dark with the planetarium (See Publications Committee on page 3) 56 American planetarian in Italy also finds hisJohn roots C. Scala Joseph E. Ciotti Membership 38 A Park for the Dark Individual: $65 one year; $100 two years 58 American planetarian in Italy also finds his roots Institutional: $250 first year; $125 annual renewal Joseph E. Ciotti Library Subscriptions: $45 one year; $80 two years Columns All amounts in US currency 60 Book Reviews...... April S. Whitt Direct membership requests and changes of 65 Calendar of Events...... Loris Ramponi address to the Treasurer/Membership Chairman 35 Educational Horizons . .Columns ...... Jack L. Northrup 462 In Book Front Reviews of the ...... Console ...... SharonApril S. Shanks Whitt Back Issues of the Planetarian 6738 CalendarIMERSA News of Events...... Loris. Judith Ramponi Rubin IPS Back Publications Repository 3743 EducationalInternational Horizons News...... Jack . Lars L. Northrup Broman maintained by the Treasurer/Membership Chair; 4 In Front of the Console ...... Sharon Shanks contact information is on next page 66 Last Light ...... April S. Whitt 5440 IMERSAMobile News News...... Susan ReynoldsJudith Button Rubin 45 International News ...... Lars Broman Index 40 Partycles...... Alex Cherman 687 LastPresident’s Light ...... Message ...... DaveApril Weinrich S. Whitt A cumulative index of major articles that have 5662 MobileWaxing News New...... Susan . . .Reynolds .Sharon ButtonShanks appeared in the Planetarian from the first issue 42 Partycles ...... Alex Cherman through the current issue is available online at 7 President’s Message ...... Dave Weinrich www.ips-planetarium.org/planetarian/planetarian_ 64 Waxing New ...... Sharon Shanks, Compiler index.pdf Index of Advertisers Final Deadlines Accessible Astronomy...... 12 Astro-Tec Mfg., Inc ...... 47 March: January 21 Index of Advertisers June: April 21 Audio Visual Imagineering ...... 13 September: July 21 AccessibleCalifornia Academy Astronomy of ...... Sciences...... 1219 December: October 21 ClarkAstro-Tec Planetarium Mfg., Inc ...... 4921 AudioDenver Visual Museum Imagineering of Nature &...... Science...... 6313 DigitalisCalifornia Education Academy Solutions, of Sciences Inc...... 2331 EvansClark Planetarium& Sutherland ...... 37, 39, 41, 42, outside back cover21 Associate Editors DenverGlobal Immersion Museum of. .Nature . . . & . Science...... 655 Book Reviews Editor-at-Large International DigitalisGOTO INC Education . . . . Solutions,. . . . . Inc...... 2317 April S. Whitt Steve Tidey Lars Broman EvansKonica & Minolta Sutherland Planetarium ...... Co. Ltd . . 39,. . 41,. .43, . 44. . outside . . . .back . . cover. 27 Calendar Education Last Light R.S.A.Global Cosmos Immersion ...... inside back cover5 Loris Ramponi Jack Northrup April S. Whitt GOTOSky-Skan, INC Inc ...... 31, centerfold, 3417 Cartoons IMERSANews Mobile News KonicaSoftmachine Minolta. . Planetarium...... Co. . . Ltd ...... 2927 Alexandre Judith Rubin Susan Button R.S.A. Cosmos ...... inside back cover Cherman Spitz, Inc...... 6, 25, 49, 51 Sky-Skan,White Tower Inc Media...... 33, . .centerfold, . . . . . 5536 SoftmachineZeiss, Inc...... inside front cover29 Spitz, Inc...... 6, 25, 51, 53 White Tower Media ...... 57 Zeiss, Inc ...... inside front cover

International Planetarium Society home page: On the Cover: The azure dragon from Written in the Stars: Chinese Art in the Sky. The www.ips-planetarium.org program, from Thinktank in the United Kingdom, was reformatted from Digistar 3 to definiti by the Williamsville Space Lab Planetarium in New York in a transatlantic Planetarian home page: collaboration; high school students did much of the work. Image by Pak-Keun Wan www.ips-planetarium.org/planetarian (used with permission); digital starfield created by Digistar 3 from Evans & Suther- Guidelines for Contributors and Advertisers: land. Story on page 14. www.ips-planetarium.org/planetarian/ guidelines.html

December 2011 Planetarian 1 Affiliate Representatives

Association of Brazilian British Association Great Plains Planetarium Rocky Mountain Planetariums of Planetaria Association Planetarium Officers Alexandre Cherman Jenny Shipway Jack Dunn Association Planetário do Rio de Janeiro Planetarium Manager Ralph Mueller Planetarium Rick Greenawald President R. Vice-Governador INTECH Science Centre & University of Nebraska-Lincoln Faulkner Planetarium Dave Weinrich Rubens Berardo, 100 Planetarium 210 Morrill Hall Herrett Center Planetarium Rio de Janeiro RJ Telegraph Way, Morn Hill Lincoln, Nebraska College of Southern Idaho Minnesota State Brazil 22451-070 Winchester, SO2 11H 68588-0375 USA P. O. Box 1238 University-Moorhead +55 (21) 2274-0046 ext. 264 United Kingdom +1 402-472-2641 315 Falls Avenue 1104 7th Avenue South +55 (21) 2529-2149 fax +44 1 962 891916 +1 402-475-8899 fax Twin Falls, Idaho Moorhead alexandre.cherman@ +44 1962 868524 fax [email protected] 83303-1238 USA Minnesota 56563 USA planetario.rio.rj.gov.br JennyShipway@ www.spacelaser.com/gppa +1 208-732-6659 +1 218-477-2969 planetarios.org.br intech-uk.com +1 208-736-4712 fax +1 218-477-5864 fax www.intech-uk.com [email protected] [email protected] www.planetarium.org.uk Italian Association herrett.csi.edu/ Association of of Planetaria faulkner_overview.asp Dutch-Speaking Canadian Association Loris Ramponi Past-President Planetariums/PLANed of Science Centres National Archive of Planetaria Dr. Tom Mason, Director Chris Janssen Ian C. McLennan c/o Centro Studi e Ricerche Armagh Planetarium Leunenstraat 6a #404 - 1275 Haro Street Serafino Zani Russian Planetariums College Hill 3950 Bocholt Vancouver, British Columbia via Bosca 24, C.P. 104 Association Armagh BT61 9DB Belgium V6E 1G1 Canada I 25066 Lumezzane Zinaida P. Sitkova Northern Ireland + 32 89464969 +1 604-681-4790 (Brescia) Italy Nizhny Novgorod United Kingdom [email protected] phone + fax +39 30 872 164 Planetarium +44 (0)2837 524725 www.planed.org [email protected] +39 30 872 545 fax Revolutsionnja Street 20 +44 (0)2837 526187 fax [email protected] [email protected] 603002 Nizhny +44 (0)771 0013453 cell www.ianmclennan.com [email protected] Novgorod, Russia [email protected] Association of French- www.planetaritaliani.it +7 831 246-78-80 www.armaghplanet.com Speaking Planetariums Chinese Planetarium +7 831 246-77-89 fax Agnès Acker Society [email protected] President-Elect Observatoire de Strasbourg Jin Zhu Japan [email protected] Thomas W. Kraupe 11, rue de l’université Beijing Planetarium Planetarium Society Planetarium Hamburg 67000 Strasbourg France No. 138 Xizhimenwait Street Kaoru Kimura Hindenburgstraße 1 b +33 3 90 24 24 67 Beijing, 1000044 Japan Science Foundation D-22303 Hamburg +33 3 90 24 24 17 fax P.R. China Kitanomaru Park, Chiyoda-ku Southeastern Deutschland [email protected] +86 10-5158-3311 Tokyo, 102-0091 Japan Planetarium +49 0 (40) 428 86 52-21 [email protected] +86 10-5158-3312 fax [email protected] Association +49 0 (40) 428 86 52-99 fax www.aplf-planetariums.org [email protected] www.shin-pla.info John Hare +49 0 (40) 4279 24-850 e-fax Ash Enterprises +49 0 (40) 172-40 86 133 cell Council of German 3602 23rd Avenue West thomas.kraupe@ Association of Mexican Planetariums Middle Atlantic Bradenton, Florida planetarium-hamburg.de Planetariums Thomas W. Kraupe Planetarium 34205 USA www.rdp-planetarium.de Ignacio Castro Pinal Planetarium Hamburg Society +1 941-746-3522 Torres de Mixcoac, A6-702 Hindenburgstraße 1 b Patty Seaton [email protected] Executive Secretary C.P. 01490, México City D-22303 Hamburg H.B. Owens Science Center www.sepadomes.org Lee Ann Hennig D.F. México Deutschland 9601 Greenbelt Road Planetarium, Thomas +52 (55) 5500 0562 +49 0 (40) 428 86 52-21 Lanham-Seabrook, Jefferson High School +52 (55) 5500 0583 fax +49 0 (40) 428 86 52-99 fax Maryland 20706 USA for Science and Technology [email protected] +49 0 (40) 4279 24-850 e-fax +1 301-918 8750 Southwestern 6560 Braddock Road cosmos.astro.uson.mx/ thomas.kraupe@ +1 301-918 8753 fax Association of Alexandria, Virginia 22312 USA AMPAC/AMPACintro.htm planetarium-hamburg.de [email protected] Planetariums +1 703-750-8380 www.rdp-planetarium.de Rachel Thompson +1 703-750-5010 fax Noble Planetarium [email protected] Association of Spanish European/ Nordic Planetarium Fort Worth Museum of Planetariums Mediterranean Association Science and History Treasurer and Javier Armentia Planetarium Aase Roland Jacobsen 1600 Gendy Street Planetario de Pamplona Association The Steno Museum Fort Worth, Texas Membership Chair Sancho Ramirez, 2 Manos Kitsonas Planetarium 76107 USA Shawn Laatsch E-31008 Pamplona Eugenides Planetarium C.F. Moellers Alle 2 +1 817-255-9409 Navarra Spain 387 Syngrou Avenue University of Aarhus +1 817-732-7635 fax All fiscal matters: +34 948 260 004 17564 P. Faliro DK-8000 Aarhus C +1 682-233-0822 cell P.O. Box 4451 +34 948 260 056 Athens, Greece Denmark [email protected] Hilo, Hawaii 96720 USA +34 948 261 919 fax +30 210 946 9674 +45 89423975 rachelsusanthomp- [email protected] +30 210 941 7372 fax [email protected] [email protected] All other correspondence: gestion@pamplonetario. [email protected] www.stenomuseet.dk southwesternassociationof- ‘Imiloa Astronomy infonego-cio.com planetariums.art.offic- Center of Hawai’i Great Lakes Planetarium elive.com/default.htm 600 ‘Imiloa Place Association Pacific Planetarium Hilo, Hawaii 96720 USA Australasian Planetarium Jeanne Bishop Association Society Westlake Schools Gail Chaid +1 808-969-9735 Mark Rigby, Curator Planetarium 1320 Glen Dell Drive +1 808-969-9748 fax Sir Thomas Brisbane Parkside Intermediate School San Jose, California [email protected] Planetarium 24525 Hilliard Road 95125 USA Mt. Coot-tha Road, Westlake, Ohio 44145 USA +1 408-540-8879 cell Toowong +1 440-899-3075 x2058 +1 408-288-8525 Brisbane, Queensland +1 440-835-5572 fax [email protected] 4066 Australia jeanneebishop@ sites.csn.edu/ +61 7 3403 2578 wowway.com planetarium/PPA +61 7 3403 2575 fax www.glpaweb.org mark.rigby@ brisbane.qld.gov.au www.aps-planetarium.org

2 Planetarian December 2011 Standing Committees IPS Permanent Awards Committee Conference Host-2012 Australia +1 419-372-8666Mailing Address Prof. Lars Broman, Chair Jon Elvert +61 3 6323 3777 +1 419-372-9938 fax Teknoland Irene W. Pennington Planetarium +61 3 6323 3776 fax [email protected] Stångtjärnsv 132 Louisiana Art & Science Museum [email protected] International Planetarium SE-791 74 Falun 100 South River Road Society Sweden Baton Rouge, Louisiana 70802 USA Finance Committee +46 2310177 +1 225-344-5272 President, Past President, Presi- c/o Shawn Laatsch [email protected] +1 225-214-4027 fax dent Elect, Treasurer, Secretary Treasurer/Membership www.teknoland.se [email protected] Chair Membership Committee Conference Committee Conference Host- 2014 Shawn Laatsch, Chair All fiscal business: Dave Weinrich Dr. Jin Zhu, Director ‘Imiloa Astronomy Center of Hawaii P.O. Box 4451 Planetarium Beijing Planetarium 600 ‘Imiloa Place Hilo, Hawaii 96720 USA Minnesota State 138 Xizhimenwai Street Hilo, Hawaii 96720 USA University-Moorhead Beijing 100044 China +1 808-969-9735 All other correspondence: 1104 7th Avenue South +86 10-5158-3007 +1 808-969-9748 fax ‘Imiloa Astronomy Moorhead +86 10-5158-3312 fax [email protected] Minnesota 56563 USA [email protected] Center of Hawai’i +1 218-477-2969 Publications Committee 600 ‘Imiloa Place +1 218-477-5864 fax Elections Committee Dr. Dale W. Smith, Chair Hilo, Hawaii 96720 USA [email protected] Martin George, Chair BGSU Planetarium Launceston Planetarium 104 Overman Hall +1 808-969-9735 Queen Victoria Museum Physics &Astronomy Department +1 808-969-9748 fax Wellington Street Bowling Green State University [email protected] Launceston Tasmania 7250 Bowling Green, Ohio 43403 USA

IPS Web Site: Ad Hoc Committees www.ips-planetarium.org Education Committee IPS Publicity Coordinator Script Contest Committee Jack L. Northrup Rachel Thompson Thomas W. Kraupe Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Planetarium Noble Planetarium Planetarium Hamburg Please notify the Editor King Science and Technology Fort Worth Museum of Hindenburgstr.1b of any changes on these Magnet Center Science and History D-22303 Hamburg Germany 3720 Florence Blvd. 1600 Gendy Street +49(0)40-428 86 52-21 two pages. Omaha, NE 68110 USA Fort Worth, Texas 76107 USA +49(0)40-428 86 52-99 fax +1 402-557-4494 +1 817-255-9409 +49(0)40-4279 24-850 e-fax Contact the Treasurer/ [email protected] +1 817-732-7635 fax +49(0)172-40 86 133 cell webmail.ops.org/~jack.northrup +1 682-233-0822 cell thomas.kraupe@plane- Membership Chair for in- [email protected] tarium-hamburg.de dividual member address Full-Dome Video Committee www.rdp-planetarium.de Antonio Pedrosa, Chair Outreach Committee changes and general cir- Navegar Foundation Jon W. Elvert, Chair Armand Spitz culation and billing ques- Centro Multimeios Espinho Irene W. Pennington Planetarium Planetarium Education Fund tions. Av. 24, nº800, Louisiana Art & Science Museum Finance Committee 4500-202 Espinho 100 South River Road Portugal Baton Rouge, Louisiana 70802 USA Strategic Planning Committee +351 22 7331190 +1 225-344-5272 President, Past President, Presi- The Planetarian (ISN 0090- +351 22 7331191 fax +1 225-214-4027 fax dent Elect, Treasurer, Secretary 3213) is published quarterly [email protected] [email protected] by the International Plane- Technology Committee History Committee Planetarium Jack Dunn tarium Society. ©2011, Inter- John Hare, IPS Historian Development Group Ralph Mueller Planetarium national Planetarium Society, Ash Enterprises Ken Wilson, Chair University of Nebraska- Lincoln Inc., all rights reserved. Opin- 3602 23rd Avenue West 9346 Drawbridge Road 210 Morrill Hall Bradenton, Florida 34205 USA Mechanicsville, Virginia 23220 USA Lincoln, Nebraska 68588-0375 USA ions expressed by authors +1 941-746-3522 [email protected] +1 402-472-2641 are personal opinions and are [email protected] +1 402-475-8899 fax Portable [email protected] not necessarily the opinions International Planetarium Committee www.spacelaser.com/gppa of the International Planetar- Relations Committee Susan Reynolds Button, Chair ium Society, its officers, or Martin George, Chair Quarks to Clusters Web Committee Launceston Planetarium 8793 Horseshoe Lane Alan Gould, Chair agents. Acceptance of adver- Queen Victoria Museum Chittenango, NY 13037 Holt Planetarium tisements, announcements, Wellington Street +1 315-687-5371 Lawrence Hall of Science or other material does not Launceston, Tasmania 7250 Australia [email protected] University of California +61 3 6323 3777 [email protected] Berkeley, California 94720-5200 USA imply endorsement by the +61 3 6323 3776 fax +1 510-643-5082 International Planetarium So- [email protected] Professional +1 510-642-1055 fax Services Committee [email protected] ciety, its officers or agents. Job Information Service Mike Murray, Chair The Editor welcomes Letters Subcommittee Clark Planetarium to the Editor and items for (Professional Services Committee) 110 South 400 West Steve Fentress, Chair Salt Lake City, Utah 84101 USA consideration for publica- Strasenburgh Planetarium +1 801-456-4949 tion. Please consult “Guide- Rochester Museum & Science Center +1 801-456-4928 fax lines for Contributors” at 657 East Avenue [email protected] Rochester, New York 14607 USA www.ips-planetarium.org/ +1 585-271-4552 ext. 409 planetarian/guidelines.html. +1 585-271-7146 fax [email protected] The Editor reserves the right to edit any manuscript to suit this publication’s needs.

December 2011 Planetarian 3 In Front of the Console

Sharon Shanks Ward Beecher Planetarium Youngstown State University Youngstown, OH 44555 USA [email protected]

Did you miss me in September? be interested in the little time-saving or ef- At the eleventh hour in putting together fort-saving tricks you’ve adopted under your the September Planetarian, I discovered that dome. Yes, we will be interested. I had left out a full-page ad. The easiest way to avert disaster was to pull my one-page col- What’s up with astronomy This happy guy has been waiting a long umn, do some rearranging, and pop in the ad. education? time on the pasteboard until I had room So now I’ve got a lot to catch you up on, The focus of the September issue, of course, to get him in. He’s Apollo, the god of light, starting first with what must have been a was the document “Astronomy Literacy: Es- and the creation of Phillip Martin. puzzling box on Page 47 in September. It was sential Concepts for a K-12 Curriculum,” writ- I came across the work of Mr. Martin by called “Mission (Uncensored) Reports” by ten collaboratively by the United States plan- accident while Googling for free illustra- Thinktank’s Mario Di Maggio. Mario suggest- etarium affiliates and prepared for publication tions for a planetarium program. It was a ed that I could use his collection of Tweets by Gary Tomlinson. happy accident, as it turns out. for fillers in those odd spots where the copy Gary and many others worked for months It’s hard to describe exactly who Phillip didn’t fill the page. My immediate answer was to prepare the document, but time worked Martin is. He’s an artist, muralist, teacher, “of course,” because the odd empty spots are a against them. While the planetarium com- theater director and actor, writer, a Peace bane to editors. munity was putting together their document, Corps volunteer, and avid traveler. Mario explained: “For over a year now I’ve others in Washington were finishing the draft He’s also the source of Free Clip Art been running a Twitter search for the word of A Framework for K-12 Science Education. The by Phillip Martin at www.phillipmartin. ‘planetarium’ and have been collecting the window for response and feedback was sim- com. Yes, free. There are literally hundreds tweets I find interesting, original and just ply too small for significant comments about of individual illustrations in every catego- down-to-Earth human. It has become a fun astronomy content to be made. ry possible for education. little mini-hobby listening in to what people Planetarians can still provide input in the The clip art pages are full of ads, but it’s around the world are saying about planetari- second step of the process. At deadline for worth ignoring them because, after all, ums, while they’re visiting planetariums, and the September issue Achieve, the organiza- the clip art is free. Any non-profit use is after they’ve been to a planetarium.” tion tapped to create draft standards aligned permitted: in classrooms and newsletters, I came up with “Mission (Uncensored) Re- with the framework document, had not had on school websites, and, of course, for in- ports” because the tweets are certainly uncen- a chance to develop its “next generation sci- house planetarium shows. sored, and they are some of the most honest ence standards” website. I’ve written to Mr. Martin on his face- and clear reports we can find about how good It is now done (www.nextgenscience.org) book page and suggested that he finish his of a job we’re doing. Besides, it sounded almost and prominent on the home page is a link to “gods of the planets” selection. He has Ju- spacy, too. More appear in this issue on Pag- “add your voice of support.” What they call piter, Neptune, Venus, and Pluto under es 21 and 61. “voices of support” is a web form to “share the Ancient Rome category, and Apollo, I’ve been thinking for a while about adding your thoughts about new standards, or about Mars, and Mercury under Ancient Greece. a “tips and tricks” column, and Adam Thanz why science is important to you.” I’d love to have Earth, Saturn and Ura- from Bays Mountain gave me just the nudge It would make more sense to me to call it nus to complete the solar system and I needed to get it started. Check Page 24, and “share your thoughts” throughout, an impar- matching colorful dome images appropri- you’ll find the new “How we do it—tips and tial and neutral statement, instead of spinning ate for young children. tricks to share” feature. Adam started us off the term to something positive but unclear You can reach him at phillip.martin. with how he and his staff use Google calendar (What if my voice isn’t in support? Am I not [email protected]. I (the free one!) to schedule and keep organized. allowed to fill in the form?), but hey, at least I’ve used Google calendar myself for a few it’s a place where individuals can, hopefully, In a world where clear and precise language years to help teachers schedule, thinking it be heard. is needed for understanding, verbiage dirties would be helpful when they’re trying to coor- To be honest, I hate spinning. I see the need everthing we do. dinate two or three destinations. More teach- for using a “positive spin” in grant applica- The type of language used by Achieve, ers use it every year, and I appreciated the fact tions, for example, but despise the verbiage its cumbersome circular-linking website that I could embed it on the planetarium’s it creates. Verbiage, by the way, “is an insult- that repeats the same “education speak” in- website and it updates at the same time that ing term usually meant to disparage needless- formation on many pages, and its lack we enter new field trip data. ly wordy prose.” of clarity—at least in a language I under- Submissions for this new feature are wel- Verbiage infests Washington, D.C. It also stand—makes me uncomfortable about the come, of course. You don’t have to be a great has infected the main Achieve website and its future of science education reform. I hope writer, and please, don’t think others won’t next generation science site as well. the feeling goes away. I

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6 Planetarian December 2011 By the time you read this message, I will have attended the regional conference of the President’s Message Association of Brazilian Planetariums in For- Dave Weinrich taleza, Brazil. When I received the invitation Planetarium, Minnesota State University-Moorhead to deliver the opening address, I considered 1104 7th Avenue South several different topics. What message might I Moorhead, Minnesota 56563 USA give that would be relevant to their particular conference? What message did I want to give +1 218-477-2969 to them in my role as president of the Interna- +1 218-477-5864 fax tional Planetarium Society? [email protected] I thought of several topics and rejected them. As I ruminated, I realized that I started working at a college planetarium in August Dear Friends and Fellow Planetarians ing, the presidents of the four regionals gath- of 1970, at about the same time that IPS was I am writing to you as I fly over the farm- ered for breakfast and invited me to join them. forming. I decided to present a brief history of lands of northern Illinois, heading home after There was extra money in one of their ac- planetariums, with a focus on the past forty another great regional conference. Like all of count and there was some discussion regard- years that I have been involved in the profes- you, I look forward to the opportunity to get ing what this money should be used for. Vari- sion. I plan to give a personal perspective and together with colleagues and enjoy the inspir- ous ideas were proposed, but no decision was perhaps at the end, speculate about the future ing lectures, the insightful papers, the helpful made at the meeting. of our profession. How we can professional- workshops and the latest vendor updates. Later that same day, I gave a paper and a ly prepare for that future? I will write on the Probably, the most important part of each small number of people were present in the same subject in a future president’s message. conference is networking with other planetar- room. Have you ever presented a planetarium ians, to discuss common joys and tribulations, show to a small number of people? Perhaps Lessons from IPS history to talk about our profession, to connect with you felt a little disheartened, as I have felt in Once I decided on my topic, it was time to old friends and make new ones, and just to such a situation. However, regardless of the do some research. The book Theaters of Time have some fun. Networking occurs at meals, number of people in the audience, I try to pro- and Space: American Planetaria, 1930-1970 by between paper presentations, at hospitality ceed with the same enthusiasm that I would if Jordan D. Marche II was a valuable resource. I suites and at other times... the theater were filled. was especially interested in the Conference of Many of us work alone. My planetarium American Planetarium Educators (CAPE) that in Moorhead, Minnesota is 60 miles from the It’s not quantity, but quality was held at the Abrams Planetarium in East closest planetarium in Valley City, North Da- As I was reminded at WAC, it isn’t impor- Lansing, Michigan. kota. Rarely do I get to see fellow planetarians tant how many people are present, what’s im- Approximately 300 planetarians met Oc- face-to-face, so I really enjoy the opportuni- portant is that you have the “right people.” tober 21-23, 1970. This was the organizational ty to get together at conferences. I guess that’s Maybe a program that you present to an au- meeting that led to the formation of the In- why I ended up getting only three or four dience of one person might spark a life-long ternational Society of Planetarium Educators hour of sleep a night at the last three confer- interest in some aspect of science, history or (ISPE), later renamed the International Plane- ences that I attended! another subject presented in your theater. Per- tarium Society. One planetarian told a fellow airline pas- haps you are educating a future scientist, a I interviewed several planetarians who senger, “I’m going to a family reunion with a cosmonaut or an amateur astronomer. were at the meeting and asked John Hare, the couple hundred of my best friends!” I encour- To get back to my story at WAC, the atten- IPS historian, if I could see the IPS archives re- age each of you to make the effort to attend dance at my paper presentation was small and lated to the CAPE meeting. When the archives your regional conference. You will be richly I was a little disheartened, but I went ahead arrived, I didn’t have the opportunity to look rewarded. and presented what I had planned. At the end, at them immediately, but holding that FedEx Conferences also give you the opportunity having a few extra minutes, I decided to show box in my hands gave me a sense of awe. Here to share with others by presenting a paper or an interview with Jacob Ashong about the I was, holding documents from the very earli- a poster. There are many people who work be- Ghana Planetarium project. His enthusiasm est years of our Society! hind the scenes to make our regional affiliates is catching. If you haven’t seen the video, you It is important not to forget those early and their conferences a success. can watch it on YouTube at www.youtube. years and where we came from. Our organiza- All of us have benefited from the labor of com/watch?v=FmKcOzTc_Bg. tion truly does exist due to the labors of many others over the years, and eventually there As I was playing the movie, someone in the people over the past four decades. comes a time for each of us to give back to audience remarked to the president of one I was not disappointed when I opened the the professional organizations from which we of the regionals, “Hey, that’s what we can do box and perused the materials. Here was the have received so much. One way to do that is with that extra money! We can give it to Ja- actual brochure that advertised the meeting. to volunteer your time as a committee mem- cob.” The presidents conferred and decided It was a simple tri-fold brochure made of yel- ber or to run for a position as an officer. Or that they would make a sizeable donation so low paper with black print. Inside the bro- you might choose to write an article for your that Jacob and Jane Ashong can come to IPS chure were listed some of the opportunities affiliate’s publication. There are a myriad of 2012. Once again, I was reminded that it’s not that the conference would present. They were: ways to serve your affiliate and IPS. the number of people that is important, it’s Attend three days of activities specifically that you have the “right people.” In this case, designed to augment your functions as a plan- A gift from the Western Alliance the presence of just four people in the audi- etarium educator I want to share a story from the Western Al- ence led to a generous gift. I hope that many •• Meet and exchange ideas with colleagues liance Conference (WAC) this past July. WAC of you will have the pleasure of meeting Jacob throughout North America. is the meeting of the four regional affiliates and Jane next July at our conference in Baton from the western half of the U.S. One morn- Rouge. (Continues on Page 16)

December 2011 Planetarian 7 8 Planetarian December 2011 ARCES ATTIGIT IGNEAS He reached for the starry heavens and gave the world a planetarium

Chris Janssen Leunenstraat 6a 3950 Bocholt Belgium [email protected]

The people of the Netherlands know they have something special in Franeker, and they hope the world will acknowl- edge it as well. And the world should, because, after all, that special something is nothing less than the Royal Eise Eisinga Plane- tarium, the oldest working planetarium in the world. Planetarian readers have a chance to help the Netherlands achieve this goal of world-wide recognition by writing a letter of support. More details are at the end of this article. -ed. The Royal Eise Eising Planetarium in Franeker, Netherlands. All photos courtesy of the Eise Eising Planetarium

Eise Eisinga was born on 21 by city of Franeker to study the mathemati- the Course of the Stars) and Gnomonica of Son- February 1744 in the village of Dronrijp, where cal tomes of Euclides with a wool-dyer by the newijsers alle door passer en lijnjaal afgepast, op he also attended primary school. Like so many name of Willem Wytzes. de Noorderbreedte van Dronrijp (Gnomonics or children of his day, he had to lend a hand in Thanks to his self-studies, the young Eise Sundials measured out with compass and rul- the family business; in his case, in his father’s had written a book on mathematics of more er to the North latitude of Dronrijp). wool-combing activities. than 650 pages by the age of 15. After that, he wrote a fourth book in which Besides wool combing, he also took a keen By the age of 18, he had written two more he calculated and drew all the solar and lunar interest in his father’s work in astronomy and books: one on astronomy, titled Grondbegin- eclipses between 1762 and 1800. mathematics. He was such an enthusiastic stu- selen der Astronomie of Starre-loopkunde op een At the age of 24, Eisinga married Pietje Ja- dent that, even at an early age, he undertook a Theoretische wijze verhandelt (Theory of the cobs, and in 1768 he settled down as a wool weekly walk of several kilometres to the near- Basic Principles of Astronomy or Science of comber in Franeker.

Facing page: Portrait of Eise Eisinga, 1827. In back: the ceiling of the planetarium. (Also shown unobstructed on page 10.)

December 2011 Planetarian 9 ARCESsent planets were Uranus andATTIGIT Neptune, be- IGNEAS cause they had not been discovered yet. In addition to the solar system, Eisinga also placed an extensive number of signs and dials on his ceiling to enable the user to read current information about our solar system.

The date dial He built a seventh slot outside Saturn’s orbit to fit in the moving date dial, which displays the correct date (day and month) on the outside, while the inside reading indicates the position of the sun in the zodiac. The signs of the zodiac are divided into sections of 30 degrees each. A number of calibrated parallel lines are placed between the date circle and the cor- nices around the ceiling to indicate the sun’s declination over the whole year. The date dial completes the circle in a period of one full year, but needs to be set back one day every leap year. Eise Eisinga accomplished this with a special design: the date dial is decoupled from the central driving mechanism and set back one day (in which case 28 February is repeated).

His extensive knowledge of astronomy and mathematics came in very handy when, in May 1774, his region was unsettled by a pre- diction by a minister of the church, Eelco Alta from Bozum, to the effect that an alignment of the moon and the planets Mercury, Venus, Mars and Jupiter, on 8 May of that year would release forces that would result in the Earth being torn off course and hurled towards the sun. Eisinga had all the knowledge at his dispos- al to build a moving model of the solar system in his living room. He wanted to prove that the alignment of the planets was no cause for panic. Seven years passed between his initial idea and the ultimate realisation of his plan. Operation of the planetarium To be able to fit the solar system into his liv- The ceiling of the planetarium Date indicator and year ing room, Eisinga had to reduce its size a bil- (top, this time unobstructed) Eisinga placed five dials on the ceiling: the lion times, which means that, in his model, and a close-up of the central sec- central dial indicates the correct day of the one millimetre corresponds to one million ki- tion. The sun, of course, has cen- week, and it is also possible to read the exact ter stage. lometres. Everything else about his planetari- hour (in local time) on it. um is true to life: the sun is located at the cen- It also has a rectangular opening in it that tre, and the planets rotate around it at the real displays the correct year. The year starts to relative speeds. He also included the largest change at approximately four o’clock p.m. on moons of the different planets. The only ab- 31 December every year and the New Year is

10 Planetarian December 2011 ARCES ATTIGITfully visible at midnight IGNEAS of the last day of the year. The board on which the years are displayed must be refurbished with a new set of years every 22 years.

The lunar dials The Eise Eisinga Planetarium has a total of eight dials that are related to our moon. The dials indicate the times at which the moon rises and sets, the lunar phases, and the constellation in which the moon is located at any given time. The other dials provide an extremely precise representation of the lunar orbit, which makes it possible to see solar and lunar eclipses.

Planisphere The area above the box bed is designed as a planisphere, where the celestial movements of the sun and celestial bodies are represented, using the village of Franeker as the central point. The disk shows the exact time and place at which the sun rises over the eastern horizon every morning, after which it moves through the south and ends up setting in the west. The hours are represented in the form of straight lines. Two small clocks flanking the disk indicate the exact times of sunrise and sunset. The movement of the zodiac is represented on the same disk. Every day, the viewer is able to ob- serve how the Sun slides up a little further in relation to the star-spangled sky. All the planets, dials and clocks are driven by a system consisting of wooden hoops and disks onto which Eisinga attached more than Literally, a clockwork universe: close-up images of the geals and hand-forged nails that run the 10,000 hand-forged nails that serve as the gear planetarium. At top are the planet wheels. A single pendulum clock drives everything. teeth. The entire geared mechanism is controlled by a pendulum clock with a single weight. This clock’s only task is to maintain the mechanism’s speed: the system is driven by the clock’s eight weights that are linked to the most important axles. its rotation in a period of one year. Netherlands, who had previously appoint- This single pendulum clock, in fact, drives The second hoop is the gear that moves the ed Eisinga to Broeder der Orde van de Ned- everything: the planets as well as the very dif- planet Saturn around the sun in an orbit of erlanse Leeuw (Brotherhood of the Order ferent times of the rising and setting moon. 29 years and 164 days. Eisinga attached a pin of the Dutch Lion), visited the planetarium Because of temperature changes the pendu- to the side of the date dial gear to serve as the with Prince Frederick of the Netherlands. Sev- lum has to be adjusted somewhat throughout new-year’s nail that activates the year change en years later, the King decided to purchase the course of the year. on 31 December. the planetarium for the Dutch state for the The different planets orbit at very different price of ten thousand guilders (an enormous speeds. Eisinga was able to create the irregular- amount at the time) with the provision that ities with the use of eccentric gears, the teeth 230 years and Eisinga could live in the house for free with of which are positioned such as to ensure that a salary of 200 guilders a year for supervising the gear will always rotate at varying speeds. still ticking the planetarium, which also entailed main- The gears that move the planets and date Once he had completed the mechanism in taining the planetarium and explaining it to dials consist of oak wood hoops supported 1781, Eisinga produced a meticulous descrip- “the nation.” and controlled with wooden rollers. Above tion with drawings of the operation of the Eisinga continued to do so for three years each slot (planetary orbit) in the ceiling one planetarium to ensure that his children would before he died on the morning of 27 August hoop is located. The outside and largest gear be able to maintain the system after his death. 1828 at the age of 84 years and six months. He moves the date dial and therefore completes On 30 June 1818, King William I of the was buried in the Dronrijp cemetery as he had

December 2011 Planetarian 11 ARCESrequested. On 25 February 1859, the DutchATTIGIT Dutch candidates will be IGNEAS state transferred ownership of the planetari- presented to UNESCO’s um to the municipality of Franeker. international committee After Eise Eisinga’s death, his youngest son, in the years ahead. Jacobus, took over the management of the The planetarium is cur- planetarium, a job he did for 30 years. After his rently working on the death the planetarium remained in the fam- required nomination ily’s control. Jacobus’ daughter Sjoukje was documents for the can- the first female curator and was succeeded by didature, which covers her sister Jeltje, who was married to Jacob Fog- three key concepts: teloo. •• Outstanding universal After the death of the Fogteloos, in 1910, the value Franeker municipality appointed the late cou- •• Support ple’s daughter Hiltje as Jelte’s successor, a duty •• Protection and man- she fulfilled until April 1922. The end of her agement curatorship also heralded the end of the family’s management of the planetarium and the Support the beginning of external curatorship. nomination The planetarium has received large num- We hereby request bers of visitors since its opening in 1781. After your assistance in meet- a few hundred visitors in the early years, the ing the first two criteria: number of visitors increased to approximate- In the case of the crite- ly 35,000 a year by the beginning of the 21st rion “outstanding univer- century and to around 45,000 in the past few sal value,” we need to de- years. This is undoubtedly partially due to the termine whether there assignment of the “Royal” title that was grant- are any known and com- ed the planetarium in the year of its 225th an- parable planetariums or niversary in 2006, and the expansion of the astronomical instruments planetarium into a neighbouring building. from the 18th and begin- The expanded and redesigned planetarium ning of the 19th centu- also includes Eisinga’s former wool-combing ry anywhere else in the workshop, which has been restored. world. The analysis must Top: Eise Eisinga’s mathematics book from 1759; Below: Instruc- demonstrate the unique tions for the planetarium mechanism. character of the Eise Eisin- UNESCO World ga Planetarium. Would you please let us know if you are does it provide? Heritage List aware of any other comparable planetariums We kindly ask you to send us all relevant in- Given the rich history of the planetarium or planetarium instruments? The following formation. and the special place it occupies in world his- points are important considerations in that You can assist us in the “support” criteri- tory, the board of governors decided to pro- regard: on by sending us a letter of support on behalf pose the planetarium for the UNESCO World •• In what year/period was it built? of your organisation. Please mention in your Heritage List. After years of preparation, the •• Where is it located? letter that the Eise Eisinga Planetarium rep- planetarium was finally officially included •• Does the instrument still work? resents exceptional universal value, and that in the Dutch list in the autumn of 2010. The •• What kind of astronomical information your organisation supports its candidature for the World Heritage List. Please consult the website at www.planetarium-friesland.nl/planetarian for an example letter and answers to specific questions concerning the outstanding international value of the planetarium. Kindly send your letter(s) to our postal address or as an email attachment written on an original letterhead. Adrie Warmenhoven Director, Royal Eise Eisinga Planetarium Eise Eisingastraat 3 8801 KE Franeker The Netherlands www.planetarium-friesland.nl [email protected] I

12 Planetarian December 2011 December 2011 Planetarian 13 Chinese Art in the Sky: A Journey into the Unknown

Mark J. Percy Williamsville Space Lab Planetarium Williamsville North High School 1595 Hopkins Road Williamsville, New York14221 www.williamsvillek12.org/planetarium planetarium man- a set of media and scripts with which I’m quite ager at Thinktank. pleased. I couldn’t afford to The first student to work on the project was license the show, Sophie Wang. She had taken astronomy as a Mark Percy Planetarium folks come to the profession but after a bit of dis- student in her senior year and volunteered from many different walks of life. I started cussion we struck a quite a bit of time writing scripts and testing out as a chemistry teacher who happened to deal. Thinktank is a Digistar 3 facility and we the limits of what Digital Sky could do. She like astronomy. I’ve always worked in tech- have Sky-Skan’s definiti system. As a school was interested in working over the summer nical theater, so my transition to the plane- district planetarium, our funding is often min- and took on the project. tarium of yesterday was somewhat natural. imal. However, one asset I do have is fantas- Coincidentally, she had plans to travel to Smoke and mirrors was how we did it back tic students. China to visit family and thought she might then, right? Hopefully not too much smoke Our planetarium is attached to Williams- be able to do some research along the way. though! ville North High School. Some of the high As it turned out, there was not much time for I just wrapped up my 10th year as a plane- school students can work for me through our research between family fun occasions. We tarium director and I can’t believe the strange work-study program and others volunteer eventually learned that modern Chinese as- and amazing places I’ve gone. I went from their time. With them, I knew we could do tronomy/astrology is very different from the opaquing slides to digital animation in just a what Mario wanted in exchange for the show historical constellations in the show. few short years. One of my latest odysseys has license. Our task was to convert the show to Upon her return to Williamsville, Sophie been a fun and rewarding experience that I’d run through a definiti system. tackled the task of image processing. Think- like to share. Of course, the first step in any good deal is tank supplied us with raw digital images that There are many fascinating things that you the exchange of contracts. Once everybody had been created by a local professional Chi- can teach in a planetarium. I stumbled across had signed on the dotted line, our work be- nese artist for the show. To look good on our something on Planetarium.net that led to a re- gan. Mario sent us some sample images and dome, Sophie had to convert the format, really great experience for my students and me. star charts. I understood the general nature of size, add alpha transparency and adjust the Thinktank Planetarium in Birmingham, what we had to do, but I had no idea how in- width of the drawn lines in each image. While UK posted a video teaser about their new volved it would be or how far we would take this was tedious, her challenge had just begun. show, titled Written in the Stars: Chinese Art the project. Positioning the images was a lot harder in the Sky. It seemed like a really cool topic than we had imagined. Reflecting on the expe- to teach about and something that I’d enjoy Putting the students to work rience later, Sophie remarked that she had not learning more about myself. Three students worked on the project with only learned a number of digital media skills, I e-mailed Mario Di Maggio, who is the me over about a year’s time and we produced but developed character strength with persis-

14 Planetarian December 2011 tence and patience as the task just seemed to get more difficult every day. Mario Di Maggio and his colleague Colin Hutcheson at Thinktank wanted the products to be spot on, not just close. Working with a set of constellations that were totally novel to us meant that we had to find new reference points. The charts had the same stars, but no names or boundaries with which we were familiar. Sophie tweaked the script variables as best she The faces Making it happen: on top, the students, from could for each image and then made a dome left Sophie Wang, Aaron and Adam. Below, the UK crew, Mario Di Maggio and Colin Hutcheson. master frame for their review. Colin would behind the scenes Top banner: artwork for Written in the Stars: Chi- match it up with theirs, and send the com- nese Art in the Sky by artist Pak-Keun Wan (used parison back with notes. At first, we got pret- with permission); digital starfield created by Di- ty discouraged because close was rarely close gistar 3 from Evans & Sutherland. enough.

Collaborating across time zones I’m sure it didn’t seem strange to Sophie, but I have to remark that I found it to be pret- ty amazing that we could have a back and forth collaboration across the ocean as easily as with someone down the hall. I’ve been around long enough to remember getting my first 300-baud modem. Since Birming- ham, UK is 5 hours ahead, we’d make sure to plan our time carefully, but each day several e-mails went back and forth without much of a thought. Digital Sky allows images to be positioned with almost limitless variation. How many degrees of freedom? Left/right, up/down, wide/narrow, rotate, scale, warp, and lens dis- tortion are all among the parameters that can

December 2011 Planetarian 15 be adjusted for an image. Sophie developed nal motion, precession, movement along the tank can distribute in a plug-and-play format a few different alignment methods and ex- ecliptic and an eclipse. There was a graphic of to any Digital Sky users. We are planning to plored a number of mathematical thinking the oldest star chart in existence that begged premier the program here at the Williamsville skills as she wrestled with each image. to become a wrap-around panorama, and an Space Lab Planetarium in January in prepara- By the end of the summer, she had refor- ancient story about the Summer Triangle that tion for the Chinese New Year. matted and created script “buttons” for each needed a special touch. When I took over as planetarium director of the many images. She also made sky presets One of my colleagues at school narrated a 10 years ago, my biggest concern was whether and some other fun details such as a button recording of the story. I mixed the voice and or not I’d know the names of all those constel- for the audience to “blow the clouds away” music so that I could make a script that circled lations. Little did I know that I’d have the op- that was called for in the script. However, her each star and drew the triangle at just the right portunity to guide three talented students to time was up and she had to head off to college. time. Finally, I thought long and hard about create a show that teaches about a whole dif- The following fall, two more students took button layout. I’ve installed many show kits ferent set of stars and constellations, and that over the project. Adam Blocher and Aaron and worked through the strengths and weak- those learners might be thousands of miles Borok were both work study students at our nesses of each. I was determined to make sure away from our little dome here outside Buf- high school. They could come in one period this set was well organized and easy to use. falo, NY! per day to work on production projects. In the end, I am very proud of the hard By the way, if you think those Greek pic- Sophie had established the workflow and work, perseverance and skill of my students. tures are hard to keep straight, just take a look laid out all the groundwork, so the boys’ tasks We created a really nice product that Think- at what the ancient Chinese saw in the sky. I were well defined. As it turns out, breaking the work up into short time periods was best for this project. Sophie’s full work day was a lot (President’s Message, continued from Page 7 more frustrating than a 45-minute period. •• Hear prominent speakers presenting topics say that IPS started in 1970 with the vote to Competitive atmosphere at work of special interest to the planetarium com- organize an association of planetarium profes- I split up the list of images between Adam munity. sionals, or we could say that it started in 1971 and Aaron and this provided a collegial yet •• See the products of manufacturers of plane- when the by-laws were written and ratified. competitive atmosphere between the boys. tarium related equipment. Reading through the documents in the Each day, they would tweak an image and •• Participate in decisions important to the fu- CAPE archives and the early issues of the Plan- then we would send a dome master or two off ture of planetarium teaching. etarian, the early leaders of our Society seemed for review. By overlaying each other’s dome •• Should a North American association of to favor, in my opinion, the latter viewpoint. grabs, we could compare positioning with the planetarium educators be organized? If that is the case, 2011 is the 40th anniversa- required precision. Slowly but surely, the guys •• Should a North American planetarium ry of IPS. Another committee worked to start got one image after another approved. journal be published? the journal and the first issue of the Planetari- Our agreement with Thinktank required us I browsed through the 16-page program for an was dated June 21, 1972. to position the images relative to the star field, the conference and found many of the same Although our Society, at its inception, used but by this point I really wanted to create a topics that are discussed at our conferences to- the word “international” in its name, it only full package. Knowing that Thinktank is Digi- day. The folder that held some of the archives existed on one continent. Eleven years ago, in star and therefore they couldn’t modify any- had a picture of the Michigan State University the December 2000 issue of the Planetarian, thing I sent them, I decided to keep working campus and inside were old, faded Xerox cop- President Dale Smith gave an overview of the and create graphics to label all the constella- ies, and mimeographed sheets with their won- state of IPS and detailed how we had grown tions as well as a presentation-ready set of but- derful blue color that I remember so fondly from a regional affiliation of North American tons for Digital Sky. from my primary school days. planetariums to a more global Society. We could make English labels fairly easi- There were postcards and a complete list of When Dale wrote his message there were ly, but Chinese labels meant not only being attendees at the meeting. Some of them are twenty regional affiliates. Unfortunately, two able to read Chinese, but writing scripts to call still in the profession and attend conferenc- of those affiliates have become inactive and characters from the Ming Lu font set. Instead, es. Most of them have retired or passed away, are no longer part of IPS. Four new affiliates Adam made images out of the Chinese labels having left their mark on our profession. have joined IPS during the last eleven years, and then positioned them like pictures. As I looked through the list, I was surprised with most recent addition of the Chinese With all the images and labels done, I had to see the name of my college mentor, Emil C. Planetarium Society (CPS) in July of this year. to take over once again. I still had no way to Miller, the director of the Luther College plan- This brings the total number of IPS affiliates really know what their finished show looked etarium which now bears his name. I hadn’t to twenty-two. like since the nearest Digistar facility is almost even known that he had attended the CAPE Dale wrote about the possibility of future 200 miles away. meeting during the first semester of my fresh- affiliates in the rest of the world. Some of the Colin had described their D3 scripts in de- man year. areas he mentioned have formed affiliates tail, but it took me a while to understand the The CAPE participants unanimously decid- that are now part of IPS, e.g. Spain, Brazil and way the show was programmed as it was a ed to organize a North American planetarium China, but there are not yet affiliates in oth- completely different scripting language. Now association and to publish a journal. A consti- er areas he stated, e.g. the continent of South I had to learn another new language if I was tutional committee with participants from America, the Mideast/Arabic nations, Eastern going to really understand how the show was each of the seven existing regional affiliates Europe or Southeast and eastern Asia. actually presented live. Colin patiently an- was formed to write the by-laws of the new- swered a number of questions as I translated ly formed society. This task was completed in Signing off each scene. March 1971 and the by-laws were approved by I wish you a productive 2012 and hope to I wrote scripts for playing the music and a majority of the regionals by July 1971. personally see many of you at the IPS 2012 demonstrating sky motions such as diur- Depending on how you look at it, we could conference. I

16 Planetarian December 2011 December 2011 Planetarian 17 It’s live and interactive, for planetarians and a symposium What else can it be but LIPS?

Most of the anabashed participants of the first Live Intractive Planetarium Symposium. Photo by Rob Karrie Berglund Spearman.

Karrie Berglund, Director my current job as Digitalis’s director of edu- ed to a digital system, the shows there are all of Education cation. I exhibit at about a dozen conferenc- still live and interactive. Digitalis Education Solutions, Inc. es per year, including all of the U.S. regional Having been immersed in live planetarium [email protected] planetarium conferences. I see a lot of vendor shows for so many years, I cannot imagine not demonstrations and talk to many planetari- interacting with the audience during a lesson. um presenters every year. I personally think that people who buy digital In my life before Digitalis, I spent about six systems only to use them for movie playback and a half years doing outreach for PSC’s Sci- are missing out on the best part of the system: I am happy to report that the inaugural Live ence On Wheels program, traveling to ele- the planetarium software and all that it can be Interactive Planetarium Symposium (LIPS) mentary and middle schools all over Wash- used to teach, tailored to your audience’s in- held in August was a roaring success. Digitalis ington state. At that time, Science On Wheels terests. Simply playing movies for every show was honored to host 37 attendees here at our had two Starlab cylinder-based portable plan- is not taking advantage of a digital system’s headquarters in Bremerton, Washington. etariums; they have since upgraded to digital. capabilities. I believe that the immense flexi- We spent the three days exploring various As with the vast majority of cylinder-based bility of the planetarium software is by far the facets of live programming, including sto- Starlabs, all shows were live and interactive strongest reason to buy one. rytelling and presentation skills; question- (and still are). However, I and other Digitalis staff have ing strategies; current and future research on I also spent about a year overseeing PSC’s been troubled by a strong trend away from planetarium programming; ideas for encour- Willard Smith Planetarium. The Smith Plan- live, interactive programs to simple movie aging repeat attendance; outreach; and more. etarium is an 8.2-m dome with concentric playback. Digital system vendor demonstra- bench seating for 40 people; it serves school tions frequently show off primarily or exclu- LIPS: The back story groups, the public, and private events. When sively prerecorded content rather than fo- You may be wondering, “Why anoth- I was working there, the Smith had a Spitz 512 cusing on the planetarium software features. er planetarium conference?,” or “Why did a star ball, several slide projectors, a handful of PIPS meetings and Starlab users group meet- planetarium system vendor organize and host special effects projectors, and Spice automa- ings used to center on live programming a conference?” Part of the answer is that I used tion. and teaching techniques, but these meetings to be on the other side of the street, present- Like the Starlab, 100 percent of the shows stopped several years ago. (The 2011 MAPS ing live, interactive planetarium shows for Se- in the Willard Smith are live and interactive. meeting, with its theme of “Teaching in the attle’s Pacific Science Center (PSC). I left full The presenter moves around the dome and Dark,” was a refreshing change from the sta- time work at PSC in early 2003 to co-found teaches from different points in order to inter- tus quo.) Digitalis with Rob Spearman. act with as many people as possible. Although In short, we were frustrated with this trend, I draw heavily on my PSC experiences in the Smith Planetarium has also since upgrad- and we felt like someone needed to do some-

18 Planetarian December 2011 thing to put the focus back on interaction un- shops, rather than having to der the dome. Why do we and so many oth- sit at a table while all or near- er people feel so strongly about live shows? ly all of the attendees were The main advantages of live shows over pre- elsewhere in sessions. Many recorded include: vendors used to work in plane- •• You can tailor every lesson to the audi- tariums (and some still do). We ence’s interest level and knowledge. have valuable experience and •• If the audience does not understand a con- knowledge to share. I really en- cept, you can explain it again, perhaps from joyed being able to attend the a different perspective, before continuing. LIPS sessions; I learned many •• Information flows two ways in a live show: things that will help me to do From the presenter to the audience, and my job better. from the audience to the presenter. This There was no exhibit hall, feedback from the audience is critical for so that vendors could partici- confirming understanding and interest. pate in sessions. Sponsors in at- •• Every live show is different, since the audi- tendance gave short demon- ence changes. This helps keep shows fresh stration sessions of equipment for the presenter and the audience. and/or content. I hope that We decided to take action by organizing planetarium conference orga- and hosting LIPS. Our goal was just to get the nizers will take the LIPS vendor ball rolling, not to host every year. structure and experience into And Digitalis was not the only vendor to account when deciding exhib- participate at LIPS. The other sponsors (in al- it hall hours. phabetical order) were Audio Visual Imag- The first afternoon was our ineering, Bowen Technovation, Evans & keynote workshop, “Inter- Sutherland, Go-Dome, Microsoft Research, active Performance: Philos- and Sky-Skan. This implies that there is broad ophy and Practice” by John vendor support for this topic. Kaufmann. John has a back- ground in theater and impro- So, what happened? visational comedy, and he is The 37 attendees came from five countries: also a former supervisor of the the U.S., Canada, Japan, the Netherlands, and Willard Smith Planetarium at Thailand. The need for a conference devot- Pacific Science Center. John is ed to live, interactive planetarium lessons ob- currently an assistant profes- viously spans the globe, and we were ecstat- sor in the theater department ic that people were willing to travel so far for at Beloit College in Wisconsin. this unique professional development oppor- Top: Alan Gould discusses “The Question of Questions” in the LIPS In addition to discussing his classroom. You can see its fire house origins. Bottom: Inside the tunity. performance philosophy, John Pacific Planetarium. Photos by Rob Spearman. Several attendees commented on how led us through several partic- much they enjoyed the small group size, since ipatory activities, such as “Thank you, I’ve front of the group. everyone participat- failed!,” where we learned to embrace and •• Digitalis’ own Arthur Bogard presented sev- ed in all sessions to- learn from our mistakes. In “Left Field,” some eral activities on light and color perception, gether. This led to a of us were audience member throwing out using the Pacific Planetarium’s cove light- unique cohesiveness random questions while the presenter found ing system as the light source. and shared experi- ways to steer the answer back to the main There were also round table discussions ence that is lacking point of the lesson. In “Frozen Shadows,” we on the challenges of outreach, keeping your in large conferences. used our bodies to model our favorite constel- dome open in a bad economy, modifications Approximately lations, an example of kinesthetic learning. people have made to help them teach in their 20 sessions or work- Several other presenters led us through ac- domes—such as lights attached to clipboards shops were present- tivities and demonstrated techniques that to help people complete worksheets in the ed over the entire have worked in their domes. For example: dome—and the future of LIPS. symposium, many •• Susan Button, former IPS president, writer One of the things that made LIPS different in the “classroom.” of the “Mobile News” column, and veter- from standard conferences is that attendees Our art deco build- an STARLAB teacher, shared activities and proposed sessions, then people voted on them. ing was Bremerton’s John Kaufmann worksheets about seasonal changes, celes- The sessions with the highest number of votes Fire Station No. 1 for tial reference lines and grids, and more. made the final schedule. This technique en- more than six decades, and what we now use •• Karl von Ahnen shared techniques that sured that sessions were applicable to the larg- as a classroom was once a house for fire trucks. have worked in his 15.2-m Fujitsu Planetar- est number of attendees. Other sessions took place in our 6.1-m fixed ium at DeAnza College. This led to a valu- dome, the Pacific Planetarium. With space for able discussion about how dome size affects What does the future hold? 28 on bench-style seating, the Pacific Planetar- the type of interaction. That was the topic of a working lunch dis- ium is an intimate space. •• Toshi Komatsu discussed the PASS Interact! cussion. While there is concern about con- One of our goals for LIPS 2011 was to enable Activities developed by the Lawrence Hall flicting with IPS 2012, most people believe vendors to actually attend and lead work- of Science, and he demonstrated several in that LIPS should remain its own separate con-

December 2011 Planetarian 19 Lake City, Utah, and the University of Feedback from Notre Dame in Notre Dame, Indiana. My sincere appreciation to both E&S LIPS attendees and UND for their willingness to take on the challenge of hosting a conference—I know from experience that it “After a live planetarium presentation, au- can be quite tiring. dience members should feel like no other au- An online survey determined the dience could have had quite the same experience. This is not simply to make the show best location and timing for the most unique for its own sake. It is because when an people. LIPS 2012 will take place in audience feels that they are experiencing a Notre Dame, Indiana during the week singular presentation, they lean forward, they of August 6-10 (exact dates are still to listen in a different way. be determined as I am writing this). “In our increasingly mediated world they However, for those of you who will recognize, consciously or unconsciously, that not be able to join us in Notre Dame, if they don’t pay attention, they will have there will be LIPS-style workshops missed something; there will not be a re-run. and sessions at IPS 2012. I have been This is the biggest advantage a live presenta- working with several other people tion has over a recorded program, and it is too to make plans for presentation skills seldom exploited!” Expressions of failure in the “Thank you, I've failed!” activ- John Kaufmann, Beloit College ity. Credit: Ian McLennan; used with permission workshops, sample lessons, teaching strategies, and more. Stay tuned for “My expectations about the LIPS-1 sympo- updates on that. sium were greatly exceeded—largely because ference. LIPS is a very focused conference If you would like to get involved with LIPS of a consistent focus on presentation tech- that works best with a relatively small group, or wish to learn more about its past and fu- niques, best practices, strategies for audience while IPS covers a broad range of topics and ture, visit the website: LIPSymposium.org engagement and involvement—and quality attracts a fairly large audience. I hope to see you at IPS 2012 LIPS work- control associated with the noblest traditions Two institutions generously offered to shops and/or at LIPS 2012 at the University of of theatre. Accordingly, I felt this was one of host LIPS 2012: Evans & Sutherland in Salt Notre Dame! I the most valuable planetarium conferences I have attended in decades. “Although not dismissing technology, participants put far more emphasis on content, “In this era of ‘technology rich’ planetar- such a way as to encourage more questions--- on lively interaction, and on memorable ex- iums trying to stay afloat, it is critical for from the audience. periences. In other words, the focus was on planetariums (and yes, multi-purpose domes “Our programs, although not recorded, the audience. I felt this group was in the new included) to embrace what they do best…con- have a ‘narration’ script, but we do not ex- avant-garde of a movement that could actual- nect with the audience on a personal level and pect presenters to follow the script precisely, ly see a re-invigoration of a medium we have really engage them in the ‘show.’ because each audience is unique and different all known and loved, but which often falls “It will be a privilege to continue working questions that crop up can take discussions short in terms of audience expectation and with all the dedicated people who are willing in different directions from program to pro- delivery. to share their ideas and methods for imple- gram. In fact, the best scripts are sprinkled “I was particularly intrigued by the sce- menting interactive techniques through this with great questions to ask. nario of not having to choose between hav- strong new initiative.” “This also leads to another very important ing “canned shows” versus live, unique, in- Susan Button, Quarks to Clusters principle: never try to cram ‘all the material’ teractive experiences. An ideal presentation into a show, especially if the audience gets an- could consist of several live segments - bring- “We’ve been doing live audience-participa- imated and excited talking about one of the ing immediacy, topical relevance, flexibility tion planetarium activities ever since I started program topics. It’s best to cultivate the art and true audience inter-activity - interspersed working in the Lawrence Hall of Science plan- of gracefully ending a show even though you with high-quality and high production impact, etarium back in 1974. have not reached “the end.”Our first Direc- recorded segments...All of this can be woven “It’s often difficult to hand out objects dur- tor, Alan Friedman, said ‘It’s always best to seamlessly into a truly positive audience ex- ing a program--even impossible in large plane- leave them wanting more.’ Way better than perience. Now that’s show business - with a tariums--but it’s way more valuable to estab- trying to cram their heads full of information, purpose!” lish a setting where visitors are comfortable no matter how fascinating the script-writer Ian McLennan, Ian McLennan Consulting asking questions. This is best done by the pre- thinks it may be.” senter asking questions in a very inviting way Alan Gould, Lawrence Hall of Science “When all you hear are good reviews before and accepting answers from the audience in you go to watch a movie, the movie itself is sometimes disappointing because it has been I´m TIRED and I have DREAM!, but I´m happy built up too much. I was wondering if LIPS from Mario Di Maggio ´cause I´m fine with my family and that I have a might be the same once I got there, but it ex- travel to the planetarium soon ceeded my already high expectations - and I I went to the planetarium tonight! Tried to Our school is too cheap to get My locker a would definitely like to attend LIPS 2012.” tweet you that but my phone was on the fritz :( number plate but half hollow east has a plane- Robert Cockcroft, McMaster University but I thought of you!! tarium. Legit. who copped a feel while goin dark in the I am an astronaut, my coworker is Carl Sagan, planetarium room! Lmao and the planetarium staff is the coolest staff in “I applaud and thank you, (Digitalis), for It was so tired and very stressful day because the entire Science Center. Hands down. picking up the torch in support of live interac- of my work. Today, I’ll go to Planetarium. It’ll I’m sitting in a large blow up planetarium. In- tive programming in planetariums. It is impor- be great!!!! teresting. tant that the younger members of our profes- How could anyone NOT love a planetarium? Until I saw that show at the Planetarium I had sion, and vendors to boot, are inspired to lead Jealous. no idea how stupid the sun is. the way.

20 Planetarian December 2011 SATURN: JEWEL OF THE HEAVENS

BLACK HOLES

EXTREME PLANETS

HUBBLE HAS NOTHING ON US.

SECRET OF THE CARBOARD ROCKET

The imagination and creativity of our original digital dome productions are so fantastic, you’ll think our animators actually live in space. Or at least get to borrow the keys to the Hubble on the weekends. Talk to us about what these productions will do for your planetarium. Contact Mike Murray at [email protected] • 801-456-4949 • clarkplanetarium.org/distribution December 2011 Planetarian 21

3429-1_HubbleHasNothing_Planetarium_8.5x11_F.indd 1 1/13/11 11:09:50 AM A payment in planetariums, and Rio still benefits 40 years later

Alex Cherman Panetário do Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro RJ Brazil 22451-070 [email protected]

The Rio de Janeiro planetarium first opened We are also not the first in Brazil (that So: what is so special about the Rio de Ja- to the public in 1970. It is important to note would be São Paulo Planetarium, established neiro Planetarium? Well, it is definitely the that it is not the first planetarium in South in 1957), and we are not even the first in Rio largest and busiest planetarium in Brazil and America. This honor belongs to the Monte- de Janeiro (the Navy Academy has had a plan- South America, and, in my opinion, one of the video Planetarium in Uruguay (established in etarium, not open to the general audience, most important in the Southern Hemisphere! 1955). since 1961). The history of the Rio Planetarium starts in an unusual way. East Germany had some debts with the Brazilian government. Both countries agreed that part of the obligation could be paid in goods, and that one of these goods could be plane- Top: Future grounds of the planetarium, in the tariums. 1960s. It was a very underprivileged living area; its inhabitants were relocated to a housing project The bilateral agree- built just in front (the wavy building in the picture). ment was signed in Next Row, left: during construction, 1970s, and the July, 1969, and soon af- Spacemaster at work, early the same decade. Be- ter that, six Zeiss Space- low: The Rio Planetarium today, with the new dome dwarfing the old, and the Spacemaster in its place master projectors were of honor. All photos courtesy of the Rio de Janeiro shipped to Brazil. One Planetarium Archives. of these projectors was donated to the local Rio de Janeiro government. The Rio Planetarium opened to the public in November 19, 1970. Its dome was 12.5 m and it had 130 concentric seats, surrounding the very hip Zeiss Spacemaster projector. And it served us well for quite some time. Rio is the informal astronomy cap- ital of Brazil. For more than 50 years, its Federal University hosted the only astronomy bachelor program in the country. The city also has two distinct observatories and the Museum of As- tronomy. It was only natural that the Rio Planetarium would thrive. Its destiny was obvious: the Rio Plan- etarium had to grow. And grow it did! In 1998, it became the first planetarium in Brazil to have two domes. By that time, the original dome had been already named after Galileo Galilei. The new dome, 23 m in diameter and with 277 seats, hosting a Zeiss Universarium VIII, was originally called Carl Zeiss, which later changed to Carl Sagan. The new dome was built as the main feature of the brand new Museum of (Continues on Page 26) 22 Planetarian December 2011 December 2011 Planetarian 23 How we do it Tips and tricks to share

Simple scheduling for your theater

Adam Thanz Astronomy & Space Sciences Program Coordinator Planetarium Director Bays Mountain Planetarium 853 Bays Mountain Park Road Kingsport, TN 37660 [email protected] www.baysmountain.com

The main calendar interface. On the left are all the calendars a person who This is for all of you who might want to take advantage of a free ser- has sharing is subscribed to. All the events are in their correct time slots, vice we’ve been using at Bays Mountain for a number of years now. It is along with pertinent information. All-day entries are on the top. Any sensi- tive names have been blurred out for this article. Google Calendar. Even if you already know about this it, you may not know that you can design it to be a calendar your whole work place can use as a team. To not be confused, this regular calendar feature that is available to anybody is different from the business class version that Google has available for a cost. This is the regular, free version I am discussing. To make the calendar effective, there are a few things to set up first. First, we set up a Google account that is not specific to a certain person. Once you have that Google account, you can set up your calendar. In order to keep things organized, we have a special sub-calendar for each of our main categories (or types of programs) that we schedule. These sub-calendars are within the Google main calendar interface. As a result, we have 11 sub-calendars. One is for planetarium programs, one is for nature programs, one is for staff official use (for sick leave and vacation), and so on. The benefit of multiple calendars is to keep programming organized. You can toggle them on and off to reduce clutter on your monitor, and you can also set them in different colors. An entry within a particular sub-calendar may be a show, set to Detailed information page for a specific entry. On top is the data that is length and starting time. The color indicates the type, and an entry can seen on the main calendar page. The data below can only be seen on this include notes as to the school group, number for attendance, grade lev- page (used for phone numbers, names, etc.). el, etc. There is another place for detailed notes, like phone numbers and such. There are a variety of ways you can view the calendars. Daily, multi- days, weekly, monthly, multi-monthly, daily agenda list, etc. When viewing a complex day on a monitor with lots of entries, the entries will overlap. But they do not overlap when printing, so we have a printed schedule each day at the front desk so we can all see it without having to go to our offices. We started using our old scheduling method in 1971. It consisted of a three-ring binder with two page sides for each day. We had four columns: planetarium, nature, volunteers, and other. It was all penciled in, sometimes haphazardly, and was rarely at its appointed place. Imag- ine 15 people trying to find the binder, schedule programs and write them in, while others just wanted to looking at it so they knew what the day’s events were! If it was busy and if there were corrections, the pages became a mess. It became obvious that the book was fine in the past, but not now. When we’re busy, our calendar can have 30+ entries. Just today, as I fi- nalize this article on September 30, 2011, we have 27 entries. This is a mildly busy day for us. Access page to all sub-calendars. Click on sharing link to set who can see (Continues on Page 26) what.

24 Planetarian December 2011 December 2011 Planetarian 25 Detailed page for a specific sub-calendar. Set who can see the calendar and What a printed page looks like for a specific day. Notice nothing overlaps to what level of access. and is very simple to read.

(Scheduling, continued from Page 24) So how does this ify the calendars. Too many hands can mess things up. The only thing benefit more than just required for sharing is a Google account; using Google Mail (Gmail) is you? You can share not required. each calendar with For ease of daily use, I have the link to my main Google calendar others at work and also web page set up to open upon booting up my computer so I can see it control if they only all day. view the calendar or The benefits are many. It is free. There doesn’t seem to be a limit on if they can modify it the sub-calendars. It can be shared with any number of other people. (add, move, remove You can see it from any type of computer anywhere in the world. You Access settings for a specific person for a spe- events) as well. only need internet access and a web browser. You can see it on your cific sub-calendar. The top level allows a per- If you want, you can cell phone. You can back up the files anytime (which I recommend son to edit, but also say who else can see a cal- even have specific sub- doing occasionally). It does not require a computer server for your fa- endar. The second level allows editing (add, calendars show up on cility. You can add or remove entire calendars if you need, whenever remove, modify) entries. The third level allows seeing the calendar, but nothing else. The your public website. you need. fourth level doesn’t see any details other than Another viewing op- Give the Google calendar a try; if you don’t like it, you can remove it if a time slot is occupied or not. portunity is via your without any risk. At Bays Mountain we’ve been using the service since phone, and you can September 2008. The 21 people accessing all the sub-calendars with dif- sync the calendars with other calendar programs like iCal, Outlook, or ferent levels of control every day have had almost no problems. Sunbird. If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to contact I recommend that only a small number of folks be allowed to mod- me at [email protected]. I

(Rio, continued from Page 22) the Universe, a three-story-high building that By then, the old Spacemaster projector was The decision was made in 2011 that the joined, and dwarfed, the original building. already more than 30 years old. Spacemaster projector would be retired and Even though the building and the dome were In 2008, the Rio Planetarium went digital. new equipment would be installed. The Rio ready in 1998, only the new dome opened. We opened a third dome, in a remote location, Planetarium was about to open its second dig- It took us another five years to get our exhi- and we are very proud to say that we were the ital dome. The dome itself went into full re- bitions going. The Museum of the Universe very first digital planetarium to open to the construction. The only thing left was the con- opened in 2002. public in Brazil. It runs on an Evans & Suther- crete structure and the bronze dome from the And, as the new building and the new dome land Digistar 3 system and has 88 seats. outside. Everything else was replaced. became a must-see by locals and tourists alike, With a not-so-new huge dome and a brand- A new projection screen was made locally. the old dome, just a few meters away, started new digital dome, the original Galileo Galilei New chairs were bought. New lighting, new to fade from the headlines. dome became more and more a fond, but fad- curtains, new floor. And, on August 31, 2011, Its main target audience became the pre- ing, memory in people’s minds. the new Galileo Galilei dome made its debut. schoolers (since it was a horizontal dome, not The old Spacemaster was about to turn It is still 12.5-m dome, but it now has 90 unidi- a tilted dome like the new one) and skywatch- 40 and it was becoming a very high-mainte- rectional seats and hosts a 6-channel RSACos- ers (for the same reason, since the horizon re- nance item. Its cost-benefit relation was get- mos/BARCO projection system. ally makes a difference if you are interested in ting worst by the month. Parts were hard to The old Spacemaster sits in a place of honor skywatching). find, servicing it was expensive. on the Museum of the Universe’s main floor. I

26 Planetarian December 2011 December 2011 Planetarian 27 Sir Thomas Brisbane Planetarium Brisbane Botanic Gardens Mt Coot-tha Road, Toowong Brisbane, Australia 4066 [email protected] www.brisbane.qld.gov.au/planetarium www.facebook.com/BrisbanePlanetarium

With the Sir Thomas Brisbane Planetarium behind, the Plane- tarium’s Curator Mark Rigby stands beside the popular bronze statue of the Russian Father of Cosmonautics Konstanin Tsi- olkovsky, which was donated by the Russian organisation Di- alogue of Cultures-United World. Photo by Duncan Waldron. is used extensively for the Space Telescope Science Institute’s excellent and popular ViewSpace. We hope to upgrade many of the displays in early 2013 if funding permits. By Mark Rigby, Curator The shop carries a wide range of astronomy and general science Located on the eastern seaboard of Australia is Brisbane, the items as well as novelty and souvenir items. While offering a ser- country’s third largest city and home to its only stand-alone plan- vice to patrons, the revenue from this also helps offset some of our etarium. Brisbane also has the distinction of being the only major front-of-house costs and our prices are very competitive with oth- city named for an astronomer. er science and museum venues. The Brisbane City Council opened the Sir Thomas Brisbane Plan- Our emphasis since opening has always been on live presenta- etarium on 24 May 1978 and named it after the early governor of tions, with school shows featuring live content by the fulltime the colony of New South Wales in the 1820s, who personally fund- planetarium astronomers. Shows feature constant interaction with ed the building and staffing of Australia’s first significant observa- the students and then an opportunity for the students to ask the tory. planetarium astronomer questions toward the end. Programs are The planetarium, popular with both the general public and pitched to a level determined by the first school group to make a school groups, is located in the beautiful Brisbane Botanic Gardens, booking for that session. about a 15-minute drive to the west of the city centre. The facility If I have had a personal audience preference in my 27 years at the has a star theatre (re-named the “Cosmic Skydome” in 1992), a mini Brisbane Planetarium, it is for the young children and their abun- theatre, foyer, display gallery, shop, observatory, offices and work- dant enthusiasm, wonder and stimulating questions. Capturing shop. There are four full-time and six casual employees. their sense of curiosity early is important. When we opened in 1978, the star theatre was equipped with 144 I’ll never forget one of my staff bringing in an excited 5-year- seats (now 128) arranged concentrically around a Zeiss Spacemaster old boy to see my office full of space and astronomy memorabil- projector under the 12.5-m projection dome. Technical staff con- ia, whereupon he presented me with his very impressive business structed and maintained special effects projectors and most of the card bearing the title “Trainee Astrophysicist.” Such encounters re- shows were produced in-house. mind me of my own youth and the thrill of discovering the night In March 2004, the planetarium was the first in the country to sky and following the early space missions. officially launch with fulldome technology using a Sky-Skan sys- One never knows where that fostering of dreams will lead young tem and eight Barco 700 series projectors. Perth’s Horizon Planetar- members of the audience. While only a small fraction of students ium also opened with a fulldome system around that time. Using may go into the field of astronomy, I see our role as giving every- eight projectors meant that we could retain the Zeiss Spacemaster, one a better appreciation of their cosmic environment and the which was not equipped with a lift. foundation for looking after our home planet. In 2010, we again upgraded our Sky-Skan definiti system with the Barcos being replaced by six JVC RS2 DLP projectors and the A favorite for the community Zeiss projector removed. We also installed new lighting, sound and Approximately 100,000 people visit the planetarium annually, infrared hearing assistance systems. with nearly 60,000 attending some 1,300 sessions in the Cosmic Sk- We are now planning to install a new opto-mechanical star pro- ydome, which operates from Tuesday to Sunday. Nearly two-thirds jector for hybrid operations with the current definiti system and of Skydome patrons are general public, who can experience a wide will probably replace the projection dome as well. The current selection of fulldome shows from around the world in any given schedule is to do this in early 2013, in time for our 35th anniversa- week, amongst them Cosmic Collisions from the American Museum ry, and we will probably offer to host the Australasian Planetarium of Natural History, Mirage3D’s Dawn of the Space Age, Clarke Plane- Society conference at that time. tarium’s Secret of the Cardboard Rocket, Black Holes: Journey into the Outside of the Cosmic Skydome, admission is free to the foyer and gallery displays, as well as the 40-seat seat mini theatre, which (Continues on Page 32)

28 Planetarian December 2011 December 2011 Planetarian 29 “Teaching in the Dark” Integrating reading with the planetarium

John C. Scala Lenape Valley Regional High School Stanhope, New Jersey 07874 [email protected]

John Scala

“In precisely twenty-two days and some We learn early in the story that Ally is short SETI project, searching for the first signals hours, the sun will get erased from the sky, the for Alpha, the Greek letter assigned to the aliens might be beaming in our way. Jack planets will come out to greet us, the birds will brightest star of a given constellation. Ally comes into his own during the trip to the stop singing, and a glowing halo of light will and her family own and operate the Moon campground, where he meets Ally and Bree. flutter like angel’s wings above our heads- ex- Shadow Campground. She services and main- cept, of course, if it rains.” tains several types of telescopes there, and pro- Lessons in the text With these sentiments, award-winning vides planetarium-style night time lectures As these three lead characters establish young reader’s author Wendy Mass sets the under the real sky through use of her green la- themselves in the story, readers learn about stage for her 2008 novel Every Soul A Star. She ser pointer. the workings of refraction and reflection tele- takes the title from the words of Plato: “and Her best friends are Eta, Glenn, and Peggy, scopes; Messier’s search for comets and the when he [the author of the Universe] had who turn out to be the stars Eta Cassiopeia, making of his famous list of fuzzy non-com- compounded the whole, he divided it up into Gliese 581, and 51 Pegasi. They were introduced et objects, nebulae and galaxies and what they as many souls as there are stars, and allotted to her by her grandfather, who presented Ally are; meteors and meteorites; the planets; and, each soul to a star. And mounting them on with a necklace sporting a piece of a meteorite of course, the constellations. their stars, as if on chariots, he showed them that she wears all the time. Ms. Mass clearly demonstrates her knowl- the nature of the universe and told them the Bree is the world’s latest up and coming su- edge of searching through the sky using the laws of their destiny.” permodel (at least in her own mind). Her par- Big Dipper to find the North Star, and relat- The novel centers on an upcoming total so- ents are astrophysicists, concentrating on the ing how its altitude is equivalent to one’s lati- lar eclipse and its impact on the lives of three mysteries of dark matter. Expert on all there tude. She discusses the Summer Triangle, and young people. Ally, Bree, and Jack lead very is to know on fashion, accessories, and make- its usefulness to ancient star watchers. different lives, but are drawn together for the up, Bree is devastated to learn that her parents The SETI theme centered on Jack is tied eclipse at the Moon Shadow Campground. will be taking over the operation of the Moon into Ally’s three best “friends” in Cassiopeia, Along the way each experiences a set of Shadow Campground. This, of course, means Libra, and Pegasus. And at the heart of it all is life-altering circumstances. Ms. Mass has clev- that Ally and her family will be leaving, im- the total solar eclipse. erly demonstrated her ability to get into the mediately after the coming eclipse. Quoting from the novel: minds of these 12- and 13-year-olds that will The two girls become unlikely partners The sun is almost completely gone make readers of any age gasp, weep, giggle, and in their quest to undo the plans forced upon now, leaving a deep blue-black sky be- sigh as the story unfolds. their lives by their respective parents. hind. All around the far horizon I can see Jack is lacking in self esteem and self con- a yellow-orange glow where the eclipse Full of astronomy concepts fidence. His father abandoned Jack’s mom doesn’t reach. It’s like a huge circle of What makes this novel worthy of attention before he was born. Described by his second sunset… a huge wall of darkness pushes to the planetarium community is its infusion grade teacher as having two left feet, his main toward us from the direction of the sun- of astronomy-related concepts. The total so- desire in life is to left alone so he can read his it zooms through us like a wall of ghosts, lar eclipse itself could almost be considered fantasy and science fiction books, and prac- faster than I’ve ever seen anything move. a character, yet it is only one of many topics tice his drawings of aliens, monsters, and wiz- It’s exhilarating and terrifying at the dealing with the sky that Ms. Mass incorpo- ards. same time. And then a few seconds later rates into her coming-of-age tale. Jack, therefore, is totally taken by surprise the sun completely disappears, leaving a In between the drama, the book serves as a when his science teacher asks him to spend hole in the sky. I feel its loss in the pit of primer for naked eye astronomy. Topics such part of his summer helping out on an eclipse my stomach… streams of light fan out be- as dark matter, exoplanets, and SETI are seam- chasing trip to the Moon Shadow Camp- hind the darkened sun like the wings of lessly woven throughout the story lines. ground. His teacher is also involved with a (Continues on Page 32)

30 Planetarian December 2011 How did life on Earth begin? This tantalizing question forms the basis of the Morrison Planetarium’s most recent production, Life: A Cosmic Story. Narrated by Academy Award winner Jodie Foster, the show launches the audience on a journey through time, witnessing key events since the Big Bang that set the stage for life. Visualizations drive the narrative—from turbulent, star- and planet-forming giant molecular clouds to the microscopic activity of photosynthesis—in what the New York Times calls “a visually spectacular demonstration.” Named the 2011 Jackson Hole Wildlife Film Festival’s Best Fulldome Program.

IMMERSE + ENGAGE Fulldome science storytelling from the california academy of sciences

FRAGILE PLANET Earth’s Place in the Universe

Travel 120 light years to rediscover home! Sigourney Weaver guides audiences on an immersive excursion that explores a Universe filled with the possibility of life. This visually rich program is grounded in observed data, with an evocative, multi-dimensional sound environment by renowned giant screen composer Michael Stearns. Develop a renewed appreciation for our fragile planet through the lens of astronomy.

For more information contact: Maral Papakhian 415 379 5127 [email protected]

For full-length previews of both shows visit: www.calacademy.org/domeshows username “d0mesh0ws”* December 2011 Planetarian 31 password “m0rris0n”* *use number "0" instead of letter "O." (Reading, continued from Page 30) perback), or, if you are a school planetarium, nity to teach in the dark. seeing that a copy is part of your media cen- Every Soul a Star is a wonderful read, and a butterfly. I realize that I never saw real ter/library collection. Mention the book to as planetarium professionals, you might rec- beauty until now. And one thought fills your reading teachers/curriculum supervi- ognize hints of yourselves when you were my head- If this could be repeated every sors, and create an interdisciplinary opportu- young in the stories of Ally, Bree, and Jack. I day for a year, I would never budge from where I stood. I was approached by Ms. Mass to serve as What follows is a list of astronomy-related topics mentioned in the novel Every Soul A Star one of her technical reviewers as her book was by Wendy Mass. This list is meant to provide you with a sense of just how extensively as- being finalized for its printing. Upon its publi- tronomy plays its part in the novel. cation, I crafted a planetarium program titled The Skies over Moon Shadow Campground. Andromeda Galaxy Eclipses Moon Rings (planetary) Most of my advertisements were directed Asteroids Eta Cassiopeia Mylar lenses Saturn to local middle/junior high schools, where I Aurora Borealis Exoplanets Near Earth Objects “seeing” pleasantly discovered many of them were en- Baily’s Beads Gliese 581 Night Vision SETI gaged in the reading of the novel as part of Betelgeuse GPS auto finders North Star Shooting stars their English/humanities/literature curricula. Big Dipper (telescopes) Northern Lights Sirius Ms. Mass graciously agreed to attend several Capella International Space Orion Solar filters of my planetarium events, after which she au- Cassini spacecraft Station (ISS) Orion Nebula Space junk tographed copies of her book for those in at- Cassiopeia Jupiter Pegasus Star Party tendance. CCD’s Libra Perseids Stellar evolution The book lends itself so easily to what the Chromosphere Light Pollution Polaris (death of the Sun) planetarium was designed to do- showcase the Comets Light Years Prominence Summer triangle visible sky. I have included as an appendix a Constellations Magnitude 51 Pegasi Sun list of astronomical topics and concepts in- Corona Mars Reflection (tele- Telescopes cluded in the novel. With Ms. Mass’s permis- Dark adaptation Messier Objects scope) Totality sion, I have also included information posted Dark Enenergy Meteorites Refraction (tele- Venus on her website (www.wendymass.com). Dark Matter Meteoroids scope) Zodiac For those facilities with a gift shop, I recom- Declination Meteors Rigel mend stocking copies of the novel (now in pa- Diamond Ring effect Milky Way Right ascension

(One Dome, continued from Page 28) decades with all forms of media, and the main television stations are located only a short drive from us. As well as commenting on as- Unknown from Melbourne Planetarium, and others. All of these are tronomy and space news, we have had a lot of interaction over the followed by our live night sky segment. For uni-directional shows, decades with children’s television programs produced for national we use only two of the three seating sections and generally about 85 viewing. of the 128 seats. A typical week can see 26 shows, while 30 sessions are Like many similar facilities, we have faced our challenges over the scheduled in school holidays. years and they continue, although I have to say that we have had For the past few years, we have been presenting Saturday Night Live great support from our parent organisation in recent years in ensur- (SNL) on a weekly basis; although we sometimes do this solo, it usu- ing we are well resourced. ally involves one of us “flying” using DigitalSky 2 and Digital Uni- Perhaps our greatest single challenge comes indirectly from one verse, while the other presents a fast-paced program that commenc- that is facing schools: the cost of transport to and from the planetari- es with a tour of Brisbane’s night sky before lifting off for a flight um. Even if we were free, this would still be an issue for some. We pro- around the Earth and then outward around the moon, past a couple vide free family passes to schools that support us, to assist with their of planets, and ever further through the galaxy and beyond. We use fundraising efforts and fetes. the program to highlight topical issues, whether they are space de- We advertise in tourist publications and local newspapers, and bris, new planetary missions or discoveries far beyond the limits of sometimes take up space on roadside billboards. As we come under the solar system. the Brisbane City Council, which operates more than a thousand The facility’s observatory is equipped with a 15-cm Zeiss Coudé republic transport buses, we are frequently able to take advantage of fractor and a 20-cm Meade LX90 reflector. We schedule observatory advertising on the backs of buses at a very good rate so our adver- sessions on most Saturday nights and endeavour to view objects men- tising is constantly on the move. We also make use of a major ban- tioned in SNL. The firm Coudé mount allows Smartphone-equipped ner facing one of the main bridges coming into the city and are in- visitors to take away souvenir images of the moon and planets. troducing the use of show trailers on screens in public places in the Since the observatory does not have disabled access, we will soon city centre. be implementing observing in our sundial court for disabled persons Since 1978, the information we have to present to the public and using another two portable instruments and a monitor linked to one schools has exploded and the internet is accessible to most. This makes of them. Over the years, we have run major public observing nights it a never-ending challenge to make sure that we are up-to-date. And, on adjacent lawns in conjunction with local astronomical societies. it is important that no matter what we present, it must be entertain- The most successful was a Mars Night in 2003, when an estimated ing. The tools of the trade have changed for us at the Brisbane Plane- 4,000 people turned up with many more unable to find parking. We tarium, but the mission remains to educate and inspire all those who also run mini shows in the Cosmic Skydome on such nights. step through the doors of the Cosmic Skydome—to open their eyes Part of our success has come from our excellent relationship over to the wonders of the Cosmos of which they are part. I

32 Planetarian December 2011 Full-Size De niti Theater Capabilities To Go

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“No stepping. Very Smooth. It’s as it should be.” Since its debut, the beloved Magic Tree House® book series has been a perennial best-seller. Published in more –Darryl Davis, Museum of Science, Boston than 30 countries and 29 languages, the series focusing on the exploits of the brother-sister team of Jack and Annie has sold more than 70 million books in North America alone. Now, UNC Morehead Planetarium and Science Center, in partnership with authors Will Osborne and Mary Pope Osborne, brings the blockbuster Magic Tree House® franchise to fulldome theaters for the fi rst time ever. In Magic Tree House® Space Mission, a mysterious “M” sends the intrepid Jack and Annie on a fun-fi lled journey to discover the secrets of the Sun, Moon, planets, space travel and more. Aligned with early elementary information skills learning objectives, this beautifully-produced show is a winner with Magic Tree House® fans of all ages and school audiences alike. Audiences age 5-10.

Learn more at Running Time: 30 minutes. SkySkan.com/CoveEX An original UNC Morehead Planetarium and Science Center production, written by Will Osborne, co-author of Space, the non-fi ction companion and research guide to the Magic Tree House® book Midnight on the Moon.

Magic Tree House® Space Mission is available exclusively from Sky-Skan distribution. To view a show preview or receive pricing information, visit SkySkan.com/shows or call +1 603-880-8500 or e-mail [email protected]. ™ We can take you there S11-a11-01 34 Planetarian December 2011 Sky-Skan Exclusive

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Four Shows For Fulldome From The Giant Screen Solar Storms Available in 2D and 3D stereo. Take advantage of stunning giant screen quality with these films formatted for fulldome. Length: 20 minutes. Sea Monsters, Forces of Nature, and Bugs! were digitally scanned and reformatted for the A Melrae Pictures production in association with K2 dome using Sky-Skan’s flat-screen to dome transformation process. Solar For Storms, Communications. Developed with the assistance of NASA and the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum. Sky-Skan accessed the original animation files, adding spherical stereo cameras and Fulldome Version Produced and Distributed re-rendering each scene to take full advantage of the fulldome environment. We’re Exclusively By Sky-Skan. proud to provide quality titles that both excite and educate. Sea Monsters Request Your Preview DVD Today! Available in 2D and 3D stereo. Length: 40 minutes. Transformed from giant-screen film by Sky-Skan. Produced by National Geographic. Transform coverage is truncated from fulldome. Forces of Nature Length: 40 minutes. Transformed from giant-screen film by Sky-Skan. Previewing these shows is easy! Just request a DVD by sending an e-mail to Produced by National Geographic and Graphic Films, Inc. [email protected] with the shows you’d like to see and your mailing address. If you’d Transform coverage is truncated from fulldome. like pricing, then please include your annual attendance, approximate number of seats, and dome size. Bugs! Available in 2D and 3D stereo. View Our Complete Catalog On-line Length: 23 or 40 minute versions. Transformed from giant-screen film by Sky-Skan. Sky-Skan’s distribution catalog now has over 80 titles! You can browse them online and Produced by Principal Large Format and SK Films. watch preview videos for many of the shows at our website: SkySkan.com/shows. Transform coverage is truncated from fulldome.

36 SkySkan.com | Americas/Pacific tel +1 603-880-8500, [email protected] | Europe tel +49 89-6428-9231, [email protected] | Australia/Asia tel +61 3-9372-6444,December [email protected] 2011 S11-a08-01 and procedures parts of life at KSTM. Small Educational Horizons group workshops were used to look at SMART (Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic, Jack L. Northrup and Timely) goal setting, My True Colors, and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Planetarium multiple intelligences activities. We had the King Science and Technology Magnet Center team building and motivational group Youth 3720 Florence Blvd., Omaha, Nebraska 68110 USA Frontiers come and do day-long retreats with +1 402-557-4494 each grade level individually; seventh and [email protected] eighth grade focused on courage and fifth and sixth grades focused on kindness. This was followed by a workshop for the staff titled hon- There are many moments that we all wish morning and regular classes in the afternoon. or that focused on how we can work together we could travel back in time and make a lit- across grade levels and departments. tle change. Mine right now is to go back in Our reasoning for change time and switch this article with my Septem- Over the last few years we have noticed Now we are half way through ber 2011 Planetarian article. The topic of this that our student teams have become internal- A very apparent change is the the cohesive- article is the start of school, when we did an ly fragmented and had difficulties reaching ness of the grade levels now. Before it was dif- experiment at King Science and Technology our expectation goals, academically and be- ficult to get an entire group to work together Magnet. Even though I had this issue’s topic haviorally. We extensively use the 40 Devel- for a common goal. Now, the entire seventh basically outlined for the September issue, I opmental Assets and Middle Level Best Prac- and eighth grades are working to pass the was wary to submit it because I did not know tices, but decided that we needed to present a state math exam, including creating peer tu- the outcome of the experiment. So, please unified front to the students, lest they would tor systems and creating structures within treat this as a suggestion for you to start plan- go through a mental reset when they changed the school to support the community. It also ning for the start of the next school year. classes or teachers. worked to unify many of the classroom’s rules and procedures as well as develop a common What we have done in the past How was 2011-2012 different language for expectations. In previous years we decided on a grade- We decided to have the students stay in by-grade basis how to handle the first two homeroom, in small group workshops, and in Leap ahead to the now days of school. Some grades, for example, did large group team building for the first week This year, when school return after the De- not have their students rotate through their of school. You read that correctly: we did cember break, I have a suggestion for a quick schedule and had them stay in homeroom for not start teaching content until day 6 of the and engaging activity to try with your young- two days to learn the policies and procedures school year. er groups. In the northern hemisphere we are of our school. Others did team building in the Homeroom handled many of the policy (Continues on Page 38)

Balloon Time Time it stuck to your body Groups Trial 1 Trial 2 Trial 3 Average Group 1 Group 2

Tape to Tape Reaction Group 1 Group 2 Group 3 Sticky to Not Sticky Trial 2 Trial 3 Sticky to Sticky Trial 2 Trial 3

Static Chopsticks Reaction Wool Rayon Cotton Other Group 1 Group 2 Group 3 Summary

December 2011 Planetarian 37 A for the

The idea of setting aside parks simply for their dark skies is a relatively new one, and an unfortunate necessity for everyone who loves the stars. The International Dark-Sky Association realized this need, and started a program called International Dark Sky Park (IDSPark) as one The Education center at the Geauga Park District’s Observatory Park. The dome in the ceiling is, indeed, of its efforts to promote stewardship of the for a planetarium. Photo by Sandy Ward, courtesy of Geauga Park District. night sky. A 1,000+-acre preserve called Observatory scope pads with electrical outlets invite star- ter and parking lot have source controls to Park, located in Geauga County, Ohio (north- gazing. adjust automatically, dimming during a full east part of the state), has become the latest The telescope in the central plaza will be moon. Geauga Park District management is member of the IDSA’s program. open for public events, including star parties, attempting to retrofit all of the lights in its From the IDA press release: The idea for Ob- celestial occurrences, and collaborations with many parks to conform to IDS guidelines. servatory Park began with the donation of a local groups and non-profit organizations. For more, see the Geauga Park District’s web 25-in telescope and a small parcel of land. Sev- All park lighting is fully shielded and task site at www.geaugaparkdistrict.org/observa- eral years later, the park acquired nationally specific. LED fixtures in the public event cen- torypark.shtml. I recognized Nassau Observatory and the land adjacent to it. Ironically, Nassau Observatory continued from Page 37) was moved from Cleveland to Geauga Coun- (Education, ty in 1957 due to increasing light pollution. in winter, so southern hemisphere planetari- Balloons can become charged when rubbed The finished park, with an observato- ums should hold on to this activity until July, against hair, sweaters, or hoodies.(I suggest he- ry, two telescopes, and permanent astrono- when the humidity is low to allow for the lium grade balloons; if a student has a latex al- my-themed exhibits on a 1,034-acre preserve build up of substantial amounts of static elec- lergy, move them to another group.) Have the in Monteville Township, provides an excit- tricity. student time how long a charged balloon will ing link to the history of astronomy in Ohio I put up a kit of balloons, cellophane tape, stick to their body/head. while creating resources for the future. Refur- swatches of wool, rayon, and cotton, and plas- Cellophane tape, when layered and then bishment of Nassau is anticipated. tic chopsticks. In grade 4, students are learn- pulled apart quickly, will display a charge. In 2008, the park earned provisional dark ing about the parts of an atom. As the lesson Have the students experiment on what hap- sky status during construction for its ambi- starts we a quick poll of the audience as to pens if the sticky sides are together prior to the tious plans for lighting, education, and con- what they think are inside of atoms. To make pull apart. servation. Observatory Park is the first park of it easier, I have a list of terms to have the stu- Rub the chopstick with a swatch of cloth the Geauga Park District to apply for full In- dents vote on: and see if it will attract, repel, or non-react ternational Dark Sky Park status and the first Electricity with piece of tape. Have the students try dif- park ever to receive provisional status. Electron ferent types of clothes; to discharge the chop- It is the eighth International Dark Sky Park Magnetism sticks between tests, I have the students tap on in the world. The park district also has a mis- Neutron the metal part of the chair. sion of protecting wildlife habitat, including Proton Now is the step that their math teacher will unspoiled forests and wetlands. Socks love you for: charting the data. Science professionals from numerous uni- After a quick discussion of the items that When I did this activity last winter it was versities, the Great Lakes Science Center and make the cut, I like to tell them we can "steal" directly before we did a presentation on spec- the Cleveland Museum of Natural History col- and give electrons, but we need a particle ac- trums that mentions electrons moving to laborated with local astronomy organizations celerator to move the protons and neutrons, higher energy levels and then dropping back and school districts for Observatory Park’s and the school district just doesn't have the to their resting state. On the post visit evalu- programs and design. Astronomy-inspired in- budget for it. ations the students and the teachers reported teractive sculptures adorn the site. A seismo- Divide the students into reasonably-sized that they had a better understanding of how graph and weather station displays live feeds groups (not be more than 5), and give them electrons move around the atom and the ba- of local atmospheric conditions, and five tele- parts of the kit. sics of ionization. I

38 Planetarian December 2011 The revolutionary power of Digistar 4 is now portable. The new Digistar Outreach uses a single DLP video projector with a fisheye lens, bringing uncompromising big screen planetarium experiences to inflatable domes. From a simple iPad interface, you can harness the power of Digistar to reach out to your community in ways you never thought possible.

WWW.ES.COM FOLLOW US: December 2011 Planetarian 39

Outreach Ad.indd 1 10/20/2011 4:12:13 PM with anticipation for the big fulldome camera breakthrough to happen while also keep- IMERSA News ing an eye on the size of the theater network. Tom Kennedy (California Academy of Sci- ences) brought a vintage 8mm Nikkor fisheye Judith Rubin lens that received a lot of attention. Discus- Communications Director, IMERSA.org sion with 3D film producers, videographers [email protected] and editors uncovered useful commonalities with dome show production in such things as setting up shots, optimal kinds of camera movements and pacing, and enhancing di- fulldome film screenings in the Gates Plane- IMERSA 2012 Summit mensionality of individual scenes. tarium, keynote speakers, panels, workshops, The 2012 IMERSA Summit is set to take JHWFF created a separate category for full- vendor presentations, and special achieve- place 3-5 February 2012 at the Denver Mu- dome this year. The award for Best Fulldome ment recognition. seum of Nature & Science (DMNS). “Lessons Program went to Life: A Cosmic Story from the An optional Fulldome 101 educational ses- from our past, Visualizing our future—Win- California Academy of Sciences. ning solutions for the digital dome” is the sion (separate registration; limit 20) will take place on 3 February. There is also an optional theme. Registration is open at IMERSA.org. At- Kepler Project at Cal Academy post-summit ski trip on 5-7 February. tendance will be limited to the capacity of the In collaboration with Motion Institute, the Previous IMERSA Summits have taken DMNS’ Gates Planetarium (about 120. Morrison Planetarium at the California Acad- place in conjunction with IPS (2008) and the “We have a lot to talk about on the cre- emy of Sciences premiered The Kepler Project, Jackson Hole Wildlife Film Festival Media ative side, technology side and the business a play about Johannes Kepler that makes use Symposium (2010). This will be IMERSA’s first side,” says IMERSA Co-Founder Dan Neafus, of fulldome visuals and solo performance to independent summit. Contact info@imersa. director of the Gates Planetarium. “This sum- tell the story of one of history’s great scien- org for more details. mit will be a conversation where we can share tists. The play, written and directed by Nina the wisdom, look at what works, what needs Wise and performed by Scott Coopwood, cap- At the Jackson Hole festival to be done differently, what tools there are tures Kepler’s unique capacity to integrate a The Jackson Hole Wildlife Film Festi- and what tools still need to be developed or worldview steeped in mysticism with a rig- val (JHWFF) took place in October in Jack- improved—and move forward.” There will be orous scientific perspective based on observa- son Hole, Wyoming, and in- tion and experimentation. cluded numerous fulldome Zoë Keating composed and performed a components, not the least of multi-layered soundtrack steeped in the “har- which was the 44-foot tem- mony of the spheres” derived by Kepler him- porary outdoor dome theater self. (it greatly resembled an igloo, The fulldome sequences, primarily pro- especially after 8” of snow fell grammed in Sky-Skan’s real-time DigitalSky on the last day of the festival). software, allow audiences to experience Ke- The EarthMatters Dome pler’s inner life and thoughts, featuring repro- Experience was produced by ductions of Ptolemaic and Copernican sys- Global Immersion, and used tems as well as the elliptical orbits that Kepler their Fidelity Bright system devised. to showcase a variety of full- Tim Horn designed and programmed the dome films in addition to fulldome sequences, based on concepts by workshops and the three fi- Ryan Wyatt. The play’s finale features a four- nalist films chosen by the fes- minute piece (nicknamed “The Kepler Oscilla- tival. The mobile dome was tor”) commissioned from Jan Zehn and Stefan provided by Vortex Immer- Berke of Cymatrix, creators familiar to attend- sion Media, and featured a ees of the Jena FullDome Festival. Four showings during the month of No- nearly seamless negative pres- vember welcomed more than a thousand sure fabric screen. attendees as part of the Academy’s week- Set up on a parking lot near ly NightLife Program (as well as more than a Yellowstone, participants hundred middle school students at a morning made the most of the opportu- presentation), and the final evening featured nity and opened the dome up educational programs about space, astrono- to local school kids to attend a my, and the Kepler Mission, as well as a show- Uniview tour of the universe, ing of the 2009 Star Trek film in the Acade- jointly guided by IMERSA’s my’s 3D Theater. Dan Neafus and Ryan Wyatt. Motion Institute welcomes opportunities Neafus and Wyatt report to tour The Kepler Project, and the Academy that the filmmaking commu- staff will share programming created especial- nity that attends JHWFF con- ly for the play. More on the Kepler Project is tinues to show great interest available at www.motioninstitute.com/ke- Top: From left, Ryan Wyatt, Ed Lantz, Tom Kennedy and Dan Nea- in fulldome and several film- pler and www.calacademy.org/newsroom/re- fus at the Jackson Hole Wildlife Film Festival. Below: Lantz in front makers would like to work in leases/2011/kepler.php. of the “igloo.” Images provided by IMERSA. the field, so they are waiting (Continues on Page 42)

40 Planetarian December 2011 NOW AVAILABLE FOR YOUR FULLDOME AND PLANETARIUM THEATER!

Witness the mythic beauty of real auroras in spectacular fulldome time-lapse photography

A New Fulldome Show From Evans & Sutherland Digital Theater Productions

Digital Theater December 2011 Planetarian www.es.com 41 [email protected]

Experience Aurora AD.indd 1 7/14/2011 3:44:52 PM (IMERSA, continued from Page 40) Densham (Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves and Much attention was paid this year to a side- television revivals of The Outer Limits and by-side comparison of 1570 IMAX film pro- Fulldome database launches The Twilight Zone) and writing consultants Pi- jection (3DGT System with 15k lamp) with Astronomer and fulldome enthusiast Dario lar Alessandra and Christopher Vogler. 4K digital projection (Barco 4k/DLP projec- Tiveron recently launched his new proj- Ed participated in a panel focused on next- tor with 7.5k lamp), on Austin’s 26-m flat ect, FDDB—The Fulldome Database. FDDB is generation storytelling and showcased pop- screen. A variety of content originating in 15 a show-oriented online database of informa- ular fulldome trailers. For many writers, this perforation/65mm film and digital animation tion about fulldome shows, either produced was their first introduction to the fulldome was presented in a split-screen configuration. by private companies, by planetariums or by medium and immersive storytelling. Ed’s evaluation: “It looks to be a game- independent filmmakers. The environment is changer, not just for giant-screen flat screen, set up to allow users to browse the shows dy- At the conferences but ultimately for domes. The digital pro- namically, not only by title, but also by lots of The Themed Entertainment Association jection brightness was at 14 foot lamberts to other parameters, such as genre, content, vid- held its annual SATE (Storytelling, Architec- match the DCI standard, but could have gone eo format, license type, production company, ture, Technology, Experience) conference in as high as 19 fL. The IMAX was 22 foot lam- director, and so on. October in Orlando, Florida. On the program berts. The color temp of the digital projec- This free service is intended to allow the- this year was the panel “Digital Dome Stories,” tion was much higher, providing a whiter ater operators and fulldome enthusiasts to get produced by Judith Rubin and moderated by white than the film projection. The digital a comprehensive picture of what’s available IMERSA’s Dan Neafus. projection was also more stable and without on the market and quickly spot what they Panelists included Ryan Wyatt (IMERSA co- scratches, dust or other artifacts. Some shots are looking for. The service is completely free founder and director of the Morrison Plane- looked better in digital, especially those that both to the users as well as to the producers. tarium at the California Academy of Sciences, had originated in digital.” Visit fddb.org. San Francisco), Markus Beyr (4D theater entre- The clips provided for the test reel were cre- preneur), Cecil Magpuri (Falcon’s Treehouse) ated in cooperation with Technicolor and Fulldome and Academy Awards and Mark Rhodes (Universal Creative). Fotokem. The fulldome film All We Are, produced by This was an opportunity to build bridg- The Association of Science-Technology the Norrköping Visualization Center, was sub- es between the entertainment and museum Centers held its 2011 conference in October at mitted this year for the Academy Awards. Ed communities concerning dome exhibition. the Maryland Science Center, Baltimore. Lantz screened the film at the Vortex Immer- We credit the SATE conference committee IMERSA’s Dan Neafus was there holding di- sion facility in Los Angeles to meet the exhibi- headed by Kile Ozier and TEA for supporting alog with people in the science center and gi- tion requirements. this forum. ant-screen communities, including Tammy IMERSA hopes to see the Academy of Mo- It was an extra special treat for some of us to Seldon, executive director of GSCA and James tion Picture Arts & Sciences be receptive to get a backstage tour from Mark Rhodes of sev- Hyder, editor of LF Examiner newsletter. accepting fulldome as a legitimate cinemat- eral attractions at Universal Studios including The ASTC program included a panel about ic medium. To support our case and dem- “The Simpsons Ride,” “Harry Potter: The For- astronomy Stereo 3D Productions; panelists onstrate the high resolution of the medium, bidden Journey” and “Spider-Man” and expe- included Dan Neafus along with Jim O’Leary, Lantz provided the dome master file to the rience first-hand the powerful results of inte- senior director of the Maryland Science Cen- Academy. Stay tuned! grating motion simulation and ride vehicles ter; Frank Summers of the Space Telescope Sci- into dome projection environments. ence Institute; Mark Subbarao of the Adler The future of story Meanwhile, in Texas, Ed Lantz was at- Planetarium; and Stuart Levy of the National IMERSA’s Ed Lantz participated in two tending the annual conference of the Giant Center for Supercomputing Applications. events in August at the Vortex Dome in Screen Cinema Association (GSCA) in Austin During Q&A the issue was raised about the downtown Los Angeles, California promot- in September and GSCA Dome Day at the Fort degree to which artistic license may be ap- ing the fulldome medium to the filmmaking Worth Museum of Science & History in Sep- plied in scientific data visualizations and sim- community. “The Future of Story” featured tember. Ed is a member of the GSCA techni- ulations, and how this reconciles with science more than 30 screenwriters, including Pen cal committee. institutions’ commitment to authenticity. I

PARTYcles Alex Cherman

Are you sad? Why are you so So what is quiet? going on? No…

Upset? Did something Let’s just say happen? No… that I have a naturally Sick? negative No… personality… No…

42 Planetarian December 2011 YOURCOMING FULLDOME SOON AND FOR PLANETARIUM THEATER! Discover the Legend Written in the Stars...

Narrated by Terry O’Quinn

A New Fulldome Show From Evans & Sutherland Digital Theater Productions and the eugenides foundation planetarium

Digital Theater December 2011 Planetarian www.es.com 43 [email protected]

Lamps of Atlantis AD.indd 1 10/13/2011 10:22:58 AM NOW AVAILABLE FOR YOUR FULLDOME AND PLANETARIUM THEATER! A New Fulldome Show From Evans & Sutherland Narrated by Patrick Stewart

Digital Theater 44 Planetarian www.es.comDecember 2011 [email protected]

Secret Lives of Stars AD.indd 1 7/14/2011 3:45:36 PM NOW AVAILABLE FOR YOUR FULLDOME AND PLANETARIUM THEATER! A New Fulldome Show From Evans & Sutherland speakers, planetarians, planetarium makers International News and planetarium show producers are invited Narrated by to submit a paper/abstract using Skype. Lars Broman Among the participants of the national Patrick Stewart Teknoland and Strömstad Academy conference will be the winner of A Week in Stångtjärnsv 132 Italy, the yearly week devoted to astronomy SE 791 74 Falun, Sweden lessons for Italian students presented by an +46 2310 177 American teacher. The lessons will be held [email protected], [email protected] in the Planetariums of Perugia, Farra d’Isonzo www.teknoland.se, www.stromstadakademi.se (Gorizia) and Lumezzane (Brescia). A similar initiative is being planned, During the NPA’11 post-conference tour to Foundation. The workshop was sponsored by through virtual lessons in French using Sky- Ventspils, Latvia, we visited a very nice pub- the Rio de Janeiro Planetarium Foundation, pe, with the collaboration of Association of lic observatory, shaped as a complete sphere. BARCO S.A., Fundação Roberto Marinho, and French-Speaking Planetariums. Last summer, After we had enjoyed Jupiter with 5 Galilean the Rio de Janeiro Catholic University. in fact, a collaboration between the Planetar- moons (well, there was a star perfectly playing ium-Observatory of Laval (Pays de la Loire, moon among the four real ones), I asked the Association of Italian Planetaria France) and the Serafino Zani Astronomical astronomer to show us Albireo, the star that is During July and August the Ignazio Dan- Observatory and Planetarium in Lumezzane the beak of Cygnus the Swan. ti Planetarium in Peruga was closed for main- began. Everyone who climbed the ladder and tenance work, but their astronomy fans asked Croatia is not within the AIP region, but it is looked through the eyepiece was quite aston- the planetarians to continue talking ished to see a beautiful double star, consist- about the firmament. So how could ing of one distinctive blue and one distinctive their requests be satisfied? What yellow star. I proudly presented Albireo as the came to mind? Swedish star. Then, someone in the dark said The most convincing, obvious “well, I think it is a Ukrainian star.” But this and fascinating aspect of the plane- was OK, as long as everybody was happy. tarium is the sky, of course, but how The International News column is depen- could it be shared? With Stellarium dent on contributions from IPS Affiliate Asso- projections on a maxi-screen, or pos- ciations all over the world. Many thanks Vad- sibly a one-stand series of planetari- im Belov, Bart Benjamin, Ignacio Castro, Gail um shows? But then, it hit: why not Chaid, Alex Delivorias, Martin George, San- the most economical solution on dro Gomes, John Hare, Kaoro Kimura, Thom- the market, suitable for everyone’s as Kraupe, Loris Ramponi, and Rachel Thomp- pocket and for everyone’s eyes: the son for your contributions. sky live! Upcoming deadlines are 1 January 2012 for So the planetarium staff went Planetarian 1/2012 and 1 April for 2/2012. on the road. On 15 July and 28 Au- Anyone who wants to contribute news gust they were the guests of the Cer- from parts of the world where IPS has no As- chio delle Fate holiday farm gar- sociation (see page 3) is welcome to send it to den in Brufa, a village near Perugia. Martin George, [email protected]. And on 11August Il Grappolo d’Oro invited the planetarians to partic- Association of Brazilian ipate in their heady Calici sotto le Planetariums stelle (Chalices by Starlight) eve- The Association of Brazilian Planetariums ning. These events proved to be very (ABP) held its XVI Meeting 15-20 November popular and spread the word about 2011. This year, the meeting was conducted at the work that the planetarium does, the Fortaleza Planetarium in Sobral and For- both for schools and for the general taleza. The event had the support of the Ceará public. State Government and was sponsored by An- The next Day of Planetaria will be tares Fulldome, Astrotec, BARCO S.A., Evans & on 18 March 2012. The Day of Plan- AIP, Top: In July, the Ignazio Danti Planetarium staff showed Sutherland, HiperLab, RSA Cosmos, Seal Tele- etaria has been involving Italian the sky to guests of the Cerchio delle Fate holiday farm in Brufa, a village near Perugia. Courtesy of Perugia Planetar- com, Sky-Skan and Zeiss. The opening lecture planetaria since 1991. It is an impor- ium. Below: Musical performance by Putokazi in the Plane- was given by Dave Weinrich of Minnesota tant opportunity for an internation- tarium of Rijeka, Croatia. Courtesy of Astronomical Centre State University, president of the Internation- al collaboration that aims to pro- Rijeka. al Planetarium Society. mote the knowledge of planetaria to One week before the annual ABP meeting, the public more and more. For information, a neighbor country, so we are happy to share the Rio Planetarium hosted the first Brazil- see www.dayofplanetaria.org. some Croatian news. ian Fulldome Workshop. The workshop ran The next national conference of the Ital- In order to increase the popularity of not 8-11 November and had several guests, includ- ian Association of Planetaria (Planit) will be only the Centre itself, but of astronomy on ing Shawn Laatsch, IPS treasurer and one of held on 14-15 April 2012, together with Full the whole, the Astronomical Centre Rije- the producers of the Two Small Pieces of Glass Dome Festival II, at the Brembate Planetari- ka introduced some novelties in its regular planetarium show that was release for IYA09, um, named Torre del Sole, near the city of Ber- program in 2011. A Croatian synchronized and Antonio Pedrosa, from Portugal’s Navegar gamo. During the Italian meetings, foreign film was shown, and by the end of this year Digital Theater www.es.com December 2011 Planetarian 45 [email protected]

Secret Lives of Stars AD.indd 1 7/14/2011 3:45:36 PM the program Kauloka´ hina, The planetarium was which will have been syn- planned under an innovative chronized by then, shall be concept of the Mayan Cos- shown. mos vision and exhibits as- In addition, the planetar- pects of the Mayan culture, ium program novelties in- especially on Mesoamerican cluded live presentations calendars and on the 2012 dedicated to solar and lunar controversial dates, as well as eclipses and tailored for all on traditional astronomy. age groups. As for kindergar- Also continuing refurbish- tens and schools, a new live ing activities is the Mexico’s presentation called The Solar Astronomical Society Plan- System Safari was included in etarium, which will include the program. the installation of a digital The Astronomical Centre fish-eye projector system and Rijeka has organized popular seating for 50. manifestations intended for a broader audience, including Council of German the Night of the Museums, Planetariums the Science Festival and the In 2011, the informal work- International Planetarium ing group of German-speak- Day. For the first time ever, ing planetariums (ADP) gath- the Centre celebrated Dark ered at Urania Observatory Sky Week and World Space in Vienna, Austria 7-9 May. Week by introducing special More than 120 participants week-long programs. These from Germany, Austria, Swit- included live presentations, zerland, Belgium, The Neth- such as From Earth to Universe; erlands, Czech Republic, and the concert of the vocal band several international col- Putokazi (The Signposts); the leagues from other conti- Yuri Gagarin photo exhibi- nents attended. tion; lectures given by the The participants, includ- astronaut Franz Viehböck; ing representatives from ma- and the presentation of the jor companies, shared their Space-Modeling Society Ri- views and opinions regard- jeka named Some Brand-New ing fulldome. This theme Voyagers. had been chosen because of The award-winning TV re- the increasing technological porter Ashley Colburn did pressure moving towards dig- a story on the Rijeca Cen- ital technologies, despite low tre, while the tourist season budgets at many institutions. featured special programs in There were many valuable AMPAC, Top: Chetumal Planetarium under construction, as is the observatory (below). foreign languages. In recog- Both are now open. Photos by Eduardo Hernández. contributions by educators, nition of its integrated mar- show producers and vendors keting strategy, the Centre on this matter. was awarded for introducing innovations Book Month are planned as well. The plane- One major issue was the question of how to into the Croatian tourist sector. tarium will host not only a movie festival and keep the heritage of curriculum-based plane- Due to the uniqueness of its architecture, live presentations, but also the out loud read- tarium programs within the framework of the the Astronomical Centre Rijeka served as the ings of children’s picture books dealing with new fulldome technology. appropriate setting for the shooting of a TV space-related topics, intended for both chil- The next conference of German-speaking spot done by the internationally-recognised dren and adults. In December, a specially tai- planetarians will be held in Wolfsburg, Ger- band The Father, as well as the setting for the lored program dedicated to the Star of Bethle- many 5-7 May 2012. Possible future sites are cover page of the DnA band CD. hem is planned. Klagenfurt, Austria in 2013 and Lucerne, Swit- In addition, the Facebook pages of the As- zerland in 2014. tronomical Centre Rijeka were supplement- Association of Mexican An integral part of ADP Conferences is the ed by a fun page, so as to convey the infor- Planetariums meeting of the Council of German Planetar- mation on the programme to as broad an As previously mentioned in this column iums (CGP/RDP). Ever since its formation audience as possible. The Centre has been pro- in the September 2011 issue, the Chetumal in 1988, this CGP had been challenged by its moted on the national scale as well by virtue Planetarium construction is completed and strict formal criteria that had to be fulfilled by of media reports and stories published in vari- the planetarium was inaugurated in Novem- its members: to offer public presentations on ous monthly publications (Elle, Cosmopolitan, ber 2011. Under its 12-m dome it houses an Ev- a regular schedule with a minimum annual Plan B, etc.). ans & Sutherland Digistar 4 and seating for 97; attendance of 10,000 visitors and at least one By the end of the year, activities scheduled next to it is an observatory with a robotic 40- employed staff member. for the Children’s Week and the Croatian cm (16-in) Schmidt-Cassegrain telescope. The majority of planetarians joining con-

46 Planetarian December 2011 ferences within the last decade had the im- rumors say that there is more to come next corns) by Stephanie Kayss and Above by Flori- pression that these criteria were too tight, out year. an Meyer (Silver). of date, and not appropriate for international A traveling exhibition about Mars spon- This year’s ADP Conference host and direc- cooperation. sored by ECE (a major operator of shopping tor of Vienna Observatories and Planetarium, In 2010, the chairman of the CGP had ap- malls in Germany), in cooperation with ESA Peter Habison, is on leave this summer. Dr. Mi- pointed a working group headed by Peter and other research facilities, may offer chanc- chael Feuchtinger will at least temporarily be Habison of Vienna Observatory to prepare the es of outreach activities for planetariums representing Vienna Planetarium form now formal founding of a new planetarium orga- nearby. on. Holger Haug, Head of Augsburg Planetari- nization that should replace the old structure. A network of universities involved in im- um (Germany) will retire at this year’s end and All formal preparations had been done in ad- mersive media is growing in northern Germa- Gerhard Cerny will be his follower. vance of the Vienna meeting by the working ny, with the Universities of Applied Sciences group with Peter Habison (Vienna), Susanne in Kiel and Flensburg being the core members. European/Mediterranean Hüttemeister (Bochum), Thomas Kraupe There will be a new fulldome planetarium Planetarium Association (Hamburg), Gerd Thiele (Cottbus) and Eduard show celebrating the 50th anniversary of Eu- The end of summer months found the Eu- Thomas (Kiel), so that a founding of the new ropean Southern Observatory in 2012. Along genides Planetarium in Athens, Greece, once Society of German-speaking Planetaria SGP with Prof. Agnes Acker of the French Plane- again upgrading its software, doing necessary (Gesellschaft Deutschsprachiger Planetarien tarium Association APLF, Thomas Kraupe of maintenance work and cleaning its dome, in GDP) could be facilitated in a formal assem- Hamburg Planetarium will coordinate this preparation for the new season. And, as school bly. production. More information on content as visits started once again in the first days of Five officers of the new society were elect- well as terms and conditions are expected to fall, a special 10-minute astronomy introduced: president: Gerd Thiele (Cottbus); vice presi- be available before the end of 2011. tion for the younger audiences, produced by dents: Dr. Christian Theis (Mannheim) and Dr. Eugenides Planetarium as an introduction to Björn Voss (Münster); treasurer: Dr. Uwe Lem- the Little Prince children’s show (produced by mer (Stuttgart); and board member: Prof. Kar- n-Wave), made its premiere on 3 October. in Flegel (Potsdam). On 11 October, Dr. Thierry Courvoisier, The foundation of SGP is a substantial step president of the European Astronomical Soci- ahead, because the new society now is a ful- ety, gave a popular lecture on “The Universe ly-registered, non-profit organization, while in ever-faster expansion,” an apt choice given the former two organizations (ADP and CGP) the recent 2011 Nobel award in Physics, to the were not registered. Thus, SGP is a full legal en- scientists who discovered the accelerated ex- tity, which strengthens its position as a part- pansion of the universe. ner for new projects or for sponsors. On 1 November, the Eugenides Planetarium This new organization will replace RDP and premiered its latest planetarium show Evolu- ADP and is intended to become the new affil- tion, which attempts to capture this all-en- iate representative for Austria, Germany and compassing concept by inviting its audience Switzerland in IPS. Discussion and formal vot- on a fascinating journey. From ancient Mile- ing on this issue within RDP is expected at the tus, where pre-Socratic philosopher Thales upcoming meeting of RDP in Stuttgart in No- laid the foundations for the scientific investi- vember 2011. gation of the physical world, to the birth and By mid-September, SGP had a total of 62 in- the large scale expansion of the universe, from dividual members, 16 institutional members stellar evolution to the geologic history of our (planetariums in Austria, Belgium, Germany planet and the emergence and evolution of and Switzerland) and one sponsoring mem- life, from the rise and demise of some of the ber. Its main purpose is to foster collaboration great civilizations of the past to our modern between planetariums and to increase their The German UNESCO committee award- civilization and beyond, Evolution narrates visibility in the German-speaking regions. ed the production Lars, The Little Polar Bear the fascinating story of change. This will be reached by a variety of activ- from Mediendom Kiel by naming it as a proj- It is worth mentioning here that the show ities, like regular conferences or establishing ect of the UN decade “Education for Sustain- was co-produced by EyeLead Software, a working groups for different aspects of plan- able Development.” This show for children is Greek company which created all the anima- etarium affairs. The society is open to every- a cooperative project of the Marine Science tions with the help of their own 3D animation body interested in planetariums and aims to Excellence Cluster The Future Ocean and the software called HIVE. embrace and include planetariums of all siz- Mediendom of the University for Applied Sci- es, hence it now includes small and mobile ences in Kiel and is already being shown in 11 Great Lakes Planetarium planetariums that offer shows in German lan- planetariums in Germany and Austria. Association guage. More information can be found at the Also, the Presidential Committee of the Illinois. This summer was the Lakev- preliminary web page www.gdp-planetarium. University of Applied Sciences Kiel created iew Museum Planetarium’s last in its current org. the Student Nightlife Award for excellence building. Next July, the museum and plan- After a sort of “fulldome burst” with new and creativity in producing for fulldome, etarium will begin their move to the Peoria installations in Wolfsburg, Bochum, Berlin which was awarded this year for the first time. Riverfront Museum, four miles away in down- and Osnabrueck in 2010-11, another wave of The jury received 37 entries and the following town Peoria. Progress can be viewed with the digitalized domes is expected soon. Heidel- were awarded: How to Disappear by Merlin Flü- “Build the Block” webcam at www.peoriariv- berg opened its House of Astronomy in Octo- gel (Platinum), Wir waren mal Feinde (We once erfrontmuseum.org. The planetarium is the ber 2011 with a fulldome system, and Stuttgart were Enemies) by Walter Oppel, and 3910 by first structure on the block, a 54-foot tall con- will also complement its Zeiss projector by a Moritz Degen and Daniel Weik (Gold), and fi- crete ellipsoid. powerful fulldome system in early 2012. And nally Schwimmende Einhörner (Floating Uni- The William M. Staerkel Planetarium at

December 2011 Planetarian 47 Parkland College in Champaign Zielinski, who was a 2002 graduate of welcomed GLPA members to Bowling Green State University, was their 47th annual conference hired as director of the new digital 19-22 October. In December, the planetarium at the Jenks Schools near planetarium staff welcomed as- Tulsa, Oklahoma. The 17-m (50-ft), 120- tronomer Jim Kaler to their seat Jenks Planetarium is part of the dome for a World of Science talk school district’s new Math & Science titled “The Real Zodiac, 2012, and Center and is equipped with a Spitz All That.” SciDome HD fulldome system. The Cernan Earth and Space In July, 2011 BGSU graduate A. J. Helf- Center of Triton College in Riv- en began a one-year internship at the er Grove continued its ongo- Buehler Planetarium in Fort Lauder- ing project of converting its ex- dale, Florida. isting slide-based shows into the Alex Mak (University of Tole- new three-screen video system do’s Ritter Planetarium) and Dr. Lau- that was installed in the summer ra Megeath (Lourdes College’s Appold of 2010. Three planetarium pro- JPA: The 2011 JPA conference was held at Laforet Biwako Planetaium in Planetarium) attended the Spitz Insti- grams were completed by sum- Shiga. Photo by Akira Marukawa. tute this past summer. mer’s end, and two more were Wisconsin/Minnesota. Cleopa- converted during the autumn months. step toward cross fading between the Uniview tra’s Universe, a new, original production from Indiana. The P-H-M Planetarium reopened software and a fulldome movie player. The the Daniel M. Soref Planetarium in Milwau- during the first week of October with a new planetarium continues to work on produc- kee, opened in October to complement the dome, 100 new seats, a Digistar 4 two-projection of a Great Lakes watershed program (i.e. Cleopatra exhibit at the museum. Astronom- tor system, 5.1 sound system, LED cove light- a series of live dome transmissions and science ical scenes include Eratosthenes and the cir- ing system, and 23 fulldome digital shows. cafés) that is scheduled to begin in the late fall cumference of the Earth, the Egyptian zodi- At the Koch Planetarium in Evansville, of 2012. ac ceiling at Dendera, the Pharo’s Lighthouse, their science educator of six years, Gena Gar- Currently in the development pipeline at the Library of Alexandria, and the Parthenon rett, resigned to take a position with a local the Kalamazoo Valley Museum Planetarium in Greece. Nature Society. Gena ran the planetarium’s is Crossing the Sun, a new program about the Bob Allen has returned as planetarium di- popular Girl Scout Space Night programs and June, 2012 transit of Venus, as well as a key- rector at the University of Wisconsin-La presented a large share of the shows in the pad-driven interactive solar system show. Crosse Planetarium. The planetarium is re- planetarium. The planetarium recently pre- At the Dassault Systémes Planetarium in suming public programs, including their Al- sented laser shows with the help of Audio Vi- Detroit, Dinosaur Planet has been packed bum Encounter multimedia light and laser sual Imagineering. They also presented Sude- with tourists and summer groups, many of shows. These were eliminated due to funding kum Planetarium’s Mars Update program with whom also visited the museum’s Dinosaurs cuts a couple of years ago. Their November an in-house segment on current and future Unearthed exhibit. Production continues on public program featured their own produc- missions to Mars. Sunstruck-Fury of the Daystar, which will be a tion titled Ancient Observatories. The Edwin Clark Schouweiler Memorial new show about the sun. As part of the NASA In October, MSU Moorhead entered the dig- Planetarium at the University of Saint Francis grant, a heliostat will be installed by the plan- ital planetarium field with an Elumenati Ge- in Fort Wayne reports that their annual Fort etarium to permit solar observations in sever- oDome Evolver. This digital projector supple- Wayne Three Rivers Fest was very successful. al frequencies of light. ments their existing Spitz 512, which is still Their new show, The Explorers of Polynesia is The Dessault planetarium welcomed a new going strong after 39 years. The new Elumena- their own version of the original Bishop Plan- video editor, Jay Swanson, to their production ti projector has opened up a whole new uni- etarium The Explorers. 2012 will be the plane- team, who worked beside Ian Glodich, their verse of programming possibilities for the uni- tarium’s 40th anniversary year. summer production intern. versity, local schools, and public audiences. Michigan. The University of Michigan Ex- The summer came to an end by participat- The UWM Planetarium presented Year of hibit Museum Planetarium in Ann Arbor re- ing in the largest astronomy public event in the Solar System this fall. Audiences learned cently replaced its computer, which is the first Michigan, the 15th annual Astronomy at the about NASA’s current and upcoming endeav- Beach. This event was ors during this time of heightened explora- organized by the sev- tion. Later in the fall, 2012: Fact or Fiction will Bad news from Detroit, Michigan en astronomy clubs try to dispel anxiety about the supposed end The news deadline for the December issue of Planetarian pre- in southeastern Mich- of the world in 2012. ceded the news in September that the Detroit Science Center had igan, and supported closed. by the planetariums Japan Planetarium Association Initially there were hopes that it would open soon, but the last at Cranbrook, Detroit The Japan Planetarium Association (JPA) word was that it “will remain shuttered for the time being.” Science Center, East- held its 2011 Conference 1-3 June at the La- According to a November 7 report from CBC News (www.cbc. ern Michigan Univer- foret Biwako Planetarium in Shiga Prefecture. ca/news/canada/windsor/story/2011/11/07/wdr-detroit-science- sity, and Wayne State About 150 planetarium people attended. center.html), “Officials have said layoffs at the museum were like- University. Between 5 The conference had the general meeting, ly, though the exact number of its 114 employees who would lose and 10 thousand peo- oral sessions, poster sessions, vender demon- their jobs was still to be determined. “ ple attended the two- strations, and banquets. The center “is struggling with more than $1.6 million in losses since day event. Workshop activities were also reported. JPA 2009 and $5.8 million in combined real estate and bank debt upon Ohio. After a na- has some workshops, such as regional ones, which it has defaulted,” the report continues. I tionwide search, Dan (Continues on Page 50)

48 Planetarian December 2011 December 2011 Planetarian 49 (International, continued from Page 48) which take place in five areas in Japan several times per year. They also have other workshops, such as digital planetarium ones. Each workshop has its meeting and sessions for obtaining information and improving planetarium people’s skill. Oral sessions covered a wide range, for instance, a school show collaboration with elementary schools, the report of a concert in a planetarium, better publicity activities of facilities, making planetarium content using free software, the report of making an air-dome and using it, and how to take measures against earthquakes. As you know, Japan had the devastating earthquake in March, 2011. It was reported how some planetariums corre- sponded after the earthquake and talked about what we need in the event of natural disaster. For example, it could be impossible to use electricity. However, information is needed. In that case, a radio working by batteries is really useful. It enables many people to obtain information at the same time. It’s really important to ensure the safety of visitors. Japanese planetariums have to drill against disaster in order to know evacuation routes and not to get into a panic. Even now, Japan has earthquakes which are smaller than the one in March 2011. It will be necessary to deal with earthquakes from now on. The 2012 JPA Conference will be held in June at Ishikawa Children’s Activity Center.

Nordic Planetarium Association The biennial NPA Conference took place at Tehnoannas Pa- grabi, Children’s Science Center in Riga, Latvia on 2-4 Septem- ber, hosted by Dace Balode and her colleagues at the Center, with 22 delegates from eight countries participating. Several contributed papers were presented, and also a keynote lecture by Dr. Ilgonis Vilks, University of Latvia, on “Astronomy for the General Public.” During the membership meeting, a new board was elected, consisting of President Aase Roland Jacobsen, Denmark; Secre- tary/Treasurer Lars Petersen, Denmark; Directors Margus Aru, Estonia, Kai Santavuori, Finland, Snævar Guðmundsson, Ice- land, Dace Balode, Latvia, Anne Bruvold, Norway, and Lars Bro- man, Sweden; Deputies Helle Jaaniste, Estonia, Timo Rahunen, Finland, Janis Harja, Latvia, Ivar Nakken, Norway, and Anna S. Arnadottir, Sweden and Iceland. Jacobsen thus took over the presidency from Broman, who had held it for 21 years. Margus Aru, planetarium director at AHHAA Science Center in Tartu, Estonia, invited NPA to hold its next conference in Tartu in September 2013. Delegates look forward to going there and experienceing the unique planetarium, which has a glass floor and a secondary projector producing a continued starry sky on the bottom half of the planetarium globe. Some delegates went on a post-conference tour to Ventspils, hosted by Ventspils Creativity Center Assistant Director Jānis Harje. The tour included a visit to the planetarium, the public observatory, and the radio observatory in Irbene. There it was quite exciting to walk on the 36-m (120-ft) disk and also to climb up to the focus of the disc, 47 m (157 ft) above ground.

Pacific Planetarium Association The News from Reuben H. Fleet Science Center in San Diego, NPA, Top: The AHHAA Planetarium in Tartu, Estonia. Photo by Margus Aru. Cen- California is they will be joining the fulldome community at ter: NPA’11 delegates around the remains of the old Riga Zeiss projector. New NPA the end of 2011. This is the second phase of the upgrade project President Aase Roland Jacobsen stand just right of the planetary cage. Courtesy of for the world’s first tilted dome, which is to begin operating a Lars Broman. Bottom: The public observatory at the Creativity Center in Ventspils. In front of the globe is Elza Klavina, planetarium explainer at Technoannas Pagrabi. 4-channel Global Immersion system with Sony SRX 420 pro- Photo by Lars Broman. jectors in December. (Continues on Page 52)

50 Planetarian December 2011 FULLDOME www.spitzinc.com/fulldome_shows

Spitz_Zula_FullPage_11.07.11_v2.indd 1 11/7/11 2:11:33 PM With a variety of topics, more people were interested in attending and more engaged in the events. The second event was a whole day with the focus on the Maya culture. Tales of the Maya Skies was shown. Talks, dance and free showings of the program went on all day. Newton has also made a point of creating partnerships with both community groups and outside organizations to help attract more Hispanic students. Hartnell is a feder- ally-designated Hispanic service institution, and also is a NASA/SEMAA (Science, Engineer- ing, Mathematics and Aerospace Academy) project designed to increase participation of youth in grades K-12 in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM). Hartnell also participates in the Bay Area Science Festival, which is scheduled annually for the first Saturday in November. If you have questions, contact anewton@hartnell. edu or [email protected]. Andrew Fraknoi, chair of the Foothill Col- lege Astronomy Program, reports opportunities for planetarium directors and students of astronomy. There are 30 lectures available as audio and video podcasts, free, through the web and iTunes at www.astrosociety.org/education/podcasts. Speakers included Frank Drake, Mike Brown, Natalie Batalha, and Alex Filippenko and are all talks that were part of the Silicon Valley Astronomy Lectures sponsored by NASA, ASP, SETI and Foothill Col- lege. Contact [email protected]. The Live Interactive Planetarium Sympo- sium was held in PPA territory at the Digitalis headquarters in Bremerton, Washington near Seattle (see story, page x). Participants attended from Japan, Thailand, The Netherlands and USA. Topics included defining interactivity, RPA, Top: The IPS Council meeting in Nizhny Novgorod. Photo by N. Lapin. Below: Delegates at RPA’11 ways to encourage participation, techniques outside the Nizhny Novgorod Planetarium. Photo by M. Prokopenko. for facilitating audience interaction, presenting concepts as well as how to stay open in (International, continued from Page 50) a bad economy. The symposium was a great success and hopefully it will become a regu- Phase one consisted of installing a Spitz been busy at the J. Frederic Ching Planetarium lar event. Nano Seam dome, new seats, carpet, lighting at Hartnell College in Salinas, California. Hart- and a 16,000-watt digital sound system. Phase nell continues to serve the California Central three will include more visual enhancements. Coast region as the only planetarium in Mon- Russian Planetarium Association On 1 July guests from all continents gath- Questions about this exciting upgrade may be terey County. In 2004 a new Konica Minolta ered in Nizhny Novgorod. At the opening cer- direction to [email protected]. Mediaglobe system was installed. Since then, emony they were welcomed by the first vice- Moving up to Bakersfield, California, Nick Andy Kreyche, planetarium educator, has governor of the Nizhny Novgorod region V. Strobel reports that he has increased tick- been able to show traditional night sky pro- Ivanov, Chair of the Scientific Advisory Coun- ets sales at the William M. Thomas Planetari- grams as well as treat visitors to dynamic sto- cil of the Nizhny Novgorod Planetarium Prof. um. He writes a column in the local newspa- rytelling using the fulldome projection sys- I. Zinchenko and the corresponding member per and has advertised the new fall programs tem. of the Russian Academy of Sciences V. Kocha- through his column. Shows are sold out as a Newton, long-time planetarium direc- rovsky (both from the Institute of Applied result. tor, has been organizing large scale outreach Physics of the Russian Academy of Sciences). Falls shows include Black Holes: The Oth- events. There were two community events There were greetings from the Euro-Asian er Side of Infinity from the Denver Museum attended by thousands of people this year. Astronomical Society signed by its co-chair- of Nature and Science. Another perennial fa- One was the 5th Annual Family Science and person Prof. N. Samus and RPA president di- vorite show is Dawn of the Space Age. More in- Health Day. This event is sponsored by Hart- rector of the Sternberg Astronomical Institute formation is available from nstrobel@bakers- nell and a local school district. The events in- of the Moscow University, and member of the fieldcollege.edu. clude a wide variety of areas: sciences, nutri- Andy Newton and Andy Kreyche have tion, health, the environment and fine arts. (Continues on Page 54)

52 Planetarian December 2011 December 2011 Planetarian 53 (International, continued from Page 52) vid Weinrich gave the welcome, and the IPS Council participated in the RPA meeting. Russian Academy of Sciences A. Cherepash- The following talks were presented: Prof. chuk. Lars Broman, “Update of the Public Under- The IPS Council Meeting took place in the standing of Astronomy (PUA) Research Proj- hall of Nizhny Novgorod Municipal Adminis- ect”; Prof. Agnès Acker, “A Show for 2012, tration in Kremlin, while colleagues from NIS Water, a cosmic story”; Ian McLennan, “MA- countries (Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, Kazakh- SAV (Microscopic & Sub-Atomic Visualiza- stan) had their sessions in the planetarium. tion Project)”; and Susan Button, “IPS Portable The plenary sessions were devoted to the ed- Planetarium Committee.” Shawn Laatsch pre- ucational programs in the year of the Russian sented the show Awesome Light: Big Mirrors on cosmonautics. the Mountain. Directors of the planetariums shared their The Nizhny Novgorod planetarium pre- experience of collaboration with indus- sented new visual programs for small chil- try (Lytkarino, Moscow region), the role of dren, while the Perm planetarium made a vid- a school planetarium in education of school eo presentation of its activity. children in natural science (Kirov), the plane- L. Panina shared her impressions of the Full- tarium’s role in the system of additional edu- dome Festival-2011 in Jena in May and of Ber- cation by organizing compact creative groups lin Planetarium. There were talks of repre- of school children (Kostroma), artwork in sentatives of Russian companies supplying planetarium programs (Nizhny Novgorod), equipment for digital planetariums and a re- and more. Additional forms of education in quest for support from Ukrainian planetari- planetariums were discussed, including olym- ums. piads, creative competitions, astronomical Participants had an excursion around Ni- groups, scientific societies, etc. zhny Novgorod. While foreign participants On the third day, joint sessions were ar- enjoyed the view of the city from onboard ranged in the planetarium. IPS president Da- a boat, the XIV RPA business meeting took SWAP: Donna Pierce, Highland Park, Tex- as performs a training simulation at the Fort Hood military base tour, one of the highlights of the Western Alliance Conference. Photo 2002For andhis many2003. accomplishments, Sandras by Jack L. Northrup. hasFor an his asteroid many named accomplishments, in his honor: Sandras 18434 Mikesandrashas an asteroid (1994 named EW7), in a his main-belt honor: 18434aster- place in the planetarium. New collective oidMikesandras discovered (1994 on EW7),12 March a main-belt 1994 by aster C. S.- members were accepted; now their total num- Shoemakeroid discovered and onD. H. 12 Levy March at Palomar. 1994 by C. S. ber exceeds 40. ShoemakerSandras’ wake and D. and H. Levyfuneral at Palomar. were held in The RPA board presented a report of its SeptemberSandras’ andwake were and very funeral well were attended held byin activity in the last four years. A new board moreSeptember than and200 were mourners. very well The attended Southeast by- was elected, including Z. Sitkova (chairper- ernmore Planetarium than 200 mourners.Association The was Southeast well rep- son), V. Belov (secretary; both from Nizhny resentedern Planetarium by Heidi Association Ransom, Gary was Meibaum, well rep- Novgorod), T. Baltina (Perm), A. Denisov (Ufa), Jasonresented Talley, by Heidi Philip Ransom, Groce and Gary George Meibaum, Flee- Michael Sandras T. Zhbannikova (Kirov), L. Panina (Moscow), nor.Jason Talley, Philip Groce and George Flee- 2011 and S. Sakharova (Kostroma). Changes in the nor.Philip Groce wrote :”Michael made a lot RPA Charter were adopted. of Philipus smile Groce and wrotelaugh :”Michaelat SEPA conferences. made a lot SoutheasternMichael D. Sandras Planetarium After that the RPA meeting functioned as Heof uswas smile the Rodneyand laugh Dangerfield at SEPA conferences. of planetar- Association1963-2011 a meeting of the Euro-Asian community of ItIt isis withwith sadnesssadness thatthat wethe announce Southeastern the ians,He was always the Rodney getting Dangerfieldno respect. Yet, of planetar nothing- planetariums. This community was organized passingPlanetarium of Michael Association D. Sandras. announces Sandras diedthe couldians, always be further getting from no the respect. truth. Yet, Mike’s nothing self- in 2003 and united professional planetarians onpassing September of Michael 10, D.2011 Sandras. of complications Sandras died deprecatingcould be further humor from always the truth. had us Mike’s in stitch self-- of NIS on the basis of individual member- fromon September his nearly 10,life-long 2011 offight complications with diabe- es.deprecating He reminded humor us alwaysconstantly, had us that in stitch even- ship. A new council was adopted consisting tes.from He his is survivednearly life-long by his fightwife Conniewith diabe and- thoughes. He reminded we may control us constantly, the universe that fromeven of five co-chairpersons: U. Avdeenko (Nizhny youngtes. He daughteris survived Arianna by his Celeste. wife Connie He was and 47 ourthough consoles, we may we controlare never the really universe in control from Novgorod, Russia), S. Maslikov (Novosibirsk, yearsyoung old. daughter Arianna Celeste. He was 47 ofour anything. consoles, we are never really in control Russia), A. Mikulich (Minsk, Belarus), G. Zhe- yearsSandras old. is the former curator of the Free- of “Mike’sanything. humor was often baudy, but nev- leznyak (Kharkov, Ukraine), and K.Bulekov portSandras McMoRan is the formerScience curator Center, of Planetari the Free-- er “Mike’smean. But humor I do wasknow often he baudy,often made but nev me- (Aktobe, Kazakhstan). um,port Observatory,McMoRan Science Space StationCenter, in Planetari Kenner,- laugher mean. until But I wasI do inknow tears he and often he mademade cerme- The 60 visitors departed by a night train to Louisiana,um, Observatory, and later Space the Louis Station Roussell in Kenner, Plan- tainlaugh that until I never I was hadin tears a chance and he to made take mycer- Moscow and Zvezdnyj (Star City). They vis- etarium.Louisiana, He and also later worked the Louis as the Roussell observatory Plan- selftain too that seriously. I never had I think a chance he did to that take same my- ited the Gagarin cosmonaut training center operatoretarium. forHe thealso University worked as of the New observato Orleans- serviceself too forseriously. everyone I think he met.he did As that his samewife and, just opened after a long reconstruction, and,ry operator until the for time the ofUniversity his death, of the New man Or-- Connieservice askedfor everyone me through he met. her tearsAs his when wife I Moscow Planetarium. The participants re- agerleans of and, the untilGretna the Observatory. time of his Hedeath, was the an sawConnie her askedat the mefuneral, through ‘Phil, her who’s tears going when to I maining in Nizhny Novgorod on 4 July had activemanager member of the inGretna several Observatory. astronomical He andwas makesaw her me at laugh the funeral, now?’ ‘Phil, who’s going to boat trip along the Volga and Oka rivers. planetariuman active member organizations, in several including astronomical SEPA make“Michael me laugh Sandras now?’ was a respected, kind, Southwestern Association of andand IPS.planetarium He served asorganizations, president of theincluding South- and“Michael good representative Sandras was ofa respected, our profession. kind, Planetariums easternSEPA and Planetarium IPS. He served Association as president in of2002 the Heand will good be representativesorely missed.” of our profession. I This summer the Western Alliance Con- andSoutheastern 2003. Planetarium Association in He will be sorely missed.” I ference met at the Mayborn Planetarium &

54 Planetarian December 2011 Space Theater in Killeen, Texas. Nearly 100 courage planetarians there attendees and vendors braved the Texas July to be involved in the IPS heat at Central Texas College to participate in and to possibly attend the paper session, dome demos, and the generous Baton Rouge Conference. hospitality of the hosts and vendors. In addition to the local scene in Killeen, Meeting Arabic- conference attendees were treated to a choice speaking friends of trips to SpaceX, Fort Hood, or Salado. SWAP Recently, I asked Marc thanks all vendors, attendees, and especially Rouleau about progress in the hosts at Mayborn Planetarium. forming an Arabic-speaking planetarium group. Those International Relations of you who were at IPS 2010 Committee in Egypt will recall that Martin George many of our planetarium [email protected] colleagues from these countries were present at the In October, I had the great pleasure of visit- conference, and Dale Smith, former IPS president and a IRC: Dr Jin Zhu, Director of the Beijing Planetarium, speaking at CAP ing Beijing once again, this time to attend CAP 2011. Photo by Martin George. 2011, the 2011 Communicating Astronomy to member of our committee, the Public Conference. and I attended a meeting wonderful to see this eventuate, and the com- It was organised through IAU Commis- during the conference to discuss the IPS with mittee will be keeping a close eye on develop- sion 55 and wonderfully hosted by the Bei- them. It was a friendly and positive meeting. ments. jing Planetarium. Our planetarium colleagues In recent months, the political situation in By the time you receive this issue, the com- there, together with many others, did a won- that part of the world has not been as condu- mittee will have been working hard on estab- derful job. cive as we would have hoped in strengthen- lishing the new scholarship scheme, which Although it was a small conference, there ing the ties. However, Marc has been in con- has been discussed at length at Council meet- were many excellent presentations. I am in- tact with Omar Fikry in Egypt, and Omar is hopeful of some progress. ings, most recently in Nizhny Novgorod, Rus- cluding a mention of this in the Planetarian sia, in July. The scheme will be administered this issue because it was great to be able to be There is a possibility that a planetarium by the committee, and it is planned that it there to “fly the flag” for IPS and to meet as- group could be formed as part of the North will be operating for the 2012 IPS confer- tronomy communicators from many differ- African and Middle East Science Centres or- ence in Baton Rouge. I ent countries around the world. I was also able ganization about piggybacking the planetar- to promote the 2012 IPS in Baton Rouge. ium group with them. It would certainly be Apart from the papers presented, amongst topics for discussion were the 2012 transit of Venus and the International Year of Light—so Tom Callen focuses new future strongly connected with astronomy—which on eyemmersive will take place in 2015. It was lovely to hear more accolades for the Long-time planetarian Tom Callen, most like to see the Ghana planetarium project, in which Presi- recently astronomer/program producer at new company’s dent and Committee member Dave Weinrich the Swedish Museum of Natural History’s role as where was closely involved. Word of the success of Cosmonova, has started his own company; science, art and the project has clearly spread far and wide. eyemmersive (advertised in the September public outreach Another of the issues in relation to the in- issue of Planetarian). “Since there are so few meet. Tom Callen ternational nature of such meetings is the dif- major planetariums in Sweden right now “But I also be- ficulty that some people face in affording to and wanting to stay in a profession where I lieve that this encompasses more than the come to the conferences. have worked since 1972, it seemed to be the planetarium/fulldome arena. The company There is absolutely no doubt that face-to- best solution and where I thought I could plans to offer such products and services in- face contact with fellow professionals in the make useful contributions.” ternationally as well as have a shift in em- field is extremely valuable, and of course this For Callen, not only do planetariums pro- phasis for the local non-planetarium mar- applies strongly to the IPS too. It was disap- vide a quality educational experience for ket. For example, there is a need for skills pointing, therefore, to find that there were students that can’t be duplicated in anoth- in writing, editing and voiceover narration some people missing whom I had hoped to er venue, but they are often the general pub- in native English here in the Nordic coun- see there. lic’s only contact with astronomy. tries that would otherwise be performed in- Through attending this conference, howev- Cosmonova was Tom’s fifth facility house in the states.” er, I was pleased to make contact with Rogel and he will take advantage of what he has Having gone from a career working Mari Sese from the University of The Philip- learned along the way. “I enjoy taking an as- at public institutions to one’s own pri- pines, who spoke about astronomy, astrono- tronomical concept and finding a solution vate company has brought with it a lot of my communication, and planetariums there. how to best describe it to the public as well changes. “One of the benefits of the new ar- This is a country currently having no IPS as finding the most meaningful visuals. Not rangement is that I’ll be able to work closer membership, and like several countries in the only does it have to be understandable to to home; in fact, on the same island where region, it is not part of an affiliate group. the beginner, in the ideal case it should be my family and I live out in the Stockholm I intend to make a visit there sometime in interesting to another person who may al- Archipelago. You certainly can’t beat the the near future to establish some ties and en- ready know something about the subject. I view whether it is day or night.” I

December 2011 Planetarian 55 learned if we do not provide the opportuni- Mobile News ty for them to tell us. (A Private Universe was created and produced by Matthew H. Schneps and Philip M. Sadler, Harvard Smithsonian Center for Susan Reynolds Button Astrophysics. Partial funding for A Private Quarks to Clusters Universe was provided by the National Sci- 8793 Horseshoe Lane ence Foundation.) Another interesting re- Chittenango, New York 13037 USA lated website is www.csun.edu/science/geo- science/astronomy/misconceptions/index. +1 315-687-5371 html.) [email protected], [email protected] Students frequently lack a basic understanding of the celestial sphere and appar- Live interactive programming feel more secure, an older child less self con- ent motion. If students have trouble with Two young, enthusiastic members of our scious, and in helping young students to re- advanced activities, it may well be attribut- community have kick started a renewed member constellation names. ed to deeply rooted misconceptions about movement in favor of live interactive pro- •• Design lessons using cooperative learning apparent motion and its cause. The first gramming in planetariums. You can read their techniques. Active participation by stu- step is to have students make predictions complete article elsewhere in this journal (see dents increases learning and reduces disci- and then test their predictions as the pro- page 18) to learn more about the incredible re- pline problems. jector is set in motion. For recording pre- sponse their efforts brought forth in August •• It is helpful to provide some written ma- dictions and observations arrows or other 2011 at the first of what promises to be many terials for teachers to prepare students for markers can be attached to the dome using get-togethers. their visit to the planetarium People from a variety of states and coun- and to follow up and extend tries joined to share their dedication to sus- the concepts presented. These taining all generations of planetarians who pre- or post-activities need to want to blend the best content, using any and be “minds-on” or “hands-on,” all of the various technologies, with superi- not just busy-work like word or and imaginative presentation techniques. searches or crossword puzzles! Congratulations Karrie Berglund and Rob •• Keep lesson objectives simple Spearman! and to a minimum. Students can only absorb and really un- Back to basics derstand/learn a very small Speaking of live interactive presentations, number of concepts in one les- let’s revisit some information contained in son. the IPS Handbook for Portable Planetariums. •• If students only visit the plan- This is a collection of items I kept handy for presentations. Listed there are a few tips that are tried and etarium once, it is probably Photo by author. true. Here are some basic ideas to think about: more educationally sound to •• Do some research about how people learn use predominantly the night and design lessons that are age-appropriate. sky with few or no slides/videos or other sticky backed velcro (fuzzy part attached to Then, continuously evaluate what you are special effects. the dome and the other part attached to the doing. •• Encourage students’ questions so that you marker). •• Tell students what model you are using: can take advantage of “teachable mo- Center the projector under the dome to earth-based view or space-based view. This ments.” This also enables each lesson to be create a more accurate model of the sky. To eliminates questions from students such as unique and helps the presenter to remain do this set the sun for the autumnal equi- “where’s Earth?” They should understand if enthusiastic, interesting and avoid “burn- nox (approximately September 21). Make they are supposed to be sitting on Earth and out!” sure the sun projection rises due east and looking at the sky as if they are in their own Just as important is the process of hav- sets due west and if set for 0 degrees lati- backyard. ing students orally repeat to you what they tude (the equator) the sun should be at the Ask students what they can or cannot have discovered after each experiment or zenith (center top of dome) at noon. Now see in the real sky with just their eyes. Some- lesson. We cannot assume that they have all the equinox and solstice sun positions times I point and say, “This is your zenith come to the conclusions that we expect. should be fairly accurate. (have them point and tell the name) and •• View the video A Private Universe, which On the STARLAB sky cylinder each “but- this is your nadir (have them point and tell demonstrates naive theories students de- ton” hole represents approximately the 21st the name). There is a planet at your nadir, vise and how to challenge them (you can of each month. A digital projector should raise your hand if you can tell me which find one version at www.youtube.com/ already be aligned properly but care should planet is at your nadir. (Earth) When Earth watch?v=7KUQbeKJTNY). still be taken to make sure it is centered. is at your nadir then can you see it in the This is an excellent video to remind •• Tape your lessons. Do tape them despite the sky?” us that students are not empty cups to be obvious pitfall that these recordings may •• Gather a collection of items that are repre- filled and we need to refrain from “assum- show that your lessons are not perfect. It is sentative of particular constellations and ing” what pre-existing knowledge (or un- extremely helpful and informative to tape stories. Models such as stuffed animals, derstanding of the model they are using) is your presentations (even if no one hears dolls, dippers or drinking gourds are ex- present. We will never know what our stu- them but you). tremely useful in making a young child dents think they know or what they have (Continues on Page 58)

56 Planetarian December 2011 December 2011 Planetarian 57 (Mobile, continued from Page 56) I found this part particularly intriguing: “… of an amazing adventure that he and his wife Stargazers can slide their finger up or down experienced as a result of winning this trip to I found that the lessons that sometimes the Spectrum Bar to change the wavelength Italy! It sounds like Joe, his Italian colleagues seemed plagued with what I thought was and move along the spectrum. Each wave- and students made an incredible impression idle student chatter were very interesting. length is represented by a different color on on each other and have formed memories and When I listened to them later it was clear the star map.” Learn more at vitotechnology. bonds that will last a lifetime! Thank you for that most of the students’ comments were com/star-walk.html. sharing your experience with us, Joe. on task and it was easy to hear that pupils If you have an Android device, then try The winner for 2012 is being decided as I were processing experiences and learning Google Sky Map. write this column. If you are an American from them. I could hear statements such as, planetarian and you want to have the same “Oh, I get it. When the sun is low in the sky Padlett handle strap for iPad kind of amazing experience, contact me for it is cooler.” Need to manipulate your phone in ways an application. The application deadline for The classes that I thought were really fo- it wasn’t designed for? This might help: “The the experience in 2013 is September 15, 2012. cused (and quietly working on task) were Padlette is a simple silicone rubber handle Hey, you never know! frequently not as exciting. However, I also that quickly installs on the iPad and makes it discovered that many times I responded easy to hold with one hand. Padlette comes in Signing off with a few reminders: appropriately to that quiet little voice of seven different colors: black, green, pink, gray, Check the IPS Portable Planetarium Com- a child who asked herself something like, yellow, orange, and glow-in-the-dark blue.” mittee web page for newly posted documents. “What happened to my star?” or, “I won- Learn more at www.theipadguide.com/sec- Kindly send me any additions, corrections or der what would happen if we went to mid- tions/padlette. suggestions for the committee page. night!” I am flexible and the lesson “plan” If it is not available on the Padlette website, Don’t forget to look for relevant papers and does not drive my lessons—the learning and you can get a “glow-in-the-dark” version from workshops at the IPS 2012 Conference in July questioning does. It is gratifying to notice Amazon (www.amazon.com/Padlette-Glow- 2012 and at the next…Live, Interactive Plane- when you do the right thing by instinct! in-the-Dark/dp/B004DLUSKE). tarium Symposium (LIPS), August 2012 (Con- It is also helpful to learn about the part sult IPS Calendar and Website for details) of your teaching style that needs to be fine- American in Italy 2011: final report Consider collaborating with me in updat- tuned, for example, what phrases are repeat- This year’s winner was Joseph E. Ciotti ing the IPS Portable Planetarium Handbook. It ed too frequently. In short it helps you to from Hawaii. was distributed in 2002 and although much grow and keep your lessons fresh. Here is the report of his intense and excit- information remains valid a lot has changed Invest in a decent microphone or video ing trip. He provides a wonderful description in ten years! I camera, one that can pick up questions and comments from around the dome clearly. Even though I like to avoid criticism (my internal voice is already strongly crit- American planetarian in Italy also finds his roots ical!), I tape my lessons because it is valuable to me and maybe to a novice planetar- Joseph E. Ciotti ian. You can share your better tapes (none Hōkūlani Imaginarium are perfect!) with someone who needs your Windward Community College help. 45-720 Kea‘ahala Road •• When developing any curriculum, lessons Kāne‘ohe, Hawai‘i 96744 and activities it is best if they correlate with [email protected] and enhance national, state and/or school district standards, goals and objectives. My participation in the 2011 American •• It is not only all right, it is critical to keep Planetarium Operator in Italy program has your presentations entertaining and to been a unique opportunity to extend my out- have fun! Share your enthusiasm for the reach efforts internationally and form closer subject matter and show interest in the au- associations with colleagues in the field. dience’s response. Again, their responses In the circle of life, this experience was also should help drive the lesson and make each personally meaningful to me, since both my session unique. parents were born in Italy. It was an exciting and intensive undertaking: 24 lectures and in- Gadgets for parties or just you terviews in four cities spanning 14 days. Try out the new Star Walk app for iPhone and iPad. “Star Walk is an award-winning ed- Lesson plan ucation app that allows users to easily locate The planetarium lesson and hands-on and identify 20,000+ objects in the night sky. workshop that I presented for this 2011 pro- The 360-degree, touch control star map dis- gram were based on a Polynesian voyaging plays constellations, stars, planets, satellites, course I team-teach and a planetarium pro- and galaxies currently overhead from any- gram I produced. The three main objectives where on Earth. Highly praised and the win- were: ner of a 2010 Apple Design Award, the latest 1. To introduce students to the motions of update adds a Spectrum Bar to view frequen- the sky, especially as they relate to navigation. cies other than visible light. *No Internet con- Joe Ciotti embracing statue of Marziano Ciot- ti, Gardisca d’Isonzo, Gorizia. photo by Nancy 2. To compare non-instrument wayfind- nection required*” Heu ing techniques of the Polynesians with instru-

58 Planetarian December 2011 ment-based navigation used our travels across Italy in early by western sailors like Colum- April with a multi-day tour of bus. Rome. That was followed with a 3. To reveal the sky mythol- scenic bus trip across the Apen- ogy of ancient Polynesia as a nines to the picturesque town of means of describing the physi- Vasto, a popular beach resort on cal universe. the Adriatic coastline, where my The planetarium was used father was born. to illustrate how the positions of stars change with latitude Travels to Perugia and how Polynesians used the We then traveled by train to zenith passage of bright stars the ancient Etruscan city of Pe- to determine their location. rugia, where we met Simonet- Capella (Hōkū Lei) convenient- ta Ercoli, the coordinator of the ly marked the zenith for the Planetario Ignazio Danti. That cities I visited in northern It- first night, she treated us to a aly. family-style dinner with her The seasonal movement staff at a cozy Italian restaurant. of the sun was also demon- The joy of eating is a must in It- strated in the planetarium and aly. used to find direction at sea. Workshop on constructing a magnetic compass in Gorizia. photo by Nancy Heu Over the next two days, Sim- The Hawaiian story of why onetta and I joined forces to Maui snared the sun was told conduct lessons for the visit- as a cultural explanation for ing high school students. Sim- these seasonal changes. Oth- onetta operated the Gambato er myths, including Maui’s projector under the theater’s 8.4- fishhook (Scorpius) and the m dome, while I lectured. This Makali‘i (Pleiades), were told was the first time I had ever re- to enrich the students’ appre- linquished control of the pro- ciation of different cultures. jector while speaking. After an Star alignments, like the initial practice session together, staff of the Southern Cross, we soon got in sync for the live were presented as wayfinding shows with the students. We techniques for determining preceded each planetarium talk compass direction. Special at- with a brief lecture in the adja- tention was devoted to locat- cent classroom and returned ing Polaris (Hōkū Pa‘a) using there for the magnetic compass multiple alignments besides workshop. the traditional pairing of Dub- Throughout my trip, I discov- he and Merak, since cloud con- ered that the students had a fair ditions in the real sky could command of English. As expect- limit a navigator’s view. ed, their listening skills appeared The planetarium experi- Simonetta Ercoli and Joe Ciotti dining in Perugia. Photo courtesy Simonetta Ercoli. more advanced than their speak- ence was supplemented by a ing skills. Some were obviously classroom workshop involv- more fluent than others, or per- ing the construction of a sim- haps more outgoing. I intention- ple magnetic compass. This ally slowed my normal speaking hands-on activity blended sci- pace and avoided American idi- ence, art and technology. Stu- oms as much as possible. dents explored the science of Encouraging students to geomagnetism, designed their speak can be a challenge. One own compass rose and assem- successful technique I used was bled a simple magnetic com- to ask, “How do you say that pass from two sewing nee- in Italian?” That not only gave dles, card stock, film canister, me a chance to check whether push-pin and snap-on fasten- they were listening and compre- er. The materials were com- hending, but also afforded them pact enough to pack 150 kits a more comfortable zone in for the trip. The full activity which to start speaking in Ital- can be found at aerospace.wcc. ian first, then in English. I could hawaii.edu/Curriculum_Voy- sense that their English was fair- agers/magnetic%20compass. ly well developed whenever html. Polynesian Voyaging seminar by Joe Ciotti at Planetario Ignazio Danti. Photo by they laughed at my jokes. That My wife Nancy and I began Simonetta Ercoli. higher language skill indicated

December 2011 Planetarian 59 not only comprehension, but also trans-cul- observatory staff outlined tural understanding. their ambitious plans for Every student I interacted with was respect- constructing a solar sys- ful and attentive. In fact, when I entered my tem walk. first class in Perugia, the students stood up and I am extremely im- remained standing until told to sit by their pressed with the active teacher. I haven’t seen that sign of respect role that amateur astron- since my younger days in Catholic parochi- omy plays in Italy. Every al school. observatory I visited there Wherever I lectured, I confirmed—not sur- was well equipped and de- prisingly—that students thrive on hands-on signed with a craftsman- activity. This provided them an opportuni- ship that paid close atten- ty to listen to simple instructions in English, tion to functionality and while actively handling the manipulatives. aesthetics. After assembling their magnetic compass- es, I noticed several students gazing at their Loris Ramponi advising Calini student about studying astronomy in On next to Padov cell phones with displays set to a magnetic Hawai‘i. Photo by Joe Ciotti. Train travel through- compass app. There in front of them was ir- out Italy is inexpensive, refutable proof that their low-tech compass scenic and fairly easy to yielded identical readings as their expensive negotiate, as along as you gadget. I couldn’t have devised a more reward- remember to validate ing follow-up to their self-discovery. your ticket prior to board- Besides the morning lectures, I also con- ing. It was a short rail ride ducted a seminar comparing Polynesian sea- to my next engagement farers with modern spacefarers for a select at the National Meeting group of students. Afterwards, I participated of Italian Planetaria in Pa- in their videotaped project called intervista dova. con la scienza. The students set up a makeshift We took the oppor- video studio in the classroom, where they in- tunity to visit the Uni- terviewed me as one of 10 scientists in a video versita di Padova, where documentary designed to encourage young Galileo was chair of math- students to enter careers in science. ematics and Elena Pisco- pia graduated as the first Travels to Brescia woman to receive a uni- Our next stop brought us farther north to versity degree. Brescia and into the highly-energetic world A meeting with the vice mayor of Lumezzane (left to right): Joseph Ci- Equally as impressive of Loris Ramponi. We first visited Loris at the otti, Ivan Prandelli, Andrea Soffiantini, Tarcisio Zani, and Vice Major Lu- was the Scrovegni Chapel, Natural Science Museum, where he engages cio Facchinetti; seated: Wladimiro Marinello. Photo courtesy Joe Ciotti. where Giotto painted his school groups with a plethora of hands-on ac- famous fresco, the Adora- tivities. Afterwards we toured the Specola Ci- tion of the Magi, with its dnea Observatory located at Brescia’s famous on a stellar occultation project involving Plu- comet-like Star of Bethlehem. castle and visited the Piazza della Loggia to to and its moons Charon and Hydra. The first day of the National Meeting in- view an elaborate astronomical clock con- Loris and I have already begun collaborat- cluded a fulldome festival at the Planetario structed in the 1540s. ing on various projects. I revised an English di Padova, which features a Sky-Skan definiti Each morning Loris and I would set up his version of one of Loris’ planetarium stories projector system under an 8.5-m dome. On the portable planetarium in the high school li- called “Islands of Stars” and recorded its nar- following day, the conference moved coun- brary at Liceo Scientifico di Stato A. Calini, ration. tryside to Crespano del Grappa. Participants where I gave 10 lectures over the course of I quickly discovered that Loris is very fond boarded at the retreat complex of Centro di three days. Several of the students were quite of inventing games. Before class one day, he Spiritualita e Cultura Don Paolo Chiavacci, outgoing and asked questions throughout the and I spent time under the inflatable dome de- which manages the Specola Astronomica Ob- presentation. One teacher later wrote that her vising a constellation game based on the Poly- servatory and Planetario Chiavacci. Besides students thoroughly enjoyed and understood nesian star naming system I had introduced in presenting a summary report of my activities the lecture and that some were even dreaming my lessons. in Italy at this meeting, I was able to send IPS of coming to Hawai‘i to admire its night skies. One evening Loris treated us to a home- President-elect Thomas Kraupe dual greetings One girl clearly had her sights on becoming cooked dinner with his family. And, true to of aloha and ciao via Skype conference call. an astronomer. She stayed after her lesson to his planetarium teaching style, he created a ask about colleges in the USA. She was ecstat- variety of games as part of our dinner activ- Visiting Gorizia ic to hear that Marco Micheli, a graduate stu- ities. Luciano Bittesini was our gracious host in dent from Brescia, was already studying at the We later visited the Serafino Zani Astro- Gorizia. He literally welcomed us into his im- Institute for Astronomy in Hawai‘i. She was so nomical Observatory and Planetarium in Lu- mediate family and home with open arms. Lu- excited that she forgot her backpack in the li- mezzane just outside of Brescia. Following ciano is widely respected in Gorizia as the ma- brary and had to return later to retrieve it. that excursion we met with the city’s vice jor driving force behind the city’s top-notch Coincidentally, upon returning to Honolu- mayor and local press. After I gave a Power- observatory, which includes a high-tech con- lu, I had the opportunity to work with Marco Point talk on the purpose of my trip, the local trol room, user-friendly classroom and unique

60 Planetarian December 2011 planetarium. The Farra d’Isonzo Planetarium consists of an 8-m inflatable dome that is en- closed inside a semi-permanent geodesic ex- terior shell. The theater is outfitted with a Digitalis projector and 52 lounge chairs. This facility is operated by dedicated club members of the Circolo Culturale Astronomico di Farra (CCAF), who are credited with discovering over 140 asteroids, including the first Ital- ian-discovered Apollo NEO. My first lecture in Gorizia was appropriately given to students enrolled in a pre-captain’s navigation program in Trieste. Later that day, they took flying lessons at Luciano’s flight club. My wife and I also took turns flying with Luciano in his Pioneer 200, which offered a bird’s eye view of Gorizia’s spectacular coun- tryside. We even flew across into neighboring Slovenia. As a private pilot who constantly negotiates the high-density air traffic control space surrounding Honolulu, this type of un- Farra d’Isonzo Planetarium and Circolo Culturale Astronomico di Farra (CCAF) members (left to right): restricted flying was a joy. Joseph Ciotti, Nancy Heu, Franco Piani, Franco Bressan, Enrico Pettarin. Photo courtesy Nancy Heu After a lecture one evening, we took the audience outside onto the spacious observation deck to identify the stars and review the Poly- nesian navigational techniques just covered in the planetarium. During one of our free days, we drove out to Aiello, renowned as the town of sundials. Over 70 elaborate sundials currently decorate this community. That number continues to grows with Aiello’s annual sundial festival in mid-spring. The CCAF members surprised us one evening during a stroll through the town of Gardisca d’Isonzo. There in the central square was a larger than life statue of my ancestor— Marziano Ciotti, an Italian patriot who fought under Giuseppe Garibaldi. That evening we toasted our newfound friendship at a restaurant on Via M. Ciotti. This was typical of the warm welcome we received throughout our stay in Italy and the cherished memories we Aerial view of Farra d’Isonzo Planetarium, Gorizia. Photo by Joe Ciotti. brought back to Honolulu. I

First, Into the Deep, Ogrefish, Austria, 13.80 Tenth, Life: A Cosmic Story, California Acad- points emy of Sciences, United States, 9.50 points Second, Nanocam, El Exilio, Spain, 13.33 Eleventh, Alien Action, Ralph Heinsohn, points Germany, 8.57 points Third, Hysteria United, VJs, Brazil, 12.67 You can learn more about Ogrefish at www. points ogrefish.at. I Ogrefish, based in Judenburg, Austria, was Fourth, Across The Universe, Procyon, Aus- founded in 2010 to bring new and different tria, 12.57 points topics into the dome. Its first fulldome theater Fifth, Darwin and His Fabulous Orchids, from Mario Di Maggio Ralph Heinsohn, Germany, 12.56 points festival, TOWERdome, was held in September The planetarium is a great place for fooling at the Star Tower Planetarium in Judenburg. Sixth, Natural Selection, Mirage3D, The around in public. Cute smart chicks and every- The top three entrants were awarded cash Netherlands, 12.46 points one’s looking straight up! prizes and a “tower,” with a Golden Tower go- Seventh, Realm of Light, Reef Distribution, Planetarium is my fave museum! Germany, 12.06 points say whaaat?! The Planetarium is awesome! ing to first, Silver Tower to second and Bronze The dark early morning sky is so clear right Tower to third. Entries were rated on content, Eighth, Film No. 217, Julia Wiesner, Germa- now it’s like I’m about to go run around in a image and sound, along with entertainment ny, 12.00 points planetarium. Amazing! value. A total of 15 points was possible. Ninth, Kaluoka’hina, Reef Distribution, Ger- i skip tuition today to go to the Planetari- um. omg. i met with the hot astronaut ;D i’m The winners were: many, 10.40 points sorry mama ;)

December 2011 Planetarian 61 tosphere. Her specialty areas include adaptive Book Reviews optics, comets, speckle imaging and magnetic particle vibrations. Jack J. Lissauer is a co-investigator on the Kepler Space Telescope Mission. He received his PhD in mathematics from the University April S. Whitt of California. His primary research interests Fernbank Science Center are the formation of planetary systems, plan- 156 Heaton Park Drive NE etary dynamics and chaos, planetary ring systems, and circumstellar/proto planetary disks. Atlanta, Georgia 30307 USA He is co-discover of the inner satellites of Ura- [email protected] nus, Cupid and Mab. Planetary Sciences has the content and or- 2012: The Bible and the End movies, the “mark of the beast,” and the re- ganization to awaken the natural curiosity unification of the Roman Empire, leading us of able minds and makes abundant connec- of the World to believe that there’s probably plenty of time tions with many great resources to satisfy Mark Hitchcock, Harvest House Publishers, to go before the end of the world comes to us. them. Transformative teachers will applaud Eugene, Oregon, 2009, ISBN 978-0-7369-2651- In other words, if you are or know of any- this one! This text provides a panoptic sweep 5, softbound. one who’s worried about yet another end-of- of the most compelling subjects in modern Reviewed by Francine Jackson, Universi- the-world date, read this. It should help to as- astronomy; moreover, it provides more than ty of Rhode Island Planetarium, Providence, suage your fears. three hundred rigorous exercises to “keep the Rhode Island, USA. little gray cells” stimulated. Planetary Sciences, 2nd Edition During the last several months, both the It seems as if the dreaded 2012 phenome- announcement of S/2011 134340 (a fourth non is taking the place of being asked to inter- Imke de Pater and Jack J. Lissauer, Cambridge University Press, 2010, ISBN 978-0-521-85371-2. moon around Pluto) and TrEs-2b (the darkest pret horoscopes in today’s astronomer’s life. exoplanet so far known) have sent me to this And, as the time is fast approaching, more and Reviewed by Bruce L Dietrich, Wyomssing, Pennsylvania, USA. text for context. An excellent diagram of the more people are looking for reassurance that (former) quadruple system from HST Imag- “maybe” the time isn’t exact. After all, haven’t “Alien planets have hit the commodities ery was in the chapter on Minor Planets, and there been a fair amount of misses as to the marvelous contrasting coverage of Encelidous end-of-the-world date? So, why the big push market,” opines Science; “publishers expand E-textbooks offerings for the classroom,” re- came shining forth from the chapter on Sur- to believe that an annual occurrence will sig- face Geology. As a bonus I learned more about ports the Wall Street Journal. All nal the downfall of civ- its South Polar Geyser Effect, which is now ilization? the while the frisson between particle physics and astronomy deepens. known to “rain down” on Saturn. As a different twist to If you are seeking an excellent, lavishly el- the topic, Mark Hitch- Fortunately, for those of us select- ing a senior level planetary science egant, and amazingly useful text, this one is cock, pastor of Faith Bi- for you. ble Church in Edmond, text, two wonderfully talented au- Oklahoma, decided to thors continue their collaboration look at the evidence for for Cambridge University Press. To- Useful Star Names, With Nebulas 2012 from a biblical per- gether they have written a compre- And Other Celestial Names spective. He begins with hensive introduc- Thomas Wm. Hamilton, Strategic Book the facts as we allegedly tion to planetary Group, Durham, Connecticut, 2011, ISBN 978- know them, and does science for our 1-61204-614-3. his best to try to be as students and a Reviewed by April Whitt, Fernbank Science objective as possible. substantial, yet Center, Atlanta, Georgia, USA But, then, he for- convenient, ref- gets his topic and goes through the prophe- erence for our- I wanted to let you know about this vol- cies of Nostradamus, especially with respect selves. ume with the descriptive title in time for to the atom bomb and the rise of Adolph Hit- stocking your gift shops and book stores for ler, then at the last instant states he places “no the new year. It is, indeed, full of useful star stock” in any of them. On to the Bible! names. And not just the usual Greek letters or If nothing else, Hitchcock has essentially catalog numbers, either. memorized the Bible, and places his faith in The author introduces the work as derived the teachings it holds. But, he also mentions from “my experience of many years in the that some of the prophecies the Bible offers Imke de Pat- planetarium field.” Each of us has pointed out can only be found by “skipping words,” reader is an astrono- stars and constellations on the dome, in the ing every 100th (1000th, 864th, etc.) word to my professor at night sky, or on a star map. We have all told receive the true message and real teaching the Berkeley. She is stories of gods and heroes. Some of us have book offers. well known for struggled with unfamiliar pronunciations, Then he begins to cite actual chapters and having cham- wondered where a particular story came from, verses, directly equating their words with real pioned the observations of radio emissions or related the difference between Zubenelge- events. He also lists many as yet unfulfilled during the impact of comet D/Shoemaker- nubi and Zubenschamali. A few have even prophesies, including the rapture, which has Levy 9, which lead to the detailed investiga- won “constellation shoot-out” contests with been written about and made into popular tion of the impact effects on Jupiter’s magne- that.

62 Planetarian December 2011 The book is divided into four sections. An Since I am currently working on a planetar- alphabetical listing of the 88 constellations ium production about exoplanets, I thought and the meanings of their names is first. Sec- it might be a great opportunity to review a ond is a list of stars, nebulae and galaxies by recent book on the topic. Published in 2011, constellation, with the accepted scientific des- Strange New Worlds, written by Ray Jayward- ignations for the named ones. This is the real- hana, fit the bill! One aspect that attracted ly useful section: a concise source for catalog me to this book was that it revealed, in story listing, spectral class, distance in light years, book fashion, the chronology of discoveries RA and Dec, and apparent magnitude. (including the names of the most significant Many of the Chinese names were new players involved) in the quest for finding exo- to me, and a delight to add to the night sky planets. Such a format made for easy reading knowledge (although I will need help with and, with each chapter, you could see the exo- pronunciation). planet story unfold. An alphabetical listing of all names, the After considering some historical back- original language of each, an English transla- ground about the formation of planets, the tion and pronunciation is third. The last sec- author traces the history of the search for exo- tion lists entries from various catalogs cross- planets, recounting early false starts, includ- listed to constellations. ing the study of 70 Ophiuchi and other mis- Recommend this book to your local astron- leading efforts. omy club. Share it with a telescope user-begin- I think the book does a good job at captur- ner. Purchase a copy for your planetarium li- ing the excitement of the 1990’s when exo- brary. It really is full of useful star names, and planet discoveries were finally confirmed other good information. fines “grunt” in all its cases. For those of us and the “hot Jupiter-like” planets that orbit who remember old-time television, Joe Fri- so close to their host stars began to tally up. day and his sidekick Frank Gannon (of Drag- For me, it brought back memories of the ini- A Brief(er) History of Time: From net – or Badge 714 – fame) dummm-da-dum- tial thrill surrounding such planetary discov- dum their way into the first Human History. eries around stars like 51 Pegasi, 47 Ursa Majo- the Big Bang to the Big Mac® ris, and the like. Eric Schulman, W. H. Freeman and Company, Care to guess the music to “50 Ways to Loot As expected, the book covers techniques New York, 1999; (out of print by available used Your Neighbor”? Superpower Confrontation (wobbles/spectral shifts, transits/light curves, from Amazon.com), ISBN 0-7167-3389-7. is a game show. Every section of the book, a microlensing) used by astronomers to find Reviewed by Francine Jackson, Universi- different time in history, is written different- exoplanets, although I thought much more ty of Rhode Island Planetarium, Providence, ly; in fact, very often the font also differs from detail could have been devoted to these meth- Rhode Island, USA. page to page, signaling the new time. Also surprisingly, one of the largest sec- ods. Even so, I liked the fact that the author devoted some effort to the future imaging of We don’t normally use the word “hoot” as a tions in this book, and one of most tongue-in- exoplanets, since I think our planetarium au- noun these days when describing how some- cheek, is the glossary. Actually, who ever reads diences would like to see actual pictures of a book glossary, anyway? If you don’t in this thing affects us. It’s commonly been relegat- exoplanets rather than all of the esoteric indi- case, you’ll miss one of the more unique book ed to the dictionary of antiquated words and rect evidence. chapters you’ll ever find. Interspersed into the phrases. But, in this case, I had to bring it back. An overview (although brief) of the ongo- 30+ pages are “real” definitions of some of the A Brief(er) History was part of the package ing Kepler mission is given, and I thought the more diverse items ever seen together. sent to those of us who were fortunate enough discussion of plans to build NASA’s Terrestrial For example, on the same page you can find to request a copy of the planetarium show of Planet Finder (TPF) and Darwin orbiting inter- 1 the definition of dinoflagellates and the per- the same name. And, although the copyright ferometers was fascinating. I can’t wait to see sona of Michael Dorn, JFK (not to be confused is in the last millennium, this has to be one of images of other Earths, even if fuzzy! with J. Danforth Quayle) and Nikita Khrush- the most unusual, yet fascinating, books I’ve The discovery prospects of finding bio-sig- chev (did you know he was a shepherd?), and ever read. Look for it online at Amazon.com. natures, mentioned in the concluding chap- –43 over a page and a half of everybody, in alpha- The “story” begins at 10 seconds after the ter, are interesting. I was surprised to learn betical order, who voted to impeach Bill Clin- Big Bang, in a universe much like ours, with that we may already have the capacity to ton. The author has a slight fascination with such creatures as dogs, cats, and Trigoenceph- take a first look and of course, as we find these hair-care products, which find their way inter- alopodic Gnoccis. From there, we literally find worlds, our SETI colleagues will have viable ourselves at 10–37 seconds in a horse race with woven through much of the word list. targets for their big dishes to listen to. As the the four forces neck-in-neck—that is, until If you are able to locate this book—or some- author surmises, a revolution no less signifi- 10–32. At one second, The First Book of Gamow one agrees to loan it out—you’ll be amazed cant than that of Copernicus awaits us in the describes particle/antiparticle annihilation. how fast the entire history of time can be discovery of these “Strange New Worlds.” One minute brings us to The Taming of the read. And, you just might realize, after turning Appropriately enough, the book is brought Neutrino. And so it goes. the last page, how much fun you had learning to conclusion by discussing what alien Earths Virtually every chapter is written total- about time. It really is a hoot. might be like and how we can use technology ly differently. Stellar Evolution is a mandate to detect life on these distant worlds. For me from the Marine Corps; Iron Production is Strange New Worlds personally (and I suspect that for most of our a bedtime story; Language Acquisition de- Ray Jayawardhana, Princeton University planetarium audiences), this is what the exo- Press, 2011, ISBN: 978-0-691-14254-8. planet hunt is all about—finding places like 1 The editor, whose NASA-funded project is being re- Reviewed by Edward Albin, Fernbank Sci- our world where life, especially intelligent ferred to, wishes to note that she had nothing to do ence Center, Atlanta, Georgia, USA. life, might thrive! I with this review. - ed

December 2011 Planetarian 63 “We’ve worked to update and automate Waxing New our productions page. Now you can get show info, pricing, and watch full-length videos of An eclectic collection about planetariums, products and people every show we offer, all online,” Ron said. You compiled by Sharon Shanks can go straight to the productions page at ottplanetarium.org/productions. The two new shows are Star Hunting With Check it out online New shows from Bays Mountain Messier, andan OttGlorious Planetarium Dawn. Star Student Hunting Produc is an- Otttion Planetarium that introduces Student Messier Production objects thatto kids. in- The staff at the Adler Planetarium in Chica- Adam Thanz from Bays Mountain Planetar- troducesThe show Messier runs about objects 14 minutes to kids. and The is availshow- go shows off their creativity and sense of hu- ium in Kingsport, Tennessee, has announced runsable inabout 1k and 2k.14 mor with a neat YouTube video they call the the availability of two new programs from his minutesThe secondand is Adler Mocumentary. Kudos to the team (Pat- facility’s creative staff. A dome master from A availableshow, the in one1k Glorious Dawn rick and Lu), and also to Adler President Paul For second grade and older, there’s A Part andyou 2k.can down- Knappenberger, Manager of Theaters Mark of the Sky Called Orion. For alignment to cur- loadThe for free,second is A Webb, and Astronomer Mark SubbaRao for riculum, it touches on the big ideas that have show,Glorious the oneDawn you, their willingness to play along. Address: www. guided human understanding of the cosmos canthe newestdownload Open for youtube.com/watch?v=tR_oeZkeAxU. and its patterns in the sky. The program ex- free,Source is A GloriousPlane- amines how three different ancient cultures Dawntarium, the newestShow. While you’re there looked at Orion: Greek, Egyptian, and Inupiaq. OpenThe Source5-minute Plan- George Fleenor (GeoGraphics Imaging) and For third grade and older, there’sthere’s PlanetaryPlanetary etariumshow was Show. produced The 5-minute by participants show was produced at the Troy McClellan (Fulldome FX) have partnered Visions,Visions, anan interactiveinteractive program program that that is bestis best de- by2011 participants Blender Production at the 2011 Workshop Blender andProduc can- to cover the final space shuttle mission and scribeddescribed as anas anadventurous adventurous tour tour of the of solarthe solar sys- tionbe used Workshop for science and outreach can be usedor visitor for science entry. have offered their efforts free to anyone who tem.system. A flying A flying named robot Toggle named and Toggle the show and theop- outreachJohn Boswell’s or visitor (the entry.Symphony John ofBoswell’s Science; (the go wants to download them. eratorshow operator lead the tour.lead the tour. Symphonyto symphonyofscience.com of Science; go tofor symphonyof more about- The second zip folder that contains 330 se- Both programs are available in their entire- science.comhim) stirring forremix more of aboutCarl Sagan’s him) stirringCosmos re is- quenced images that make a short movie of ty on YouTube for evaluation. The addresses mixfeatured of Carl in this Sagan’s planetarium Cosmos isadaptation. featured in this the rollover of Atlantis/STS 135 from the or- are unlisted, so type these carefully: planetariumFinally, for adaptation. blenderheads, there’s a new sup- biter processing facility to the vehicle assem- Orion, part 1: www.youtube.com/ portFinally, forum for and blenderheads, discussion board there’s called a new Blend sup- bly building. watch?v=SNDssM0bD6Q portertarium. forum Its and goal discussion is to provide board rapid called responses Blend- As they become available, additional col- Orion, part 2: www.youtube.com/ ertarium.to questions Its goalthrough is to providecrowd sourcing rapid responses and to lections will be released, including an assort- watch?v=MpUL1TPB3mQ tohouse questions shared throughtools and crowd tutorials sourcing in one and place. to ment of images and sequences representing Planetary Visions, part 1: www.youtube. houseAll skill shared levels toolsare welcome; and tutorials you can in oneregister place. at events such as the rollout, pad crawls, launch, com/watch?v=ZeABzJR4Az0 Allblendertarium.ottplanetarium.org. skill levels are welcome; you can register at landing and tow back. They are available in Planetary Visions, part 2: www.youtube. blendertarium.ottplanetarium.org. .png format at 2400 and 1024 resolutions. com/watch?v=MxhA-dhL1Ac Resources for your classroom Although free, the images are for in-house Planetary Visions, part 3: www.youtube. ResourcesThe Astronomical for your Society classroom of the Pacif- use only. com/watch?v=BXsKgqXG8ws ic Theshares Astronomical some new educational Society of resources the Pacif or- To download, go to GeoGraphics at www. To see theall thetrailers trailers in higher in higher resolution, resolution, you icteaching shares orsome explaining new educational astronomy: resources or geographicsimaging.com and click on Special youcan gocan to go the to Bays the MountainBays Mountain YouTube YouTube chan- teaching•• Frank orDrake explaining tells how astronomy: he came up with Items, or to Fulldome FX at fulldomefx.com. channel:nel: www.youtube.com/user/BaysMountain. www.youtube.com/user/BaysMoun- • Frankthe Drake Drake Equation: tells how www.astrosociety.org/ he came up with tain. the Drake Equation: www.astrosociety.org/ Don’t log out yet drake. •• drake.A new classroom activity: How High Up is The legacy started by the inimitable Jack • ASpace: new www.astrosociety.org/education/acclassroom activity: How High Up is- Horkheimer is living on. Dean Regas, outreach Space:tivities/I11_How_High_Space.pdf. www.astrosociety.org/education/ac- astronomer at the Cincinnati (Ohio) Observa- •• tivities/I11_How_High_Space.pdf.An “Astronomy Behind the Headlines” pod- tory and James Albury, director of the Kika • Ancast “Astronomy on “Science Behind from the the Moon”Headlines” (on podcur- Silva Pla Planetarium in Gainesville, Florida, castrent onand “Science future Moon from missions,the Moon” with (on guest cur- are the hosts of the revamped program, along rentDr. Jack and Burns, future University Moon missions, of Colorado): with guest as- with Marlene Hildago, a science teacher for Dr.trosociety.org/abh/index.html. Jack Burns, University of Colorado): as- students with learning disabilities at St. Bren- •• trosociety.org/abh/index.html.An Astronomer Looks at Astrology (an in- dan High School in Miami, Florida. Reflecting • Anformation Astronomer sheet Looksfor students at Astrology and instruc (an in- the multiple hosts, the show is now called Star formationtors): www.astrosociety.org/astrology.pdf sheet for students and instruc - Gazers. The new shows from Bays Mountain •• tors):A new www.astrosociety.org/astrology.pdf issue of “The Universe in the Class - Star Gazers is an original production of the • Aroom” new issuewith of information “The Universe and in theactivities Class- Community Television Foundation of South room”for the with2012 informationTransit of Venus: and activitieswww.as- Florida. Ott’s new online home fortrosociety.org/education/publications/ the 2012 Transit of Venus: www.as- Regas reports “The format and content Ron Proctor announces that the Ott Plan- trosociety.org/education/publications/ tnl/78/78.html. won’t change too much but we hope to make etarium at Weber State University, Ogden, tnl/78/78.html. •• The Universe at Your Fingertips 2.0 (a DVD- the graphic design folks try out some new Utah, has a new home on the web, has re- • The Universe at Your Fingertips 2.0 (a DVD- ROM with 133 hands-on classroom activ- bells and whistles.” leased two new shows (and one is free), and ROM with 133 hands-on classroom activities, and lots of articles, resources, images, There are a couple of places to watch: at has opened a new discussion board for Blend- ities, and lots of articles, resources, images, and how-to videos for teaching astronomy www.stargazersonline.org or at the Cincinna- er users. and how-to videos for teaching astronomy at many levels and in many settings): www. ti Observatory website: www.cincinnatiobser-www.cincinnatiobser- The new website address is ottplanetarium. at many levels and in many settings): www. astrosociety.org/uayf. vatory.org/stargazer.html. org. astrosociety.org/uayf.

64 Planetarian December 2011 December 2011 Planetarian 65 Ronald N. Hartman Steve Innes Former Planetarian editor 1955-2011

Ronald N. Hartman Steve Innes, 56, died passed away on August unexpectedly on Oct. 30, 2011, after a brief ill- 16, 2011. ness. He was a professor He was born in Ann of astronomy and di- Arbor, Mich., on April rector of the Planetari- 22, 1955, the son of Ra- um at Mt. San Antonio chel and Richard Innes. College in Walnut, Cal- He graduated from ifornia for 38 years and high school in Ann Ronald Hartman was well-known in the Arbor, and graduated Steve Innes community of mete- from Eastern Michigan orite collectors and hunters. His passion for University. meteorites was kindled when he studied as- He married Nancy Murphy in 1980, and tronomy at the University of California, Los lived in Denver, Colorado, where Ben and Angeles under the renowned meteoriticist Hilary were born. They moved to Gorham, Frederick C. Leonard, a founder of the Mete- Maine in 1995. oritical Society. Steve worked as a technician in both the New in the Sky-Skan catalog: Undiscovered He worked at Griffith Observatory giving Southworth Planetarium and the College of Worlds from the Hayden Planetarium at the Mu- public lectures in the 1960s and began inves- Science, Technology and Health at the Uni- seum of Science, Boston. This 30-minute pro- tigating California dry lakes for the presence versity of Southern Maine. This past spring, gram, suitable for family audiences and school of meteorites. He discovered the Lucerne Dry Steve was awarded the Nelson and Small Prize groups, looks at the search for exoplanets. Full Lake strewn field in 1963 and returned to that by the Department of Engineering faculty for previews of this and many of Sky-Skan’s distributed shows can be found at www.skyskan. his dedicated service. site in 1999 to find more of the illusive little com/products/content. black rocks from space. He built up a large col- Steve loved being outdoors and volun- lection, part of which is displayed at the Mt. teered many hours working on Maine AT San Antonio College Planetarium and library. club corridor maintenance. Steve and his In 2005 he founded R. N. Hartman, Inc., wife have been active members of the Down a company that manufactures, assembles East Ski Club and they have enjoyed spend- and distributes membrane suspension boxes ing their winter weekends skiing with their worldwide. friends at Shawnee Peak. He received an associate in arts degree in Steve had a passion for “tinkering” with 1956 and a bachelor of arts degree in astrono- small engines, lawnmowers, his miniature my in 1959 from the University of California, trains, his observatory, and telescopes. He vol- Los Angeles, from which he also earned a mas- unteered with Gorham High School robotics ter of arts in education 1973. Ron loved astron- team while his son was a member. omy, he loved teaching and he loved sharing Steve is survived by his wife Nancy of Gor- the wonders of the night sky with his students ham; daughter Hilary of Colorado, son Ben of at star parties. He continued teaching even af- Gorham. Gifts may be made in memory of ter he retired in 2005. Steve to support USM’s planetarium, payable ESO outreach resources He was fascinated by archeoastronomy and to USM, and mailed to: Advancement and Do- Oana Sandu from the ESO shares a number traveled to Egypt to study astronomical align- nor Services, University of Southern Maine, of interesting outreach materials they now ments in ancient monuments. He was active P.O. Box 9300, Portland, Maine 04104-9300. have available: in the Pacific Planetarium Association and the Please specify Southworth Planetarium As one of the leading ground-based obser- International Planetarium Society. He served Fund in memory of Steven O. Innes. vatories in the world, the European Southern as an editor of the Planetarian from 1978-1981. Alternatevly, gifts also may be made to Observatory has a lot to offer. To make it easi- In 1984 he received the ISP Service Award, the the Maine Appalachian Trail Club, P.O. Box er for you not to miss on any opportunity, the ISP’s most prestigious honor. I 283, Augusta, Maine 04332-0283. I education and Public Outreach Department (ePOD) has launched a suite of newsletters to bring you the latest products, resources and Global Immersion appoints operations head outreach news from ESO. Global Immersion, headquartered West Sussex, United Kingdom, has You might find the latest ESO Outreach announced the appointment of Paul Isaacs as head of operations. Isaa- Community Newsletters useful for your ac- cs possesses more than 35 years of experience in fields of engineering, tivities as they contain news about: outreach programme management, senior management and leadership. products such as: CAPjournal; SpaceScoop: As- Isaacs holds an MBA and joins Global Immersion from Rockwell Collins Simulation & Training Solutions, where he held the position of princi- tronomy news for children; virtual tours and ple manager of Europe, Middle East and Africa Programmes. Earlier in live web cams from ESO’s telescopes; iPad his career, Isaacs served as operations director at Evans & Sutherland, apps; Science in School and more. general manager at Alteon Training, and programme manager at Brit- To subscribe to any of these newsletters, ish Aerospace, having launched his career in simulation engineering in visit www.eso.org/public/outreach/newslet- the Royal Air Force. Isaacs is also a Fellow of the Institute of Leader- ship and Management. ters.html. I

66 Planetarian December 2011 Planetarians’ Calendar of Events

2011 August-September (date in planning). British Association of Plan- 31 December. Deadline for IPS Eugenides Foundation Script con- etaria (BAP), annual meeting, United Kigdom. Contact: Shaar- test. www.ips-planetarium.org (see page 22) on Leverment,[email protected] 6-10 August. Spitz Summer Institute, Spitz, Inc. Chadds Ford (near 2012 Philadelphia), Pennsylvania, USA, annual event focusing on 3-5 February. Third IMERSA Fulldome Summit, Denver Museum planetarium education. Includes instruction in Starry Night of Nature & Science, Colorado, USA. Contact: Dan Neafus, dan. real time software, curriculum and live lessons/teaching with [email protected] SciDome digital planetariums. Beginner, intermediate and ad- 18 March. International Day of Planetaria. www.dayofplanetar- vanced sessions. www.spitzinc.com/institute ia.org 3-16 October. Association of Science-Technology Centers (ASTC) 31 March. Deadline for application for scholarship funds (IPS Annual Conference, COSI (Center of Science and Industry), Co- support Baton Rouge Conference attendance by individuals). lumbus, Ohio. www.astc.org www.ips-planetarium.org 24-27 October. Great Lakes Planetarium Association (GLPA), an- 14-15 April. Brembate di Sopra, Bergamo, Italy. Italian Association nual conference, North Hills High School Planetarium, Pitts- of Planetaria (PLANIT), XXVII National Conference, Italy, and burgh, Pennsylvania, USA. Contact: Susan Batson. www.gl- 2nd Full-Dome Italian Festival. During the conference Skype paweb.org session for planetarians from other countries. www.planetaritaliani.it; cotact [email protected] 2013 18-20 April, “Quality, Honesty and Beauty in science and tech- 16-19 October. Great Lakes Planetarium Association (GLPA), An- nology communication,” PCST-International Public Commu- nual conference, Peoria Riverfront Museum, Peoria, Illinois, nication of Science and Technology Conference XII, Palazzo USA. Contact: Sheldon Shafer. www.glpaweb.org dei Congressi, Florence, Italy 19-22 October. Association of Science-Technology Centers May. ECSITE Annual Conference (European Network of Science (ASTC) Annual Conference, Explora, NM Museum of Natural Centres and Museums). Site and dates will be available after 25 History & Science, National Museum of Nuclear Science & His- October 2011. www.ecsite.eu tory, Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA. www.astc.org 5-7 May. ADP 2012, Annual meeting of German speaking planetaria, Planetarium Wolfsburg, Germany. www.planetarium- 2014 wolfsburg.de 16-20 March. Science Center World Summit, Technopolis, Mech- 8-12 May: 6th FullDome Festival in the Jena Zeiss-Planetarium. elen and Brussels, Belgium. Partners: Technopolis, Flemish sci- Jena, Germany. The 6th FullDome Festival again will show full- ence center, Mechelen, Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sci- length feature shows, lots of student works and clips of inde- ences, Brussels. www.technopolis.be pendent and professional producers. The main topic of the Fes- tival will be “Dissolving Space” - How to use fulldome content Yearly Deadlines for “A Week in Italy” to make the dome invisible. An international jury will present 31 August. Deadline for the applicants of “An experience in Ita- FullDome Awards for the best entries. Contact: Schorcht Volk- ly for a French Speaking Planetarium Operator,” in collabora- mar, [email protected] tion with APLF. 17-20 May. Association of French Speaking Planetariums (APLF), 15 September. Deadline for the applicants of “A Week in Italy for Yearly Meeting, Planétarium de Bretagne, Pleumeur-Bodou, an American Planetarium Operator,” in collaboration with IPS France, France. www.aplf-planetariums.org Portable Planetarium Committee. 31 May–2 June. ECSITE Annual Conference (European Network 30 September. Deadline for the applicants of “An experience in It- of Science Centres and Museums), Cité de l’Espace, Toulouse, aly for a British Planetarium Operator,” in collaboration with France www.ecsite.net BAP. 11-15 July. ESOF 2012, Euroscience Open Forum, Dublin City of For more information on the “Week in Italy,” go to: www.as- Science 2012, www.dublinscience2012.ie trofilibresciani.it/Planetari/Week_in_Italy/-Week_Italy.htm 20-21 July. International Planetarium Society Council Meeting, Baton Rouge, Louisiana. For corrections and new information for the Calendar of 21-22 July. Southeastern Planetarium Association (SEPA), 2012 Events, please send a message to Loris Ramponi at osservatorio@ conference, Baton Rouge, Louisiana, USA. www.sepadomes.org serafinozani.it. 22-26 July. 21st International Planetarium Society Confer- More details about several of these upcoming events are in- ence, Irene W. Pennington Planetarium, Louisiana Art & cluded in the International News column and elsewhere in the Science Museum, Baton Rouge, Louisiana, USA, jelvert@ Planetarian. lasm.org, www.ips2012.com. IPS conference will Ustream the The most up-to-date information also is available online at the opening ceremony, keynote speaker, business meeting, and pa- International Planetarian’s Calendar of Events at www.ips-plane- per sessions each day. tarium.org/events/conferences.html I

December 2011 Planetarian 67 Last Light

April S. Whitt Fernbank Science Center 156 Heaton Park Drive NE Atlanta, Georgia 30307 USA [email protected]

Alert reader Sam Storch responded to a ing bugs and voting each other off the island posting on the Middle Atlantic Planetarium is standard fare. Here’s an interesting scenario, Society’s list-serve recently: adapted from one floating around the inter- This interesting quote came from the T- net recently. Mobile girl. You know, the one in the pink or Three male and three female administra- pink and white dress. tors will be dropped into planetariums for one MyDaily: Hi, Carly. We want to know school year. Each contestant will be provided more about you—the real girl, not the 4G girl. with a copy of his/her school district’s curric- What’s your sign? ulum, and will work with classes of 20-25 stu- Carly Foulkes: “I’ve always been a Leo, but dents. Late in September the weather cooperated to now with this whole new astrology signs busi- Each class will have a minimum of five give us an observatory at the end of the rain- ness, it turns out I’m actually a Cancer. I was learning-disabled children, three with atten- bow. Photo by Ed Albin, Fernbank Science Cen- freaked at first, but now I’ve read up on the tion deficit hyperactivity disorder, one gift- ter. (for a really cool poster about rainbows, Cancer thing and it actually makes a lot more ed child, and two who speak limited English. check the Chandra web site at bit.ly/ok9kk4). sense.” Three students will be labeled with severe be- As Sam said, “I guess that there’s a lot of havior problems. work still to be done. In the immortal words Each contestant must complete written quired fire drills, tornado drills, and Code Red of Ralph Kramden1, perhaps she was “born un- program outlines at least three days in ad- drills for shooting attacks each month. der the sign of Pistachio, the Nut!” vance, with annotations for curriculum ob- They must attend workshops and facul- jectives and modify, organize, or create ty meetings, and attend curriculum devel- Can you survive this? their materials accordingly. They will be re- opment meetings. They must also tutor stu- Have you heard about the next planned quired to teach students, handle miscon- dents who are behind and strive to get their Survivor show? Survivor is a “reality televi- duct, implement technology, document at- two non-English speaking children proficient sion” program popular among some viewers. tendance, write and produce new programs enough to take the SOLS (speakers of other A group of people is dropped into some hos- (none to cost more than 25 euros), make bul- languages) tests. If they are ill or having a bad tile environment and required to survive. Eat- letin boards and/or exhibits, answer questions day they must not let it show. from the media, communicate with teachers, Each day they must incorporate reading, 1 Ralph Kramden was a character on the Honeymoon- and arrange tours for the local administration. writing, math, social studies (and maybe some ers, an early television sitcom, played by Jackie Glea- They must not laugh at, nor scorn, ques- astronomy) into their programs. They must son. tions about Mars ap- maintain discipline and provide an educa- pearing as large as tionally stimulating environment to moti- the full moon, the vate the audience at all times. If all audience end of the world members do not wish to cooperate, work, or in 2012 or the Ma- learn, the contestant will be held responsible. yan calendar, a large The contestants will only have access to the body moving be- public golf course on the weekends, but with tween the Earth and their new salary, they will not be able to af- the sun and cutting ford it. There will be no access to vendors who off its light for two want to take them out to lunch, and lunch days at some unspec- will be limited to 30 minutes, which is not ified date, satellites counted as part of their work day. The con- raining debris over testants will be permitted to use a student re- the Earth, when the stroom, as long as another survival candidate next comet will be can supervise their class. visible, or “my sign.” If the copier is operable, they may make They must also stand copies of necessary materials before, or after, in the planetarium public hours. However, they cannot surpass doorway between their monthly limit of copies. The contestants shows to monitor must continually advance their education, at the exhibit area. their expense, and on their own time. Sure, we’ve got that department: Many thanks to Kris McCall, Sudekum Plane- In addition, they The winner of this season of Survivor will tarium, Nashville, Tennessee, for sharing a survey she received. Photoshop en- I hancements to the actual survey by the editor. will complete the re- be allowed to return to his/her job.

68 Planetarian December 2011

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