Vol. 43, No. 2 June 2014

Journal of the International Planetarium Society

The many spheres of IPS 4-16 Yazakicho, Fuchu-shi, 5715 Susan Drive East, Tokyo 183-8530 Japan Indianapolis, IN 46250 Tel：+81-42-362-5312 Tel：+1-317-537-2806 Fax：+81-42-361-9571 E-Mail：[email protected] E-Mail：[email protected] Contact：Ken Miller URL：http://www.goto.co.jp

Experience 8K Ad - Q1 Final.indd 1 4/21/2014 5:28:51 PM Articles June 2014 Vol. 43 No. 2 8 Revolve: Preparing for IPS 2016 Executive Editor Maciej Ligowski, Monica Malinowska Sharon Shanks 10 Stars come alive for the vision impaired Ward Beecher Planetarium Anna Rebecca Green Youngstown State University 14 Nehru Planetarium launches special show for hearing impaired One University Plaza Suhas B. Naik-Satam Youngstown, Ohio 44555 USA 16 How Big Bird became a fulldome superstar +1 330-941-3619 Mark Paternostro [email protected] 20 Audio-visual project turns the view upside down Webmaster Maja Egebo Schriver, Aase Roland Jacobsen 22 WPD, at 10 years old, continues to mature Daniel Audeon Alan Gould 24 The new Music of the Spheres Sylvie Vauclair Holt Planetarium 26 The effects of seductive details in an inflatable planetarium Lawrence Hall of Science Sean Gillette University of California 32 Glen Moore retires after 44 years of bringing science to Berkeley, California 94720-5200 USA Wollongong Greg Ellis +1 510-643-5082 33 Dale Etheridge: A Lifetime under the dome +1 510-642-1055 fax 34 John Quincy Adams’ role in American astronomy [email protected] John E. Ventre Advertising Coordinator 38 The Great Comet of 1811 left its mark Jean-Michel Faidit Dr. Dale Smith 58 Science Museum of Virginia team discusses how their new 8K (See Publications Committee on page 3) system changed the way they use “The Dome” Judith Rubin Membership 84 Alan J. Friedman, IPS past president Individual: $65 one year; $100 two years Institutional: $250 first year; $125 annual renewal Library Subscriptions: $50 one year; $90 two years Columns All amounts in US currency 81 Book Reviews...... April S. Whitt Direct membership requests and changes of 87 Calendar of Events...... Loris Ramponi address to the Treasurer/Membership Chairman 47 Data to Dome...... Tom Kwasnitschka, Ka Chun Yu, Matthew Turk Printed Back Issues of the Planetarian 54 Digital Fulldome & Immersive Media News...... Judith Rubin IPS Back Publications Repository 52 Educational Horizons ...... Jack L. Northrup maintained by the Treasurer/Membership Chair; 4 In Front of the Console ...... Sharon Shanks contact information is on next page 62 International News...... Lars Broman Final Deadlines 88 Last Light...... April S. Whitt 76 Mobile News...... Susan Reynolds Button March: January 21 18 Partycles...... Alex Cherman June: April 21 6 President’s Message ...... Thomas W. Kraupe September: July 21 80 Sound Advice...... Jeff Bowen December: October 21 84 Waxing New...... Sharon Shanks On the Cover: Celebrating the diversity of the International Planetarium Society: Clockwise, from upper right: Dennis Simopoulos, Index of Advertisers who just retired from the Eugenides Planetarium in Athens, Astro-Tec...... 7 Greece; see more on page 65. Audio Visual Imagineering ...... 51 Minnesota State University Planetarium Director Dave Wein- rich, aka “Laser Dave,” and the staff of the planetarium pre- California Academy of Sciences...... 71 sented shows to over 900 people during their Laserfest Clark Planetarium/Hansen Dome ...... 75 2014 event. Photo by Nicholas Watson. Digitalis Education Solutions, Inc...... 9 Sea plants in dome view at the innovative program Plants of Evans & Sutherland ...... 19, 73, inside back cover the Ocean, an audio-visual installation at the Steno Museum The Elumenati ...... 15 Planetarium at the University of Aarhus, Denmark. Photo tak- GOTO INC ...... inside front cover en by Peter Bondo Christensen; see more on page 20. Planetarium Torreón, Mexico, with its impressive Saturn ring Konica Minolta Planetarium Co. Ltd ...... 23 architecture. Photo by Eduardo Hernández; read more on Mirage3d...... 5, 35, 61, 83 page 63. NSC creative ...... 37 A 3D show in the Planetarium La Coupole, Helfaut, France. R.S.A. Cosmos ...... 57, outside back cover Courtesy of Julien Cadez/La Coupole. More about this fasci- SCISS...... 29 nating museum appears on page 62. Vlad Dolgov attempts to manipulate the gloves of space- Sky-Skan, Inc ...... 43-46 suit Orlan during activities at Nizhny Novgorod Planetarium, Spitz, Inc...... 53, 55 Russia. Photo by Uliana Avdeenko; more on page 70. Spitz Creative Media...... 31, 41, 79, 85 Fiske Planetarium’s retired optomechanical starball, now on You Can Do Astronomy...... 50 display in the lobby of the Boulder, Colorado, planetarium. Zeiss, Inc...... 69 Photo: Phil Groce. Center: Uniview render from a Worldviews Network presen- tation showing a panoramic photo “bubble” of Mt. Everest. International Planetarium Society home page: Photo by Ka Chun Yu; see more starting on page 47. www.ips-planetarium.org Background: Hubble Space Telescope image of a small part of the giant stellar stream of the Andromeda Galaxy. NASA, Planetarian home page: ESA and T.M. Brown (STScI) www.ips-planetarium.org/?page=plntrn

June 2014 Planetarian 1 Affiliate Representatives

Association of Brazilian British Association Italian Association Russian Planetariums Planetariums of Planetaria of Planetaria Association Officers Alexandre Cherman Dr. Jenny Shipway Loris Ramponi Zinaida P. Sitkova Planetário do Rio de Janeiro Head of Planetarium National Archive of Planetaria Nizhny Novgorod President R. Vice-Governador Winchester Science Centre c/o Centro Studi e Ricerche Planetarium Thomas W. Kraupe Rubens Berardo, 100 Telegraph Way, off Serafino Zani Revolutsionnja Street 20 Planetarium Hamburg Rio de Janeiro RJ Alresford Road via Bosca 24, C.P. 104 603002 Nizhny Otto-Wels-Str.1 Brazil 22451-070 Winchester, Hampshire I 25066 Lumezzane Novgorod, Russia (formerly Hindenburgstr.1b) +55 (21) 2274-0046 ext. 264 SO21 1HZ, United Kingdom (Brescia) Italy +7 831 246-78-80 D-22303 Hamburg +55 (21) 2529-2149 fax +44 1 962 891916 +39 30 872 164 +7 831 246-77-89 fax Deutschland alexandre.cherman@ +44 1 962 86369 +39 30 872 545 fax [email protected] +49 0 (40) 428 86 52-21 planetario.rio.rj.gov.br JennyShipway@ [email protected] www.apr.planetariums.ru +49 0 (40) 428 86 52-99 fax planetarios.org.br winchestersciencecentre.com [email protected] +49 0 (40) 4279 24-850 e-fax www.planetariodorio. www.winchestersciencecentre.org www.planetari.org Society of the German- +49 0 (40) 172-40 86 133 cell com.br www.planetarium.org.uk Speaking Planetariums thomas.kraupe@ Japan Christian Theis planetarium-hamburg.de Association of Canadian Association Planetarium Society Planetarium Mannheim Dutch-Speaking of Science Centres Kaoru Kimura Wilhelm-Varnholt-Allee 1 Past-President Planetariums/PLANed Ian C. McLennan Japan Science Foundation D-68165 Mannheim #404 - 1275 Haro Street Kitanomaru Park, Chiyoda-ku Dave Weinrich Andre Milis Germany Vancouver, British Columbia Tokyo, 102-0091 Japan Planetarium Planetarium, Royal +49 621 419 4220 (phone); V6E 1G1 Canada [email protected] Minnesota State Observatory of Belgium +49 621 412 411 (fax); +1 604-681-4790 www.shin-pla.info University-Moorhead Boechoutlaan 10 ct@planetarium- phone + fax 1104 7th Avenue South 1020 Brussels, Belgium mannheim.de [email protected] Middle Atlantic Moorhead +324747030 www.gdp-planetarium.org [email protected] Planetarium Minnesota 56563 USA +324783026 fax www.ianmclennan.com Society Southeastern +1 218-477-2969 [email protected] Patty Seaton Planetarium +1 218-477-5864 fax Association of French- Chinese Planetarium H.B. Owens Science Center Association [email protected] Speaking Planetariums Society 9601 Greenbelt Road John Hare President-Elect Marc Moutin Jin Zhu Lanham-Seabrook, Ash Enterprises Beijing Planetarium Maryland 20706 USA Paul H. Knappenberger, Jr. Cité de l’espace 3602 23rd Avenue West No. 138 Xizhimenwait Street +1 301-918 8750 P.O. Box 532 Avenue Jean Gonord Bradenton, Florida Beijing, 1000044 +1 301-918 8753 fax Edinburg, Virginia BP 25855 34205 USA P.R. China [email protected] USA 22824 31506 Toulouse Cedex 5 +1 941-746-3522 +86 10-5158-3311 [email protected] +33 (0)5 62 71 56 03 [email protected] +33 (0)5 62 71 56 29 fax +86 10-5158-3312 fax Nordic Planetarium www.sepadomes.org [email protected] [email protected] Association Executive Secretary www.cite-espace.com Jaap Vreeling Southwestern Lee Ann Hennig www.aplf-planetariums.org European/ Nova informatie centrum Association of Planetarium, Thomas Mediterranean Science Park 904 Planetariums Jefferson High School Association of Mexican Planetarium 1098 XH Amsterdam Rachel Thompson for Science and Technology Planetariums Association Tel: +31 0 20 525 7480 Portable Universe Manager 6560 Braddock Road Ignacio Castro Pinal Manos Kitsonas fax: +31 0 20 525 7484 & Presenter Alexandria, Virginia 22312 USA Ave. San Bernabe, 23 , Casa 7 Eugenides Planetarium [email protected] Perot Museum of Nature +1 703-750-8380 San Jerónimo Lídice, 387 Syngrou Avenue www.astronomie.nl and Science +1 703-750-5010 fax , C.P. 10200 17564 P. Faliro 2201 North Field Street [email protected] México City, D.F. México Athens, Greece Pacific Planetarium Dallas, Texas 75202 USA +52 (55) 5500 0562 +30 210 946 9674 Association +1 214-756-5830 Treasurer and +52 (55) 5500 0583 fax +30 210 941 7372 fax sites.csn.edu/ rachel.thompson@ Membership Chair [email protected] [email protected] planetarium/PPA perotmuseum.org www.swapskies.org Shawn Laatsch Association of Spanish Great Lakes Planetarium Rocky Mountain +31 50 363 9347 Planetariums Association Planetarium [email protected] Javier Armentia Jeanne Bishop Association Transitioning to new address. Planetario de Pamplona Westlake Schools Mike George Sancho Ramirez, 2 Planetarium 600 East Washington Street Check payments of E-31008 Pamplona Parkside Intermediate School Phoenix, Arizona 85004 USA membership fees: Navarra Spain 24525 Hilliard Road +1 602-716-2079 Mail to +34 948 260 004 Westlake, Ohio 44145 USA +1 602-716-2099 fax Lee Ann Hennig +34 948 260 056 +1 440-899-3075 x2058 [email protected] IPS Executive Secretary +34 948 261 919 fax +1 440-835-5572 fax 7714 Lookout Court [email protected] jeanneebishop@ Alexandria, Virginia 22306 gestion@pamplonetario. wowway.com USA infonego-cio.com www.glpaweb.org

Membership fees also can be Australasian Planetarium Great Plains Planetarium paid online on the IPS website. Society Association Warik Lawrance Jack Dunn Advertising invoices: Melbourne Planetarium Ralph Mueller Planetarium Mail to Scienceworks/Museum University of Nebraska-Lincoln Dale Smith Victoria 210 Morrill Hall Advertising Coordinator 2 Booker Street Lincoln, Nebraska 104 Overman Hall Spotswood (Melbourne) 68588-0375 USA Physics &Astronomy Department Victoria +1 402-472-2641 Bowling Green State University 3015 Australia +1 402-475-8899 fax Bowling Green, Ohio 43403 USA +61 3 9392 4503 [email protected] +61 3 9391 0100 fax www.spacelaser.com/gppa wlawrance@museum. vic.gov.au www.aps-planetarium.org

2 Planetarian June 2014 Standing Committees IPS Permanent Awards Committee Conference Host-2016 Finance Committee Prof. Lars Broman, Chair Robert Firmhofer, Director President, Past President, Presi- Mailing Address Teknoland Monika Malinowska, Head of dent Elect, Treasurer, Secretary Stångtjärnsv 132 Conference & Events International Planetarium Society SE-791 74 Falun Management Membership Committee Sweden Weronika Sliwa, Planetarium Shawn Laatsch, Chair c/o Lee Ann Henning +46 2310177 Director Transitioning to new address. Executive Secretary [email protected] Maciej Ligowski, Program +31 50 363 9347 www.teknoland.se Coordinator [email protected] 7714 Lookout Court Copernicus Science Centre Alexandria, Virginia 22306 Conference Committee Wybrzeże Kościuszkowskie Publications Committee USA Thomas W. Kraupe 20, 00-390 Warsaw, Poland Dr. Dale W. Smith, Chair Planetarium Hamburg [email protected] BGSU Planetarium Hindenburgstraße 1 b +48 22 596 4275 104 Overman Hall IPS Web Site: D-22303 Hamburg +48 22 596 4113 fax Physics &Astronomy Department www.ips-planetarium.org Deutschland Bowling Green State University +49 0 (40) 428 86 52-21 Elections Committee Bowling Green, Ohio 43403 USA +49 0 (40) 428 86 52-99 fax Martin George, Chair +1 419-372-8666 Please notify the Editor of any +49 0 (40) 4279 24-850 e-fax Launceston Planetarium +1 419-372-9938 fax +49 0 (40) 172-40 86 133 cell Queen Victoria Museum dsmith@newton.bgsu.edu changes on these two pages. thomas.kraupe@ Wellington Street planetarium-hamburg.de Launceston Tasmania 7250 Contact the Treasurer/Membership www.gdp-planetarium.org Australia +61 3 6323 3777 Chair for individual member address Conference Host-2014 +61 3 6323 3776 fax changes and general circulation and Dr. Jin Zhu, Director [email protected] billing questions. Beijing Planetarium 138 Xizhimenwai Street Beijing 100044 China +86 10-5158-3007 +86 10-5158-3312 fax [email protected] Ad Hoc Committees Armand Spitz International Portable Planetarium Education Fund Relations Committee Planetarium Committee Finance Committee Martin George, Chair Susan Reynolds Button, Chair Launceston Planetarium Quarks to Clusters Education Committee Queen Victoria Museum 8793 Horseshoe Lane Jack L. Northrup Wellington Street Chittenango, NY 13037 Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Launceston, Tasma- +1 315-687-5371 Planetarium nia 7250 Australia [email protected] King Science and Technology +61 3 6323 3777 [email protected] Magnet Center +61 3 6323 3776 fax 3720 Florence Blvd. [email protected] Science & Data Omaha, NE 68110 USA Visualization Task Force +1 402-557-4494 Planetarium Design and Dr. Mark SubbaRao [email protected] Operations Committee Adler Planetarium webmail.ops.org/~jack.northrup Ian McLennan 1300 South Lake Shore Drive #404 - 1275 Haro Street Chicago, Illinois 60091 USA History Committee Vancouver, British Columbia +1 312-294-0348 John Hare, IPS Historian V6E 1G1 Canada [email protected] Ash Enterprises +1 604-681-4790 phone + fax 3602 23rd Avenue West [email protected] Bradenton, Florida 34205 USA [email protected] +1 941-746-3522 www.ianmclennan.com [email protected]

Planetarian (ISN 0090-3213) is published quarterly by the International Plan- etarium Society. ©2014 International Guidelines for contributors Planetarium Society, Inc., all rights re-

•• Planetarian welcomes submissions of interest to the planetarium community. Preference is given to articles that closely re- served. Opinions expressed by authors late to the philosophy, management, technical aspects, educational aspects, or history of planetariums, and to ideas that are personal opinions and are not neces- can readily be incorporated into planetarium shows. Authors are responsible for obtaining all necessary copyright clearanc- sarily the opinions of the International es, especially for illustrations and photographs. •• Research articles dealing with educational aspects of the planetarium and other topics are highly desirable and will be ref- Planetarium Society, its officers, or ereed if applicable and requested. agents. Acceptance of advertisements, •• Contributors agree that their submission is their own original work and has not appeared elsewhere in print or electroni- cally, nor is not being submitted simultaneously elsewhere in print or electronically. If the submission has appeared else- announcements, or other material does where in print or electronically, permission to re-print must be obtained and a copy of this permission emailed to the Edi- not imply endorsement by the Interna- tor with the article. tional Planetarium Society, its officers •• Once accepted for publication, the contributor also agrees that the copyright for original works not appearing elsewhere is held by the International Planetarium Society. Once a submission has appeared in Planetarian (but not before the printed or agents. The editor welcomes Letters version has been received by members), contributors may post the submission on a personal website, blog, or a website of to the Editor and items for consideration general interest as long as the following appears: Copyright 2013 (or appropriate year) International Planetarium Society; for publication.The Editor reserves the used with permission and provide a link to the IPS. If in doubt, contact the editor with questions. •• The Guidelines for Contributors on the IPS website should be consulted before submitting an article. right to edit any manuscript to suit this •• Potential advertisers are invited to check the Advertising Guidelines and Rate Sheet on the IPS website: publication’s needs. www.ips-planetarium.org/?page=plntrn

June 2014 Planetarian 3 Notice I said “rein in,” as in exercising con- trol and restraint, not stop. I would be the last In Front of the Console person to ever suggest that our basic human right to free speech (at least that’s a right we enjoy and abuse in the United States). Dome- Sharon Shanks L is our forum, our connection to our peers Ward Beecher Planetarium around the globe, and a place to blow off Youngstown State University steam and ask for advice. It’s the neighbor- Youngstown, OH 44555 USA hood bar, if you will, where everyone knows your name. [email protected] Sometimes, however, strong personalities and opinions clash and erupt into verbal bar- room brawls that leave the participants with Two-hundred and eighty-three. 283. That’s verse with the public. The latitude and longi- black eyes but no resolution to the issues be- a lot of years of experience accumulated by tude from which they work doesn’t matter, ing discussed. No one wins—and, more impor- seven planetarium professionals who are because we all share the same sky. tantly, no one person or point of view is able marking retirements in 2013 and 2014—and The types of planetariums are also illustrat- to ever “win.” those are only the ones I have heard about. ed by the retirees mentioned earlier: they rep- The purpose of planetariums, the use of We should feel honored that our profession resent large and small science museum, uni- technology, the supposed glory of the “good draws such a level of commitment and pas- versity, and school planetariums, including old days,” are all topics that spark debate and sion that these planetarians devoted an aver- one whose facility does astronomy only with needless spats. These are all just eddies in the age of 40 years of their lives under the dome, mobile domes. gas cloud that surrounds our central core, per- teaching and sharing with hundreds of thou- To draw an analogy with the stars, the plan- haps resulting in dark spots. sands of people. etarium field can be described as being in a But the increasing vitriol, especially in a so- Six of the retirees are featured in this issue state of hydrostatic equilibrium, where the ciety that, unfortunately, is coming to value of Planetarian: expanding gas—our diversity—is balanced by personal beliefs more than science, could do •• John Cotton, Fair Park, Texas, retired in the binding force (gravity) of our passion of more than create eddies: it could be the disas- 2013 after 48 years in the field (page 72); sharing the universe. ter that tears our star apart. •• Dennis Simopoulos, Eugenides Planetari- Basically, gravity pulls in while gas tries to No one wants our star to supernova, nor um, Athens, Greece, 47 years (page 65); escape, and equilibrium is reached when the do we want our society torn apart by outside •• Glen Moore, Wollongong, Australia, 44 two are balanced. Any upsets to the balance forces, or by inside forces not concerned with years (page 32); can lead to the death of the star. the good of the whole. •• Dale Etheridge, College of Southern Ne- The International Planetarium Society has The IPS officers have been working on a vada, Las Vegas, 38 years (page 33); been serving as the core of our hydrostatic plan called Vision 2020 to help ameliorate •• Sheldon Schafer, Peoria Riverfront Muse- system, pulling toward itself the “mass” of the some of the difficulties of leading, serving, and um, Illinois, 38 years (page 66, plus page 72 different “gases” that make up the planetari- providing benefits to planetarium profession- in the March 2014 Planetarian); and um field. als. President Thomas Kraupe has been sharing •• Larry Mascotti, Mayo High School Planetar- I would love to see the core of our society different aspects of Vision 2020 in his column, ium in Rochester, Minnesota, 37 years. grow in mass so that we transform from a red and it will be discussed at IPS 2014 in Beijing. The seventh is Dave Weinrich, IPS past pres- dwarf star, large enough to sustain nuclear fu- Stay tuned for more details. ident, who retired from Minnesota State Uni- sion and long lived, but not very active or ex- versity-Moorhead after 31 years. I learned of citing, to become at least a yellow star, a stable Our strength in diversity Dave’s retirement through personal corre- society with enough members to be a solid, Getting back to the cover, this issue also il- spondence. steady, relatively long-live force that keeps lustrates our strength though diversity and I also need to include Sue Peterson, plane- the planetarium field in balance. the creativity within our field. We have sto- tarium director at the Science Factory Chil- To grow, we need more mass. We need to ries about reaching out to underserved pop- dren’s Museum and Planetarium in Eugene, recruit, for example, the many school-based ulations (shows for the vision impaired in Oregon, who announced her retirement via planetarium people who don’t have the time, St. Louis and for the deaf in Mumbai), how a Dome-L. interest, or financial support to join a society multi-cultural and multi-language program The next time you see any of these col- that doesn’t often touch on their facilities. was born and has prospered (Big Bird as a full- leagues, take a moment to stop, shake their I have only one data point for that state- dome star), using the dome’s environment hands, and tell them “thank you” for their ment, a local high school planetarian whose to teach in other disciplines (an audio-visual dedication to the dome and the work we do dome is his classroom and the pressures of project under the sea, geosciences); and histor- under it. teaching and raising a young family place the ical astronomy (John Quincy Adams and the IPS low on his priority list. Regardless, I think Great Comet of 1811). Hydrostatic equilibrium he is representative of many of the school Each shows how we use the dome to teach The cover of this issue was fun to put to- planetarians out there. and inform, to provide an aesthetic response gether. I had many excellent images to choose We also need to appeal to the many differ- to hard-to-understand issues, and take advan- from (the majority from IPS affiliates for Inter- ent types of planetariums in existence, and tage of the technology we have available to national News), each telling a different story. serve their needs the best we can. achieve our missions. Then I realized that they also illustrate the After all, the Vandalia Planetarium (Smith many different types, settings, and people of Who needs all the drama? Middle School, Ohio) drew 100 people for a planetariums around the world, all with the We also need to personally rein in the dra- program in a dome with 66 seats and whose same mission: to share the wonders of the uni- ma sometimes acted out on Dome-L. technology is 40+ years old. Mission success. I

4 Planetarian June 2014 June 2014 Planetarian 5 The jury had a record-breaking number President’s Message of 68 productions from all around the world to review and finally selected 30 fulldome Thomas W. Kraupe films for the competition. Winners will be an- Planetarium Hamburg nounced also on our website and in the next Otto-Wels-Str.1 issue of Planetarian. D-22303 Hamburg, Deutschland +49 0 (40) 428 86 52 50 Sessions by IPS Committees +49 0 (40) 427 92 48 50 fax Another new feature of IPS 2014 will be ses- +49 0 (172) 408 61 33 iPhone sions by IPS committee chairs surrounding [email protected], www.planetarium-hamburg.de the tasks they are working on for the benefit of IPS members. Among others, this includes a panel session on “So you want to build a plan- Dear Fellow Planetarians: Asia, and in China in particular. etarium-a 2014 update“ by the new IPS Plan- While you read this in June, our big IPS I am really pleased about the lineup of key- etarium Design and Operations committee gathering—the 22nd biennial conference in note speakers for IPS 2014, which includes Mr. chaired by Ian McLennan, plus a session on Beijing, China—is only a few days away. IPS Ouyang Ziyuan, former chief scientist of Chi- “Data to Domes” by Mark Subbarao, chair of 2014 is attracting planetarium professionals na’s lunar exploration program; Mr. Sun Xia- the IPS Science and Data Visualisation Task from around the world and I do hope to see ochun, leading scientist on Chinese Ancient Force. you there June 23-27! Please consult the con- Astronomy; and Prof. NAME Samus of the ference website at www.ips2014.org for late- Steinberg Institute at Moscow State Univer- New Tasks, New IPS Committees breaking details. sity and chair of Eurasian Astronomy Soci- There are two new IPS ad hoc committees Please understand that this current ety, who will talk on astronomy and astrono- beginning their work at the conference in Bei- president´s message was written in very busy my education in Russia and nearby countries; jing. times and hence is considerably shorter than and David J. Eicher, whom most of you know Mark Webb the Adler Planetarium (Chica- usual, with just some bullet points for you to as editor-in-chief of Astronomy magazine, the go) chairs “Live Presentation under the Dome” look after. world’s largest publication on the subject. and will orchestrate workshops devoted to Dave is also president of the Astronomy this important subject, which could evolve to IPS 2014 Elections Foundation, the telescope industry’s first-ev- form a pillar for professional development in The call for nominations for president er trade association, and author of 17 books our Vision 2020 strategy. elect, secretary and treasurer for 2015-2016 on science and history. In his keynote talk, Rene Rodigast, audio researcher at Fraun- will close at the IPS2014 business meeting in Dave will speak about “Communicating As- hofer Institute for Digital Media Technolo- Beijing, with the last chance for nominations tronomy in the 21st Century” and discuss gy, Ilmenau, Germany, will gather interested from the floor. Please contact Martin George, the increasing challenges and complexity of IPS members and experts for defining require- chair of the Elections Committee, at martin- communicating planetary science, astrono- ments on sound and acoustics in planetari- [email protected], if you have any ques- my, and cosmology in the fast-paced mod- ums. tions about this election. More information is ern world we now live in, with many younger Based on upcoming discussions at IPS posted on the IPS Website and on the the IPS people awash in a continual world of enter- 2014 and thereafter, an IPS committee will Election Committee pages. tainment and with new modes and methods be formed and start to focus on high quali- All members will be informed about the of getting science out to the public. ty audio in the dome. This will include top- candidates and voting will start in September His talk will describe exciting current de- ics like room acoustics, spatial sound quali- via electronic ballots on our website. You will velopments, the new worlds of social media ty and acoustical immersion, and should lead be notified about that soon after the IPS 2014 and digital publishing, and the challenges to towards audio standards, easier content ex- conference. spark interest in planetaria. change between planetariums, and affordable Dave and I are already exploring how IPS solutions. Bids for hosting IPS 2018 and Astronomy magazine can cooperate in The committee will cooperate with Ian’s Who will be hosting the 24th IPS confer- this area and how this could give planetari- committee, communicate with vendors, and ence, after IPS 2016 in Warsaw? We will not ums greater visibility. We intend to record support existing and new planetariums with know until IPS council votes on that in 2015, Dave´s talk (and all keynote talks and other advice to achieve optimum sound, allowing but we will know the candidates for 2018 be- major events at IPS 2014) and make it avail- the audience a natural and fully immersive cause they will present their bids at IPS 2014 able via download from the IPS member-only experience. in Beijing. pages. This will be especially useful for those Spending most of our budgets and produc- Hence, if you are attending IPS 2014 you members who unfortunately could not at- tion efforts on visuals, most of us still seem to will be able to see the presentations first hand, tend our IPS Conference this time. underestimate the role of sound and acous- ask questions, and meet with potential hosts As usual we certainly will also gather the tics in our domes. But just think about it: the face to face. All the presentations also will be majority of the presentations in writing in our whole illusion of an infinite sky filled with distributed and reprinted in upcoming issues proceedings, which will be made available to a perfect star field will be immediately de- of our journal. I am thrilled about what could our members as a digital publication. stroyed if the sound field reveals to our ears once more be a great international competi- that we are still sitting in a small chamber just tion in the best spirit of IPS! Fulldome Awards at IPS 2014 a few meters in diameter. That is why I felt it In just a few days, on June 25 at IPS 2014 is time that IPS provides assistance here, and Keynotes at IPS 2014 in Beijing, we also will present jointly with Rene will be a good mover and shaker for this Let us look again at IPS 2014, since it will the Macao Science Center the first Fulldome and spearhead this new task for IPS. be an unprecedented chance to learn about Awards Night, featuring the winners of the I am sure we will be able and really need astronomy, science education and culture in IPS-Macao International Fulldome Festival. (Continues on page 8)

6 Planetarian June 2014 June 2014 Planetarian 7 Maciej Ligowski Monika Malinowska Copernicus Science Centre Warsaw, Poland Copernicus Science Centre Preparing for IPS 2016 “Have you ever dreamed of flying…?” says the sun and set the planets moving. momentum that will ensure IPS’s dynamic de- an enticing voice, as all around us we behold But please do not think that we chose this velopment, bringing tangible benefits to the a beautiful blue sky punctuated with white slogan just because Copernicus was a Pole and whole community. clouds. This is the impressive beginning of the his name figures in the name of our planetar- We have already launched the website film Dream to Fly, the first original production ium. In fact, the choice reflects much more: (www.ips2016.org), now offering basic in- created by the Heavens of Copernicus Plane- boldness of thought, a bold perception of formation about the conference. As time tarium, which has already won a number of the world around us, an ability to look at the progresses, we will be further developing awards (including a Janus Award at the Jena world from a different perspective. that information and expanding the web- FullDome Fetival). This is the idea we want to bring to life by site. Adopting a new approach to the con- Here at the Copernicus Science Centre, we organizing the conference in Warsaw, and ference also means trying out a more inter- have dreamed of flying. As a result, a lot has that is why, together with the IPS Officers, we active way of organizing the event itself. changed for us during this past year since are striving to reinvigorate the way the con- Your voice is very important to us, and so we were selected to host the IPS 2016 confer- ference is approached. We perceive it not as a we have posted a few questions on the web- ence. Aside from releasing our own film, we one-off event, but as a coherent cycle that ad- site, asking about what you would like to have also started organizing concerts, where dresses issues important for the whole com- discuss during IPS 2016. The results of that audiences can enjoy classical music and jazz munity of planetarians. survey will help us better recognize your ex- while gazing up at the stars. Such images and Warsaw’s being chosen to host IPS 2016 co- pectations and, ultimately, to organize a tru- sounds, created live, have helped many visi- incided with the establishment of the Vision ly great conference! We look forward to see- tors discover that a planetarium can be an ex- 2020 group, whose objective is to develop a ing you in Warsaw in 2016. I citing place for everyone, not only for astron- strategy for IPS in the coming decade. As part omy fans. of its efforts, teams will be set up to explore We have also begun collaborating with the topics important for the organization’s future. (President, continued from page 6) European Space Agency (ESA) with its edu- Together with Paul Knappenberger, the fu- to reach out with these tasks to other groups cational program called ESERO, the Europe- ture president of IPS, we decided that those is- with considerable expertise, such as IMERSA, an Space Education Resource Office, that taps sues would be the key topics around which the Giant Screen Theater Association, and the into primary and junior high school students’ we wanted to build the program for IPS 2016. International Laser Display Association. Af- natural fascination with space, raising their As a result, the conference will offer an op- ter attending the recent and truly impressive awareness of the broad range of professional portunity not only to take a look at the latest IMERSA summit in Denver, I am even more opportunities in the field. technological advances and to network with convinced that we have to work together and colleagues, but also to engage in very substan- benefit from all the expertise which is already Facing the challenge tive discussions. there in our worldwide community of im- As you can see, we are always seeking new mersive theaters. challenges, and hosting IPS 2016 will indeed be Focus: Under the dome Future joint projects and memos of under- a big challenge. We want to thank the many We intend to devote a lot of attention to standing with organizations like those men- people who placed their trust in us! We will do working under the dome. We will show you tioned above and also ECSITE and ASTC and our utmost to make good on that trust, to host interesting commercial presentations involv- scientific partners like NASA, ESA, ESO, JAXA, a truly memorable event. Although the whole ing new technologies, as well as typical plan- et.al. are already on the drawing board with- of IPS is now focused on the upcoming confer- etarium productions (both fulldome anima- in our Vision 2020 strategy. I will inform you ence in Beijing, we have already started work- tions and live shows). We would like all these in the next issue of our journal about results ing on the one to follow. demonstrations to serve as inspiration, pro- and conclusions from the first IPS Vision 2020 Our conference theme will be “Revolve,” voking the exchanging of experiences and workshops we scheduled during IPS 2014 in which is intimately related to the name of ideas for the future. Beijing, gearing towards a better planetari- Nicolaus Copernicus, the man who stopped Overall, our dream is to initiate a kind of um society we all want to build together. I

8 Planetarian June 2014 ®

June 2014 Planetarian 9 Stars come alive for the vision impaired (Stars come alive for the vision impaired)

ies program from The Johns Hopkins Univer- sity. The goal was to create a proposal for a Anna Rebecca Green new program or current program we wished James S. McDonnell Planetarium to adapt. Upon looking around my planetar- Saint Louis Science Center ium, I noticed that we had ways to make our 5050 Oakland Avenue shows accessible for almost all of our visitors, Saint Louis, Missouri 63110 no matter their abilities, except those who [email protected] were blind or had low vision. I knew I needed to focus at first on one show to kick start the program, which could Imagine walking into a planetarium and With the Missouri School for the Blind, Del- lead to the adaptation of all our other plane- hearing the audience gasp in awe—yet there ta Gamma Center for Children with Visual tarium shows. The Little Star That Could was is nothing but darkness all around. There’s a Impairments, Lighthouse for the Blind–Saint the obvious choice to me for several reasons: narrator talking about stars “over here” and a Louis (LHB), and many other schools and •• It has strong basic astronomy content that, wispy galaxy “back here” found by “follow- groups that support potential visitors who even though intended for an early child- ing these stars,” but you have no idea where are blind located in the same city, the James S. hood audience, can be enjoyed by all ages “here and there” are and you certainly are un- McDonnell Planetarium at the Saint Louis Sci- (opening the planetarium to pre-kindergar- able to follow “these” or any stars. To you, you ence Center (SLSC) has realized the need to be ten through third grade visitors who are are just in a dark room. But then, aren’t you al- able to provide a more engaging and inclusive vision impaired, and those who might ac- ways in a dark room? environment so that visitors with this excep- company them); This is how visitors who are blind or have tionality can enjoy a more fully engaging ex- •• It is shown in planetariums worldwide low vision experience a planetarium. Perhaps perience in the planetarium. (which means that we can hopefully help there might be a speck of light or two, the With the help of the aforementioned in- other planetariums showing Little Star be- brightest stars and planets visible in the sky, stitutions, particularly LHB, the McDonnell come more accessible as well); but overall it is just a large dark room with a Planetarium has embarked on the journey of •• It has been in planetariums since it debuted narrator describing where to find things they accessible for an audience it was previously 1986, which shows that it has held its ap- cannot see. It is a frustrating and potentially unable to reach. peal for almost 30 years (and thanks to Au- boring experience that is most likely going to dio-Visual Imagineering’s astronomical and leave visitors who are blind discouraged and A project and a proposal full dome updates in 2008, should contin- disappointed with astronomy and space sci- The project started in the fall of 2011, as a ue to hold its appeal and relevancy for years ence. project for my master of arts in Museum Stud- to come);

10 Planetarian June 2014 Relating warmth and texture to colors

Big Daddy is made from a red, quilted average cotton style material smooth, satin-like material to pro- (heated to the median temperature vide a cool, slick feel (and is left at of the stars), is handed to the vis- room temperature). The planetarium itors. Little Star is yellow and much educator explains that since Big Dad- smaller than the other two previous- dy is red in color, he is the coolest of ly mentioned stars, and is average in the stars. temperature. Next is Mr. Angry Blue-White Star, He is followed by Mr. Old-Timer Or- made from denim to provide stu- ange Star made from a canvas mate- dents with a rough, warm feeling rial (heated to fall between Big Dad- and heated to be the warmest. Vis- dy and Little Star), and finally Pearl itors are asked how Mr. Angry Blue- (heated to fit between Little Star White Star feels in comparison to Big and Mr. Angry Blue-White Star), a Daddy and the planetarium educator very large white star who is made explains that he is the hottest of the from velvet (for a softer but warm- stars since he is blue-white in color. er feel), to show the differences of The cast of star characters, from left: Big Daddy, Little Star/Sol, Pearl, Mr. Then, Little Star, made from a soft, all the different star colors. Old-Timer, and Mr. Angry Blue-White Star.

•• Little Star meets Next Generation Science test prototypes with children who are vision to familiarize visitors with the star projector Standards for grades K-5, so teachers can use impaired. By August of 2012, we were gra- is through touch. Since it is too dangerous for the show as a relevant addition to a science ciously awarded a grant from LHB to produce visitors to climb on the projector to touch it unit, and finally; the program in-house at SLSC. and hazardous for the projector itself, I ren- •• It holds an influential place in my own dered a design for a tactile model of the star heart because it was originally written and Program application projector and the Orthwein StarBay (the plan- produced by Laura Kyro and the SLSC in The Little Star That Could program is a ba- etarium’s theater that houses the 80-ft dome 1986, and was the first planetarium show sic educational planetarium program, which and star projector) in 1:40 scale in a computer I saw as a child. Furthermore, I now see it is described as follows: “The story of an “av- assisted design program. have the same effect it has on others as it erage” star who travels the universe in search The model, its casework and the produc- had on me, as many of our visitors come of planets. Along the way he makes many tion of the exhibit text were fabricated in- back time and again for Little Star, once discoveries about stars, planets, galaxies and house thanks to the SLSC Exhibit Produc- again showing its ability to captivate audi- himself. This show is recommended for ear- tion Department, particularly Preparator Ian ences. ly childhood age, but is a great show for the Smith. The model, while used with the pro- The program I subsequently created and whole family.” gram, has become a permanent exhibit in the proposed, Feeling the Stars, was also proposed Generally, in the McDonnell Planetarium, planetarium lobby, and is available to all visi- to John Lakey, director of the McDonnell this show is projected using high definition tors to safely explore through touch. Planetarium, as well media projectors and runs in The model is made of the same or very sim- as the SLSC, once the tandem with the Zeiss Uni- ilar materials as the actual Zeiss and StarBay, course was complete. versarium Mark IX star pro- and a planetarium educator can provide an The proposal was ac- jector. The Feeling the Stars oral description of the model to supplement cepted and a small program for The Little Star the exhibit text if desired. Visitors learn how group was formed to That Could consists of the the opto-mechanical projector produces stars tighten the plan be- following components that and other celestial bodies, and can touch the fore making the ask adapt the conventional ex- dome of the model to find tactile stars made for a grant. perience for visitors who are of various sized rivets that form the autumn We received crucial vision impaired: and winter constellations of the Northern insight from Stephen Hemisphere. Kissel, a representa- Zeiss projector and The signage on the model, in both large tive from LHB who is how it works print and braille, describes how the projector also totally blind, and It is helpful to familiar- works, while small tactiles around the rest of Debra Busch, a volun- ize vision-impaired visitors the casework’s top allow visitors to feel what teer at SLSC, who has with the environment they the perforated aluminum of the dome feels low vision. The two are about to enter. Even if like and how to discover the shape of a con- of them were key to they cannot see the plan- stellation, like Orion, through touch. helping me determine etarium and its projector, Our volunteer, Debra Busch, was crucial in what worked well and they can tell there are differ- translating the exhibit text I wrote into braille what did not, and they ences in air pressure and the and checking the large print version for read- (along with LHB) also way sound moves, and they ability. The braille was then cast into a perma- An early elementary school-aged visi- helped me make con- tor examines the differences between can hear the star projector nent sign by Ian Smith, while the large print nections in the com- the different Little Star plush charac- moving as well. text was arranged to be back printed on non- munity so that I could ters. One of the easiest ways glare Plexiglas through Denis Smith in the

June 2014 Planetarian 11 Left: The inside of the iactile model of the Orthwein StarBay and Zeiss Universarium Mark IX star projec- tor. Below: An early elementary school-aged visitor and his pre-school-aged sister enjoy exploring the star bay model.

SLSC Graphics Department. This introductory experience is not only important for visitors who are blind, but also for visitors who have an Autism Spectrum Dis- order (ASD), as it can provide a sense of com- fort in a new situation that might be frighten- ing otherwise.

A tactile experience The Little Star That Could program relies heavily on colors, which students who are vi- sion impaired may not have seen before, so A more tangible and concrete example lations to which each star relates, on Brailon® it might be difficult for them to understand builds a meaningful connection to the idea of paper (a plastic-like paper that can be mold- some of the important concepts in the pro- colors, especially in relation to this show and ed with heat to create durable pages of braille gram. The format for the program raised the real stars in the universe. and tactile images). question of how to describe the colors of the The planetarium educator starts introduc- Once again our volunteer, Mrs. Busch, was stars, the shapes of the constellations, etc. to ing the stars characters by addressing the idea extremely important as she translated the these visitors. Filling in missing background of average. Using the example of the three text that describes what is occurring on each knowledge, such as colors and how they relate bowls of porridge from Goldilocks and the page of the book into braille, as well as check- to stars, is best addressed before The Little Star Three Bears, the planetarium educator asks the ing the final product for mistakes and accura- That Could to prepare the visitors’ schemas. kids to describe the three bowls (too cold, too cy. The activity requires plush characters from hot and “just right”). I produced the tactile images from the the show. I designed patterns and sewed proto- Then the educator asks the visitors, “How show from hand-crafted molds that match types which were adjusted based on feedback could Goldilocks have made the too hot bowl the braille Ms. Busch produced, using a Brailon from vision-impaired children before I sewed or the too cold bowl “just right?” The visitors Duplicator (a machine that copies raised im- the final products. The characters are made to respond by mixing the two, and the plane- ages and braille into a sheet of Brailon by heat- scale with each other and stuffed with micro- tarium educator then says “that is an exam- ing the page and forming it around the mold waveable materials (such as rice) to enable the ple of average; mixing the two extreme tem- using a vacuum). different stars to be heated to different tem- peratures creates the average temperature.” The pages with the raised images from the peratures. Through this, the visitors can think of av- show have been bound into a twin-vision They are also made of different heavy-du- erage stars as being in the middle of hot and book so the Brailon page with the raised im- ty materials and upholstery fabric to help as- cold stars. ages and braille is on the left side of the book, sociate texture to the temperature and color, The planetarium educator then introduc- while a laminated page with color images and and visitors are able to feel the facial features es the star figures that have been previously large print text of what is on the Brailon page of each character. heated in a microwave to their proper temper- is on the right. Furthermore, the images on the More often than not, visitors have heard atures (or to a temperature hotter than what right side of the book are simplified, remov- some explanation of colors before, but it may would be used immediately so that the stars ing much of the ancillary background so that contradict what they learn in the show, and retain their heat if there will be a delay in the only the characters show, helping visitors for some, the idea of colors may not have sig- visitors using them). with low vision focus in on who is important nificance. If they refer to colors and temper- Once the introduction to characters is com- to the story at that point. atures, they might be regurgitating what plete, each young visitor who is blind is hand- The books are more versatile in the twin- they’ve heard others say (i.e. “Don’t touch that ed a special book to use during the show. vision format, allowing a visitor with low vi- pan, it’s still red-hot!”) without a real connec- These books feature raised images of Little sion or a sighted guide to follow along in the tion to the concept. Star meeting each character, and the constel- book as well. The books allow vision-impaired

12 Planetarian June 2014 Right: The twin vision pages of the tactile follow- along book at the point where Little Star meets Mr. Old-Timer Orange Star in large print on the left and tactile images and contracted braille on the right. Below: The children explore the tactile-follow along books.

It was mentioned that the different fabric tex- tures were helpful and made the experience more pleasant as well for some of the children. Furthermore, the size differences also helped the children differentiate between the different characters. Some children who were not comfortable with the idea of touching other tactiles in the program (due to tactile aversions) found the plush characters com- forting and enjoyed meeting the characters in this manner. In one case, an older elementary school visitors as well as anyone who is watching the on 14 June 2013. In the year since then, more male child who does not normally like touch- show with them to experience what was go- than 150 visitors have experienced the pro- ing objects due to his tactile aversions formed ing on in the show with their fingers and/or gram. The general feedback has been very pos- a very special bond with the Little Star plush, eyes while they listen to the soundtrack. itive and there have been repeat visits. telling it goodbye, giving it a hug, and hand- A small flashlight with a red filter is avail- ing it back to me with a sad expression on his able for sighted guides assisting the vision im- Tactile Planetarium Model: face at the end of the program. paired using the book. The visitors (of the tactile program and the While overall the characters were helpful, Students with low vision can either follow general public) enjoy the interactive mod- it should be mentioned again that some chil- along in the books or, depending on the sever- el, finding it helpful in knowing the space of dren may have tactile aversions to stuffed an- ity of their exceptionality, supplement their the planetarium’s StarBay and what the pro- imals as well as other materials. While the ma- experience with the projected video and stars jector does. Furthermore, those who read terial was carefully chosen to prevent sensory using an iPad that can be held close to their braille found the exhibit text useful and were discomfort as much as possible, sometimes eyes. thrilled to be able to explore the exhibit on children may not want to try feeling the char- The same show that is projected onto the their own. Those who read the large print said acters or any of the other tactiles used in the planetarium’s dome can also be viewed on the it was easy to read. program. While this reaction may not be en- iPads through an application used for long dis- A 4-year-old male visitor who was total- tirely preventable, the presenter needs to be tance meetings such as TeamViewer. This ap- ly blind seemed particularly delighted by the aware that this could happen and that the plication allows the same video that is run- braille, even though he was not yet reading it child should not be pushed if she or he feels ning on the main computer to be streamed on by himself. He exclaimed to his nanny, “There uncomfortable touching the plush characters. the iPads so that the same video is seen by all is braille on here for me!” She proceeded to visitors. help him recognize the braille by running his Tactile Books and iPads: Since the students will have already felt the fingers over the lines while she read the print- Children and adults who are totally blind, faces of the characters once through the heat- ed text aloud to him. or who have low vision but prefer the book to ed plush figures, they have some familiarity Visitors from the general public also take the iPad, have all used the tactile follow-along with them. The book and/or iPad help to rein- great interest in the model as they can touch books during The Little Star That Could. These force their prior knowledge and perhaps gain everything, and they can try their hand at visitors explored the books both before and a better understanding of the plot by having a reading braille as well. during the show and the general feedback was tactile image, or an image that is easier to see, that they were extremely helpful for the us- to go with the planetarium show. Plush Star Characters: ers, and that the children very much enjoyed The plush star character tactiles are also touching them. Reception and findings well received, with many children deliberate- Adult users also appreciate the braille de- The Feeling the Stars program for The Little ly exploring the characters’ facial features and scriptors on the pages with the tactile images Star That Could premiered to its first audience shapes as they were passed around the group. as they could follow along in the book easily (Continues on page 14)

June 2014 Planetarian 13 A “first” for India Nehru Planetarium launches special show for hearing impaired

Suhas B. Naik-Satam Programme Coordinator (Scientific) Nehru Planetarium, Mumbai, India [email protected]

Nehru Planetarium of Nehru Centre, Mum- bai, along with Infovision Technologies, India launched a special planetarium show on the occasion of its 37th anniversary on 3 March 2014, for people with hearing disabilities. It was the first of its kind in India. Wonders of the Universe by Evans & Suther- land has been converted for the hearing im- paired by Infovision in association with the planetarium and Vedarth Animations, Mum- Left: The audience responds to the program; Right: Mrs. Bakul Patel, Joint Secretary of Nehrul Centre. bai. The project is supported by Astral Inc., a Photos provided by Nehru Planetarium. production house of fulldome video and large Language person, in preparing the planetari- format shows for planetariums and digital a valuable guidance from Mr. Rangasaai, for- um programme. Shri Shetye also said that “We dome theatres based in the United States, with mer director of Ali Yavar Jang Institute for have plans for using Infovision Mobile Digi- an office in Mumbai. Hearing Handicapped of Mumbai. tal Planetarium platform to reach the special ​The planetarium program was formally The program was attended by more than show across interiors of India.” launched by Mrs. Bakul Patel, Joint Secretary 250 hearing impaired people, most of them Shri Shetye shared that the project received of Nehru Centre, Mumbai. In her address she school children. I said “it gives me immense pleasure to know that the planetarium has kept its promise to reach out to differently-abled people” and (Vision impaired, continued from page 13) added that their contribution play a crucial on their own. pears to jump and jerk on their screens. An- role in India as well. It should also be noted that tactile compo- other problem is that occasionally the user She quoted Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, who nent of the book was helpful for some chil- may accidentally exit out of the TeamView- in his book Glimpses of the World History dren who have a ASD as well. One child in par- er app, which requires assistance to restart. Un- wrote “We know that our earth which seems ticular has experienced the program twice, til a way to lock the screen in the TeamViewer so big to us, is but minor planet of the sun, and while normally he stays silent due to hav- app is available, planetarium educators mon- which is itself very insignificant little star. The ing an ASD, he responded very positively to itoring the program need to be vigilant of whole solar system is but a drop in the ocean the book and enjoyed reading it aloud to any- helping visitors if this issue occurs. of space.” one willing to listen. The program started with a welcome note The iPads have not always been used dur- Conclusion by Shri Arvind Paranjpye, director of Nehru ing The Little Star That Could, as it has been By offering the revised version of The Little Planetarium. He said that Nehru Centre, un- found that many visitors with low vision are Star That Could, the James S. McDonnell Plan- der which the Nehru Planetarium functions, able to see the show as projected on the dome etarium has become accessible to a whole new is known for its commitment for social causes, since the projection is large enough. Those population of visitors. Revisions based on vis- be it in arts or sciences, and the special pro- who have needed and used iPads were vocal itor suggestion and staff observations have gram is another step taken to reach out to peo- that they enjoyed being able to see the show helped improve the program and further the ple who can see but cannot hear. easily through the use of the technology. It benefit to the target audience of early child- The uniqueness of the programme is that was mentioned that the iPads worked well for hood students, their families and teachers Indian Sign Language is common to all Indi- all ages (though sometimes assistance is need- who are blind or have low vision. ans and therefore any person knowledgeable ed from an adult for the younger visitors), and All visitors should have the ability to step in language can enjoy the show irrespective of for varying levels of visual ability. into the planetarium and have access to the his or her mother tongue, he added. It is also important to have a stand available programs and activities offered there. By tak- Mr. Paranjpye and Abhijit Shetye, manag- for visitor who may not be able to hold the ing steps toward facilitating the accessibili- ing director of Infovision Technologies, the device on their own. Stands made specifical- ty of its programs for all visitors, the James S. leading producers of digital adjustment, are ly for the tablet work well, as do portable mu- McDonnell Planetarium and Saint Louis Sci- the force behind the initiative. sic stands. ence Center have begun embracing univer- In his address Mr. Shetye said that “A special The iPads can have small issues from time sal design; welcoming an underserved part of technique of digital superimposition was used to time, as might be expected with technolo- the population of Saint Louis, Missouri; and, for producing this show.” Ms Kinjal Shah, who gy. It was discovered that the internet band- hopefully, paving the way for other cultur- is an expert Indian Sign Language interpret- width is not always sufficient for streaming al institutions, especially planetariums, to er, guided Mr. Sunil Sahasrabudde, Indian Sign the video to all the iPads and the video ap- follow suit. I

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%*31-&"3&%!" – Derek Demeter, Director, Seminole State College Planetarium, Sanford, FL

500 SERIES GEODOME EVOLVER AT SEMINOLE STATE COLLEGE PLANETARIUM

THE ELUMENATI [email protected] June 2014IMMERSIVE PROJECTION DESIGN Planetarian www.elumenati.com - www.geodome.info 15 How Big Bird became a fulldome superstar

The making of One World, One Sky

By Mark Paternostro Evansville, Illinois Who knew? Who would have thought the lovable, yellow-feathered giant, Big Bird, along with his happy-go-lucky pal Elmo and their friends, would find a world of discov- ery and wonder inside a planetarium dome? And, while under that dome, they would vis- it friends in China and friends would visit them in America? Who knew that the Mup- pet troupe would fly to the moon, and, best of all, learn that we all live in one world, un- Mark Paternostro is an artist and creative director of future feedback network. He is a veteran of 30 der one sky? As it turns out, there was one per- years of making planetarium shows. A former director and producer with Adler Planetarium in Chicago, Illinois, he has more than 35 sky show and exhibition credits in his portfolio, with TimeSpace and The son who did know, and his name was Joel Sch- Searcher are classic examples of his work. He was an original member of the One World, One Sky produc- neider. What follows is the untold story of One tion team. He can be reached at [email protected] or [email protected]. World, One Sky.

16 Planetarian June 2014 An idea germinates Idea seeds can sometimes be planted in un- likely places, and that appears to be the case here, as we trace the beginning of our story back to the early 1960s. At the time, Joel Sch- neider was a math major attending Franklin and Marshall College in eastern Pennsylva- nia. It was here that he met and became close friends with Paul Knappenberger, another math major, classmate, and future fraternity brother. After graduating, Joel went on to pursue a career as a math teacher, eventually special- izing in mathematics education. In 1983 he landed a position at Sesame Workshop as a project director in the software division. Joel’s career blossomed at the Workshop as senior mathematician and content direc- tor for Square One TV, a kids math show series, along with “Math Talk” and “Risky Numbers.” Joel would later become the Sesame Work- shop vice president for Education and Re- search. It was during this period that he began to look east, toward China.

A different career path Paul decided to pursue a different career path, turning to the study of astronomy in graduate school. He first found a profession- al home at the Science Museum of Virginia, in Richmond, Virginia, creating a world-class science learning institution and leading-edge digital planetarium, the first of its kind. In 1991, Paul brought his talent and vision to Chicago with his appointment as president The Planning Teams in Beijing. On of the Adler Planetarium and Astronomy Mu- top is the 2002 Team, with Joel Sch- seum. neider in the back row, second from In 2000, after seeing each other at their col- right Photo by Craig Stillwell. Below lege reunion a few years earlier, Joel called is the 2007 Team, with Jin Zhu, who Paul and said there was a collaborative project became the Beijing Planetarium di- rector in the interim. Photos provid- he wanted to develop. ed by author. “I’m thinking it would be great to produce a planetarium show for young children us- Right: Two languages and one sky: ing the Sesame Street characters,” Joel told the program’s promotional poster. This image and the fulldome frame Paul. He had already approached the Hayden on the facing page are © 2008 Adler Planetarium, which was based in New York, Planetarium/Sesame Workshop; but received a lukewarm response. The con- used with permission. versation continued as Joel filled in more of the details. By the end of the call Paul said, “ It sounds like a great idea and we’d love to work nese children using the sky. Beijing, Chicago contacts in China to explore the possibility of with you.” and New York are all the same approximate becoming partners in the effort. That is how two math majors began a cre- latitude and share a common night sky. That, Around this time, Paul also established a ative partnership between the Sesame Work- as it turned out, was the binding link for One strong connection with Madame Shizhu Cui, shop and the Adler Planetarium. World, One Sky. who was then director of the Beijing Planetar- Following an initial meeting in Chicago, ium, and formed a sister planetarium relation- 2000: On with the show Joel and Paul decided that creating such a ship to work together and exchange ideas, in- The central idea was to use the sky as a way unique show was a project definitely worth formation and shared interests. of introducing young children to science and pursuing. They agreed that the Sesame Work- Joel moved quickly to arrange a planning math. At the same time, the Sesame Work- shop was very good at producing children’s meeting with the Beijing Planetarium direc- shop was keen on reaching a bigger audience shows, and Joel would pitch the merits of the tor, staff and funding representatives (China’s in other countries around the world. To that idea to Hyman Field at the National Science equivalent to the NSF). He made the trip to end, Joel was interested in producing a Chi- Foundation. Beijing in 2002, accompanied by Adler astron- nese and American version of the show, to There was strong interest in the project at omer Larry Ciupik. As a result of the positive build a cultural bridge for American and Chi- the NSF, and Hyman encouraged Joel to make feedback garnered during the Beijing meet-

June 2014 Planetarian 17 ings, a show outline and treatment were creat- er assignments and the project faded into the 2007: New York, Muppets and ed, and with that, a formal proposal was writ- background. principal photography (oh my) ten and submitted to the National Science To everyone’s surprise, in early 2007 the At last, in early September 2007, the story Foundation. production had suddenly come back to life. characters came to life when Big Bird, Elmo, After the customary review process, the A few leaders at Sesame Workshop and Paul Hu Hu Zhu and friends stepped on to a huge NSF agreed to fund a portion of the project Knappenberger were the main impetus be- green screen sound stage in New York to with the caveat that private matching funds hind the project’s resurrection, and things shoot principal photography. Guided by Ses- were required. And so began the challenge to moved quickly from that point on. Script de- ame Producer Christina Del Fico and Direc- attract private sector sponsorship from corpo- velopment and storyboards soon followed as tor Ken Diego, the shoot wrapped up within rations, foundations and individuals inspired the pace picked up. a week. by the idea. It’s not widely known, but originally the For the remainder of the year and well into The effort was off to a promising start with show was going to be produced as a slide show the next, the Beijing and Chicago creative funding pledge support from numerous busi- that could play in standard planetariums us- teams were fully engaged in completing their ness leaders in Chicago and New York. ing an analog star ball and special effects slide respective 3D set models, in addition to exten- projectors. It was thought the show would sive motion and color testing in the dome. 2001: Funding hiatus reach a larger audience in that format than in One particularly painstaking task was The unforeseen events of 9/11 brought the emerging digital and video theaters. masking muppet fur and feathers from the much of the funding efforts to a standstill. En- However, during the slow start-up period, green screen background, which was not as thusiasm and logistical support was offered, dome projection technology raced forward, easily keyed out as it was for TV. but the uncertain economy tempered fund- developing into the many forms known to- The transition of the characters from tele- ing decisions. Undeterred, the show’s plan- day. By the time production finally got under- vision to the dome environment was careful- ning meetings, activities and international way, it was clear that full-out computer graph- ly thought out. Eye levels were tested, as well communication continued in New York, Bei- ics and high definition video was the way to as character size on screen so as not to frighten jing and Chicago, as the story slowly devel- go. the young audience. Hard drives made regular oped. In April 2007, the Adler team traveled to flights from city to city. In 2003, the project languished, but even- China for the first major production summit, In the spring of 2008, compositing of the tually the Children’s Television Workshop hosted by Dr. Zhu at the Beijing Planetarium. two location destinations had begun. The raised sufficient private funding (not quite The meeting was a milestone event. All hands characters spoke Mandarin on Sesame Street the full NSF match) to move forward. Joel ap- were on deck, as the actual show making pro- East and English on Sesame Street West. proached the NSF again, and offered ways to cess finally gained traction. By July, most of the final 450,000 frames reduce costs and reach out to the Beijing Plan- Communication channels were estab- had been assembled and cut into a trailer that etarium to expand their role in the produc- lished, technical specifications compared, previewed at the IPS meeting in Chicago that tion. and the Chicago team toured the remarkable summer. A month later, it was ready to show His efforts were successful and the Nation- group of dome and theater spaces within the to the world. It’s still playing, planet wide. It’s al Science Foundation gave the project a green Beijing Planetarium complex. funny, it’s wonderful, it’s imagining a trip to light. A few months later, the Adler Planetarium the moon with Big Bird and friends. It’s One Joel and Paul met on several occasions with reciprocated, hosting the Beijing team in Chi- World, One Sky. Madame Cui to work through an official cago. Project momentum increased as the pro- agreement and set the stage for production duction pipeline was worked out in detail. 2014: Epilog to begin. In yet another turn of events during “In a production sense, One World, One Sky The universe has made at least one life-bear- the funding hiatus, Dr. Jin Zhu was named to can also be seen as two worlds, one sky. That ing world out in the cold dark realm of the succeed Madame Cui as Beijing Planetarium was the fascinating part of the production,” stars. It’s our home, Earth. director. He was equally enthusiastic about Paul explained. In 2004, Joel Schneider left it, succumbing making the show a reality. “Hu Hu Zhu lived on Sesame Street in Bei- to cancer at age 61. He never saw One World, One jing, while Big Bird, Elmo and his friends lived Sky, but he would surely be proud of his cre- 2004-2006: A sad turn on Sesame Street in New York. It made practi- ation. It is the most widely distributed plane- Sadly, in September 2004, Joel Schneider cal sense for each creative team to model their tarium show of all time. passed away. For the remainder of 2004 and local Sesame Street set. Other scene elements To his friend, Paul, he had said, “This is a through late 2006, the project laid dormant. were shared and combined to make the streets show for the ages. In theory, it could run for- All of the key people had moved on to oth- real.” ever, and every year there will be more chil- dren who can see it.” Spoken like a true mathematician! I

Sesame Workshop®, Sesame Street® and as- PARTYcles #018 - June'14 Alex Cherman sociated characters, trademarks and design OK, Mr. Electron... But what?!? elements are owned and licensed by Sesame Let's put this Workshop. photon nonsense In this expanding Uh-oh... behind us. Universe, there is so Would you few of us atoms.... hold my hand? The follow-up evaluation report about Amen to that, One World, One Sky can be found at in- Mr. Proton! formalscience.org/images/evaluation/ ...and so many of What hand? Final_US-China_impact_research_re- But... them photons! port_Final_10-28-11.pdf

18 Planetarian June 2014 June 2014 Planetarian 19

Cosmic Adventure Ad.indd 1 4/23/2014 12:00:25 PM

How seaweeds got to cover the dome in Denmark Audio-visual project turns thedown view upside

Maja Egebo Schriver, Artist and Aase Roland Jacobsen, Planetarium Curator The Steno Museum University of Aarhus, Denmark Maja Egebo Schriver Aase Roland Jacobsen [email protected]

Plants of the Ocean was an audio-visual in- immersing the audience. The installation ex- Museum is part of the Aarhus University and stallation designed by Maja Egebo Schriver for emplifies an alternative use of the planetari- is often used for special events, so the book the Planetarium at the Steno Museum in Aar- um and demonstrates how modern art can in- was presented at a mini-symposium held in hus, Denmark. She designed the visual set-up corporate spatial attributes in order to support the planetarium. and composed sound and music for the instal- an increased synergetic relation between the The book’s editor, Peter Bondo Christensen, lation, and the programming of the show was room and the media projected within it. got the idea of making a planetarium show done by Ole J. Knudsen and Aase Roland Ja- We often experience that people become that would take the audience to this under- cobsen (The Steno Museum). fascinated when they enter the dome—sim- water world of Danish sea plants, combining The audio-visual elements were designed ply by the shape and atmosphere of the room. underwater video, photos and music into an to interact with the unique setup of the plan- That was exactly what happened in autumn artistic audio-visual installation in the dome. etarium dome and seek to position the ocean 2011 when a book about sea plants was pub- The overall idea was to transform the dome as an aesthetic soundscape surrounding and lished by Aarhus University Press. The Steno into an underwater world, which would give audiences a view into the hidden world at the bottom of the sea and thereby impart knowl- Composer and installation artist Maja Egebo Schriver received a master’s degree in musicology from edge about the oceanic environmental con- Aarhus University, Denmark, and a master’s in composing for moving images from City University, Lon- don, United Kingdom. Find out more about her work at www.majaegebos.com. ditions, which—due to climate changes—are

20 Planetarian June 2014 Background: Fulldome slide portraying an eelgrass meadow, photo: Maja Egebo Schriv- er. This page, top: the planetarium with light diodes on the floor, so the audience can find their seats. Photo by Jens Riggelsen. Below: photo of sea plants in dome view. Photo tak- en by Peter Bondo Christensen and devel- oped in DigiDome from Sky-Skan by Ole J. Knudsen.

challenging the ecosystem that the sea plants are part of. The visual material, consisting of video and slide projections, was filmed in the Danish wa- ters around the island of Funen by Peter Bon- do Christensen and Søren Larsen, who are Audio-visual project turns the view both biologists and professional divers. The possibilities of audio The planetarium is a soundproof space and within the ocean. Through a mixture of elec- aged the audience to explore the planetarium thus offers a limitless amount of audio design tronics and recorded sounds, the audio sought from various positions. options. However, as part of the physical set- to explore the border between music and up of this installation, the inner and outer en- sound by implementing sound design based Water as compositional structure trance doors needed to be kept open during on field recordings from the ocean into a mu- By means of thematic cohesion, the water the show since we wanted people to be able sical composition, and this compositional molecule was used as a significant composi- to come and go during the 60 minutes of the strategy fostered a rather abstract and intrigu- tional structuring principle in the installation program. ing musical universe. at a micro as well as macro level. The mole- To solve this situation, the entrance was The installation is set up in surround sound cule’s tripartition (H-O-H) between the atoms covered by curtains with sea plants, which format (5.1) to fully take advantage of the cir- hydrogen and oxygen (see figure 2), and the allowed a limited amount of ambient sound cular planetarium. Working with surround six- (and twelve-) angled net the water mol- and light to enter the room. Accordingly, sound gave the composer the freedom to po- ecules form when they bind with each oth- the sound from the installation filtered out, sition a sound source or movement anywhere er (see figure 3) underlies the structure of the which titillated the attention of the museum in the sound field, and it thereby empha- composition at several different levels. guests, drawing them into the room. size the dynamic and fluid iden- First of all, the six-angled struc- The audiences had to pull aside the fringed tity of a sonic underwater ture is transferred to the po- curtains, as though they were finding their universe. sitioning of the speakers way through an eelgrass meadow in order The surround for- within the dome (the to enter the hidden underwater world. From mat emanates surround format). inside the dome, the inner curtain was kept from cinema, Thus, the audi- slightly fluttering from a draught, like sea and it is de- ences are sur- plants waving in an underwater stream. signed to in- rounded by a Unlike most planetarium shows, the instal- crease the (sound-)net in lation functioned as an open room where au- feeling of im- accordance diences could walk in and out and explore the mersion into with the mo- underwater world on their own. Therefore, it the film. In lecular struc- was also necessary to mount small chains of cinema, the ture of the dim blue light diodes underneath each row speaker po- ocean. of chairs, guiding the audience to explore the sitioning has The six-an- room. an increased gled net is also focus towards apparent in the Sound as a primary element the front, where overall narrative Within a cinema, sound is often perceived the screen is form, and further as a secondary element designed to support placed, but in this in- through the fact that the visual narrative, but the concept of this stallation, the aim was the performance of this planetarium installation was to balance the to dissolve the feeling of circular movement and three elements of visuals, audio, and space as front and back, and instead in- structure could be repeated in- equal components. crease the circular and immersive feel- definitely. This finds symbolic union in The installation explored how the atmo- ing that the planetarium when all speakers the indefinite extent of the ocean. spheric identity of each visual scene could are used equally. Moreover, the molecular tripartition func- translate into a musical expression, and the in- Although the chairs are facing the front of tions as a motif consisting of three notes, stallation could be seen as a journey through the room, the nature of the visual projections which are composed and modulated in var- different abstract, as well as physical, spaces and the dynamic sonic unfoldment encour- (Continues on page 22)

June 2014 Planetarian 21 Manufacturers Types Countries

WPD, at 10 years old, continues to mature

Daniel Audeon there is an optical projector or not, and more. •• The make and model of the dome; Planetarium of Nantes From the home page, look for the Google •• A page of news added on the home page’s France Earth icon, where you can download the kmz left navigation; here you will find brief no- [email protected] file that will allow you to view all the plane- tices of planetariums under construction, tariums on Google Earth. A click on the link renovation, upgrading or conversion to The Worldwide Planetariums Database, in the tooltips in Google Earth lets you di- digital systems and other changes, includ- an inventory of all fixed planetariums in the rectly open the planetarium’s custom page. ing the leading provider of the installation; world, continues to evolve and make perma- What new in the WPD are: •• A link to follow the site on Twitter; nent upgrades since it first debuted in 2003. •• The annual attendance: a figure not easy to •• An internal search engine; and The WPD is a searchable database. Each get, especially if the planetarium is located Coming soon, the number of people work- planetarium has its own page with several in a larger structure (museum or other); ing in the planetarium (staff). I photos and accurate location information. Although it was just a list of French planetar- iums at the beginning, it quickly became a etarium with an introduction or a con- worldwide list and is hosted on the website of clusion of a biology course. The book Sea the Association of French-Speaking Planetari- Plants is suitable for education in biolo- ums (APLF). gy, both for elementary school and high Every two years, the IPS publishes a glob- school levels, but unfortunately it is all al directory in pdf format, freely accessible in Danish. The show has been running from the IPS website (www.ips-planetarium. for more than half a year as part of the org/?page=dir). WPD is an adjunct source, also daily program, but it has also been possi- freely available online, that can be upgraded ble for a class to order it special. at any time. Simply send an email with new The few examples presented in this ar- information, corrections, adding pictures etc., ticle illustrates how a direct implemen- to the email at the bottom of each page. tation of both physical and abstract A major effort has been made ​to find as space, in this case the planetarium and many planetariums as possible. English seems the ocean, can be used as a composition- to be a common language for all. To facilitate al structuring principle in order to create research, nothing beats a visual, so, in your The entrance to the planetarium with a fringed cur- and emphasize thematic and acoustic tain of eelgrass to draw the audience in. Photo: Jens cohesion. Furthermore, the installation search for a planetarium, you can only use Riggelsen maps. Or, if you prefer, you can use the left exemplifies the outcome of a renewed navigation menu. attitude towards the use of the planetar- After choosing a country, you get a list as (Seaweeds, continued from page 21) ium, its architecture, media technologies, and a table where key information is summarized ious designs and moved around in the sur- potential as a science mediator, which avails for each planetarium with a small image, round field in accordance with the six-angled and reconceptualizes the potential of the but it is only first step! If you want to know structure. The interplay between each motif unique planetarium space. more, simply click on the image and you will gradually forms a sonic unity, with symbol- By daring to use the planetarium for an au- reach the planetarium’s own particular page. ic reference to the oceanic ecosystem, where dio-visual installation, filling the dome with On this page you will find additional infor- each tiny element plays a part in the bound- sea plants, and filling the room with com- mation and three pictures to show both out- less whole. posed water sounds, we hopefully have the side the building and under the dome. A gen- possibility of reaching a different audience, eral view of the room allows a glance to see if A tie-in with biology surprising visitors and awaking the curiosity the room is oriented or if the dome is tilted, if It is possible to combine a visit to the plan- of music, science and nature in a new way. I

22 Planetarian June 2014 June 2014 Planetarian 23 The new Music of the Spheres

Sylvie Vauclair, Professor Emeritus Institute for Research in Astrophysics and Planetology Toulouse, France www.sylvievauclair.fr The relationship between astronomy and dle, as a central pillar of the whole system. not go further than four, probably for the rea- music is interesting in many aspects. It enlight- The structure of the universe was con- son that the total sum 1+2+3+4 is equal to 10, ens the way scientific knowledge evolves. For ceived with a spirit of harmony, order and a “perfect number,” a symbol of plenitude, as the ancient Greek philosophers, like Pythag- plenitude. All planets were perfect spheres, found in the figure of the Tetraktys. oras, Plato and Aristotle, the musical theory moving along perfect circular orbits around The Pythagoreans discovered the basic har- was conceived in symbiosis with their repre- the Earth. This representation of the universe, monious musical intervals, the “fourth,” ob- sentations of the global world. which began with the Pythagoreans around tained with a string limited to three fourth Their knowledge of the sky and the uni- 500 B.C. and continued with many philoso- of its length, and the “fifth,” obtained with a verse was limited to what could be seen with phers, like Plato (428-348 B.C.) and Aristotle string limited to two thirds. naked eyes. They separated stellar objects (384-322 B.C.). In our modern musical in two classes, the “fixed stars,” which came In parallel with their own language, if the first note is back every night with a time delay but at the description of the world, a C, the “fourth” note is an F same place with respect to each other, and the Pythagoreans also stud- and the fifth, a G. the “planets,” which moved among the oth- ied mathematics and mu- Using these intervals, the er stars. sic. They were especially in- Pythagoreans built a musical These planets included the moon and the terested in the characteristic scale which, with some mod- sun, so that there were seven of them as a sounds obtained with vi- ification, is still the one used whole. They were classified according to their brating strings and found in- in occidental music. The distance to the Earth, which was evaluated teresting musical intervals scale included seven musi- from their celestial motions: moon, Mercury, when dividing the string cal notes; there were seven Venus, sun, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn. The sun length by precise numbers, planets in the sky. The temp- The Pythagorean Tetraktys stood in a particular position, right in the mid- from two to four. They did tation to associate each note

24 Planetarian June 2014 opher Simplicius of Cilicia referred to Plato’s Facing page: Spherical harmonics. Blue and red thoughts in this way: “What are the circular zones vibrate in phase opposition, yellow cir- and perfectly regular motions which may be cles do not vibrate. “l” represents the number taken as hypotheses, so that we can save the of circles. Some circles cross the poles–like me- ridians, their number is “m”. © Pierre Brassard, appearances present- département de physique, Université de Mon- ed by the wandering tréal, Canada, used with permission. celestial bodies?” In music, Plato did not want to hear to each planet was strong, and the Pythago- from “these nice mu- reans did it. The “Music of the Spheres” was sicians who perse- born. It came as an expression of their will to cute and torture the be surrounded by a perfect and harmonious strings by twisting universe. them on ankles (…) Perfection does not exist in the real world. because they do the These beautiful theories suffered from defects same thing as the as- and hiatus, both in astronomy and in music. tronomers (…) they At that time, the fact that some planets do not rise up to did not show a real perfect circular motion the problems which around the Earth was already known. The consist in wondering planet Mars, for example, sometimes moves what are the harmonious numbers and those in a retrograde way, which is difficult to ex- which are not…” (The Republic, book 7, French plain in this context. translation by Victor Cousin, translated in It was also clear that music did not behave English by myself.) as pure arithmetic. The musical scale, which The second attitude is that of Aristarchus of is built as a succession of fifths intervals, is Samos (310-230 B.C.). It consists in taking the Top: Practica musice Franchini Gafori lauden- not totally consistent. It leads to a final note “defects” as an instructive information, which sis, 1496, by the monk Franchinus Gaffuri- slightly different from the direct transposi- must be studied in detail for a better under- us (1451-1522). Engraving with fixed Earth (at tion of the first one. standing of our world. the bottom), the seven known planets ordered This small difference was referred to as the This attitude lead Aristarchus to propose by distance (right), associated with the seven “Muses” (left), plus Thalie (for the Earth) and the first heliocentric model of the universe. “Pythagorean’s comma.” Most Greek philoso- Uranus (the firmament). A musical mode is as- phers preferred ignoring these defects in their He claimed that the world could be better ex- sociated to each planet. Left: Portrait of a Mu- theories, in astronomy as well as in music. plained if the Earth was a planet like the oth- sician by Leonardo da Vinci, possibly Franchi- There are, indeed, two possible attitudes in er ones, all of them orbiting around the sun. nus Gaffurius. Reproduction in public domain; Wikipedia. front of such problems, which are interesting This is attested by Archimedes of Syracuse in to analyze in the framework of the evolution his book Arénaire. of knowledge. Aristarchus was the only one among these philosophers to follow a real scientific ap- When this modern evolution of knowledge Two philosophies emerge proach, in a similar way as now done in mod- began entering the human mind, the musical The first one is that of Plato and Aristotle. ern science. It took then 18 centuries for his and astronomical theories remained bound It consists in refusing observational evidenc- theory to be accepted. only for a short while, when the astronomer es and only accepting the perfect theories We now know that the antique “Music of Johannes Kepler still thought of the world elaborated by the human mind. The philos- the Spheres” does not exist. Neither the Earth as a perpetual concert. Later on the represen- nor the sun are at tations of the universe evolved dramatical- the center of the ly and the musical and astronomical theories universe. There is went apart, except for the fact that astronomy nothing, indeed like always inspired musicians the center. (Continues on page 30)

Above: The musician Claude-Samuel Lévine and the author playing a duet of theremines, the only instrument played without touching anything. ©Claude-Samuel Lévine, used with permission. Right: Musical score by Claude-Samuel Lévine on his computer screen.

June 2014 Planetarian 25 de·tail diˈtāl,ˈdētāl noun plural noun: details an individual feature, fact, or item. se·duc·tive siˈdəktiv adjective tempting and attractive; enticing.

seductive+details: attractive facts that might distract from learning Sean Gillette, EdD Eighth Grade Science Vanguard Preparatory School Apple Valley Unified School District 12951 Mesquite Road Apple Valley, California 92307 [email protected]

The effects of seductive details in an inflatable planetarium

Introduction processes: (a) selecting relevant material, (b) function (selecting, organizing, and integrat- The planetarium has undergone an evolu- organizing the material into understandable ing) at the time of learning (Harskamp et al., tion in delivery (Yo, Chaplin, & Goldsworth, models, and (c) integrating the material with 2007). 2011). No longer do some planetariums use an- prior knowledge (Lusk, 2008). Learning can be a demanding experience. alog projectors to display the stars, but rath- CTML supposes three design elements. First, Cognitive load is the stress placed on the er use digital projectors to create immersive humans process material using dual-channels learner to acquire new knowledge and is lim- cosmic environments on a grand scale using (Ozdemir, 2009); humans have one incoming ited by the available resources at hand (Lusk, a multimedia format of images, video, sound, channel for visual information and another 2008). and narration (Rosenfield et al, 2010). for verbal information (Austin, 2009). Fortunately, CTML has three major strat- Does this new method of delivery provide Secondly, humans have limited capaci- egies to manage this stress (Harskamp et al., a benefit to the audience? Are the strategies ty for processing information while learning 2007). First, the instruction needs to reduce ex- employed to instruct the audience effective? (Mayer et al., 2008). Think of each channel as tra or unnecessary learning, know as extrane- Which strategies, if any, deliver optimal learn- a pipe. Each pipe has only a certain diameter ous processing (Mayer et al., 2008). Any extra ing conditions? through which material can pass through. If processing within the human mind does not too much information is pushed through the aid in the creation of mental models. Focusing Cognitive theory of multimedia pipe, the human mind rejects the extra mate- on the relevant material provides less crowd- learning rial, and it is never learned. ing of the dual channels involved in cognitive Richard Mayer (2009) developed twelve According to CTML, material can be de- processing. principles of multimedia learning, known as livered through the auditory channel and Second, instructors need to focus entirely the cognitive theory of multimedia learning through the visual channel without any lim- on the main idea being taught and use suc- or CTML, for dealing with learning based on iting effect (Mayer, 2010). Looking at a dia- cessful learning strategies, referred to as essen- the plethora of modern electronic delivery gram and reading accompanying text may tial processing (Park et al., 2011). The greater choices. CTML assumes that “people learn bet- overload the visual channel, while looking at number of elements that need to be learned ter from words and pictures than from words the same diagram but listening to narration in a lesson, the higher the essential cognitive alone” (Mayer, 2009, p. 1). It was founded on processes the material through duel channels load. the science of learning, which is a change in resulting in effective learning (Mayer, 2009). Finally, the material needs to be presented knowledge based on experience (Mayer, 2008). Finally, humans engage in active process- in a manner that makes sense to the learner, Learning is comprised of three cognitive ing, which depends on the learner’s cognitive often called generative or germane process-

26 Planetarian June 2014 ing. Generative processing is the mind’s abil- learning in three ways. First, seductive details Research study ity to make sense, organize, integrate new ma- divert the learner’s attention away from the This study used an inflatable planetarium terial [schema acquisition], and is influenced learning goal and cause increased attention dome with digital projection to teach fifth by presentation design and focuses the learner to be spent on the seductive details (Mayer, grade elementary students astronomy con- to create mental models of the material (Lusk, 2009). The learner focuses on the seductive de- cepts with and without seductive details. Les- 2008). tails at the expense of the learning goal. With- sons were constructed around National Sci- CTML forms the umbrella for twelve prin- in a lesson, seductive details appear as interest- ence Education K-4 astronomy standards ciples of designing instruction for multimedia ing factoids designed to catch the attention of and California Fifth Grade Standards relat- education (Mayer, 2008). Extraneous process- the student and possibly increase learning. ing to astronomy (California Department of ing (unnecessary material) is reduced by (1) Second, seductive details disrupt the cre- Education, 2009; National Academy of Sci- coherence, (2) signaling, (3) redun- ences, 2012; Project 2061, dancy, (4) spatial contiguity, and 2012). The pre-test and (5) temporal contiguity principle the post-test, titled The (Mayer, 2009). Astronomy and Space Sci- Essential processing (main idea) is ence Concept Invento- managed by (6) segmenting, (7) pre- ry (ASSCI), was designed training, and the (8) modality prin- by Project MOSART with ciple (Mayer, 2010). funding from NASA’s Sci- Generative processing (mental ence Mission Directorate models) is fostered by the (9) mul- (#NCC5-706) and are spe- timedia, (10) personalization, (11) cifically targeted for voice, and the (12) image principle fifth grade students (Mayer, 2009), see table 1. (see Appendix A) (MOSART, 2007). Coherence principle/ Each question seductive details provided “distractor- Within the context of this study, driven” multiple-choice the coherence principle was applied answers (DDMC). DDMC Inflatable dome used for the study. Photo by author. Caption by editor. to student learning in an inflatable tests include popular mis- planetarium. The coherence prin- conceptions as provid- ciple states that people learn bet- ed answers, forcing the test taker to chose be- ter when unnecessary information is omitted ation of mental models based on the learn- tween a single correct answer and one or more from instructional design (Austin, 2009). This ing goal (Ozdemir, 2009). Seductive details research-identified misconceptions. In or- needless material is referred to as seductive de- may insert themselves incorrectly into cause- der for this project to be comparable to other tails (Lusk, 2008). and-effect chains (Mayer, 2009). This disrup- CTML studies, reporting of problem-solving Seductive details may take the form of tion in formation of a correct mental model is means and standard deviations are included graphic narratives of people struck by light- known as the coherence break hypothesis; se- along with an effect size (Mayer, 2009). ning, while teaching a lesson about lightning ductive details break comprehension and in- Lessons were created using Nightshade As- formation (Mayer, 2009), or anecdotal stories terfere with the learner’s ability to construct tronomical Simulation, which is an open- involving sexual harassment (Towler, 2009). accurate mental models of the learning goal source platform based on Stellarium Astro- According to CTML, the brain will use its (Lehman et al., 2007). nomical Simulation, but optimized for use in limited cognitive resources and focus on the Third, the learner may incorrectly as- a planetarium (Nightshade, 2011). more interesting seductive details at the ex- sume that the seductive details are the learn- Custom controls and instructions in the pense of the learning goal, commonly referred ing goals and construct their mental model planetarium can be recorded and replayed us- to as the seductive detail effect (Mayer et al., around the seductive details, at the expense ing Nightshade’s scripting language, known 2008). of the true learning goal (Mayer, 2009). This as Stratoscripts (Nightshade User Guide, 2010). The foremost theory for including seduc- is referred to as the inappropriate schema hy- Stratoscripts are an open-source set of com- tive details in educational text is the arousal pothesis; the mental model is created around puter commands used by the Nightshade As- theory (Mayer, 2009). Arousal theory (Wein- the seductive details and not the learning goal tronomy Simulator software to automate er, 1990, 1992) is the notion that students learn (Lehman et al., 2007). multiple routine directions, allowing the best by being emotionally interested in the In an attempt to increase retention of ma- planetarium operator to focus on the audi- learning material. terial learned in the planetarium, Fisher (1997) ence and not on the equipment (Nightshade, This higher level of interest should trans- inserted humor related to pop culture ev- 2011). late into better attention and reward the ery ninety seconds during a 15-minute plan- learner with a better understanding of the ma- etarium lesson. The prediction was that hu- Two groups take part terial (McCrudden & Corkill, 2010). mor would relax the participants and provide Two groups participated in the planetar- Arousal theory is based on the model of greater recall of the material. ium lesson, with one group experiencing knowledge transition—information is trans- Participants who did not experience the the experimental lesson embedded with se- ferred from the teacher to the student, where- humor scored higher than those that did. In ductive detail design elements and the other as CTML is based on the belief of knowledge fact, the humor acted as a distraction and pre- group participating in the controlled lesson construction—the students actively build the vented the subjects from learning the materi- without seductive details. knowledge base in their own minds (Mayer, al. The humor represented a seductive detail, A total of fifty-six (n = 56) 5th grade students 2009). interesting but irrelevant material that did in- were selected based on: (a) attending the orien- It is believed that seductive details harm deed harm the learning goal (Bryant, 2010). tation, (b) taking the pre-test, (c) submitting a

June 2014 Planetarian 27 student accession form and returning a parent These interruptions were at a faster pace than a medium effect would be greater than .3 but permission slip, (d) participating in either the Fisher’s (1997) insertion of humor every 90 sec- less than .8, and a large effect would be greater experimental or controlled lesson, and finally onds, with similar end results of interesting than .8 (Cohen, 1988; Mayer, 2009). If the effect (e) completing the post-test. material harming learning. size is large or medium then there is a relation- One hundred and fifteen students, from ship between seductive details and learning; four classrooms, experienced some part of the Results conversely, if the effect size is small, then the project, but only 56 completed every phase. An initial glance at the results shows that relationship between seductive details and Students were grouped by their pre-test the post-test score did increase compared to learning is quite small (Mayer, 2009). scores and by their classroom. To alleviate the pre-test scores, providing ancillary evi- When comparing the two post-test means, scheduling problems and reduce teacher con- dence that learning does occur in the plan- an effect size of .4 (d = 0.4) denotes that a medi- fusion, students from two classrooms made etarium (see Table 6). The control group ( = um effect was observed between the two post- up the experimental group and students from 55%, sd = 14, range = 54, var = 218) had a larger test means. This suggests that the exclusion the other two classrooms made up the control gain in learning by 12 percentage points than of seductive details had a medium-sized ef- group. the experimental group ( = 47%, sd = 22, range fect on learning. Student learning was harmed The lesson given to students in the con- = 85, var = 490) with a gain of five percent- by the inclusion of seductive details. Placing trol group was approximately 34 minutes in age points, indicating that a larger amount this into prospective in regards to the post-test length and contained five topics: an overview of learning was achieved by excluding seduc- means, 20 students (71%) in the control group of the night sky, an explanation of the sea- tive details with the control group than by in- (n = 28) outscored the mean score for the ex- sons, examples and diagrams of solar and lu- cluding seductive details with the experimen- perimental group. Only 10 students (36%) in nar eclipses, a grand tour of the solar system, tal group. the experimental group (n = 28) outscored the and a depiction of the lunar cycle. This lesson This provides initial evidence that seduc- mean score for the control group, indicating that the control group per- formed significantly better CTML Cognitive with the exclusion of seduc- Design Principle Explanation Processing tive details. Coherence Extra information is excluded from the presented lesson Extraneous Conclusion Signaling Important and relative information is emphasized Extraneous According to the findings, Redundancy Material is presented as graphics and narration versus graph- Extraneous the control group (lesson ex- ics, narration, and printed text cluding seductive details) scored better than the exper- Spatial Contigu- Related words and pictures are presented closer together Extraneous imental group (lesson includ- ity ed seductive details). There- Temporal Conti- Narration and pictures presented simultaneously Extraneous fore, these results validate guity the research hypothesis. Segmenting Learner is able to control the pace of the lesson Essential The data also provided an answer to the research ques- Pre-training Outline the relative learning goals prior to the actual lesson Essential tions by demonstrating that Modality Pictures presented with spoken words as opposed to writ- Essential CTML, when applied to plan- ten text etarium instruction, does cause an increase in learn- Multimedia Words and pictures are better than words alone Generative ing and that seductive details Personalization Informal rather than a formal language style Generative do have a negative effect on learning. Voice Human voice is better than a computer synthesized voice Generative These results are in line Image Image of the narrator is superimposed over the lesson Generative with the predictions of CTML (Mayer, 2009), that Table 1 - CTML Design Principles (Mayer, 2009) the control group (no seduc- tive details) will outperform the experimental group (se- was designed without any distracting seduc- tive details have a harmful effect on learning. ductive details included) on assessment per- tive details. The mean score of the control group () was formance tests and that the inclusion of se- The lesson presented to the experimental 55% and the mean score of the experimen- ductive details may have increased student group contained the exact same design ele- tal group ) was 47%. By subtracting the exper- attention, but this increase in attention did ments with the inclusion of seductive details. imental group ) mean from the control group not translate into higher test scores. These seductive details were represented by 53 () mean and dividing by the Pooled Standard The evidence for this conclusion is the in- images and approximately 27 deviations from Deviation (SDpooled) of 18 yields an Effect crease in the post-test mean scores between the control lesson script. These extra seduc- Size (d) of .4, see Equation 4. Effect Size is pub- the experimental group ( = 47%, sd = .22) and tive details translated to an additional three lished as a value between 0 and 1, so the deci- the control group ( = 55%, sd = .14). This in- minutes of instruction, for a total run time of mal equivalents were used in calculating. crease can be summarized by the size of the ef- approximately 37 minutes (see Appendix C). Swaminathan, Horner, Rogers, and Sugai fect (d = 0.4) between the two groups. On average, a seductive detail image inter- (2012) define effect size as measuring the mag- With these results in mind, it is reason- rupted the lesson every 40 seconds and script nitude of the opposing results using standard- able to conclude that planetarium instruc- deviations were experienced every 78 seconds. ized units. A small effect would be less than .3, (Continues on page 30)

28 Planetarian June 2014 June 2014 Planetarian 29

Planetarian.indd 1 2014-04-25 22:45:20 (Seductive details, continued from page 28) Standards-Based Assessment Resources for Volume 1 and 2. American Association for tion consistent with the design principles of Teachers. Astronomy/Space Science Test the Advancement of Science, Washington CTML does cause an increase in learning and K-4, Form 611. The President and Fellows D.C. ISBN 0-87168-668-6 & 978-0-87168-712-8. seductive details do have a negative effect on of Harvard College, NSF 0412382. Retrieved Rosenfield, P., Connolly, A., Fay, J., Carey, L., instruction. April 15, 2012 from www.cfa.harvard.edu/ Sayres, C., & Tofflemire, B. (2010). Afford- smgphp/mosart able digital planetariums with Worldwide References National Academy of Sciences. (2012). A Telescope. ASP Conference Series, Astronom- Austin, K. (2009). Multimedia learning: Cogni- framework for K-12 Science Education: Prac- ical Society of the Pacific, 1 Nov 2010. doi: tive individual differences and display de- tices, crosscutting concepts, and core ideas. arXiv:1011.0342v1 sign techniques predict transfer learning Committee on Conceptual Framework for Swaminathan, H., Horner, R. H., Rogers, H., with multimedia modules. Computers & Ed- the K-12 Science Education Standards; Na- Sugai, G. (2012). Effect size measure and ucation, 53, 1339-1354. doi:10.1016/j.compe- tional Research Coucil. National Academies analysis of single subject designs. Society for du.2009.06.017 Press. Retrieved April 20, 2012 from www. Research on Educational Effectiveness. Bryant, E. R. (2010). An examination of potential nap.edu/catalog.php?record_id=13165 Towler, A., & Kraiger, K. (2008). The effects of mediating factors on the seductive details ef- Nightshade. (2011). Retrieved September, 21, seductive details on recognition tests and fect in learning from text. Unpublished doc- 2011 from nightshadesoftware.org transfer tasks. United States Army Research toral dissertation, University of Tennessee, Nightshade User Guide. (2010). Retrieved June Institute for the Behavioral and Social Scienc- Knoxville. 13, 2012 from nightshadesoftware.org/ es. Technical Report 1232, June 2008. California Department of Education. (2009). downloads/nightshade-user-guide.pdf Weiner, B. (1990). History of motivation re- Science content standards for California pub- Ozdemir, D. (2009). The effects of context-de- search in education. Journal of Educational lic schools: Kindergarten through grade twelve. pendency of seductive details on recall and Psychology, 82, 616-622. Retrieved June 13, 2012 from www.cde. transfer in a multimedia learning environ- Weiner, B. (1992). Motivation. In M. Alkin (Ed.), ca.gov/be/st/ss/documents/sciencestnd.pdf ment. Doctoral dissertation, Virginia Poly- Encyclopedia of Educational Research, Sixth Fisher, M. (1997) The effect of humor on technic Institute and State University– Edition (pp. 860-865). New York: Macmillan. learning in a planetarium. Science Ed- Blacksburg, Virginia. Yo, K. C., Chaplin, D. M., & Goldsworth,D. A. ucation. 81 (6). doi: 10.1002/(SICI)1098- Park, B., Moreno, R., Seufert, R., & Brünken, R. (2011). Long-term audience impacts of live 237X(199711(81:6<703::AID-SCE7>3.0.CO;2 (2011). Does cognitive load moderate the se- fulldome planetarium lectures for Earth sci- M. Harskamp, E., Mayer, R., & Suhre, C. (2007). ductive details effect? A multimedia study. ence and global change education. Earth and Does the modality principle for multime- Computers in Human Behavior, 27 (2011) pp. Space Science: Making Connections in Educa- dia learning apply to science classrooms? 5-10. doi:10.1016/j.chb.2010.05.006 tion and Public Outreach. ASP Conference Se- Learning and Instruction, 17, pp. 465-477, doi: Project 2061. (2012). Atlas of Science Literacy, ries. Astronomical Society of the Pacific. I 10.1016/j.learninstruc.2007.09.010 Lehman, S., Schraw, G., McCrudden, M. T., & Hartley, K. (2007) Processing and recall of se- (Music, continued from page 25) ductive details in scientific text. Contempo- rary Educational Psychology, 32 (2007), 569- And then came, as a great surprise, the evi- two main reasons. The first one is that space is 587. doi:10.1016/j.cedpsych.2006.07.002 dence of the acoustic oscillations which take emptier than the most extreme void that we Lusk, D. (2008). The effect of seductive details place inside the sun. They were first observed can have on Earth. Contrary to light, sound and segmentation on interest, recall, and in 1961 as a small vibration in the solar light. waves cannot propagate in the void. transfer in a multimedia learning environ- The explanation in terms of acoustic reso- The second reason is that the stellar sounds ment. Doctoral dissertation, Virginia Poly- nance was given 10 years later. Astronomers are very grave, much below the possibilities of technic Institute and State University– discovered that these surface vibrations were the human ears. Astronomers cannot listen to Blacksburg, Virginia. the signature in optical light of pressure waves these sounds, but they do observe them. Mayer, R. E. (2008). Applying the science of travelling inside the sun. Later on, the acous- May that be considered as music? What is learning: Evidence-based principles for the tic oscillations of solar-type stars were also de- true is that stars similar to the sun vibrate like design of multimedia instruction. American tected, which was the beginning of a new as- musical instruments, although in a complete- Psychologist, 63(8), 760-769. doi:10.1037/0003- tronomical science, asteroseismology. ly different scale. They do not play music by 066X.63.8.760 The stellar spheres ring because of the themselves, but they can be used as particular Mayer, R. E., Griffith, E., Jurkowitz, I. T. N., acoustic waves induced by the convective instruments in musical creations. Rothman, D. (2008). Increased interesting zones which are present in their outer layers. It is possible to transpose the observed stel- of extraneous details in multimedia science The convective motions make noise and cre- lar frequencies and reach the domain audible presentation leads to decreased learning. ate sound waves inside the stars. These waves by the human ear. I decided to choose 12 well Journal of Experimental Psychology: Applied. make the stars vibrate like the resonance observed stars, including the sun, and trans- 14(4) 329-339. doi:10.1037/a00113835 chambers of musical instruments. pose their real frequencies by 18 octaves with Mayer, R. E. (2010). Applying the science of The scientific analysis of these vibrations their real amplitudes. learning to medical education. Medical Ed- leads to unprecedented precision on the deter- With this new stellar scale, the French mu- ucation 2010, 44, 543-549. doi: 10.1111/j.1365- mination of the stellar masses, radii, tempera- sician Claude-Samuel Levine composed new 2010.03624.x tures, ages and even internal structure. pieces of music, quite interesting to listen to. McCrudden, M. T., & Corkill, A. J. (2010). Ver- For the sun, tens of millions of overtones This is the new “Music of the Spheres”! bal ability and the processing of scien- may be detected, which leads to a precision To hear the music, go to www.odilejacob. tific text with seductive detail sentenc- of one for one thousand on the values of the fr/catalogue/sciences/astronomie-astrophy- es. Reading Psychology. 31, 282-200. doi: depth of the convective zone, the pressure, sique-cosmologie/nouvelle-musique-des- 10.1080/02702710903256486 the density and so on. spheres_9782738130365.php or www.cslevine. MOSART. (2007). Misconceptions-Oriented The sounds of the stars are not audible for com/etoiles. I

30 Planetarian June 2014 Supervolcanoes_8_5x11_WithAwards_Option01.pdf 1 10/24/2013 10:03:04 AM

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June 2014 Planetarian 31 Here’s looking at you, Glen

Above: Moore with the cast of a dino- saur’s jaw in 2000, soon after the Sci- ence Centre and Planetarium moved to its current location. Left: Glen Moore with his wife, Elizabeth, outside the Wollongong Science Centre and Plane- tarium. Photo by Kirk Gilmour, Mercu- ry staff photographer, used with per- mission.

Glen Moore retires after 44 years of bringing science to Wollongong

Greg Ellis The Illawarra Mercury They say behind every great man there is a in his favourite field of astronomy. Moore says he would not have been able to great woman. The Moores have two children, David and start the Science Centre without their help. And when a great man singles his part- Catherine, and plan to spend more time with Initially, there was “fairly substantial” oppo- ner out for supporting him every step of the them and their grandchildren. sition, he says. way and saying it would have been impossi- But Moore has nurtured many others, par- “It was based around the idea of ‘why Wol- ble without her it is a relationship worth cel- ticularly in the field of science. longong?’ and ‘why science?’ “ ebrating. Without him and two friends—Questa- Moore, who spent much of his career as a When Glen Moore retired last week after con founder Mike Gore in Canberra, and Ad- senior lecturer in physics at UOW, started his 44 years at University of Wollongong—during elaide’s Investigator Science and Technolo- journey to establishing the Science Centre which he played the leading role in establish- gy Centre founder Barbara Hardy—Australia and Planetarium by introducing university ing Wollongong’s Science Centre and Plan- might not have a science centre of any type. courses in the liberal art style. etarium—he wasted no time in thanking his Professor Chris Bryant, of the Australian They received opposition at the time be- wife, Elizabeth. National Centre for Public Awareness and Sci- cause they drew students from other faculties. What many people do not know is Eliza- ence, describes Moore, Gore and Hardy as the “In the 1970s, I decided to try and take this beth Moore has worked alongside her hus- three people who helped give birth to the sci- idea of science through astronomy further.” band every step of the way as the Science Cen- ence centre movement in Australia. Moore says astronomy was popular because tre’s retail manager. In Wollongong, Moore was able to garner it was pictorial and graphic and you could use “She has been as important as I have,” the help of powerful supporters, including that to teach about geology, biology, physics, Moore says, to which his wife adds: “We could former Prime Minister Paul Keating, former chemistry and even politics. not have done it without each other.” Science Minister Barry Jones, former UOW “This great interest we have in the universe This week Moore’s focus turned to his vice-chancellor Ken McKinnon and former and our origins is something that grabs our at- grandchildren and his own observatory, state MP Colin Markham. tention and is something countries are willing where he plans on making more discoveries Despite enormous community support, to fund fundamental research into,” he says. Moore, 65, still gets excited about new dis- Reprinted with kind permission from the Illawarra Mercury, Wollongong, New South Wales, Australia; coveries, such as one announced last week of original publication date is May 4, 2014. For the full story, see the Mercury’s website at www.illawarra- an asteroid with rings like Saturn. mercury.com.au.

32 Planetarian June 2014 He sees it as frontier knowledge and that is Fairy Meadow as a potential site for a science sity of Wollongong Innovation Campus. why he is going to continue working in retire- centre and, importantly, gained the support The impetus for the new building came af- ment. of two influential politicians. ter a major flood in 1998 destroyed many of Do not be surprised if one day you hear of a “One was Barry Jones, who was the minis- the Science Centre’s displays. planetary object being discovered by Moore. ter for customs at the time, and [the other was] “With the help of a lot of volunteers we got In the 1970s, Moore also introduced a course Paul Keating, who was then the treasurer.” it back up and working and I think the gov- through WEA and from that, a Lord Mayor- A scheme was hatched whereby anybody ernment saw the level of community sup- al Committee was formed and the Illawarra exhibiting at Brisbane’s Expo ‘88 could avoid port,” Moore says. Planetarium Society was born. duty and sales tax if they donated goods to the He became director when the new building “The idea was to promote the concept of Wollongong Science Centre. opened in 2000. having a planetarium in Wollongong,” he As a result, Moore received donations from Since then the Science Centre has consis- says. the British, German, Japanese and Australian tently welcomed more than 60,000 visitors “In 1976, there was an interesting event pavilions. a year, making it one of Wollongong’s most that really galvanised the public imagination. “From that, with some assistance from the popular indoor tourist attractions. Last year it That was the total eclipse that passed through university’s maintenance staff, we built the celebrated its one millionth visitor. Bombala. first Science Centre at Campus East,” Moore Many of those visitors are school students “I was involved in co-ordinating some of says. from Sydney and the Illawarra, who get to the overseas visitation for that.” “From there it continued to grow.” learn about science through astronomy, just Moore says 1982 was a real turning point for Moore split time between the Department of the way Moore likes to teach it. I him. He attended the International Planetar- Physics and the Science Centre until it moved to Find out more at sciencecentre.uow.edu.au/ ium Society Conference in Vancouver with its present site as the first building on the Univer- planetarium.html. his wife and 3-year-old David, who he took to a new kind of facility in that city that was re- ferred to as a science centre. “It was a very tiny little place in the base- Dale Etheridge: A lifetime under the dome ment of a shop,” he says. rector of the planetarium at Clark County “David loved it . . . and we were told if you Community College, later to become the really like this you should go and see what College of Southern Nevada. The theater they have in Seattle. started out as a Spitz 512 facility with an “I drove down there and went to what was unusual dome design based on ideas from called the Pacific Science Centre. Don Lunetta featuring a hyper-sphere to “The attention of a 3-year-old is normally the floor in front of the audience and a nor- about 30 seconds…but after a full day there I mal horizon behind (a style since referred said to him ‘what would you like to do tomor- to as the “Prince Valiant Cut”). row’ and his answer was ‘come back here’. In 1986, a Cinema-360 hemispheric film “At that point my mind started thinking, projector was installed enabling fulldome ‘there is something else here.’” films to be shown. The C-360 projector was Moore realised people of all ages were not removed 10 years later when it became just interested in a planetarium, but in science very difficult to acquire 35mm fulldome generally. Dale Etheridge film products. In the early part of the new On his return Moore kept lobbying for a century, with the increasing difficulties in planetarium, but within a couple of years the finding and using slide-based materials, Dr. Dr. Dale Etheridge, Director of the Plan- Illawarra planetarium project proposal fell Etheridge was able to acquire a grant to re- etarium at the College of Southern Ne- over because of a change of priorities in the move the aging Spitz projector and replace vada in Las Vegas, is retiring after serving city. it with a Digistar 3 SP system in 2005. In 38 years in that position. He will be con- “In 1984, there was a Steel Regional Assis- 2010, this was upgraded with another grant tinuing his involvement with the college tance Program and everybody was keen to to a Digistar 5 SP2HD, which has been very as emeritus professor of astronomy. build new sources of revenue in Wollongong popular with the patrons. Dr. Etheridge began his planetarium ca- to overcome the downturn in steel and tour- As an integral part of the public outreach reer at the Griffith Observatory in Los An- ism was seen as one of the options,” he says. for the Planetarium (it never did get a nam- geles, California, in the early sixties, first “The $20 million that was set aside for proj- ing donor), Dr. Etheridge began publish- as a guide, then a lecturer, and finally cu- ects in Wollongong was going to be split be- ing the Southern Nevada Sky Calendar in 1977. rator of exhibits to end his 11 year associ- tween planetarium and football. It ended up This was replaced with onOrbit magazine in ation there. the money being halved and there simply was 1989 and has been published every month After a brief interval in industry as a sci- not enough money to do both and only Bran- since. Hopefully, onOrbit will continue for entific programmer, he became the found- don Park was built.” many more years under new editorship. ing director of the planetarium at Mt. Moore was not going to give up. Through a number of small grants over San Antonio College in Walnut, Califor- In 1986, with Halley’s Comet passing close the years, onOrbit is sent free to every pub- nia, where he was hired while the facili- to Earth, the public’s attention was drawn to lic school library in Nevada. Since 2001, on- ty was still in the planning phase (rare in astronomy and more than 30,000 signatures Orbit has been jointly published with the our field). After four years at MtSAC, he re- were gathered for a petition in support of a Fleischmann Planetarium in Reno, making turned to industry while he was complet- planetarium. it the official publication of all of the pub- ing his doctorate at UCLA. In 1988, Moore managed to get hold of some lic planetariums in Nevada. I In 1976, he was hired as the founding di- of the Nissan huts at the old migrant hostel in

June 2014 Planetarian 33 His quest for a national observatory John Quincy Adams’ role in American astronomy

John E. Ventre, Historian & Volunteer Coordinator Cincinnati Observatory Center 3489 Observatory Place An 1846 lithograph of the original Cincinnati Observatory building on Mt. Adams. The Ob- Cincinnati, Ohio 45208 USA servatory went on-line in 1845. This oil portrait www.cincinnatiobservatory.org of John Quincy Adams was painted by William Powell in 1847 and it has been in the posses- sion of the Cincinnati Observatory ever since. The American holiday of Presidents Day out this paper by JQA) was appointed as Amer- It is the last portrait of Adams before he died normally focuses on the two best-known ica’s first Minister to Alexander I, Czar of in 1848 of a stroke on the floor of the House names in the country’s history: George Wash- Russia, in 1809, and they became fast friends. of Representatives. All photos provided by au- thor. ington, the first president, and Abraham Lin- Alexander, being well schooled in astronomy, coln, the sixteenth, who led the country and passed this knowledge on to his friend and Ad- was assassinated during the Civil War. It is a ams, with this exposure, developed a passion relatively new national holiday that com- for astronomy that he enjoyed for the rest of professorship in astronomy and he pledged bines the birthdays of both men in February, his life. Within the pages of his diary, JQA re- $1,000 “a sum more suited to my circumstanc- and also has come to honor veterans and lo- corded what he observed in the sky with his es & means than to my inclination…” for the cal histories. unaided eye or his hand-held telescope. erection of an observatory at Harvard, pro- While serving as Secretary of State (1817- vided that the remaining, necessary funds to Focus on astronomical president 1825) under President James Monroe, a peti- complete the project could be raised within Instead, I would like to reflect on the ac- tioning letter was written by JQA in 1823 to two years. The required funds were not raised, tions of John Quincy Adams, the sixth pres- the supporting members of the Harvard Cor- thus he renewed his generous offer in 1825. ident. His role in establishing observatories poration for a world-class observatory to be Yet again, the sufficient funds were not raised during our nation’s early history played a cru- constructed at Harvard. One of responsibili- and JQA’s early efforts to establish Harvard’s cial role in the cultivation of American as- ties as Secretary of State, according to JQA, was observatory proved unsuccessful. tronomy. A series of relevant, historical snip- to promote “learning,” which incorporated Evidently his persistent and oppressive at- pets are presented. the knowledge of astronomy. His petition fol- tempt to persuade governmental support, in- Following his stint in the U.S. Senate from lowed previous efforts to establish an observa- cluding to the General Court of Massachu- 1803-1808 and serving as a professor at Har- tory at Harvard. setts, for the proposed Harvard Observatory vard, John Quincy Adams (referred through- In 1823 he also offered to fund a Harvard was rebuked by Congress when they creat- ed the U.S. Coast Survey. The authorizing bill specified that its funding shall not authorize Reprinted with permission from the SpaceWatchtower blog.; check it out at spacewatchtower.blogspot.com. (Continues on page 36)

34 Planetarian June 2014 June 2014 Planetarian 35 (Adams, continued from page 34) Congress argued over 10 years the construction of a permanent astronomi- as to the ultimate use of the cal observatory. Smithson bequest. As chairman Adams was elected as America’s sixth pres- of the Congressional Committee ident in 1825 and his first address to Congress to resolve the dispute over the challenged Congress to build the country’s disposition of the Smithson be- first national observatory. The “Old Man El- quest, JQA petitioned that the be- oquent,” again, argued the duty and right of quest be used for a research insti- government to promote learning, and he em- tution: a “National Institute for phasized that a significant component of this the Promotion of Science and duty was to erect an astronomical observatory. Literature” that would include a “It is with no feeling of pride, as an Amer- national observatory and muse- ican, that the remark be made, that, on the um. Yet, in Congress’ final debate comparatively small territorial surface of Eu- in 1846 on the disposition of the rope, there are existing upward of one hun- funds JQA sarcastically stated, “I dred and thirty of these lighthouses of the am delighted that an astronom- skies; while throughout the whole American ical observatory—not perhaps hemisphere, there is not one.” so great as it should have been— Adams picturesquely referred to observato- has been smuggled into the num- ries as “lighthouses of the skies,” and his States- ber of institutions of the country, Rightist political opponents constantly criti- under the mark of a small depot cized him for his choice of this term. for charts…” JQA chaired a Harvard com- Elected to house mittee in 1840 to raise funds to After his one-term presidency ended in convert the Dana house, a private 1829, JQA was elected to the House of Repre- faculty residence on the Harvard sentatives in 1830, where he served until he campus, into an observatory. The died in 1848. To this day Adams was the only house was modified to incorpo- former president to ever serve in the House rate a rotating wooden cupola on During his time in the House, he perceived top of the residence, eventually a need for an observatory to serve practical to house a telescope. Evidently, as purposes essential to national interests, such early as the 1820’s, JQA had pro- as accurate time determination and the cali- posed that the land upon which Top: The cornerstone that John Quincy Adams laid for the Cin- cinnati Observatory on November 9, 1843. When the Observa- bration of the navy’s chronometers which en- the Dana house stood be consid- tory was moved from Mt. Adams to Mt. Lookout in about 1873, ered as a potential site of an ob- abled ship captains to accurately determine the corner stone was removed from the original observato- their longitude while at sea. JQA failed in his servatory. ry and re-laid in the new building, where this photograph was attempt, but his failure was predicated prin- In 1842 Congress authorized taken. Bottom: The second face of the corner stone that was cipally by the State-Rightest movement that the expansion of the Naval De- engraved in 1873 when it was re-laid in the new observatory. was in control of Congress, and they did not pot of Charts and Instruments want to relinquish to the Federal government into an observatory and by 1844 any monies or power. the U.S. Naval Observatory was established, Mitchel’s dynamic public lectures aroused the Nevertheless, in 1830, he was partially suc- when a 9.6-inch Merz and Mahler refractor citizens of Cincinnati to form the Cincinna- cessful in his attempt to found a national ob- was acquired. ti Astronomical Society and build the Cincin- servatory when Congress authorized the es- nati Observatory. They purchased the second tablishment of the Naval Depot of Charts Powerful words of support largest telescope in the world, an 11-3/16 inch and Instruments. Their modest astronomical In his support for the Naval Observatory refractor, from Merz and Mahler in Munich, instruments included a Patten transit instru- JQA wrote: “There is no richer field of science Bavaria that very same year. In 1843 they in- ment, a 3.75-inch Troughton transit instru- opened to the exploration of man in search of vited the former president to lay the corner- ment, and a 3.2-inch Simms refractor. knowledge than astronomical observation; stone of their planned observatory. Other than the Quincy’s 1825 attempt to nor is there … any duty more impressively in- John Quincy was 76 years old and in poor found a national observatory, there had been cumbent upon all human governments than health at the time. Despite his family’s pleas little interest in American government spon- that of furnishing means and facilities and re- to ignore the invitation, especially when it re- sorship of astronomy, but in 1835, the unusu- wards to those who devote the labors of their quired arduous travel from Boston to Cincin- al bequest of an Englishman, James Smithson, lives to the indefatigable industry, and un- nati during November’s wintery chill, he ac- resulted in the first government foundation, ceasing vigilance, and the bright intelligence cepted and wrote to Mitchel that, “he was on the Smithsonian Institution, for the general indispensable to success in these pursuits.” his way and if he was delayed it was not his advancement of science in America. By the mid-1840s, the Harvard Observatory fault.” Like John Quincy, Smithson was interest- had established a Visiting Committee, headed On November 9, 1843, JQA laid the Cincin- ed in expanding the scientific knowledge of initially by Adams, who served on the com- nati Observatory’s cornerstone on a hill east mankind. He bequeathed his estate to a neph- mittee until his death. The committee exer- of the city in conjunction with an abbreviat- ew, who died without an heir, thus forward- cised influence over the operation of the Ob- ed, rained-out ceremony. The following day ing his generous bequest (current production servatory. he delivered a two hour dedication oration, worker value of $ 256,000,000) was forwarded The country’s first public observatory was essentially a history of astronomy, to 3,000 to the United States. founded in 1842 when Ormsby MacKnight (Continues on page 42)

36 Planetarian June 2014 June 2014 Planetarian 37 Of kings, and wars, and wines The Great Comet of 1811 left its mark

It symbolized a blazing passage from the pharaohs to the new “master of the world,” and as an announcement of invincibility in his conquest of Europe and his decision to attack Russia in 1812 at the summer solstice Dr. Jean-Michel Faidit with the battle of Berezina, which came after Astronomical Society of France a turning point in the destiny of the Empire. Montpellier, France In 1812, two wars engulfed the world: the [email protected] Russian campaign and the War of 1812, the new-world battle of the United States vs. the British and Indians. Tecumseh, the Indian Spectacular comets encounter history and named l’Aiglon (the Eaglet)—five days before leader, also had became associated with the mark their eras. For the Great Comet of 1811, its discovery inspired Napoleon, himself born comet following the prophecy of the earth- this was certainly the case among a number of only a week after the great comet of 1769, a co- quake of New Madrid in the United States. literary sources, from Balzac to Stendhal, from incidence highlighted in a thesis by Messier in Musset to Jules Verne, from works of art and 1808. Charles Messier and his thesis caricatures to even wine. Whether it is “Napo- By its brilliance and duration of visibility, Charles Messier, born in Badonviller in leon’s comet,” “Tolstoy’s comet,” or “Tecum- this comet of 1811-12 was seen as a reflection 1730, discovered the brilliant comet of 1769 seh’s comet,” it continues to be talked about of Napoleon’s reign and became known as the that was visible for four months. He observed even to this day. Imperial Comet for its unsuspected influence it during this entire period and established a Here is a new celestial reading of facts tru- on the Emperor. These “hairy stars” appeared map of its trajectory, which he presented to ly from Earth. Was Napoleon influenced by to him from then on as his “lucky star.” Louis XV. It was christened the “ferret of com- a comet? As it happens, the comet discov- With its long orbital period (309,539 years), ets” because its “meddlesome” reputation was ered March 1811 by Honoré Flaugergues from the comet gained an additional temporal di- already considerable. Viviers in the Ardèche region of France was mension. With its previous passage dating to Between 1758 and 1798, Messier discovered exceptionally visible with the naked eye for 1285 BC, during the times of Ramses II, it set up 25 comets and observed 45 at the Naval Ob- nine months, and until August 1812 with as- a link with ancient Egypt, which had fascinat- servatory, located in the Hall of Cluny in Paris. tronomical instruments. ed Napoleon since his scientific expedition to In order to avoid confusing them with the The birth of his son Napoleon II—nick- the foot of the pyramids. other nebulous groups he encountered while

38 Planetarian June 2014 Facing page, Left: Napoleon I on his Imperial Throne, an 1806 portrait of Napoleon I of France in his cor- onation costume, painted by the French painter Ingres. Photographic reproduction of a two-dimen- sional, public domain work of art, Wikimedia. Center: A watercolor version of Benson Long Lossing’s engraving (in wood) of Shawnee chief Tecumseh. Wikimedia. Right: 1811 comet cognac with the co- ment in the glass seal.

This page, right: Napoléon II Roi de Rome by François Gérard, 1812. The photograph of this painting and the one below were taken by a Wikimedian during the partnership between the Château de Versailles and Wikimédia France. Center: One of the many caricatures representing the comet from the other side of the English Channel, this one “The Gallic magi led by the imperial comet,” 1811. Public domain, British Cartoon Prints Collection, Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division,Washington, D.C. Bottom: Bonoparte Before the Sphinx by Jean-Léon Gérôme. exploring the deep sky (nebulae, galaxies, and small star clusters which, at the time, were of no interest to astronomers), he produced a fa- mous catalog of 104 of these diffuse objects. In an astonishing paradox which one en- counters sometimes in the history of science, it was precisely this catalog of “unwanted” ob- jects, not comets, which declared his legacy. Already in his lifetime, the historical con- text of Messier’s glory in comet research was changing at the threshold of the new centu- ry. Jean-Louis Pons took over the observato- ry of Marseille. He was, in fact, devoted to be- coming the prize winner of the 600 pounds offered by Lalande1 for the discovery of the first comet of the 19th century. It was he who would accumulate discoveries from now on. Messier saw nothing else of his fame dur- ing his later years, despite being awarded the Cross of the Legion of Honor. He was even ob- ligated to settle his last rent at the Observato- ry of Cluny. This may explain why, two years later, he published an eight-page thesis dedi- cated to the Emperor in which he noted of the coincidence of his discovery of the comet on August 8, 1769 and of the birth of Napoleon on this eight-page thesis, which ruined the im- ing to his soldiers) “From the top of these pyr- August 15, one week later. age of Messier as a serious astronomer, just like amids, 40 centuries look down on you...” il- Presented on February 14, 1808, it contained William Henry Smyth, illustrator of excellent lustrates the fascination Egypt held over the a map of the comet’s trajectory, the same that drawings of the comet of 1811, noticed already Emperor. was inserted in his original thesis on the com- in the 19th century how even with its whiffs Among the most remarkable results, the dis- et of 1769 published in Memoirs of the Academy of astrology, it’s “the last comet presented as- covery of the famous Rosetta Stone allowed of Sciences in 1775. trologically to the public by an authentic as- Jean-François Champollion to decipher hiero- But it was, above all, a question of the fact tronomer.” glyphics and pave the way for Egyptology. that this discovery co- But Messier’s thesis begins to play an unrec- The 10 volumes of the collaborative work De- incided with the birth ognized role in the life of Napoleon, since the scription of Egypt, published between 1808 and of Napoleon Bonapar- comet of 1811 appeared in the sky at the time 1829, are a legacy of Napoleon’s expedition. te, and at the time of its of the birth of the Eaglet, his son Napoleon II. Leaving command of the French in Egypt next return in the course The discovery of the comet by Flaugergues to Jean Baptiste Kléber (who, incidently, was of centuries it would be took place five days after the birth of the Ea- assassinated shortly thereafter), the aura sur- associated “at the birth glet on March 20. According to the “astrolog- rounding Bonaparte acquired a new prestige, and reign of Napoleon ical” thesis of Messier, the parallel of this nov- which paved the way to power, becoming the Great, Emperor of el coincidence could not escape the notice of First Council through the coup d’état of the France and King of Italy.” the Emperor. 18th of Brumaire (under the French Republi- Published in 2007 can Calendar, or on November 9, 1799). in International Com- These coincidences of the comet of 1769 et Quarterly, Maik Mey- A link with ancient Egypt On May 19, 1798, Napoleon left with with his birth and with that of his son were er analyzed in his study Charles Messier 36,000 soldiers and 2,500 officers for a three- too much for Napoleon to ignore. With cal- year campaign. More than 400 ships head- culations giving the comet of 1811 an orbit- 1 Joseph Jérôme Lefrançois de Lalande (1732-807) ed for the ancient kingdom of the pharaohs. al period of more than 3000 years, it became was a French astronomer and writer. In 1801 he en- The expedition was military and scientif- a link with ancient Egypt, a veritable passage dowed the Lalande Prize, administered by theFrench Academy of Sciences, for advances in astronomy. ic, as 151 scientists took part in the voyage. of 3000 years and a symbolic passing of the Pons received the prize in 1818 for his discovery of The famous quote by Napoleon (while speak- torches of the pharaohs to the new master of three comets that year.

June 2014 Planetarian 39 the world. To Napoleon, not only do these hairy stars symbolize his “lucky star,” but they also re- The Great Comet of 1811 in the vealed signs of a celestial indicator, like an an- background of the miniature paint- nouncement of invincibility in his military ing The Ghost of a Flea by the English endeavors. The additional argument of the poet, painter and printmaker Wil- “Imperial Comet,” which is what it is called liam Blake, located in the Tate Gal- from now on in the Gazettes, suggested to lery, London. This reproduction is part of a collection compiled by him that he perhaps not yet achieved the full The Yorck Project. The compilation reality of his power. copyright is held by Zenodot Ver- lagsgesellschaft mbH and licensed The Russian Campaign under the GNU Free Documentation License. Russia in 1812 was rich in raw materials and suffering from a continental blockade that de- prived it from its revenue and ability to ac- quire manufactured goods. Napoleon’s decision to violate this block- ade influenced him towards war. June 22, younger brother Lalawethika, becoming 1812, the day after the summer solstice (oc- known as “The Prophet” under the name curring at 15:28:52 June 21, 1812) was the time of Tenskwatawa. chosen for his declaration of war and launch- Born in Ohio in 1768, Tecumseh, whose ing of the Russian campaign. The Great Army, name means “shooting star” by compar- with almost 700,000 men, was the most im- ing him to the speed of the panther, par- portant ever assembled. ticipated in several skirmishes against the The soldiers and the Emperor left for Mos- Americans in his youth, such as when the cow with the certainty of victory. The rest Shawnee took the side of Great Britain is history. The Russian cavalry was helped during the war of independence. by effective logistics and the first harsh chill After the Treaty of Paris (1783), which end- “Peninsular War,” followed by the invasion of Siberian winter, which caused numerous ed the Revolutionary War, the United States in 1807 of Spain and Portugal by Napoleonic torments to the French army. The piteous obtained the territories between the Missis- France. crossing of Berezina has remained memorable. sippi River and the Appalachian Mountains, In total, the escapade cost around 200,000 while the northwest remained in control of Face off: Tecumseh and Harrison dead and as many prisoners. As for the com- the American Indians. Tenskwatawa was convinced that the ar- et—which was innocent of wars as much as of A first war (the Northwest Indian war in rival of whites translated into a punishment grape harvests—continued to travel on its way. the Ohio Country) took place from 1790-1795, by the supreme divinity. He started a mys- Numerous caricatures representing the which led Tecumseh to refuse the treaty of tical movement based on the traditions of comet allegorically ridiculed Napoleon (Bony) Greenville, which would have authorized the American Indians. His fulfilled “prophecies” from the other side of the English Channel. sale of land to whites and establish a bound- garnered a large response from the Indians. The comet appears on objects as diverse as ary between Indian territory and land open First he made the prediction in 1806 of a so- the Imperial Calendar of the leap year of 1812, to settlers. The boundary was frequently en- lar eclipse, which occurred May 16 that year, silver teapots, fans, and even on a Cross of croached by settlers. but above all, in 1811, he predicted a meteor Messanges (Gold Coast), built in 1864 by An- It was in this context that in 1803 Napoleon preceding some cataclysms. This was consecu- dre Picard, a miller, who owed his calling to sold Louisiana to the United States, adding a tively confirmed by the visibility of the com- observer to the comet. vast territory which extended from the Gulf et in October and the first pair of New Madrid of Mexico to the Rocky Mountains to the new earthquake in the Mississippi Valley on De- The other war of 1812 nation. cember 16. In 1811, only 35 years after the declaration The war of Tecumseh began in 1811 because of independence of 1776, the United States was of the aspirations of the Shawnee chief who The earthquake of New Madrid still at the beginning of its history. As in Eu- tried in vain to create a confederation of the This tremor and its first aftershocks on Jan- rope, the appearance of this comet in the sky first Indian Nations, from Canada to Florida. uary 23 and February 7, 1812 would reach an did not occur unnoticed, and again, as in Eu- This conflict with William Henry Harrison2, estimated magnitude of around 8 on the Rich- rope, it would find itself associated with con- governor of Indiana, continued in the war of ter scale, causing thousands of casualties and flict—the American-English War of 1812, also 1812, which was declared by the United States temporarily changing the course of the Mis- known as the “second war for independence” June 18, 1812 in order to liberate the Canadian sissippi River. It was the most powerful earth- or “the war of Tecumseh,” after the name of territories from the British Empire. quake registered in the United States outside a the Indian chief of the Shawnee tribe who At first an ineffective spectator of this new zone of subduction. played a key role in the war before being war, Tecumseh later allied himself with the The fact that New Madrid is very far away killed in 1813. English, who were already involved in the from the boundaries of tectonic plates was an The Shawnee tribe was centered in Ohio enigma which paved the way for speculations and Indiana. Today only a few thousand In- 2 Harrison’s main objective as governor was to allow by Robert Fritzius in 2005 on the impact of a dians remain. They once saw comets as the ce- his settlers to push farther into the West, defend- near-Earth object (NEO) which materialized ing them when Indians retaliated. The major turning rebral material of the Great Spirit, as they did from a fission of the comet, in conjunction point of this campaign was The Battle of Tippicanoe, during the era of the impassioned speech of wherein Harrison led a raid against Tecumseh and his with the observation by Burchell of anoth- their charismatic leader Tecumseh and of his brother. (Continues on page 42)

40 Planetarian June 2014 DynamicEarth_8_5x11_WithAwards_Option01.pdf 1 10/21/2013 11:07:46 AM

NARRATED BY LIAM NEESON

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Exploring Earth’s Climate Engine

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June 2014 Planetarian 41 (Comet, continued from page 40) er comet in 1811 and the notes of Herz in 1893 about his problems explaining its orbit, with- out confirmation by a meteoric crater. A surprising comet prize: The current best theory for the cause of the earthquakes is ancient subduction from the The famous wines of 1811 time when the supercontinent Rodinia be- gan to split apart some 750 million years ago.

S i m i l a r i t i e s 1000, through his “manual of grape har- Sources and bibliography between both vests,” has allowed for faithful enough re- Faidit, Jean-Michel: The Comet of 1811, Imperi- the nonstandard constructions. Since the end of the medi- al Les Presses du Midi, Toulon, 2012. grape harvest eval era it has been a tradition to record the Messier, Charles: 1769. Great Comet that ap- and the histor- dates of the beginnings of the harvests in peared in the birth of Napoleon the great, ic comet of 1811, the registers. discovered and observed four months. Paris, at its brightest Ladurie notes that the year 1811 was a print of Delance, 1808. in the beginning hot and dry year. The climate exerted a Messier: Notice of my comets. Unpublished of autumn, fa- decisive influence not only on the grape manuscript. Observatoire de Paris, C2-19. vored the moni- vines and the dates of the harvests, but also Meyer, Maik: Charles Messier, Napoleon and ker “Wine of the on the high quality of the wine. Comet C/1769 P1. International Comet Quar- Comet.” Thus the “comet wines” of 1811 find an terly, January 2007, 3-6. These bottles oenoclimatic explanation confirmed by Philbert, Jean-Paul: The Ferret of Comets: carry on this ex- the meteorological records of very warm Charles Messier, Badonviller 1730-Paris 1817. ceptional vin- temperatures in the summer of 1811. Sarreguemines, Pierron, 2000. tage, with the Among the allegorical representations Drake, Benjamin: Life of Tecumseh and representation of this grand comet, the good wine is repre- of his brother the Prophet; with a his- of a hairy star sented, across a barrel dated 1811 in the fore- torical sketch of the Shawanoe Indians, on their labels or ground, with the figure of the comet under originally published 1853, reprinted their corks when the form of a wild and disheveled long- Mount Vernon: Rose Press, 2008. I it is not em- haired fury, armed with burning torch- bossed on their es, setting fire to the world and producing glass. earthquakes, volcanic eruptions and other After several years, the harvest of 1811 storms. (Adams, continued from page 36) gained universally appreciated results. In- In literature, a short-story by Ernst Jung- citizens. This was the last public lecture that stead of searching for a climatic explana- er in 1939, On the Marble Cliffs, plotted the Adams delivered. tion across a particularly hot and dry sum- search for wines of 1811, very much like in In appreciation for his coming to Cincinna- mer and autumn, the flattering echoes of The Adventure of the Stockbroker’s Clerk by ti to lay the cornerstone, the city named the “Comet Wine” quickly spread across Eu- Arthur Conan Doyle, where Dr. Watson de- Observatory’s hill Mt. Adams. rope and the New World. scribes Sherlock Holmes as a connoisseur of Why did he agree to come to Cincinnati? The massive orders were matched by a comet wines. Not only did he have a passion for astrono- demand: The bottles had to be identifiable In cinema, the 1992 film Year of the Com- my and wanted to support the erection of a with a label carrying the distinction “1811 et, a comedic adventure by Peter Yates, re- significant lighthouse in the sky, but he was Comet Vintage.” Hand crafted, they repre- ferred to the quest and tribulations of a also a politician and he was driven by politi- sented the first champagne labels, the use bottle of Chateau Lafite dating from the cal opportunities. He believed the occasion to of which became widespread some years year of the comet, 1811. be an opportune time to exploit the city’s in- later, while at the same time stimulating Upon its bicentennial, July 26, 2011, an terest in astronomy and build support in the the development of the champagne meth- 1811 Chateau Yquem2 was put up for auc- next session of Congress for his version of the od by Veuve Cliquot1. It was the same for tion at the London Ritz by The Antique Smithsonian Bill. all the regions of fine wines, such as Bour- Wine Company. It was bought for 85,000€ JQA never had the opportunity to view gogne, Bordeaux, the Sauternes, or for bot- ($113,000 US) by Christian Vanneque, an through the Cincinnati refractor, but he did tles of cognac, with the distinction “Fine old sommelier at the Silver Tower for his view through Harvard’s great refractor. He Napoleon 1811.” new restaurant in Bali. It became the most died in 1848 of a stroke on the floor of the One can understand why the decree of expensive white wine in the world. House of Representatives. Tsar Alexander I forbidding the importing The quantity of important residual of French wines after the invasion of Napo- sugars, combined with the natural acid- References leon was not only loosely applied, but even ity of the grapes, plays the role of preser- Dick, Steven J. Sky and Ocean Joined: The the Tsar allowed himself the pleasure. vative. With the years, this long-bottled U.S. Naval Observatory 1830-2000. 2003, Cam- The studies of Emmanuel Le Roy Ladu- wine takes on a sweet caramelization and bridge University Press, Cambridge, United rie on the climate in France since the year a creamy texture, offering to tasters flavors Kingdom of lime and orange. I 1 Veuve Cliquot is a luxury vineyard in France, spe- Jones, Bessie Zaban and Boyd, Lyle Gifford. cializing in high quality champagnes. They only 2 Made at the Chateaux d’Yquem, a prestigious The Harvard College Observatory: The First Four use the juice from the first pressing of the grapes, vineyard/winery in the Sauternes region of Directorships, 1839-1919. 1971, Belknap Press of small amounts of sugar, and a special type of fer- France. Harvard University Press, Cambridge, Mas- mentation which reduces the acidity of the wine. sachusetts. I

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44 Planetarian June 2014 Control planets, suns, galaxies, all of space and time... or just the house lights.

The Definiti Sound and Lighting Panel, like all Definiti control panels, is designed, engineered, and manufactured at our head- quarters in Nashua, New Hampshire. Our dedication to custom solutions for fulldome theaters is second to none.

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June 2014 Planetarian 45 46 Planetarian June 2014 time, comparing sea floor spreading rates to Data to Dome the growth of fingernails. We see our envi- ronment change just by watching the news, The Science & Data Visualization Task Force when natural disasters give relevance to cli- mate change. Fulldome time-lapse photography has a strong learning effect on audiences when The ground beneath our feet: Earth sciences in the they get a new temporal context for phenom- planetarium ena they know very well but rarely appreci- ate. For example, the accelerated motion of clouds reveals the stratification of the atmo- ogy) differ from astronomy when it comes to sphere. presenting them in a planetarium? We are pri- marily catering to a different set of viewer ex- pectations, as some examples shall illustrate: How do we bring in the data? First, there is no prevailing orientation in The technological requirements for high the cosmos, yet we all have an overwhelm- quality geoscientific visualizations have tak- ing notion of up and down with regard to en about a decade longer to mature than the the ground we stand on. The Earth is layered; astronomical features of digital planetariums, we distinguish the inner Earth, landmasses, and they still have to catch up. oceans and the atmosphere. The most inter- With the release of Uniview 1.0 in 2005 Tom Kwasnitschka from SCISS and initial releases of the World- GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for esting stories develop around the boundary conditions between these realms. viewer software from Elumenati in 2009-2011, Ocean Sciences Kiel The landmasses and, to some extent, the the capacity to show Earth at high levels of [email protected] oceans are perceived as two-dimensional, detail became available to fulldome planetar- while the other realms are three-dimensional. iums. The explosion of information being re- Ka Chun Yu Therefore, orientation often is key to under- turned from satellites and other remote sens- Denver Museum of Nature and standing geoscientific concepts. Tilted domes ing platforms has increased the availability Science may have an advantage, since they allow of geospatial data highlighting any number [email protected] “looking down on the ground” to where we of Earth phenomena (e.g., see Overpeck et al. expect things to be. 2011 for climate data). Today, all major planetarium software Matthew Turk Second, audiences relate processes on our packages include a high-resolution digital Department of Astronomy planet much more directly to their lives, which may make these topics visually chal- globe of varying degrees of realism. The abil- Columbia University lenging. There is no common preconception ity to explore a 3D digital model of the Earth [email protected] of what the center of the Milky Way should in the dome means that audiences are seeing look like, but we have strong visual expecta- a high-resolution, visually-compelling rep- What topics belong inside a planetarium tions towards anything from the outline of a resentation of Earth, an experience of which and what is beyond the scope of our mission? world map down to the physical attributes of may trigger the Overview Effect, an affective Are we limited to astronomy? a common tree. response reported by astronauts who viewed Imagine you were telling the “Story of Ev- Interestingly, many non-astronomical pro- Earth from orbit (White 1998). erything,” from the big bang to modern so- grams in the past have established an artistic However, planetarium geobrowsers tend ciety. This talk would cover any discipline style as a technically-manageable visual con- not to have as much functionality as the more between cosmology, astrophysics, on to ge- vention (e.g., a comic style rendering), whereas widely available web-based software that was ology, paleontology, biology, all the way to only few astronomy program producers have appearing for the public at the same time (e.g., history and social sciences. At the end of the felt the necessity to do the same. Keyhole, which became Google Earth, Micro- hour, you would wish for your audience to Third, the multiple time scales at which soft’s Virtual Earth, NASA’s World Wind). walk away with a sense of awe and a glimpse geoscientific processes happen are short com- But with minimal abilities to display geo- on how everything in the universe fits togeth- pared to the time scale of the cosmos. We di- spatially-referenced datasets with KML (Key- er with their own life. How far you can walk rectly compare geologic time to human hole Markup Language) files or to immerse up this succession of scientific fields viewers inside panoramic image without violating your institution’s “bubbles” or hemispherical all-sky mission is up to you. images, a new range of educational This article looks at the prerequisites storytelling opened up. to successfully venture “off topic,” re- ports some exemplary cases where this Beyond geomorphology has been done, and encourages a fresh The next step is the representa- look at how we can make the most of tion of scientific findings beyond our domes. We limit ourselves to earth geomorphology. At the moment, sciences in this article to make the dis- most systems more or less neglect cussion a bit more manageable, though. the ocean basins since their soft-

Why earth sciences? Digital Earth presentation with Dr. How do geosciences (geophysics, ge- Bob Raynolds at the Denver Mu- ology, physical geography, oceanogra- seum of Nature & Science in June phy, meteorology, climatology, glaciol- 2008. Photo by Ka Chun Yu.

June 2014 Planetarian 47 er, given the expertise and in- institution partners across the U.S. engage terests of the presenters, there with the Network to develop stories that con- were an increasing number nect audiences with ecological and biodiver- of talks on Earth systems and sity issues at the local level. global environmental change. The Network core team works via a one-on- These presentations often re- one professional development strategy with flected on global change’s im- staff from a partner planetarium to identify a pact on humans, as well as the global change issue that has local impacts, and role of human activity in ex- then to create a narrative with the help of exter- acerbating such change. Thus, nal advisers and experts on this selected topic. for topics related to freshwater These narratives take advantage of plan- availability, wildfires, and the etarium visualization software’s capacity to state of forests, Digital Earth pre- span cosmic, global, and local perspectives, sentations highlighted the way and to use geospatial datasets to intuitively that climate and other human- link the relationships between Earth systems induced change can, respec- at multiple scales. Although the dome presen- tively, alter precipitation and tations often highlight how ecosystems can snowpack patterns, increase the be disrupted by human activity, the lecture likelihood of droughts and fre- and the follow-up dialog always emphasize quencies of fires, and foster the themes of resilience of human communities growth of species like moun- and natural systems. A rendering by M. Turk (Columbia University/NCSA, University tain pine beetles that are de- By inviting outside experts and advisers of Illinois) made with "yt" of a SPECFEM simulation of the seismic stroying the western forests of into the discussion, audience members are wave field after an earthquake, by D. Peter (ETH Zurich). This North America. introduced to inspirational solutions to bio- rendering emphasizes the body waves. Image courtesy M. Turk. Evaluations and follow-up regional problems. Discussions often pivot interviews showed that these around how the public can remain involved ware architecture is built on the assumption programs had substantial im- in resolving the identified problems. that all features lie above sea level. Recently, pact on attendees. Visitors were impressed The stories that have been created through Microsoft’s WorldWide Telescope (Goodman by the immersive and real-time nature of the the Worldviews Network have been collected et al., 2012) has introduced a number of valu- talks, reflecting that the same presentation on on its website (www.worldviews.net) as free- able additions, such as import of local high-res- a flat screen would not be as enjoyable (Yu ly available resources for use by the informal olution terrain, georeferenced placement of 3D 2009). Interest in a top- models and visualization of subsurface phe- ic was heightened for nomena. weeks or months af- Planetarium theaters now have the oppor- ter the presentation, tunity to focus their gaze down towards the which inspired many Earth as opposed to up towards the sky, re- to learn more on their flected best in a new catch-phrase from Cali- own (Yu et al. 2010). fornia Academy of Science’s Morrison Plane- Going beyond high- tarium, “We put the planet in planetarium.” lighting the impacts Let us have a look at how a successful canon of global change, the of programs can be developed around Earth Worldviews Network science topics. (Yu et al. 2012) takes live planetarium pro- Climate and global change grams one step further with digital planetariums to foster dialogues with The Denver Museum of Nature & Science audiences about how (DMNS) was one of the first institutions to they can be engaged develop visitor programs with a live pre- with ecological issues. senter that relied on geobrowser capabili- The Network is a col- ties. Equipped with SCISS’ Uniview, DMNS laboration between worked with Kenji Williams on Gaia Journeys DMNS, the California in 2007 (which later evolved into Williams’ Academy of Sciences Bella Gaia), a program that combined live mu- (the Academy), NOVA/ sic and Earth visuals (Yu et al. 2009; www.bel- WGBH, the design and lagaia.com). engineering firm The After a handful of pilot tests in 2007, DMNS Elumenati, and the U.S. began offering a regular bi-monthly live eve- National Oceanic and ning lecture series titled Digital Earth. Because Atmospheric Admin- gross Earth surface features were easily seen in istration (NOAA) Cli- Visualizations from the program Supervolcanoes, top: Formation of the Si- Landsat imagery available from remote WMS mate Program Office, berian Traps by a broad plume of rising magma pushing toward the sur- (web mapping service) servers, many of the with funding from NO- face. Below: A cutaway animation of Grand Prismatic Spring in Yellow- initial Digital Earth topics focused on geog- AA’s Office of Educa- stone National Park, a natural hot water spring sustained by the activity of the Yellowstone mantle plume. Both images courtesy Spitz Inc./Thom- raphy, geology, and natural history. Howev- tion. Informal science as Lucas Productions/DMNS.

48 Planetarian June 2014 science education community. In ad- of higher total displacement, and they dition to links to external URLs for ad- ripple over the surface of the Earth, fo- ditional information for a topic, each cusing at the antipode and generating event page contains storyboards, narra- “wave trains” that—to quote one of the tives, instructional videos, and links to show designers—ring the planet like a datasets used in the presentation. bell. Inspired in part by DMNS’ Digital The other class of waves, those that Earth and Worldviews Network pre- primarily transmit through the body sentations and dialogues, the California of the planet, are typically of lower dis- Academy of Sciences has been running placement and are much more difficult its live monthly Earth Update program to effectively visualize. These waves, in Morrison Planetarium since 2010. emerging from the epicenter, immedi- Although the initial focus was on news ately reflect off the core of the Earth from climate and global change sci- and form complex interference pat- ence, the program has evolved into terns in the hemisphere in which they one that highlights the work and activ- originate. Simultaneously, they move ities of researchers at the Academy’s In- through the body of the Earth and fo- stitute for Biodiversity Science and Sus- cus at the other side, causing large scale tainability, without downplaying the interference patterns that pulse and effects of global change. move through the body of the planet. Again following a Worldviews Net- Simultaneously displaying both of work model of showing Earth in its these types of waves is challenging, and cosmic context, Earth Update stories in many ways becomes more challeng- typically start by traveling to various ing when inside the dome. Typical vol-

locations in the solar system to empha- From the program Dynamic Earth, (top) a visualization of ocean ume rendering techniques often result size that Earth is the only body to have currents and (bottom) Hurrican Katrina by NASA’s Scientific Vi- in visual confusion, particularly in the a biosphere capable of supporting hu- sualization Studio. Both images courtesy Spitz Inc./Thomas Lu- dome, where contrast and color must man life. The research stories have cov- cas Productions/DMNS. be carefully managed. And, while the ered broad topics such as conservation, location of each class of wave is local- biogeography, oceans, and human evo- ized, the spectrum of displacements is lution, as well as more focused natural history ploration of earthquakes: what they are, how continuous—there is no sharp cutoff where topics including ants, spiders, sharks, amphibi- they shape the Earth, where they come from, the types of waves transition, one to the oth- an decline, and beetle impacts on forests. and how we might be able to predict them— er. Attempting to distinguish them thusly can As a live program, it allows presenters to and, more to the point, why it’s hard to do so! lead to misinterpretations of the data. show the most current datasets. In June 2013, The California Academy of Sciences and While this is going on, sonifications of the shipping lane routes which funnel traffic into Morrison Planetarium developed and de- waves themselves, sped up enormously over San Francisco Bay were updated to minimize buted a pre-rendered show on a similar topic the two- or three-hour timescale of the simu- the chance of ship strikes between migrating last year. The SeismoDome project is designed lation, share a visceral experience of the earth- cetaceans and cargo transports. The revised to be more interactive and less formal, and quake with the viewers. The visual cues, of maps were shown to the public in an Earth will only be presented a few times at first. wave field propagation and magnitude, com- Update program on whales soon after the new Scientists from the Lamont-Doherty Earth bine with the subconscious cues of interfer- maritime rules came into effect, allowing Observatory, collaborating with visualization ence patterns and beats from the sonification Academy visitors to learn not only about hu- experts at the American Museum of Natural to describe what’s happening to the Earth. man impact on marine mammals, but ways History, have developed a show concept that The visual and aural cues together give much in which society is mitigating these problems. ties together both visual representations, as greater detail than could be done by either Finally, Earth Update has highlighted the displayed on the dome, and audio representa- one alone. work of citizen scientists at the Academy and tions of earthquakes. elsewhere. Many citizen science programs in- The centerpiece of the show is a series of Viewpoints are challenging volve volunteers using their smart phones to visualizations and sonifications of simula- Choosing viewpoints can be challenging geotag the locations of wildlife they have ob- tions of earthquakes. The simulations, con- as well. While it’s natural to situate the view- served to track changing distributions of spe- ducted by seismologists from Princeton and er at the center of the Earth (such that the cies from habitat loss, climate change, or (in elsewhere, show the propagation of waves dome represents the surface of the planet), the case of invasive species) accidental intro- throughout Earth from the epicenter. this makes it much harder to distinguish be- duction. The Earth itself is discretized as cubical tween the surface and body waves, as well as Citizen science groups have had the oppor- zones (with a different discretization used providing something of a disorienting expe- tunity to see their collective work visualized where higher accuracy is needed) when the rience as the continents are presented back- on the dome, turning Morrison Planetarium data is visualized, which contains informa- wards. However, in combination with the into a display for exploring biodiversity data tion about the total displacement of each sonification, the speaker locations in the for a mass audience. zone of the simulation from its rest position. dome can be tightly correlated with the loca- By visualizing this total displacement us- tion of the virtual seismometers that provide Seismology on the dome ing volume rendering techniques, the two pri- input to the sonifications, and so this is a com- The SeismoDome project, at the Hayden mary types of waves that result from an earth- pelling viewpoint. Planetarium in New York City, is aiming to quake can be displayed. The slower, more For contextualization, and a better under- bring to the dome screen an immersive ex- evocative type—surface waves—are typically standing of the body waves, the visualization

June 2014 Planetarian 49 pulls back and presents Earth floating in space, blend with Scidome fulldome visualizations. continental crust. in what is jokingly referred to as “moon view.” Freeware and hardware independent, yet Show 3D seismic interpretations, and ex- technically a bit more challenging, World- plain the conveyor-belt-like movement of But what about my planetarium? Wide Telescope offers similarly scalable func- oceanic crust from the mid-ocean ridges to The significance of a topic in the fulldome tionality, including an online platform to subduction zones. Have ocean islands burn planetarium world can be measured by how share and jointly develop real time modules their way through the crust, leaving tracks of many pre-recorded programs have been de- and form partnerships on any level. The data seamounts. veloped on it. Global change may have en- behind the Worldviews programs is also pub- Reveal the convection of the upper mantle joyed priority in the adaptation by the plan- licly available on the web. as a driving mechanism of plate tectonics and etarium world since it is one of the most How will geosciences become an integral run a paleogeographic reconstruction. Close rapidly evolving geoscientific phenomena topic of our trade? Fulldome cosmology teach- with the stratification of the Earth by hinting and is even of political significance. ing only truly got off the ground through the at seismic tomography, how our planet differ- To name just a few productions, think of Digital Universe Atlas (the standard toolbox of entiated and how the moon was formed. Get Our Living Climate by Melbourne Planetari- datasets compiled at AMNH), its first commer- back home, moving fast forward in time. um, Ice Worlds by E&S, Climate Change by Al- cial incarnation as Uniview, its demos and suc- More or less, you just told the second part of bedo Fulldome or Dynamic Earth by Spitz/ cess stories, and the adaptation by other ven- the “Story of Everything.” Thomas Lucas Productions. On to geology dors because everyone asked for it. and geophysics, the California Academy of Acknowledgements Sciences has produced Earthquake, a show on Need a common data standard Thanks to Clay Hooker, Kathi Koontz, Staf- the local tectonic regime of the Bay Area and Such an effort has not yet been made for fan Klashed, Dan Tell, Ryan Wyatt and Björn seismic activity in general. This was a clearly the geosciences. Individual institutions and Voß for providing information and providing non-astronomical project that was largely jus- companies work on isolated showcases and corrections. tified by their own local earthquake threat. features, accessing different proprietary serv- DMNS has been a co-producer of Supervol- ers for data. The breakthrough data compi- References canoes, a show that ran in parallel with a local lation could once more be stemmed by one Goodman, A., Fay, J., Muench, A., Pepe, A., exhibition on volcanology. Dinosaurs at Dusk entity, but alternatively it could be a group Udomprasert, P., Wong, C. 2012, “World- by Mirage 3D covers aspects of paleontology, effort of institutions adhering to a common Wide Telescope in Research and Educa- and the majority of their very successful pro- data standard that is fully supported by at tion”, in: Astronomical Data Analysis Soft- grams treat topics of non-astronomical natu- least one fulldome system. ware and Systems XXI. Proceedings of a ral history. An informal survey among existing sys- conference held in Paris, France, Nov. 6-11. Yet the projects mentioned so far all have tems shows that, at the moment, KML (known 2011. Eds. P. Ballester, D. Egret, and P. F. L. been supported by big institutions with large from Google Earth) does not qualify as such a Nuria. San Francisco: Astronomical Society budgets and agendas. What about smaller ini- standard. of the Pacific, 461, p. 267. tiatives? Prerecorded shows are a good way to We envision a tour of our planet the same Overpeck, J.T., Meehl, G.A., Bony, S., & Easter- test the acceptance of a careful “rebranding” way we have come to enjoy the standard ling, D.R. 2011, “Climate Data Challenges in of your institution from a star theatre to a sci- magic carpet ride out to the cosmic micro- the 21st Century” Science, 331, pp. 700-702. ence theatre, keeping in-house efforts low. wave background coined by Carter Emmart White, F. 1998, The Overview Effect: Space Explo- Yet the gold standard should be the live pre- of AMNH: Start out in your home town, zoom ration and Human Evolution, 2/e, Reston, VA: sentation and interactive audience engage- out into orbit and let the seasons change over AIAA. ment. It should not be underestimated that a your part of the world. Maybe include a hurri- Yu, K.C., 2009, “Digital Planetariums for Geol- successful live program on a non-astronomi- cane simulation. While you are at it, zoom out ogy and Geography Education: Earth Visu- cal topic requires substantial knowledge by a bit more, talk about ice ages and show the alizations at the Gates Planetarium,” Plane- the presenter. waxing and waning of polar ice caps and pack tarian, 36(3), pp. 6-12, 64. We may need programs for capacity build- ice. Notice the rise and fall of the sea level. Yu, K.C., Williams, K., Neafus, D., Gaston, L., & ing and a way to test in advance whether the By now you have raised the point that Downing, G. 2009, “Gaia Journeys: A Muse- effort will be well received. Spitz and the Sim- throughout the quaternary, sea level change um-based Immersive Performance Explora- ulation Curriculum Corporation have devel- mostly affects the continental shelves. Dive tion of the Earth,” International Journal of oped a full earth science curriculum aptly into the ocean, talk about how 71% of our Digital Earth, 2(1), pp. 44-58. called The Layered Earth which provides class- planet’s surface is covered by water, and why Yu, K.C., Champlin, D.C., Goldsworth, D.A., room activities and educational material that oceanic crust is fundamentally different from Raynolds, R.G., & Dechesne, M. 2011, “Long- Term Audience Impacts of Live Fulldome Planetarium Lectures for Earth Science and Global Change Education,” in Earth and 2014 IPNE Book Award Space Science: Making Connections in Educa- Winner tion and Public Outreach. Proceedings of a conference held at the University of Colo- rado, Boulder, Colorado, USA 31 July-4 Au- gust 2010. Eds. J.B. Jensen, J.G. Manning, and Everyone’s Universe M.G. Gibbs. San Francisco: Astronomical So- (second edition) ciety of the Pacific, 443, p. 187. Yu, K.C., Hamilton, H., Connolly, R., McCo- by Noreen Grice nville, D., & Gardiner, N. May-June 2012, “The Worldviews Network: Planetariums for Ecological Literacy,” ASTC Dimensions, www.YouCanDoAstronomy.com pp. 42-43. I

50 Planetarian June 2014 June 2014 Planetarian 51 share with a neighbor an interesting fact from Educational Horizons the presentation, or make some notes. This year I was fortunate to work with quite Jack L. Northrup a master teacher, Juanita Peterson, on a Read- Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Planetarium ing/Mythology/Astronomy unit. We wrote King Science and Technology Magnet Center the unit-name this way because we used my- 3720 Florence Blvd., Omaha, Nebraska 68110 USA thology as the bridge between reading and as- +1 402-557-4494 tronomy. [email protected] The 6th graders read several samples of myths from around the world prior to com- ing the planetarium. When they arrived, we do you connect the learning to the student’s End of the school year clean up did the mythological stories for several of the previous experiences? How many times does This school year I had set a goal of going constellations, i.e. how the bears got long tails, a student need to be exposed to a term before through my past lessons file cabinet. Okay, Perseus and Andromeda, and Osiris’s gather- it becomes part of their vocabulary, and can the goal was set by my principal, who said, ing fish. they define the word using their own words? “Jack, you can’t have another file cabinet.” They visited for three days, so we were able I really changed how I teach craters and im- Going through the drawers, I found lessons to establish some procedures to let the stu- pacts after I found out that the lesson I was us- that I wrote back in the 90’s when I was still in dents know we were transitioning between ing did not help the students understand that college. Then I found the drawer with lessons topics or had further instruction. Earth is not currently being bombarded with from my predecessors dating back to the late Juanita and I decided to use the planetari- asteroids. Also, when asked in a pre-activity 70’s and early80’s. um’s cove lights be the cues, with red mean- survey how they would measure a crater, a It was a clue that these lessons were very ing voices off and ready for instruction, significant fraction wanted to measure how dated when they said “When the planetarium yellow meaning 10 seconds to the end of dis- deep the crater was instead of its diameter. is completed we will...” This led me to a prob- cussion, and magenta for asking ask a person Are you using a variety of approaches to the lem: many of these are good solid lessons, save “why did they think it was true.” topic to help students with a variety of back- for the ones that are dealing with Pluto as the After the mythological story in the plan- grounds? In every group you have that one ninth; how do I judge if they are still useful? I etarium, the students created their own chi- student who, by luck of the schedule, was in decided to use a three-pronged attack: mera creatures to insert into other myths, like the class the previous year that did no science. •• Does it connect to the content standards? “What would Orion do if he woke up next to a •• Does it use educational best practices? Active participant in learning half-orangutan, half-cheetah creature?” “Why •• Does it make the student an active partici- is Artemis hunting in Africa on a half elephant Who is doing the work in your lesson? Are pant in learning? half peacock?” you doing all the heavy lifting? Many of the I found lessons that require slides, which Once there story was written, the students students who fall asleep during a planetarium were retired because we have been a hybrid were given a blank star field (I zoomed in so presentation are not just tired; they are not ac- planetarium for several years and I don’t run that major or known constellations were not tive participants in learning the topic. Many my slide projectors. Some required more time visible) and they had to identify the bright- presenters are trained to use a hook to grab the than I am currently allow. Four weeks of ob- est five stars in their own constellation. They audiences’ attention away from the “oh my serving the moon is fine until you only have could use the stellar classification system to goodness, I am in the dark, my teacher can’t the students for three weeks. Let’s take a closer color the star and create a dot-to-dot constella- see me and I could get away with anything.” look at the three successful requirements. tion. This made for a nice natural transition to Once you have their attention, you can the astronomy standard they were covering, only hold it for about five minutes (person- Connecting to content standards the Hertzsprung-Russell Diagram and main se- al experience) before you need to reengage If you are Common Core, Next Generation, quence stars. National, Regional, A-Level or a mixture of them; you can ask a non-rhetorical question, have them predict what will happen next, these, you need to know what the expected Destruction in Action lab outcome of a visit to the planetarium is. I have This edition’s lesson is a quick 30-minute some amazing presentations on planets, but if activity for craters that I like to use after we the students are coming to the planetarium to see a presentation on gravity and craters. learn about moon phases, that is a problem. Materials: I have all of the astronomy standards bro- •• Plastic container (shoebox size or larger) ken down by grade level posted in the plan- •• Salt (enough to fill the container 5 cm deep) etarium and when I have students ask “when •• Computer mouse ball are we going to talk about the zodiac,” I just •• 2 golf balls (1 standard, 1 hollow practice) have to point them to the poster and ask them •• 1 video camera (set to its highest frame rate) to show what standard that topic applies to. It •• Measuring calipers is also a nice preview for students who want •• Safety goggles (10 pairs) to know when they are going to learn about •• Computer stations (1 per every 2 students) dark matter—you have to wait until 8th grade to allow access to www.uni.edu/morgans/ for that. ajjar/Gravity/craters.html Procedures: Educational best practices Your students’ craters will not resemble this In small groups, students go to the above Are you asking the students or visitors to one, a dramatic, fresh impact crater image tak- website, “making craters,” to complete the cra- simply memorize a list of facts, or do you ask en by the High Resolution Imaging Science Ex- ter work sheet. them to gain a level of understanding? Memo- periment (HiRISE) camera on NASA’s Mars Re- rization and lecture have their place, but how connaissance Orbiter in 2013. NASA/JPL (Continues on page page 60)

52 Planetarian June 2014 June 2014 Planetarian 53 Digital Fulldome & Immersive Media News

Models of business, convergence at recent IMERSA & GSCA conferences

A diverse, international group of profes- Musia Bus represented the Jena Full- sionals assembled to discuss the present and Dome festival, and Markus Beyr and future of fulldome and immersive media ex- Ed Lantz introduced the new Sphere of periences at IMERSA Summit 2014, March 6-9 Light award competition to foster the in Denver. With close to 200 attending, the creation of fulldome shows on wellness. conference was booked to capacity and reg- This mix of voices played an essen- istration closed a few days before the event tial role in the Summit mission to look commenced. within and beyond the fulldome com- The days and nights were full, as were the munity for applicable business mod- sessions, screenings, and events. A study of the els, wisdom, and resources. The kickoff delegate list reveals that about half of the peo- was a collaborative all-day pre-session ple who gathered at the Summit and its four on best practices, organized by IMER- venues (Denver Museum of Nature & Science, SA and GSCA to strengthen the dialog Sie Film Center, Holiday Inn Denver East Sta- around conver- pleton, and Fiske Planetarium) represented gence between planetariums, museums, science centers, edu- the fulldome and cational institutions, and entertainment com- giant screen sec- panies from the Americas, Europe, and Asia. tors. Industry press covering the Summit in per- This laid the son included the Fulldome (check) Database groundwork for (Dario Tiveron), Informal Learning Review much of the back- (Robert “Mac” West), LF Examiner (James Hy- ground conver- der), Stereo World (Lawrence Kaufman), and In- sation in the en- Park Magazine (Martin Palicki). suing days and for the continu- People from across the industry ing conversation IMERSA actively reaches out to business between IMERSA and arts organizations with complementa- and GSCA, which ry interests, and those represented at Summit will hold its an- 2014 included SIGGRAPH (president Jeff Jort- nual conference ner), the Themed Entertainment Association in Toronto this (past president Rick Rothschild of FAR Out! September. Creative Direction; board member Ann Hath- Some 80% of away of Mousetrappe), the Giant Screen Cin- the Summit delegates Top: Left to right on the stage: ema Association (executive director Tammy were already on hand Jonathan Barker, Brad Thompson, Seldon, communications director Kelly Ger- the first day to partici- Paulina Majda, Annette Sother- an-Barnett, Robin Sip, and Derrick main and numerous board members, includ- pated in the profession- Pitts in a producers’ panel discus- ing Berend Reijnhoudt of Omniversum and al development sessions, sion at the Gates Planetarium. Toby Mensforth of Mensforth & Associates), which gave an overview Down, left: Exploding the Frame au- SAT (Dominic St-Amant); Producers Guild of of current fulldome pro- thor Prof. Ben Shedd (Nanyang Tech University, Singapore) and America (Kate McCallum of PGA New Me- duction tools and tech- Joergen Geerds with Freedom dia Council), ASTC (IMERSA founding Board niques from some of the 360 gear, at the Dome3D display member Ryan Wyatt also sits on the ASTC leading producers and in the IMERSA Summit Market- Board), IVRPA (the International VR Photog- animators in the field. place. Photo by IMERSA. raphy Association, Joergen Geerds), Fulldome For its selection of fea- Down, right: IMERSA Summit key- note speaker Prof. Donna Cox Film Society (Yaroslav Gubchenko) , and, of tured fulldome screen- of the National Center for Su- course, IPS (president ings in the Gates Plan- percomputing. Photo by L. Brian Thomas Kraupe of etarium at DMNS, Stauffer. Planetarium Hamburg IMERSA looked to re- Bottom left: Mike Murray of Clark Planetarium points expressive- and board member Ian cent industry festivals ly to Fiske Planetarium’s retired McLennan). (Continues on page 56) optomechanical starball, (nick- named “Fritz” after the Zeiss en- Digital Fulldome and Immersive Media News is a compilation of news and infor- gineer who installed it in 1975) mation about fulldome and immsersive media. Primary contributor is Judith Ru- now on display in the lobby since bin, Communications Director, IMERSA.org. [email protected] Fiske upgraded to 8K fulldome. Photo: Phil Groce.

54 Planetarian June 2014 June 2014 Planetarian 55 (Digital, continued from page 54) Left: IMERSA leadership and juried competitions, presenting their top presents Jeri Panek with awarded shows. From the results at the Jena the Lifetime Achieve- FullDome Festival, Fulldome UK, Russian Full- ment Award. Left to dome Festival, DomeFest, Jackson Hole Wild- right: Michael Daut, life Film Festival, GSCA awards, Imiloa Full- Panek, Ryan Wyatt, Ed Lantz, Judith Rubin, and dome Festival, and Japan’s Dome Festa came Dan Neafus. Photo: Ben the featured titles, Dream to Fly, MUSICA, To Shedd. Space and Back, Supervolcanoes, Dinosaurs at Below, left: At the Sie Dusk, The Life of Trees, and Flight of the But- Film Center in Denver, IMERSA Summit dele- terflies. A full day was devoted to case studies gates explore a display from the producers of featured shows, reveal- of stereoviews. Photo: ing a wide range of filmmaking approaches Mie Kosaka. and techniques. Below: Tammy Seldon is executive director of GSCA, which is collab- A setting designed to share orating with IMERSA on The Summit strove to create a setting of industry best practices. camaraderie and cross-fertilization for shar- ing tools, information, models, and inspira- tion to attract more creativity, innovation, and financial resources to the fulldome world. By positioning the fulldome niche within the larger context of family leisure offerings, IMERSA helps theaters and content creators to become more competitive. Sessions such as “Research Bytes” and the “International Innovators Forum” reinforced this strand, helping to formulate a bigger pic- ture of industries in transition—and new in- dustries forming—with common goals and challenges. For instance, the Innovator’s Fo- rum summed up with a call for dedicated arts ence visualization” in which art, media, data, and entertainment domes to serve the grow- and science intersect. Pretty pictures, yes, but ing number of artists, performers, and innova- along with the astounding aesthetic achieve- tors seeking access to this growing format. ments, modern datasets are empowering new tem. A range of viewpoints came out in the Jeri Panek of Evans & Sutherland became ways to present data for education, analysis, “Pros & Perils of 8K,” a distinguished pan- the second recipient of a lifetime achieve- and storytelling. el organized by Patrick McPike (Adler Plan- ment award from IMERSA, celebrated for her After several days of sessions, the very first etarium) and Chris Maytag (Fiske), includ- achievements as an industry evangelist who IMERSA Marketplace opened its doors for a ing Staffan Klashed (SCISS), Andrew Johnston brought digital technology to the planetari- half-day and was abuzz with a full house of (NASM’s CHECK Einstein Planetarium), Steve um field and created the basis of today’s full- tabletop exhibits, allowing delegates to net- Savage, Michael Daut, and Ryan Wyatt. dome community. work and conduct business. As an opener to the panel, to depict the con- Panek understood the opportunity that The collaborative talks continued with in- siderable challenges involved in 8K produc- computer graphics represented to planetari- spiring presentations on storytelling and im- tion, Paul Mowbray of NSC Creative intro- ums and was able to articulate it successfully mersive media from Ryan Wyatt and themed duced charts comparing rendering times and to others, driving a transformation that began entertainment producers Rick Rothschild showed content with different resolutions with the very first Digistar I sale to the Science and Daren Ulmer (Mousetrappe). This panel displayed side by side. Museum of Virginia (via then-director Paul helped to illustrate how projects in domes and The demos and screenings that followed, Knappenberger) in the early 1980s. immersive theaters, science centers and space particularly To Space and Back in 8K 60 fps, At the banquet in Jeri’s honor, IPS Presi- centers, some using projection mapping and seemed to produce near consensus on the vi- dent Thomas Kraupe of Planetarium Ham- some integrating ride systems, are close cous- sual evidence that venues in a position to take burg, Mark Webb of Chicago’s Adler Planetari- ins of what’s going on in planetariums. the 8K leap will find the pros are worth the um, Ian McLennan, Mike Murphy of Salt Lake Probable and promising game changers perils, and that 4K content also benefits from City’s Clark Planetarium, and Steve Savage of shared at the Summit included WorldWide display on an 8K system. Sky-Skan were among those who spoke about Telescope (presented by Doug Roberts of Mi- IMERSA’s 2014 Summit, its third stand- her to the crowd, and then Ms. Panek herself crosoft Research); the ever-present and in- alone event in Denver, was driven by the took the podium to share her own first-hand triguing Oculus Rift headsets, and the demon- group’s core leadership: the four-person board stories and recollections. strations of high frame rate 8K projection at of Dan Neafus (Gates Planetarium), Michael Fiske Planetarium. Daut (Evans & Sutherland), Ryan Wyatt (Cal- The golden age of visualization Delegates boarded buses to Boulder for the ifornia Academy of Sciences), and Ed Lantz As keynote speaker, Dr. Donna Cox of the Summit’s grand finale, generously hosted by (Vortex Immersion), with communications/ National Center for Supercomputing, inspired Fiske in its handsome, recently upgraded the- development staff Judith Rubin. delegates by declaring and demonstrating ater with a chevron seating plan, 65-foot di- Neafus was in a primary role with his team that we are in the midst of a “golden age of sci- ameter screen and new Sky-Skan display sys- in Denver, and Daut chaired the professional development sessions.

56 Planetarian June 2014 Altogether, some 20 people, most of them tive members to participate in the ongoing actly a new development in the sector, but volunteers, worked on various aspects of standards work, volunteer for the 2015 Sum- one that remains controversial, and the con- programming, outreach, and support, repre- mit committee, and contribute to the IMERSA troversy seems to have intensified as the 1570 senting an expanded organizational struc- presence being planned for SIGGRAPH 2015 in film exhibition format on which the entire ture to help achieve good representation of Los Angeles. industry was originally founded seems on the the industry. Some of those deserving special point of vanishing. thanks: Karen Roney, Carolyn Collins Peters- Digital Crossover at GSCA Expo At this gathering, the worst thing one pro- en (Loch Ness Productions), Ethan Bach (Vor- The 2014 Giant Screen Cinema Associa- ducer could say about another producer’s tex Immersion), Brian Wirthlin (Seiler Instru- tion (GSCA) Film Expo took place in Austin, work was that it looked like television, and ments/Carl Zeiss), Alan Caskey (Holovis), Mike Texas, at the Bob Bullock Texas State History many were not shy about their use of the Murray, Matt Mascheri, Tammy Seldon, Toby Museum, March 24-25. Of late, the film expo “T” word. What they were decrying is not Mensforth, Patrick McPike, Chris Maytag and has also embraced digital technology. With- the use of digital capture per se, but a lack of Ian McLennan. Please visit www.imersa.org in this specialty sector, the changeover to dig- the sweeping visual language that character- for more acknowledgments and details. ital technology is taking longer than it has in izes classic giant screen cinematography. It In 2015, the IMERSA Summit will again be mainstream cinema because of the challenges takes more than a giant screen to make a giant hosted in Denver, with a similar time frame to achieve a satisfactory digital replacement screen experience. (late February/early March). IMERSA is incre- for the high visual standard of 1570 film plus mentally publishing some followup materials the sheer size of the screen. A parallel to planetarium switch from Summit 2014, such as various present- Some giant screen theaters, mostly flat The plenitude of titles with space and as- ers’ slide shows and recordings, on the IMER- screen, now have digital projection, but a tronomy content made it clear that giant SA website and social media channels. goodly number still rely on film projection, screen distributors are actively cultivating Next steps for IMERSA following the suc- and so the GSCA screening venue must ac- the planetarium market, and most mentioned cessful 2014 Summit include seeking the best commodate 2D and 3D projection in both plans for their new titles to be available in full- way to strategically grow the organization; film and digital. Attendees were supplied dome versions. gradually expand its board, advisers network with two different sets of 3D glasses (RealD With the digital shift, there is new variety and committees; and plan future collabora- and IMAX). This year’s digital projection sys- available to giant screen theaters, an array tions, professional development opportuni- tem was a temporary installation furnished of choices that some appear to find a bit in- ties, and satellite events. Those interested in by Electrosonic in collaboration with RealD timidating in its complexity. Distributors are getting involved are encouraged to contact and Christie. likewise facing a brave new world in terms of an IMERSA board member. Production of giant screen content has like- competition for screen share. The organization especially welcomes ac- wise voyaged into the digital realm—not ex- (Continues on page 60)

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

360

FULLDOME

The Blind Man with Starry Eyes is a lovely tale for young children. Introducing basic astronomical concepts such as night and day, rotation of the Earth, stars and the Sun, shooting stars and meteorites, the show is also a profound story Selected for IPS and Macao about life, knowledge and our International relationship to Nature. Best Fulldome Show 3rd Prize Fulldome Festival at the 2013 International 2014 23 minutes DISTRIBUTED BY “Reflections of the Universe” Festival, Yaroslav rsa cosmos (Russia) CONTACT : [email protected]

June 2014 Planetarian 57 Science Museum of Virginia team discusses how their new 8K system changed the way they use “The Dome”

The Dome at the Science Museum of Virginia. Photo courtesy of the museum.

An interview with Jim Peck and Justin Bartel By Judith Rubin

On March 15, the Science Museum of Vir- back qualities of this D5 8K package as meet- Q You’ve made a dramatic, state-of-the-art ginia in Richmond re-opened its dome the- ing and even exceeding what 15/70 film dome digital transition. How did that come about? ater to the public, outfitted with a new Evans projection can do. “We knew we had a chal- Jim Peck: Our IMAX 15/70 film projector & Sutherland Digistar 5 8K system. The reno- lenge to meet, and this was our opportunity and our Digistar II were both well-worn and vation of this 243-seat theater with unidirec- to do it—not just to replace IMAX in a dome, we saw that it was time to move forward with tional seating in a tilted, 23-m dome also in- but to provide a system that could do all kinds some new systems. We couldn’t deliver the cludes a new Spitz NanoSeam dome. The of things, and do them easily,” says Michael kinds of programming we wanted to give our museum has named it, simply, “The Dome.” Daut, director of Show Production/Market- visitors. We had dialed back our astronomy Attendance numbers are up dramatically, ing at E&S. shows to a live night sky program about once and The Dome is making the most of its new The Museum’s new D5 uses five Christie a month. versatility. Its cinematic premiere, the full- 4K projectors, selected for resolution, bright- Q How did you re-ignite your astronomy dome version of Great White Shark, has done ness and 120Hz active stereo 3D. The system’s offerings? well, and its “cosmic expeditions” format, real-time astronomy features display native- JP: We were shopping for an open kind of which pairs a fulldome science show with a ly in 8K and include a full, regularly updat- system, thinking of our dome as a canvas that topical, real-time live astronomy presenta- ed library of digital starfields, planets, com- wasn’t necessarily for any one thing. The Di- tion, is doing equally well, according to Jim ets, moons, nebulae, etc. For the original E&S gistar 5 appealed to us as having that kind of Peck, director, Technology and Innovation. press release with the specifications, see www. versatility. Initially, we had not planned to Certainly the eyes of the museum and plan- es.com/News/2013/2013-09-16.html. do much astronomical content in The Dome. etarium community will be on this 8K digital The following interview is with Jim Peck as We had thought we would focus on pre-ren- transformation of a dome that formerly em- well as with Justin Bartel, immersive experi- dered films, and offer a live star show about phasized IMAX films. E&S promotes the play- ence specialist at the museum. once a week, but the D5 has such robust as-

58 Planetarian June 2014 tronomy features that we changed our plans ings are almost full. The picture is impressive- aren’t using either of those for public shows and brought in Justin, as a specialist with con- ly bright and crisp, with great contrast. As we yet, although we have done several demos tent and technical expertise, to produce live had hoped, the D5 has surpassed the visual im- and the quality is astounding. astronomy shows. pact of our IMAX projector. Any differences We are still thinking about when and how We quickly realized that the astronomy are improvements. to roll it out to the public. For now, we plan to was more popular than we’d foreseen, and Projecting it is a streamlined operation— focus on the live presentations that are prov- that we had a great presenter who knew how the auto-align and auto-blend features keep ing so successful, and build from there. to make the most of it. People wanted more. the image looking great. The fulldome digital Q Justin, how do you like working with the Live presentations now follow just about transfer created by E&S is amazing, and it fills new system? every pre-rendered show that runs in The a larger portion of the dome than the film ver- Justin Bartel: It’s fast and intuitive, and Dome. In just the first six weeks, this program- sion could. When we repaneled the dome, we a huge leap from the D3 that I worked with ming attracted a significant following, with covered up the cut out for the old projection previously. The user interface has been rede- 30-40 people sticking around to ask Justin booth in the back of the theater to make the signed, and I was able to hit the ground run- questions after each show. most of this. ning with it. He updates the content weekly to reflect Q Do you plan to run shows at high frame In addition to high resolution and bright- current events. As an example, when the Ke- rates and in stereoscopic 3D? ness, it has great flexibility and a rich library pler Space Telescope recently discovered the JP: The D5 is capable of frame rates up to of assets that is regularly updated and easy to new, Earth-like planet in the habitable zone of 60 fps and this high refresh rate can be ap- access. It lets you move freely from topic to another star, NASA held its press conference at plied for real time content as well as playback. topic: what you want, when you want, and 2 p.m., and we had it in our show at 3 p.m. the The same is true for stereo 3D, which runs at easily responding to audience requests. same day. It’s the perfect formula of the right 120 fps (60 fps per eye using active stereo). We (Continues on page 60) system and the right talent. Q How are you dividing up the schedule between giant screen movies and astronomy Meet Justin Bartel, the immersive guy presentations? JP: Cosmic expeditions now take up about While grow- ginia in late 2013. In the first three months half of the public schedule in The Dome— ing up in North of 2014, he has assisted with the opening of competing successfully with screenings of Newton, Kan- a new fulldome theater at the museum’s Great White Shark. A cosmic expedition is a sas, Justin Bar- satellite campus in Danville, Virginia, and 30-minute fulldome show that has space sci- tel made regu- the re-opening of The Dome. ence content—such as Wildest Weather in the lar trips to the Question: What makes a good live pre- Solar System—and is followed by a 20-minute nearby city of sentation? live presentation. Hutchinson to It’s more than reading headlines or recit- We have abundant walk-in traffic in addi- visit the Kansas ing a script—it starts with having a story to tion to our school groups: family after family C o s m o s p h e r e tell and then finding your reason to tell it. coming in, going into The Dome and watch- and Space Cen- I’m always looking to add some interesting ing shows. Our numbers are up 30%-40% over ter and its Justice fact visitors may overlook on their own, last year in general, and over the spring break Justin Bartel P l a n e t a r i u m . or to make connections between multiple period, they were double last year’s. This fostered an topics. Q Tell us about your marketing phraseolo- interest in astronomy and space explora- Once I’m hooked on a story it becomes a gy—calling the theater The Dome, and the as- tion that eventually led him to attend the lot easier to get other people interested, and tronomy shows “cosmic expeditions.” University of Arizona, with summers spent it leads more naturally to visitors getting JP: It’s helped frame where we are now back at the Cosmosphere working with involved in the presentation by answering compared to where we were before the ren- students attending their Future Astronaut my questions and asking questions of their ovation—and it’s selling tickets. What we are Training Program summer camps. own. now offering is so different from what people After graduating with a bachelor’s of sci- Question: Why are live presentations grew up with here, and descriptive terms like ence degree in astronomy in 2005, Justin important and what makes an audience re- “cosmic expedition” help convey that. We’re once again returned to the Cosmosphere spond to them? doing new things and we needed new, evoc- to assist with astronomy education pro- I think a lot of people are naturally cu- ative words. grams and operate the planetarium’s Spitz rious about space, but because astronomy We struggled with naming the theater. 512 projector. includes so many topics that are so far re- “The Dome” has caught on with the press and In 2007, Justin moved to a position at Ex- moved from our everyday lives, both liter- the public, and it is evocative of a special place ploration Place in Wichita, Kansas, and was ally and figuratively, it helps to have a live where any number of amazing and unique introduced to the digital planetarium in presenter to serve as a guide. The present- things could happen. It let us distinguish our- the form of E&S’s Digistar 3. Here he joined er also helps the audience get more out of selves in the marketplace. an experienced staff and learned how to op- a fulldome show by being available to an- Our mission is inspiration—and we find erate, maintain, and produce fulldome con- swer questions that come up, and to share that we are now able to exceed our guests’ ex- tent in the theater where Digistar 3 had pre- relevant new information. pectations. miered to the world five years earlier. Supplementing these productions Q How does Great White Shark look on the After departing Exploration Place, Justin with live presentations is a way to keep new system? pursued opportunities in science education our visitors informed about the lat- JP: We love Great White Shark on the D5, in Boulder, Colorado and Orlando, Florida est discoveries, and I think they re- and so does our audience. Attendance for before joining the Science Museum of Vir- ally appreciate that. I this show is very good, and weekend screen-

June 2014 Planetarian 59 (Education, continued from page 52) Have one of the groups travel mind the students is to just let to the station where you have a go of the ball and allow gravity Diameter of crater (cm) plastic tub with salt in it. The stu- to get it to the ground; we don’t Vertical drop height (cm) Mouse ball Golf ball Practice dents will film a series of impacts want them to add a significant Golf ball from different heights and re- initial velocity to the balls. cord the data. (See Fig. 1.) Have the students observe if 30 The jobs for the students are there is a noticeable pattern to 45 meteor release personnel, data the crater diameters, or do they 60 recorder, and videographer. I all have identical craters regard- have the students record the im- less of release height. 75 pact so we can watch them in As each group tests their 90 frame by frame to see the cra- heights, they then rotate in and 105 ters develop. (A sample video of out of the online craters activity. what a group of my 8th grade as- I have seen this lab done be- 120 tronomy students did can be fore using fine sand or flour, but 135 seen here: www.youtube.com/ I have found the clean up of the watch?v=Vf6Kiikpl3A planetarium at the end of the lab 150 The important thing to re- to be easier with salt. I

(Digital Fulldome & Immersive News, continued from page 57) (Virginia, continued from page 59)

I can share the cool stuff that audiences DCI compliant systems or inset care about: the story of the universe, traveling projectors may be desirable in or- across the solar system, traveling outside the der to attain ultimate versatility. galaxy, breaking news of the cosmos. Some of those shopping for new I like to do something a little different for digital systems view their spac- every show, depending on current events. es as something like today’s mul- Someone in the audience may ask to go to a tipurpose performing arts cen- favorite planet, or have questions concerning ters, wanting accommodation something that wasn’t covered in the canned for spoken word and traveling show, and D5 allows me to do this on the fly. live shows as well as the ability to To paraphrase what my boss Richard Conti screen alternative content along (CEO and chief Wonder Officer, Science Mu- with the main menu of educa- seum of Virginia) said: “I’m hard to please and tional shows. the Digistar 5 has exceeded my expectations.” Planetarium operators were Q What other plans do you have for mak- present; we spoke to representa- ing the most of The Dome’s new versatility? tives of Tycho Brahe and of Fels JP: We are experimenting with other con- Planetarium. Lisa Samford of the tent possibilities. For our clients doing corpo- Jackson Hole Wildlife Film Fes- rate events, we have started to offer them a tival attended, looking for ideas, fulldome show and live content—and they’re trends, and content to showcase waiting in line to do it now. We are selling at the Jackson Hole New Media people on the truly unique qualities of what Symposium in Boston, Septem- they can do in The Dome. ber 17-19, which will use multiple The museum has access to an enormous venues in order to meet its goal of amount of content and that now includes the screening everything in its native D5 library, so tie-ins with exhibits are also in format , Not just during the Sym- IPS president Thomas Kraupe talks about Jeri Panek of Evans & Sutherland at the banquet in her honor. Photo courtesy IMER- our future. We opened a new gallery last sum- posium, but also for the judging SA. mer, and will open another next summer of the Science Media Awards. and the summer following. The Dome reno- The GSCA technical session in- vation is part of a new, strategic master plan cluded a first-ever from 3ality Technica, the USA, lipsymposium.org/LIPS and a capital campaign which officially com- leading company in facilitating 3D live-action JHWFF Symposium & Science Media Awards menced in early 2012. capture for motion pictures and broadcast. September 17-19, Boston, Massachusetts, www. We are actively raising funds and to date we 3ality CEO Steve Schklair, who has a back- jhfestival.org/symposium.html have raised $38M of the $60M goal. The suc- ground in special venue cinema, appeared on GSCA 2014 conference, (Giant Screen Cinema cess of the new theater has absolutely helped camera himself in the premiere demonstra- Association), September 20-23, Ontario Sci- develop private and public support and mo- tion of a live 4K digital 3D theater broadcast. ence Centre, Toronto Canada, www.giant- mentum. screencinema.com We plan to continue to offer new and in- Upcoming events ASTC 2014, October 18-21, Raleigh, North Car- novative experiences in The Dome and the SIGGRAPH, August 10-14, Vancouver, Canada, olina USA, www.astc.org entire museum that will excite our visitors www.siggraph.org Fulldome UK 2014, November 7-8, National and build a loyal audience of repeat visi- LIPS 2014, (Live Interactive Planetarium Sym- Space Center, Leicester, www.fulldome.org. tors. I posium), August 13-15, Mystic, Connecticut uk. I

60 Planetarian June 2014 June 2014 Planetarian 61 International News Lars Broman Teknoland and Strömstad Academy Stångtjärnsv 132 SE 791 74 Falun, Sweden +46 2310 177 [email protected], [email protected] www.teknoland.se, www.stromstadakademi.se

At the time of editing this column, in late along with panels and interactive exhibits. April, the starry sky is only seen for a few For more information, contact Marc Moutin, hours during clear nights at my northern [email protected]. Swedish latitude. Also, at least for the last few La Coupole, a real underground town locat- days, there have been sunny days and temper- ed 5 km from Saint-Omer, was built in 1944 by atures getting close to 20°C, unusually warm the German army. This historic site immerses As each year in Marseille, a workshop gath- ers approximately 20 small digital planetar- for this time of the year. its visitors in the heart of the history of World ium owners, as it did in December 2013. In- Inspired by the weather, I have invested in a War II. Originally, this huge bunker was used tended for French-speaking people using new bicycle with a small electric motor in the to store, prepare and launch V2 rockets, the se- Stellarium360 or Nightshade Legacy, it at- front wheel hub so I don’t have to get off the cret weapon with which Hitler planned to de- tracts people from all over France, but also bike as soon as the road turns uphill— just to stroy London. some Italian, Spanish, Belgian and Swiss peo- ple. For more information, contact Lionel Ruiz, pedal on like in my younger years. I won’t be Behind this weapon is discovered the sto- [email protected]. Photo courtesy Lionel Ruiz. able to attend this year’s IPS Conference, but I ry of a young engineer, Wernher von Braun, wish all of you who do some nice and interest- who went on to develop, for the Americans, steady increase of public visits led the plane- ing days in Beijing. the immense Saturn V rocket that sent hu- tarium near Lyon to a need for enlargement. The International News column is built on mans to the moon. Now the structure is 4000 m2 (13,000 ft2) and contributions from IPS Affiliate Associations. Today, it is an amazing museum, a place for will welcome 80,000 visitors per year. Some So if you have news that you want colleagues understanding of the historical and scientific 900 m2 (3,000 ft2) is dedicated to an exhibi- worldwide to read, please send it to your IPS issues of the Second World War, from the oc- tion on the complexity of the universe called representative (see page 2). Their deadlines are cupation to the hidden face of the space con- From Big Bang to a Sand Grain, and to a bi-an- 1 July 2014 for Planetarian 3/2014 and 1 Octo- quest. For more information, contact Nicolas nual temporary exposition, currently Explor- ber for 4/2014, so they need your news ahead Fiolet, [email protected]. ing Mars. of those dates. The re-born Vaulx-en-Velin Planetari- The public says this new museum is “pre- You who want to contribute news from um just re-opened on 28 January in a totally cursor, innovative and different from all what parts of the world where IPS has no Affiliate new configuration. After almost 20 years, the they have seen before,” because of specific di- Association are welcome to send it to Martin dactic points that were developed, with George, [email protected]. a lot of interactive high-technology pro- For contributions to this International cesses. News column, I sincerely thank Agnès Acker, A personal human link is created by Vadim Belov, Bart Benjamin, Ignacio Castro, researchers with many interactions Alex Delivorias, John Hare, Warik Lawrence, with the visitor. Art and science are dis- Ian McLennan, Loris Ramponi, Aase Roland played in a complementary way in order Jacobsen, Patty Seaton, Alexander Serber, Jen- to maximize the impact on the visitor. ny Shipway, Rachel Thompson, and Michele To learn more, contact Hélène Courtois, Wistisen. I wish you and other representatives [email protected] and/or Simon back with news for upcoming Planetarian is- Meyer, [email protected]. sues. Digital planetariums using Lhoumeau Sky-System include more than 25 plane- Association of tariums in France. That is why workshop French-Speaking Planetariums sessions are organized once or twice a Cité de l’Espace in Toulouse aims to pres- year to cover the needs of the users and ent to the general public and schools the lat- to create emulation for content creation. est developments in space activities. In 2014, The October 2013 session in Belfort was with the support of its partners ESA (Europe- dedicated to motivated newbies. an Space Agency) and), a CNES (National Cen- tre for Space Studies), new temporary exhibi- Association of Mexican tions will open, devoted to two extraordinary Planetariums space missions in the solar system: The Rosetta The Planetarium Torreón was inaugu- mission, with rendezvous with a comet nucle- rated on 20 February 2014 by representa- us, and the Mars Curiosity mission. Full-scale AFP, top: Exhibition on the complexity of the universe tives of all Coahuila State Government models of the Rosetta lander, named Philaé, in the Vaulx-en-Velin Planetarium. Courtesy of Ville de Vaulx-en-Velin/Studio Gaudin-Ramet. Bottom: Full authorities. A 2.5 million dollar invest- and the Curiosity rover are both placed in im- scale model of the Rosetta Lander named Philaé. Cour- ment, the new facility has a 12-m (40- mersive and realistic planetary panoramas, tesy of Cité de l’Espace. ft) dome with 90 seats and an Evans &

62 Planetarian June 2014 AMPAC, left: Planetarium Torreón with its impressive Saturn ring architecture; right: inside Planetarium Torreón, showing its Meade Max 20-inch telescope. Pho- tos by Eduardo Hernández.

Sutherland Digistar5, 4.5 million pixels on the mersive environments, fulldome show pro- Prior to the conference, Warik Lawrance, dome, an astronomical observatory equipped duction and more. APS president, put out a call to the operators with a Meade Max 20-inchtelescope and 2 So- In 2013, three planetariums across Austra- of portable planetariums and smaller fixed lar Max 90 telescopes with double filters, capa- lia underwent major upgrades: the Melbourne planetariums to consider joining the group. As ble of live transmissions via the internet and Planetarium at Scienceworks (Melbourne, a result, the community welcomed both the capable of being remotely operated. Victoria); the Sir Thomas Brisbane Planetari- Planetarium Education Group and the UNSW The new facility includes a temporary ex- um (Brisbane, Queensland); and Horizon, the Physics Outreach Unit to the APS. hibits hall, a permanent exhibit hall from Planetarium at Scitech (Perth, Western Austra- The APS conference this year included two micro to macro cosmos, hands-on exhibits, lia). It is good to see that these planetariums pre-conference events. One was Natural Sat- two-40 m murals painted by local artists, a caf- have been able to secure funding to make ellite, a live performance in the planetarium eteria, and educational services area. them state-of-the-art facilities. dome by classic guitar virtuosos Leonard and This science diffusion complex has become Many other planetariums within the APS Slava Grigoryan, accompanied by DigitalSky one of Mexico´s most, serving 2 million in- have also been able to secure habitants in the metropolitan area. funding for new equipment, in- The project was made possible thanks to cluding new seating, telescopes, the contributions of the Torreón Planetari- and projection equipment, as um Civil Association, the Science and Tech- well as software upgrades. All of nology Council, CONACYT, and the Coahuila this is a good indicator to the eco- State Government as well as the Municipali- nomic success, vitality and rel- ty of Torreón. evance of planetariums within In the first two days after inauguration, it this region. received 1,500 visitors, a full house on every show! It has established an agreement with APS, right: Members inspecting Torreon´s Mayoral to receive 500 children the Great Melbourne Telescope monthly. restoration works. Photo by Eduardo Hernández is current general di- Warik Lawrance. Below: Group rector of the Planetarium and also president- photo from APS 2014. Photo by Martin George. elect of AMPAC. The Planetario Torreón web page is www.planetariumtorreon.com.

Australasian Planetarium Society The Australasian Planetarium Society held its 2014 annual conference at the Melbourne Planetarium on the 17-18 February. It is always a great opportunity for all of the communi- ty to get together, discuss latest developments in the field, and find out what everyone has been up to for the last 12 months. And, as it turns out, they have all been very busy. The annual APS Members Activity Report was produced just prior to the conference and details the incredible diversity of work that the APS community has produced, en- compassing public outreach programs, special events, education programs, research into im-

June 2014 Planetarian 63 fly-throughs of the moons of our solar system. ternational Centre for Life worked The second was a tour of the Museum Vic- with the excellent but under-visit- toria Collection Stores to view the restoration ed Oriental Museum at the Univer- project for the Great Melbourne Telescope. sity of Durham to bring items with This telescope was a major astronomical astronomical significance in their achievement for the 19th century. It operated nationally-recognized collections from 1869 to 1945 at Melbourne Observatory, to a wider audience. and then was relocated to Mt. Stromlo Obser- A new presenter-led planetari- vatory, Canberra, where it was rebuilt to con- um show was developed and ran tinue astronomical research. daily over the Easter holidays, sup- After the devastating Canberra bush fires plemented by members of the mu- in 2003, the remains of the telescope were seum staff running activity ses- handed over to Museum Victoria and the res- sions outside the planetarium. toration project hopes to see it returned to Centre for Life also developed an Melbourne Observatory for outreach and ed- astronomy trail for the Oriental ucation. museum. This year also saw the introduction of an in- The project encouraged more augural APS Competition. Taking inspiration detailed study and photography of from Jenny Shipway and the crazy events she a number of objects with astrono- runs at the conference for the British Associa- my links, like this Mughal celestial tion of Planetariums, for the competition this globe from 1790 [image]. Since Is- year all members of the APS worked in teams lamic theoretical work was based to create, and then present, an alien life form on that of ancient Greek astrono- made out of plasticine. mers, you can have fun identifying While everyone was quite apprehensive many of the constellations! about the whole idea at first, they soon be- The team at Centre for Life en- come thoroughly engrossed in their creations. courages others to look for creative The competition was enormous fun and the BAP: Signing in the planetarium during the Scottish Deaf partnerships with other local ven- final presentations added great hilarity to a event. Photos by Chris Scott. ues. They have gained lots of pos- very successful and inspiring conference. itive cross-learning as well as mu- both the interpreter and the stars very clearly. tual benefit in sharing disparate British Association of Other things to consider when delivering audiences and publicity. Planetariums this sort of show is that while the interpreter Finally, whilst a significant appeal of the As part of a project to make astronomy is signing the audience will be looking at him/ show is its local bias, if anyone is interested more accessible to British Sign Language (BSL) her, so the planetarium presenter is required in the content they are willing to freely dis- users in Scotland, the Royal Observatory Ed- to adjust his/her pace accordingly, ensuring tribute it in Digistar3 format or as script and inburgh team ran successful interpreted plan- that they wait until the interpreter is finished source images. Contact Chris Hudson christo- etarium shows for deaf audiences at BBC Star- before pointing to the object concerned. [email protected]. gazing Live public events in January. This pilot project was an ongoing learn- A team of deaf scientists and linguists, in- ing process, but overall the feedback from the Canadian Association of Science cluding Dr. Audrey Cameron of the Scot- deaf community who attended the event was Centres tish Sensory Centre and Gary Quinn of Heri- extremely positive. In addition, the interpret- The Ontario Science Centre in Toronto, On- ot Watt University, worked with astronomers ers who were involved were very enthusiastic, tario welcomed 60,000 students and visitors and science communicators from the Science not just about helping with astronomy plane- to their planetarium in 2013. New live public and Technology Facilities Council at the Roy- tarium shows, but the shows include The Ex- al Observatory Edinburgh to develop new idea of having BSL in- treme Universe, target- sign language for astronomy. terpreters at other ing visitors age 8+, and The project, funded by the Scottish Gov- events that take place a modified version of ernment, built on work Audrey and Gary in the dark. The Sky Tonight which have done with other sciences, building up The Centre for Life includes highlights a science BSL glossary. Over 90 new signs for at Newcastle upon from Islamic astrono- astronomy were created, including signs for Tyne is a science cen- my. Three school pro- some of the key northern hemisphere con- ter containing a 65- grams, The Night Sky, stellations, some of the brightest stars, and the seat planetarium run- Solar System Revealed, planets of our solar system. ning a busy program and Cosmic Connec- Delivering a deaf-accessible planetarium with 111,254 visitors tions, offer new con- show, or indeed carrying out observing ses- seeing 3,103 full shows tent directly tied into sions with telescopes, is tricky, since the activ- in 2013. the Sultans of Science ities are in the dark. However, using a red light As part of their brief temporary exhibition. in the planetarium to light up the interpret- to work with other Additional informa- er worked very well, and did not affect peo- cultural venues and to tion, Sara Poirier, Sara. ple’s dark adaption greatly. A fibre optic style engage more difficult BAP: Celestial globe, India, 1790. Photo cour- [email protected]. projection system was used rather than digi- to reach ethnic audi- tesy of Oriental Museum, University of Dur- At the ground- tal projection and the audience was able to see ences, the team at In- ham. breaking IMERSA

64 Planetarian June 2014 Summit in Denver in March, 2014, among vate primary and secondary school, brought NSC-produced show describes the competi- the nearly 200 delegates were a number of to Greece (12 April-31 May) CERN’s interactive tion between teams around the world to land Canadian contributors to the program: Jona- exhibition titled Accelerating Science, a fasci- a robotic spacecraft on the moon for the first than Barker (SK Films), Alan Caskey (Holovis nating tour-de-force to the beginning of the time in more than 40 years. International), Brookes and Fiona Diamond universe and the heart of matter! Further north, in Croatia, the Astronom- (Brookes Diamond Productions), Brian Eimer The aim of this celebrated exhibition is to ical Centre Rijeka celebrated on 2 April its (Images in Sound), Gordon Harris (Christie inspire a sense of curiosity and wonder about fifth anniversary with the inauguration of a Digital), Ian McLennan (IPS Canadian Repre- the origin of the universe and the fundamen- travelling exhibition of photographs on can- sentative), Toby Mensforth (Consultant), Alan tal building blocks of matter by showing how vas that highlight its main activities so far, Nursall (TELUS World of Science-Edmonton), the experiments at the Large Hadron Collider an event complemented with live jazz mu- Domenic St-Amant and Louis-Phillippe St-Ar- will unravel some of the deepest mysteries of sic. Also in April, the center introduced in its nault (both of SAT, Society for Arts & Tech- the universe, and displaying the connection regular program two special shows related to nology, Montreal). Additional information, between fundamental research in the past Yuri’s Night (12 April) and Earth Day (22 April) Ian McLennan, [email protected]. with technologies of the present. The Eugen- and organized a science festival whose main In addition to the HR MacMillan Space ides Planetarium could not have hosted this theme was waves. It featured Kaluoka’hina– Centre’s line-up of pre-rendered shows in Van- exhibition without the invaluable help and The Enchanted Reef for its younger audienc- couver, British Columbia, audiences were of- support of the School of Applied Mathematics es, as well as the 10-minute live presentation fered a combination of live presentations that allowed con- versations with visitors as well Dionysios Simopoulos retires as a series of special shows in the After exactly 41 years from the date of his return to planetarium star theatre. Greece, Dionysios “Dennis” Simopoulos officially re- These productions included tired as the director of the Eugenides Planetarium in two sold-out Valentines shows, Athens, remaining as director emeritus and adviser to a tribute to music in science the planetarium. fiction movies during Holly- His position has been assumed by Dr. Manos Kitso- wood’s Oscar weekend, a lunar nas, the planetarium’s technical director. eclipse event, and return of a Before coming to Greece, Simopoulos was the plan- popular series presented with etarium director of the Arts and Science Center Plan- local historians showcasing etarium at the Old Governor’s Mansion in Baton panoramic images from Van- Rouge, Louisiana (1967-1973). Simopoulos has been in- couver in the early 1900s. These strumental in helping shape IPS’ truly internation- shows included some of the best al dimension by co-founding EMPA in 1978, the first from image archives amassed non-American IPS affiliation. by a staff photographer over 40 For his work within IPS and his numerous contri- years of travelling the globe. Fa- butions to the planetarium community, he was hon- vorites included Abu Simbel ored by IPS with the IPS Service award in 1996. I and the Parthenon, as well as some of the great cathedrals of Europe, such as Sainte Chapelle and the Medici Chapel. and Physical Sciences of the National Techni- Ocean Movements: Waves and Tides. This northern summer they are launching cal University and the Department of Nuclear An interesting aspect of this festival was Back to the Moon for Good as a feature presen- and Particle Physics of the National and Kapo- Emil Vargovic’s exhibition Fractals: Reflec- tation in the star theater. Associated program- distrian University of Athens. tion of Comprehensiveness, a display of ap- ming will include public talks by Plan B, a lo- It is worth mentioning that the ambassa- proximately 30 pieces on cosmology and the cal team competing for the Google Lunar X dors in Greece of CERN’s member-states en- universe. Prize. Additional information, Lisa McIntosh, joyed a private guided tour of the exhibi- The same month saw Academic Astronom- [email protected]. tion on 29 April. The same was also true for ical Society Rijeka holding a series of astrono- the ESA delegates participating in the Coper- my lectures, whose participants had also the European/Mediterranean nicus- Sentinels Serving Society and the Envi- opportunity to view various celestial objects Planetarium Association ronment Conference, also held at the Eugen- through the main telescope. The Eugenides Planetarium, in an early cel- ides Foundation on 12-13 May and organized On 22-24 April, the center, in collaboration ebration of the vernal equinox, premiered on by the Greek Presidency of the Council of the with the Croatian Association CEZAR, which 18 March the show titled GAIA: Bridge to a Bil- European Union, the European Space Agency promotes energy efficiency, organized the In- lion Suns. The show, an ESA production about and the European Commission. ternational Dark Sky Week, which included the Gaia space mission to chart a 3D map of The exhibition enjoyed heavy coverage lectures on light pollution as well as a presen- the Milky Way, was introduced to a total audi- in the various mass media and several Greek tation of the steps taken by the City of Rijeka ence of more than 800 persons (in three show- physicists working at CERN gave interviews to reduce its negative effect to the observation ings) by Jos de Bruijne, deputy project scientist on the importance of the fundamental re- of the night sky. of the GAIA mission, and Professor Mary Kon- search being carried out at CERN. As part of the mid-term school holidays, As- tizas, Greek GAIA team leader and vice pres- On 23 June, the Eugenides Planetarium cele- tronomical Centre Rijeka presented Encounter ident of the European Astronomical Society. brated the summer solstice with the premiere With Astronomy, a live show for school chil- The Eugenides Planetarium, in collabora- of Google’s Lunar XPRIZE fulldome planetari- dren, in which educators in the digital plane- tion with Ellinogermaniki Agogi, a local pri- um show titled Back to the Moon for Good. The tarium acquainted visitors with the night sky,

June 2014 Planetarian 65 ft), 15-degree tilted dome theater uses Evans & Sutherland Digistar and two JVC projec- tors, with theater technology designed and in- stalled by Bowen Technovation. Bowen Technovation in Indianapolis has completed the first planetarium in Jordan at the Princess Haya Cultural Centre in Amman. The Edwin Clark Schouweiler Memorial Planetarium at the University of Saint Fran- cis in Fort Wayne opened its WinterFest 2014 on Valentine’s Day with a sell-out of its eve- ning Dessert Cruise to the Planets. In addition to Schouweiler’s production of SEPA’s The Planets, the event featured Valentine beverag- es and bon bons before the planetarium show and a dessert break afterwards. Michigan. With the coming of spring, the major renovation of the Chaffee Planetarium at the Grand Rapids Public Museum is com- plete. Their Digistar 5 projection system is aug- mented with an updated sound system, LED dome lighting, and refurbished seats under its EMPA: During the premiere of the show Back to the Moon for Good, Team Stellar presented their own 50-ft dome. Initial audience experiences in the lunar rover model, as well as their educational project Stellar Balloon–Stratosphere. Photo courtesy of renovated facility included an opening trailer Rijeka Sport Ltd. explaining the life and death of Roger Chaffee and a brief exploration of the current night the constellations and their brightest stars, The William M. Staerkel Planetarium at sky. nebulae and galaxies, etc. During Astronomy Parkland College in Champaign opened the The Kalamazoo Valley Museum Planetar- Week, the center featured the new show Back season with their live Spring Prairie Skies pro- ium conducted special programs on viewing to the Moon for Good. gram, plus their fulldome rendition of two and photographing the total lunar eclipse of On this occasion, the international non- other shows. Girl Scout sky badge workshops 14-15 April and mapping the moon. profit association Stellar Team presented its and Boy Scout astronomy merit badge ses- Following a successful Winter 2013 series own contribution to the Google LunarX Prize sions were held in April and May, respective- by Cliff Jones, Southfield’s Vollbrecht Plan- project, which involves the construction of a ly. Recently, the staff wished Carolyn Martin etarium presented its spring 2014 lecture se- moon rover. Stellar Team also presented Stel- a happy retirement from the planetarium of- ries of eight 90-minute Wednesday evening lar Balloon–Stratosphere, an educational proj- fice and welcomed Cindy Reynolds as their programs by Mike Best. Each of the illustrated ect where 22 teams of Croatian high school new operations person. lectures offered a 20-minute star show, a ques- children designed and conducted experi- This spring, the Cernan Earth & Space Cen- tion-and-answer session, handouts, and door ments by launching balloons at a high alti- ter at Triton College presented its own pro- prizes. tude and subsequently analyzing the data col- gram The Moon: From Imagination to Explora- The University of Michigan’s Museum of lected. tion, as well as its own mini show about the Natural History Planetarium is distributing a In June, Astronomical Centre Rijeka par- current apparition of Mars, appropriately ti- free, NSF-funded, 7-minute Dark Matter full- ticipated in the celebrations of Internation- tled Mars 2014. dome clip from the research of Dr. Kathryn al Ocean Day with films about the ocean as Indiana. Dayle Brown, one of “Indiana’s Zurek. The staff is also producing a series of well as interactive presentations on the sum- own,” began her term as GLPA president-elect four short clips to update current opinions mer solstice and conjunctions of Mars and the on the vernal equinox. Dayle is working her about black holes. Contact Matthew Linke at moon. It also produced The Little Universe, a way through stories for the next book in her [email protected] for details. planetarium show suitable for children, on Skylore from Planet Earth series. Dayle has a Ohio. The Vandalia Planetarium’s Novem- the earth, the solar system, the different con- website, www.pegasusproductions.net, which ber show Asteroids, Comets, and Meteors, Oh stellations, and the Milky Way. offers resources to planetariums. My! was packed with more than 100 people! Ball State University in Muncie is current- With only 66 permanent seats, patrons were Great Lakes Planetarium ly in the construction process of its new plan- literally hanging in the doorway and watch- Association etarium. This facility will be the host site for ing from the hall. The year 2013 ended with Illinois. Sheldon Schafer, Peoria’s long- the 2014 GLPA conference. December’s A Scope for Christmas show, which standing planetarium director, has retired. After more than 55 years of service to the gave away a Galileoscope to one lucky little Sheldon started work at the Lakeview Muse- Evansville community, the Koch Planetarium visitor. um Planetarium in April of 1976 and ended at the Evansville Museum presented its final Dayton’s Boonshoft Museum of Discov- fulltime work at the Peoria Riverfront Muse- show on 2 February. ery reports that Scott Lever, mission manag- um on 28 January. Peoria’s Community Solar On 7 February, the museum opened the er of NASA’s MER Mission, presented the re- System Model officially re-opened on 8 Feb- doors to its new Koch Immersive Theater cent successes and challenges encountered by ruary. The scale factor is 99,000,000:1, spread and enjoyed a three-day weekend of sell-out Opportunity on the 10th anniversary of its 24 across 6,000 square miles of Central Illinois. crowds following the ceremonial cutting of January 2004 landing on Mars. The travelling Peoria’s annual Interplanetary 5K race oc- a red ribbon by local dignitaries and school exhibition Amazon Voyage was featured at curred on 22 March. children. The new planetarium’s 12-m (40- Boonshoft through 27 April. The planetarium

66 Planetarian June 2014 show accompanying the exhibit featured legends of the Ama- zon, dark skies of the region, and demon- strated to visitors why the sky appears differ- ent from a southern hemisphere location. The BGSU Plane- tarium tried an ex- periment by running its annual Christmas show Secret of the Star on both Christmas Eve and for the first time on Christmas Day, and visitors expressed their appreciation for the expanded holiday schedule. In its lead-up to installation of Spitz SciDome, BGSU is doing encore runs of most of its shows from the past thirty years. Wisconsin/Minnesota. After 37 years of assisting students and visitors to see dark- GLPA, top: The outside of ness in a whole new light, Larry Mascotti of the 2½ story, glass-walled the Mayo High School Planetarium in Roch- Eykamp Pavilion, which ester, Minnesota will be seeking new horizons serves as a new entrance on to explore in his retirement at the end of the the south side of the Evans- school year. ville Museum of Arts, Histo- ry & Science. Right: The in- The staff is happy to report that there is a re- side of the new 40-ft Koch newed effort underway to secure bonding for Immersive Theater. Photos a new Bell Museum and Planetarium. In the courtesy of Mitch Luman. fall of 2013, the Bell Museum completed the pre-design for a new facility located on the St. Paul Campus of the University of Minnesota. The Daniel M. Soref Planetarium in Mil- waukee presented Astronaut from the Nation- al Space Center in England to complement its Body Worlds exhibit. Romancing the Stars, a live Valentine’s show, played for the seventh Calvino, describes the basic knowledge about Another prize is devoted to a video about straight year. astronomy and includes detailed descriptions any astronomical and astrophysical subject At the UW-M’s Manfred Olson Planetari- of the planetarium projection. The high qual- and will be described in the next column. um, director Jean Creighton is thrilled to be ity of the sound allows the possibility of the Copies of the winning product will be shared one of the 24 people chosen by NASA to be an use of this product with the general public, as with PlanIt members. Airborne Astronomy Ambassador and fly on requested by the contest rules. StarLight, Perugia, a hand-held planetari- SOFIA at 45,000 feet to collect infrared data. To improve the participation of small facili- um, is continuing to diversify and improve its Jean hopes to share this experience at the next ties and young planetarians during the annual activities in schools of all levels. Just one ex- GLPA conference. meeting of Italian planetariums, PlanIt is sup- ample of this is the special workshop planned porting another prize called “Tell your expe- for a partially-sighted boy during a lesson for Italian Association of Planetaria rience” designed to improve communication primary school students. “To tell to the stars” is a new contest orga- presented during the national conference. There were three different steps to the ac- nized by the Italian Association of Planetar- The prize committee selected Matteo Mon- tivity, which he carried out with the help of ia. The contest rules encourages applicants to temaggi from San Mauro Pascoli, who pre- his special needs teacher. First, the boy made a write a story that will be told under a plane- sented the PowerPoint “To bring astronomy drawing by freely connecting large black dots tarium dome. In fact, the author of the text in the schools.” The presentation describes on a sheet of paper, and then gave his work a also is invited to read out the story and record some teaching activities organized by single title. Then, to discover which constellation it as mp3 file. operators, sometimes also in collaboration he had drawn, he compared his drawing by The winners of the first issue of the contest with local amateur astronomy associations, touching the figure projected on a large screen are Simona Romaniello, Emanuele Balboni, inside and outside planetariums. Montemag- using the Stellarium program. Marco Brusa and Eleonora Monge, operators gi is a teacher, therefore his attention is devot- In the second step the boy used a piece of from Infini.to Planetarium, Turin. The prize ed mainly to school lessons through practical string to connect some paper clips fixed onto committee selected this work for its high astronomical activities that involve the atten- two different sheets of paper, thus outlin- technical and content levels, and also for its tion and the curiosity of the students. ing two constellations, according to his own use of language. All these are the aspects that the prize imagination. Then he compared his construc- The text, inspired from Palomar by Italo would like to support. tions with two others which we had made, us-

June 2014 Planetarian 67 submitting his/her research findings in the re- tarium educators who find they must justify gional journal, on the MAPS website, and in their work to their superiors who need data. possible future reprints. Her research is proof that the work under the An immediate grant application came from dome serves the very purpose in education Kim Small of the Upper Dublin School Dis- that is set out to accomplish. trict Planetarium in the suburbs of Philadel- This type of research should be encouraged phia, Pennsylvania. Not only has she served and expanded; MAPS continues to offer this on the executive committee of MAPS, she has grant opportunity to any MAPS member. The also presented valuable research that she has grant year opens annually on 1 January with done in the past. rolling submissions until funds are exhausted Her proposal was reviewed and subsequent- or the year ends. Look for Small’s findings to ly accepted by a MAPS Education Research be published soon on the MAPS website. Oth- IAP: Copper relief map of the northern sky; Grant panel made up of at least three review- er regions are encouraged to support planetar- dots and lines indicate the constellations, and ers consisting of one MAPS Board Member ium education research as well! the circular line outlines the circumpolar stars. and two other Education Research Grant re- Photo by Simonetta Ercoli, courtesy of Star- viewers. Nordic Planetarium Association Light. The goal of Kim Small’s research project Urban Eriksson from the Planetarium at ing the convectional drawings. In this way was to analyze how early elementary-aged Kristianstad University, Sweden, has been he could understand that there are different children increase their understanding of ob- very busy writing his thesis on astronomy ed- ways to represent the same stars in the sky servational astronomy concepts, in particu- ucation research on student’s difficulties with but only one is the conventional one accept- lar focusing on the moon, from interventions 3D awareness of the universe and how simula- ed worldwide. in the classroom and the planetarium. The de- tions can help. The final activity was the use of a copper sign included a classroom pre-visit by Kim, He has had some 500 visitors last year, and relief map of the northern circumpolar ce- where topics that will be presented in the plans to expand next year when he has fin- lestial hemisphere. The student had to touch planetarium are introduced and student mis- ished his thesis, if he gets the necessary fund- the map, focus on some constellations, draw conceptions are identified. ing. them on a sheet of paper and then write their After the planetarium visit, which always At the Museum of History of Science and names. He perceived the rotation of the Earth, includes some live content, Kim planned to Technology, University of Latvia, Riga, direc- moving the map anticlockwise, and he also return to the classrooms for a post-visit lesson, tor Ilgonis Vilks and his team started up a new understood the circumpolar stars, because a which usually serves as an assessment. Using project, which they call a mini-planetarium. circular line outlined them. this pre-visit, planetarium lesson, and post-vis- They demonstrate the night sky using Stel- it design, student gains in content knowledge larium software on a big (3.5x6-m) flat screen Middle Atlantic Planetarium and understanding of scientific practices were in full HD resolution. The live shows lasts for Society to be measured. one hour and includes some videos from ESO, Education is an important mission of the Her proposed research planned to expand NASA, etc. Regular shows take place once per planetarium. In MAPS’ position statement is upon a previous research study conducted in week and hold 80 seats, but the average num- clearly laid out the value of the planetarium’s April 2012 with Dr. Julia Plummer of Pennsyl- ber of visitors is about 40. See also www.lu.lv/ role in education: vania State University. par/strukt/muzejs/planetarijs. The study of Earth and space systems, in- Kim presented her findings in a poster ses- Anna S. Arnadottir from Vattenhallen Sci- cluded in national and state science standards, sion at the MAPS conference in July 2013. The ence Center at Lund’s University, Sweden, re- is dynamically explored in planetariums. data she has collected are invaluable to plane- (Continues on page 70) The planetarium serves as a laboratory in which students reinforce and confirm relat- ed concepts introduced in the classroom. Ad- ditionally, they deconstruct misconceptions and discover new perspectives. Student comprehension of complex con- cepts is enhanced by the ability of the plan- etarium to compress long term patterns and cycles into shorter segments which result in powerful learning experiences. (The complete position statement can be found online at www.mapsplanetarium.org/ about.) Last year, in support of this important mis- sion, MAPS developed an Education Research Grant to financially support its members in conducting research on the use and impact of planetariums in education. The grant award is up to $2,500, with the agreement that the grant recipient will disseminate his/her re- search findings in a paper or poster presenta- tion at the next MAPS conference within one year of completing the research project and NPA: Ilgonis Vilks and the mini planetarium in Riga, Latvia. Courtesy of University of Latvia.

68 Planetarian June 2014 The moment of inspiration when he decides to fl y to Mars one day. This is the moment we work for.

// PLANETARIUMS MADE BY CARL ZEISS

Inspirations for visitors of the refurbished Laupheim Planetarium, a powerdome® Sky Theater comprising the latest SKYMASTER ZKP 4 and VELVET Duo hybrid system.

www.zeiss.de/planetariums in US/Canada contact Laura Misajet: [email protected] June 2014 Planetarian 69

Inspiration_engl_Planetarian2013.indd 1 21.01.2013 12:15:40 (International, continued from page 68) ports of increasing attendance to the plan- etarium since they opened in May 2010. In 2013 they developed four university-level live RMPA, left: Anne shows given at their courses and two shows Kattner models for intended for the public, Vintergatans alla plan- the human sundial eter (All the Planets of the Milky Way) and Vårt in Casper. Photo by Solsystem Bland Stjärnorna (Our Solar System Michele Wistisen. Among the Stars). Below: The Casper Planetarium staff At Stjernekammeret, Bellahøj Skole in Co- poses for Sun-Earth penhagen, Denmark, the year 2013 was a fine Day celebration. year, with a morning 90-minute astronomy Photo by Heather lesson almost all school day. Their new digi- Malody. tal Starlab Projector is proving to be very pop- ular. Carsten Skovgaard Andersen teaches schoolchildren how to assemble a Galileo scope, and some classes borrowed the Galil- Rocky Mountain eo scopes and used them at home in the eve- Planetarium nings. They were guided at the site www.bor- Association nafgalileo.dk. Here they find a new guide The Casper Planetarium every month of objects to watch in the Gali- in Casper, Wyoming of- leo scope, and lots of other activities. fered free admission to the In the daytime they showed sunspots with public for the Sun-Earth their Sunspotter. More than 3,500 visited day celebration on March Stjernekammeret last year and they also had 22, 2014. Guests were able a few evening sessions. to participate in several Unfortunately, Viltė Girdzijauskaitė has ex- hands-on activities, such perienced a decrease in attendance at the VU- as making a simple sun TFAI Planetarium, Vilnius University, Lithua- dial, sun prints, and a solar nia, but they have prepared some new lectures bead bracelet. on subjects such as astrobiology and new pro- The staff of the plan- grams for their younger audiences. The plane- etarium also created a human sundial and SOYUZ descent capsule. tarium is about to undertake a major renova- scaled down the solar system to fit on their New titles appeared in the planetarium tion in 2015. property. The program Solar Quest was offered schedule in the last year, with The most inter- For the last couple of years there has been every 15 minutes. Everyone who attended ex- esting about meteorites becoming one of the an increase in attendance at the Steno Muse- pressed their appreciation for the event. The most popular. Exhibitions of astrophotogra- um Planetarium, University of Aarhus in Den- only drawback for the day was that it snowed, phy, the 90th anniversary of the first plane- mark. Especially it is worth noticing is that so they weren’t able to set up the telescopes to tarium device, and astronomy-studio activity now more than half of the schoolchildren view the sun. have been demonstrated to public. Lectures that visit the museum also go to the planetari- within the framework of the Scientist’s Tri- um. The majority of programs in the planetar- Russian Planetariums Association bune cycle have been successfully held, and ium are now live presentations and there has Kazan. Planetarium of Kazan Federal Uni- Science Theater for the youngest visitors be- also been an increase in attendance to the dai- versity was opened to the public in June, 2013. gan. ly programs. It is equipped with Megastar II opto-mechani- On 25 December 2013, Vice-Chair of the Sci- Since 1995, something special takes place at cal star projector under 10-degree tilted dome entific Council Anatoly Cherepashchuk, Sci- the Steno Museum Planetarium every time it of 15-m (50-ft.) in diameter. The facility has 83 entific Director Faina Rubleva, Executive Di- is full moon. Ole J. Knudsen and Aase Roland seats with adjustable reclining chairs, a stage rector Nataly Artyukhina, and the prominent Jacobsen has implemented a variety of eve- and a translator room, and is equipped with lecturer Stanislav Shirokov (postmortem) ning sessions with theater, poetry, art and mu- the SCISS AB Uniview Universe Emulator. were awarded the Prize by the Government of sic shows and, of course, astronomical themes A 50-cm astrograph for observing deep- the Russian Federation for the development such as the starry night sky, solar eclipse and space objects is mounted in a separate dome. of innovative educational center Planetarium shooting stars. The mount carries four telescopes, each with of Moscow. Last year a new aspect was added to the con- different specialization, such as planetary re- The XXXVIII Academic Workshop on Cos- cept: a “full moon all-you-can-eat buffet.” The fractor and two solar telescopes. All the instru- monautics was held at the Bauman State Tech- nical University on 28-31 January. This meet- evening starts with a buffet at the Mathemat- ments are equipped with light-receiving de- ing was attended by staff members of Bryansk ics Canteen in the university building next vices. and Nizhny Novgorod Planetariums. The talk door, and at 8 p.m. there are a lecture in muse- Moscow. An interactive exhibition on cos- monautics and cosmonauts has opened at “Wrench of the History of Cosmonautics and um hall, such as about the Mars Curiosity mis- the Planetarium of Moscow. Visitors can tru- Its Motherland: ROSCOSMOS Must Cooperate sion. ly experience the legendary profession, in with Producers of Fulldome Shows for Plan- After the lecture, everybody goes to the particular, be rotated in a centrifuge, start a etariums” was delivered by Vadim Belov. He planetarium to experience some of the is- spaceflight, look at the Earth through a space- criticized a fulldome space flight program de- sues from the lecture and get stories about the craft window, eat space meals, and enter the (Continues on page 72) night sky.

70 Planetarian June 2014 Evidence of a Restless Planet

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

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

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

FINALIST Best Video the international science & engineering visualization challenge

ForJune more 2014 information on licensing our shows,Planetarian visit www.calacademy.org/licensing . 71 The 18-m (60-ft) dome and Digistar 5 DLP System make the planetarium a one-of-a-kind teaching, learning, and special occasion space, and one of the largest, most sophisticated planetariums in Texas. Comfortable reclining chairs seat nearly 150 and the theater is wheel- chair friendly. The planetarium is in a cutting-edge chem- istry and physics research facility, which in- cludes an atrium, executive conference room, research laboratories, and Tier-2 comput- ing facility being developed in collaboration with the ATLAS experiment being conducted at CERN. In 1975, Professor Ulrich Herrmann pro- posed a quirky, round building become a plan- etarium. In 1981, the Roundhouse Planetarium opened with a Spitz starball, and in 2006, up- graded to Digistar 3 to match the larger plan- etarium in the Chemistry Physics Building.

RPA: The planetarium of Kazan Federal University on 22 June 2013, on eve of its opening. Photo by Almaz Now housing a single-projector Digistar 5 sys- Galeev. tem, the 9-m (30-ft) Roundhouse Planetarium is used for astronomy Labs. (International, continued from page 70) 2014 on the occasion of the 80th anniversary Arlington, located between Dallas and Fort livered to the market in 2007. of Yuri Gagarin. The visitors enjoyed flights of Worth, is near many cultural and entertain- During 24-28 February 2014, up to about 50 plane models, balloons, and group dances. ment attractions. WAC includes a trip to Pe- planetarians have attended the annual Lectur- Extramural Astronomical Olympiad dedi- rot Museum of Science and Nature in Dallas. A er Workshop held at the Planetarium of the cated to 100th anniversary of the prominent post-conference tour to Fort Worth Museum Cultural Center of the Russian Army. Soviet astrophysicist Yakov Zeldovich was of Science and History and Fort Worth Stock- “What is the Big Bang” by Professor Anatoly launched at Nizhny Novgorod Planetarium yards is being arranged. Zasov from Stenberg Astronomical Institute on 1 February 2014. It is aimed at school-age WAC is a great opportunity for learning, of the Moscow State University was accompa- participants. professional development and networking. nied by a fulldome presentation and greatly Novosibirsk Planetarium emailed the first More information at www.wacdomes.org. impressed the audience. Attendees celebrated announcement of the International Multi- Congratulations to John Cotton for an ac- the 20th anniversary of the Russian Planetari- Dome Science and Art Festival to be held 26- complished, 48-year career in the planetari- um Association. 29 September 2014 in Novosibirsk. A feature um at Fair Park in Dallas, Texas! Cotton began Nizhny Novgorod. “Cотрудники группы”— of this event is using a few modular-construc- at Fair Park in 1964. Ted Gangle, planetari- outer-space activities of the Rocket and Space tion domes at different districts of Novosi- um manager, recruited Cotton, whose back- Corporation ENERGIYA—visited Nizhny birsk to demonstrate the fulldome media ground is electrical engineering and amateur Novgorod Planetarium for the first time on submissions to the festival. The submission astronomy, as part-time lecturer. Cotton soon 21 December 2013. They meet schoolchildren, deadlines for festival are: work submission, 10 performed scripted and unscripted shows, answered their questions, and told about pre- August 2014 and festival visitor registration, wrote scripts, designed visuals, and built com- flight training of cosmonauts, tools and elec- 10 September 2014. ponents for shows featuring a Spitz A-1. tric jackets used in outer space, and space Cotton met Donna Pierce, now director at walks with Olympic fire and their underwa- Southwestern Association Pierce Planetarium, while she served as youth ter training. of Planetariums activities docent as a new member of the Ju- A lot of children and their parents visited The Planetarium at the University of Tex- nior League of Dallas. Cotton trained her as Nizhny Novgorod Planetarium on 9 March as at Arlington is proud to host Western Alli- a planetarium lecturer. Donna says “John be- ance Conference (WAC) 2014 from 22-25 July. (Continues on page 74)

Southeastern Planetarium Association It’s not too late to make plans to attend the 2014 SEPA conference, to be held in Sanford, Florida, just a short drive north of Orlando. The conference theme is “To wish upon a star,” which is intended to reflect the proximity of the facility to Disney World and the huge concentration of theme parks in the area. The host facility is the newly-dedicated Buehler Perpetual Trust Planetarium on the campus of Seminole State College. Dates are 15-19 July. The conference hosts have created a 14-minute YouTube video that includes a wealth of information regarding the conference; see it at youtu.be/jrMA6hAdw- bI. Further information regarding SEPA can be found at sepadomes.org. I

SEPA: Buehler Planetarium Assistant Director Michael McConville (left) and Director Derek Demeter show that the planetarium is ready for the 2014 SEPA conference. Photo courtesy Buehler Planetarium.

72 Planetarian June 2014 June 2014 Planetarian 73

Space Junk Ad.indd 1 10/25/2013 1:07:53 PM the MS-8 which, until the Goto Chronos, was more than any other planetarium of this size. In 2005, the planetarium remodeled to an Evans & Sutherland Digistar 3. After be- ing closed over the summer, the planetari- um re-opened in the fall for the Texas State Fair. Cotton helped with the remodel and his background in computer science was helpful moving from previous production to Digistar scripting. In 2006, The Science Place merged with the Museum of Nature and Science, becom- ing the Dallas Museum of Nature and Science. Paul Vinson, director of Exhibits and The- SWAP: The Planetarium at University of Texas at Arlington, host of the 2014 West- aters, oversaw staffing, scheduling, and bud- ern Alliance Conference, 22-25 July, 2014. Courtesy of Amy Barraclough. geting. Cotton served at technical supervisor until 2010. He taught astronomy and scientif- ic method classes at SMU. (International, continued from page 72) a planetarium, as well as creating and produc- In 2012, the Dallas Museum of Nature and came my mentor, friend, and ‘local’ brother ing original programming, [is] challenging. I Science rebuilt the museum in downtown, be- (my real brother resides in Massachusetts). To- like challenges, so it was a stimulating envi- coming the Perot Museum of Nature and Sci- day I’m [a] planetarium director and John is ronment.” The MS-8 began a new era for the ence. The planetarium was replaced by a fleet the one who is always on call for equipment planetarium; over the next dozen years, tens of portable Digitalis systems. Cotton docu- installation and or repairs; updates on latest of thousands of visitors per year visited the mented the 59-year history of the planetari- astronomy facts, but more so in being a true dome. um and helped distribute equipment to plan- friend.” Both serve on McDonald Observato- In 1981 the Dallas Health and Science Muse- etariums in Texas and Louisiana during asset ry’s Board of Visitors today. um name became The Science Place. Cotton disposition. In 1966, the planetarium remodeled based continued to introduce people to astronomy Cotton retired from the planetarium in on Cotton’s designs, including compass and, in 1985, began graduate school at South- 2013 after the fixed dome closed (21 October points, a tape system and microphone, slide ern Methodist University (SMU). Bow Walker 2012), but continues to share his passion for as- projectors, expanded projectors, lighting, and became manager. In 1986 Cotton was named tronomy teaching at SMU. I a signal to the front desk used through 2012. an IPS Fellow in the first group of Fellows. Cot- “One of the things that certainly impressed ton, though busy with school, con- me is that he was a dedicated amateur astron- tinued as consultant to Bow and omer—sharing the sciences with everyone— others. especially the young people to whom he in- After school, Cotton managed troduced the wonder of the universe,” said the planetarium again—serving as Don Garland. interim between Jim Greenhouse In 1970, Cotton attended the Conference of and Wilgus Burton. In 1993 Cotton American Planetarium Educators at Abrams returned to teaching astronomy at Planetarium (Michigan). This meeting formed SMU, remaining at the planetarium the International Society of Planetarium Edu- part-time. He aided the planetarium cations which later became IPS. in a transition from Wilgus Burton When Ted Gangl retired, Cotton oversaw to Chaz Hafey in 1997. staff—each was regularly employed elsewhere, Cotton and Hafey created sever- but dedicated time and energy teaching. The al inventions when introducing in- planetarium underwent a complete remodel teractive programming to Dallas. in 1970. Cotton designed seating, console, and Featured in a 1999 Planetarian arti- control systems relying on engineering ex- cle, “Interactive Programs at the Sci- pertise, and also built the console and wiring ence Place Planetarium,” they used system. Spitz supplied and installed new seats the Lap Light System, flashlight and a new dome. pointers, moon phase globes, and In 1972 John Cotton and Dodson Carmi- star charts that allowed audiences chael, director of the Health and Science Mu- to teach themselves about the sky. seum, replaced the A-1 with a Minolta MS-8 Cotton and Hafey received a patent with grants from Junior League, Fikes Foun- (6,199.999 in 2001) on behalf of the dation, and B.C. Jefferson Fund. A later grant museum for “Lap Lights.” Cotton from Junior League purchased a zoom projec- experimented with multipart play tor, panorama system, and Conic projection shows instead of traditional narra- orrery. During this time period, Cotton served tion, experiencing success with this IPS as Publications Committee chair (1976- type of script. 1980). The planetarium’s capabilities ex- SWAP, Top: From left: Donna Pierce, John Cotton, and Carol As many planetarians might attest, running panded significantly through addi- Jordan. Courtesy of John Cotton. Bottom: John Cotton and a planetarium is no small feat. In Cotton’s tional upgrades. Fifteen constellation Carol, his wife, at McDonald Observatory, Summer 2013. words, “Building, operating, and maintaining outline projectors were mounted to Courtesy of Donna Pierce.

74 Planetarian June 2014 June 2014 Planetarian 75 Co., Ltd., are handling the whole fields of as- Mobile News tronomical instruments and facilities.” Meguru stated that in the past there were many small analog planetariums distribut- Susan Reynolds Button ed by GOTO, but in the last few years a new Quarks to Clusters trend has started, as more frequently a lecturer 8793 Horseshoe Lane is sent out with a digital mobile planetarium. Chittenango, New York 13037 USA According to Meguru, this is a practice that was started by Naoto Kimura several years +1 315-687-5371 ago; he uses a Tenmado Kobo Co. digital mo- [email protected], [email protected] bile planetarium. He mainly does presenta- quarkstoclusters.wordpress.com tions for kindergardens and primary schools. However, the number of schools using this As mentioned in the March column, most Eberhart in South Bend, Indiana.” (www. system is increasing each year. IPS Affiliate Organizations have assigned a campeberhart.org) Meguru explains, “In addition department contact person for mobile planetariums for Dayle participated in the first year of Astro stores, shopping malls, cultural centers and their region. After emailing these colleagues, Camp in 2001. The students are instructed in science centers use this system for their events. happily, news is starting to arrive in my email telescope use and have overnight camping on The mobile planetarium is very much accept- box. Thank you to those colleagues who re- the “island,” which houses an observatory. ed by the children and students because the sponded so promptly. Below is some interest- “Lou has since retired and the planetarium lecturer and they are very close and it is easy ing information received about the activities now rests in Chuck Bueter’s basement. Chuck to communicate, which is very difficult in the of mobile planetariums. now is in charge of Astro Camp and the plane- medium and big planetarium. tarium is available for use by the Michiana As- “For the school teachers, it is very conve- Great Lakes Planetarium tronomical Society (www.michiana-astro.org) nient because it is not necessary for them to Association when not being used at Astro Camp. take their students to planetarium. We believe The Starlab/GOTO planetarium Dayle “Chuck is the president of the astronomy that the mobile planetarium will be getting Brown sold back in 2007 has had a very active group as well as very well known in the plan- more popular in Japan. “ life since then. Dayle explained, “It was sold etarium community. It couldn’t be in better For more information: www.mobile-plane- to Lou Sandock, who used it to teach astron- hands!” tarium.com. omy to students in his Astro Camp (www.as- Dayle is certainly correct! A blog from trocamp.us), which is held every year at Camp Chuck Bueter explains just one way in which Middle Atlantic Planetarium the planetarium is still being Society used for great educational As mobile dome contact person for this and fun events: group, I recently asked Keith Johnson, mem- Chuck writes, “After a bership committee chairman, to send me his long winter in the midwest, list of all portables that he is aware of in our a unique celebration wel- region. He sent a list with 134 entries, but he comed the vernal equinox could not guarantee that they are all active. I with spring stars, astrono- will attempt to verify those that are current- my activities, and lush trop- ly active. ical plants. The South Bend Here is a report about a few of them that are Adventure Club hosted a active in New York State. ‘Tropical Overnighter’ in the There are 37 Boards of Cooperative Edu- greenhouse at the Potawato- cational Services (BOCES) established across mi Conservatories, where the New York State. Several school districts in fragrance of fruit plants and each BOCES join together to fund services and abundant greenery contrast- programs and the government of the State of ed with the grays of winter. New York also assists with funding (with the The winter constellations most assistance going to the poorer school dis- segued into spring under a tricts in the region). The BOCES exist to help portable planetarium, with school districts and communities: Polaris anchoring the north •• by providing shared services that will in- as we spun through time.” crease student performance, You might want to con- •• by providing economic solutions for school sider hosting a similar event. districts, and ultimately, If so, go to www.nightwise. •• by creating a positive impact on the people org/blog/welcome-spring for and communities of each County. some wonderful hints. For more information about BOCES: www. boces.org/wps/portal/BOCESofNYS Japan Planetarium As- Currently 15 of these BOCES have an active sociation (JPA) planetarium program. Some others cross con- Meguru Kamiya’s report: tract with those that have them or they may An adventure in the tropics (top) with winter coats as Chuck Bueter “Thank you for your in- use a local stationary planetarium or a teacher sets up the dome; (bottom) the final setting for stars, planets and quiries on the mobile plane- center’s portable planetarium. plants! Photos provided by Chuck Bueter. tarium. We, Tenmado Kobo

76 Planetarian June 2014 A news article was recently re- in on that discussion. I wonder ceived about a Starlab that was if any of the students questioned borrowed by the Roscoe Central this teacher’s analogy, especial- School from the Sullivan County ly since, many times, the ancient BOCES. The article indicated that stories were held as “truths” in all of the students in the school the religions of some of these cul- experienced and enjoyed the tures and someone in the class planetarium. Some classes com- might not have been very happy pared and contrasted the myths about the assumptions of the dis- and legends from various cultures cussion! and also had a discussion during The Iroquois in my state of which they compared astronomy New York even take offence if to astrology. Students identified you call their creation stories their own “sun signs” and then “myths.” One elder asked me if found humor in reading some of I considered the story of Jesus, their horoscopes. Mary and Joseph a myth. That Some teachers used the lesson told me that their cosmological as an activity to enhance their stories have a religious or spiritu- student’s most recent studies. The al significance to them even lesson for the 2nd grade class was today. directly related to the unit on an- I think it is important not cient Asian civilizations that they to be cavalier about the cul- had just finished and the ancient tural significance of story- Greek civilizations they were cur- telling. rently studying. So, although we can re- The 4th grade class used the spect the effort to justify Starlab as way to learn more and use the planetarium vis- about the Native American sto- Top: Kindergarten stu- it by crossing curriculums, dents are very excited to ries and culture they were study- this was quite a stretch and enter the dome with this ing. The 6th grade class enjoyed dynamic presenter! Cen- possibly offensive to some learning about Greek mytholo- ter: The portable dome members of the commu- gy as it related to The Lightning is a popular attraction in nity. For the article: www. Thief, a novel they were reading. shopping malls. Bottom: facebook.com/media/set/?s Primary School students (Wikipedia explains: “The ejoyed this special sci- et=a.574435312641944.1073 Lightning Thief is a 2005 fantasy- ence event. Pictures pro- 741851.230047593747386&t adventure novel based on Greek vided by Hiroshi Futami. ype=3 mythology, the first young adult These BOCES provide a novel written by Rick Riordan, way for schools to expe- known for his Percy Jackson nov- rience the planetarium in el series. It is the first novel in the two ways, by teachers be- Percy Jackson & the Olympians ing trained to rent the units series, which charts the adven- and teach lessons, and/or by tures of modern-day 12-year-old a specialist who can bring Percy Jackson as he discovers he the planetarium and pres- is a demigod, the son of a mortal ent the lessons. A few BO- woman and the Greek god Pose- CES locations make both options idon. Percy and his friends, An- available. nabeth Chase and Grover Under- Digital planetariums are be- wood…go on a quest to prevent a coming popular and many of war between the gods Zeus, Posei- these BOCES are investing in don and Hades.”) them. The lessons include typical The planetarium was also used, astronomy content, but many lo- in a unique way, as a motivation- cations are now expanding to in- al activity to promote discus- clude other sciences and the arts. sion in the 7th grade “Home & Careers” class. The students were News from Buffalo starting a unit on consumerism There is another way that and advertising. The teacher pos- schools and other venues in New ited, “Ancient peoples believed York State receive portable plan- the myths and legends that were etarium programs—by small busi- presented to them the same way fluence buyers, the students will hopefully be- ness owners. unsuspecting consumers often believe the come wiser, more discerning consumers.” I asked my good friend Paul Krupinski, a claims of cunning advertisers. By analyzing This is certainly a very different take on small business owner, to give me an update the types of techniques advertisers use to in- the ancient stories! I would have liked to be from his “neck of the woods.” Paul runs his

June 2014 Planetarian 77 business with an opto-mechanical “Pages of Stars” Starlab planetarium. The Astronomical Observatory He reported, “Business is down Serafino Zani and the Mobile Plan- big in my portable world...14 less etarium Committee are announc- schools on my calendar this year ing a new competition, “Pages of than last as of this date...so I guess Stars.” The competition is a sim- I’m considered under employed. ple proposal with the goal of build- Same in Rochester. (Paul presents ing a collection of short audio clips programs at the Strasenburgh Plan- (maximum 3- 5 minutes each) that etarium in Rochester) I think teach- can easily be shared among plane- ers are foregoing field trips, wheth- tarians using mp3 files. er they’re in school or away from Planetarian colleagues from school, to concentrate on ELA’s around the world are invited to (state tests) in math and English. prepare a short text, in English, “I’ve recently been to Stella Ni- that can be read under a planetar- agara Educational Park for the 2014 ium dome. The text can be: Niagara County Science Fair. I pre- - an astronomical and scientific sented six short mini-lessons (every commentary, or 30 minutes for three hours) about - a classical Greek (or another “Mr. K” welcomes the audience in this fun picture, which was taken Janu- light and how astronomers use culture’s) sky story, or ary 29, 2014 at St. Stephen’s on Grand Island, Ney Yeark for a visit during different wavelengths of the elec- Catholic Schools Week. Picture provided by Paul Krupinski, director/own- - an original story or a poem (any tromagnetic spectrum to capture er of Mr. K.’s Mobile Dome Planetarium. kind of topic) with some astro- images of celestial objects which re- nomical details or with an event veal new information that wasn’t that happens under the night sky seen in the visible part of the spectrum. Each projectors available at this time: an HD projec- (including the name of some stars or constel- session also had a mini star show. All really en- tor for up to 7 meters and another for up to lations or other sky objects visible with the joyed the portable dome! 10 meters. naked eye). “Even though times are tough, here’s why The company’s portable domes are made The author (or a collaborator of the author) I (we) do this sort of job. I have been going of two layers. The external color is black/blue must read the text aloud (in English) and re- to a school district in Niagara County called and the internal projection surface is matte cord this story as an mp3 file. Newfane. I visit pre-K, kindergarten, grades gray. The structure includes a walk-in inflated A committee, selected by the IPS Porta- 2, 4 and 5 every year. On Wednesday, I visit- door and a horizontal inflatable ring (spring- ble Planetarium Committee in collaboration ed the Newfane Middle School for 5 sessions line). Domes are available in sizes from 5- to with the Astronomical Observatory Serafino of 5th grade students for a solar system lesson 8-m in diameter. Larger domes (up to 12-m) Zani will select the winners, and the text of and star show. can be ordered. For more information, go to the best entry will be published in the Mobile “After one of the classes, I had a 10- or 11- www.shop.bareket-astro.com. News column of the Planetarian, while the year old 5th grade girl tell me that I’m the rea- three best works will be made available on the son she’s interested in science....since her kin- Start thinking deadline IPS Free Media Webpage. (www.ips-planetari- dergarten visit! That made my week!” It is not too early to think about this dead- um.org/?page=voice) line: September 15 is the yearly deadline for The winner will receive a memory plaque Pacific Planetarium Association the applicants of “An Experience in Italy for on the occasion of the “Day of Planetaria,” Digitalis Education Solutions, Inc. an- an American Planetarium Operator.” which occurs in March. nounced a new system for portable domes. It Participants must send an application that Participants must send, before December 31, is called the Digitarium Iota. The company ex- includes your full name, complete address, an application that includes: plains: “The Iota is designed for use in domes year of birth and your curriculum vitae. Send 1. the written text of the commentary, up to 6-m/20-ft in diameter, and it projects a this information along with a cover letter ex- story or poem, beautiful 1200-pixel diameter circle over a full plaining why you wish to be considered for 2. the audio registration as an mp3 file dome with no blind spots or cut outs….Nev- this experience. (without music) and er before has a complete system (fisheye pro- You must also include the text of three les- 3. a participation form of the author (full jector, control computer, user interface) been sons (or variations of the same lesson), with ac- name, complete address, year of birth this small or powerful…From the time you tivities and stories, which you would like to and your short curriculum vitae) and open the transit case to projecting the sky present (1) for students, (2) for teachers and (3) the name(s) of any collaborator(s). takes only about two minutes.” for the public. All entrants must agree to release the work I especially like that it is so compact and Please include a list of specialized vocabu- under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 the case has built in wheels and an extendable lary or any other relevant materials that you International License (creativecommons.org/ handle! For more information: DigitalisEduca- feel would strengthen your application. Be- licenses/by/4.0) or choose to make their work tion.com/iota. fore applying it would be wise to consult public domain (creativecommons.org/public- some of the previous winners to ascertain the domain). New Portable Systems from Israel best approach. Send this information by mail or email to: The Bareket Observatory, in Israel, has de- Send your application to: Loris Rampo- Susan Reynolds Button, sbuttonq2c@ veloped the EMERALD™ digital fisheye lens ni, Osservatorio Serafino Zani, Via Bosca 24, gmail.com, IPS Portable Planetarium Com- projector line for fulldome projection in plan- 25066 Lumezzane, Italy. Or you can email it mittee, 8793 Horseshoe Lane, Chittenango, etariums and other domed-based theaters. to Loris at: [email protected] or to New York 13037 USA or to Loris Ramponi, They are making two very compact portable [email protected] address given earlier. I

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June 2014 Planetarian 79 Sound Advice

Jeff Bowen Bowen Technovation 7999 East 88th Street Indianapolis, Indiana 46256 USA +1 317-863-0525 [email protected]

Watts Up? Audio System Speakers speaker type in domed theaters. A subwoof- for the Dome, Part 1 er is usually added to two-way speaker sys- Perhaps the most important function of tems. the planetarium theater and presenters is to •• Three-way: See Figure 2. A three-way inspire the visitor to study the “real deal” out- speaker system separates the frequencies doors and look at the actual heavens and cos- into three bands called the low, mid and mos in more detail. high frequencies. This type system pro- Similarly, the objective of these “Sound Ad- vides the most detail and clarity for the best vice” columns is not to cover all the details re- systems—at a price. A subwoofer is still usu- garding the subject, but rather to encourage ally added to three-way speaker systems. you to study the topics in more detail. That is •• Driver: Drivers are the actual transducers very true of this issue where I could write en- that generate sound waves by moving air, tire volumes on this subject. So here we’ll keep i.e. driving air into motion. The four types of drivers are: it simple and hopefully useful. Figure 4: coverage pattern This subject needs to be a two-parter to save 1. High frequency (HF) drivers. Sometimes valuable space in Planetarian for other impor- called “tweeters.” These reproduce the cy cycles or “waves” per second. The higher tant subjects. high or “treble” frequencies. the number of Hz… the higher the frequen- Part 1 builds the foundation for Part 2. 2. Mid-frequency (MF) drivers. These repro- cy. The lower the number of Hz… the low- The more you understand these terms and duce the frequencies between the HF and er the frequency. Once you hit 1000 Hz the concepts, the better your purchasing specifi- LF drivers. numbers are often represented by kHz (kilo- cation will be for a new audio system. 3. Low frequency (LF) drivers. Sometimes hertz). So 2000Hz is also 2kHz. called “woofers”. These reproduce the •• Frequency Response: See Figure 3. The low or “bass” frequencies. A glossary starts us off range of frequencies reproduced by the First, a brief glossary s related to this article. 4. Sub-woofer drivers (SF). These drive the speaker. This is measured by such terms as •• Speaker System: The speaker box (enclo- sub-frequencies below the LF drivers. “28 Hz to 20 kHz+/- 3dB.” sure) and the internal components, such as •• Frequency: Just like light, sound is divided •• Equalization: The use of an electron- drivers, horns and crossovers. For this arti- into frequency bands. In the human hear- ic equalizer to even out peaks and dips in cle we will call a speaker system a speaker. ing range low frequencies (LF) are typical- how the speaker system interacts with your •• Two-way: See Figure 1. A two-way speaker ly considered 20Hz-250Hz. High frequen- room acoustics, such as shown in Figure 3. system separates the frequencies into two cies are 3-4kHz and up. Mid frequencies are This is different for every room and is often bands called the low and combined mid- between these and can even be divided in misused. high frequencies. This is the most common low-mid, mid and high-mid for high level •• Pattern: See Figure 4. Also known as “cov- audio engineering conversation. erage,” this term describes the average hori- •• Hz: Time for the old phys- zontal and vertical angles of sound generat- ics refresher. We measure audio fre- ed by the speaker system. This is described quencies in Hertz, abbreviated as Hz. Hertz is a number for frequen- (Continues on page 86)

Above, Left, Figure 1: two-way speaker system. Right, Figure 2: three-way system. Right, Figure 3: frequency response. All images provided by author..

80 Planetarian June 2014 Atlas: The Ultimate Weapon Book Reviews Chuck Walker with Joel Powell, Apogee Books, Burlington, Ontario, Canada, 2005 Reviewed by Francine Jackson. What we don’t know from the outside cover is that the subtitle of this book is “By April S. Whitt Those Who Built It,” which takes the whole Fernbank Science Center concept of a book on what we might think 156 Heaton Park Drive NE is just about a regular missile to a first-person Atlanta, Georgia 30307 USA account. Imagine! Actually hearing the histo- [email protected] ry of this machine, which has been so much a part of our life, from those responsible for it. The first page introduces the topic by bul- The Astronaut Wives Club: uations: having husbands gone for days as a let points indicating the Atlas’s importance time; acting as both parents to their children, in history; its cost (billions of dollars); and A True Story who saw their fathers on TV more than in the Lily Koppel, Grand Central Publishing, New its physical needs, including employing over flesh; having photographers shadowing them, York, 2013 100,000 people, requiring hundreds of miles and being given their own ghostwriters, as Life Reviewed by Francine Jackson, Universi- of wiring and plumbing supplies, the moving magazine, in a September, 1959 special, needed of millions of yards of dirt, and the pouring of ty of Rhode Island Planetarium, Providence, an article “written” by each of the seven Mer- Rhode Island, USA. millions of tons of concrete. It also needed the cury wives. cooperation of people in almost every state In today’s world of reality TV, we some- All of them admitted to feeling strange as times forget that this genre started many de- and many foreign countries, resulting in a ma- to the effects of this new wrinkle to their life- chine that was faster, higher, and could travel cades ago, not necessarily style; as Betty Grissom not- on prime time, but behind farther than any previous machine ever built. The first lesson we learn is the difference the scenes, with members of between a rocket and a missile. Then we move history that nowadays seem on to a guided missile. From there, we begin all but forgotten. the history of these machines: why they need- As the nation watched ed to be built (the Cold War was a great impe- with bated breath for the es- tus); who were the leading scientists and engi- capades of the first sets of as- neers, both here and in the Soviet Union; and tronauts, there was a paral- what was each component and its necessity to lel universe of persons that the overall function of the final product. were as important as those Each year of the program is meticulously who explored our upper at- detailed, up to the final closing of the Atlas mosphere and, finally, the bases in 1966. With each page the reader will moon: the women they feel there, from the initial idea, to the life-size came home to—mainly— wooden mockup, to the final days. You will who were met with almost no fanfare. become familiar with every person who per- They all started as regular homemakers, as formed a part, no matter how small, but sig- was the norm at that time, and most as just ed, “They act nificant, needed to put such a weapon in the military wives who mainly lived in regular like I’m the air. military housing. They were ordinary wives most interest- Once again, Apogee has done a superb job who sometimes were invited to a social with ing thing since of historically mapping what to some of us Jackie Kennedy, had magazine photographers sliced bread.” might not have been an important part of our on their lawns, and prepared their hair for the The Astro- past, and yet bringing it to the forefront of the next television interview. naut Wives reader, humanizing what was called “the ulti- Their lives consisted of waiting for their Club is the sto- mate weapon” by those who were required to husbands to come home, hoping that their ry of typical bring this to life. You will feel the life in this moments of fame wouldn’t cause too much 1950s house- book. As with just about every other book friction when they returned to the normalcy wives who, with a wave of a pen, became the coming from this publisher, I highly recom- of weekend family time and hoping, in fact, most famous women in the U.S. As their num- mend you make friends with Atlas. that their famous spouses actually would re- bers increased, from the original Mercury sev- turn. en, to the Gemini nine, to the “final” fourteen The first seven astronaut wives soon re- as a result of the advanced Gemini and final How to Live on Mars: A Trusty alized they needed a support group, to keep Apollo missions, all readily became members Guidebook to Surviving and each other both down to Earth and capable of this most exclusive sorority. Thriving on the Red Planet of understanding their husbands, who were Through it all, this loose association of Robert Zubrin, Three Rivers Press, New York, now as famous as Betty Crocker and Mickey women literally thrown into infamy was, 2008 Mouse. The instigator for the Wives Club was for many of them, what they needed to keep Reviewed by Francine Jackson. Deke Slayton’s wife Marge, and they met ev- them grounded in family life and child-rais- In 1999, Robert Zubrin sponsored a col- ery few weeks, often having to scramble for ing. This account of those women, although loquium on the subject of Mars, the theme baby-sitters to attend. sometimes long and drawn out, still portrays a of which was why we were not there yet. They were all going through the same sit- part of history that needs to be known. Through the years he has continued to push

June 2014 Planetarian 81 for this hoped-for Martian colonization, and I’ve also owned space-related books from amount of daily work accomplished was now he has reached the apex (so far) of his Apogee in the past. If you’re already familiar compared to those previous flights, which work: the definitive book on living and work- with this publisher you won’t be disappoint- were not as long nor as crowded with tight- ing on Mars. ed as Around the World in 84 Days is up to their ly scheduled items as Carr’s. This was also the “This” Zubrin, who was born in 2071, gives usual high standards of research and quality. second only all-rookie flight in NASA’s histo- us everything we need to know about getting Coming at the tail end of the prestigious- ry, the first since Gemini 8 (Armstrong-Scott) off Earth and becoming comfortable on this ly successful Apollo moon landings and be- in March 1966. Carr, Pogue and Gibson had new environment. He admits there are prob- fore the media-grabbing ASTP, Skylab never never been in space before. lems that must be overcome, but each is de- got the attention that it rightly deserved at One wonders what sort of an upbringing fined and solved to the best of his knowledge. the time. and background the astronauts had brought He begins with the different ships available This book does a lot to set that right by them to such a high standard of discipline for newbies from Earth, from nuclear-propul- highlighting the career of “Original Nineteen” and competence. Carr’s early years in Santa sion rockets—good, but they often overshoot astronaut, Gerald P. “Jerry” Carr and the Sky- Ana, California are detailed, as well as his ca- the planet—to the little-known cargo ships— lab 4 mission. At the time it set a longest du- reer as a Marine aviator. By the time that he slower, but you will land on Mars. Then, once ration space flight record, which would lat- and the fifth group of NASA astronauts were there, he describes how to dress, with space- er contribute important information to both onboard at the agency, even they had begun suit choices running from elastic, form-fitting the space shut- to think of themselves as not so garments (a la Raquel Welch), to the tradition- tle (STS) and the very unique, which led to the ori- al Neil Armstrong pressurized unit. Internation- gin of their own humorous “Orig- Once on Mars, you now have several deci- al Space Station inal Nineteen” tag. sions to make, not the first of which is where (ISS). Three made it to the moon, one and how to live, that is, choosing a housing In addition to perished in a car accident, anoth- pod. Different structural materials are com- an informal In- er was grounded for medical rea- pared, and selected for the intended home- troduction writ- sons, and the rest ended up in Sky- land. ten by Carr him- lab and future STS flights. These Of course, to do so, you need a job. What’s self, there is astronauts may not have all been available? What should you stay away from? also a forward household names, but that didn’t Oh, and, how do you eat? Is all food sent in by fellow Sky- mean that they didn’t have “The from Earth whenever transports are available, lab 4 astronaut Right Stuff.” or can you “grow your own”? And meat? Can Bill Pogue, and If you have been around plan- cows or goats be conditioned for milk and an epilogue by etariums long enough you al- Sunday dinner? Ed Gibson, the ready know that many of the as- What about creating relationships? Surely third member of tronauts had training in celestial not everybody who travels to Mars is doing so the crew; a nice navigation at the University of as a couple. In fact, Zubrin has even given us a touch. North Carolina’s Morehead Plan- set of pickup lines to use, strictly for Mars. Af- Another nice etarium. Included in the book is a ter all, I don’t think, “I’m looking for my lost addition is a brief mention of this (on page 60), baby goat. I think it ran into your hab. Can I DVD containing as well as two photographs from look for it?” will work most places on Earth. archival NASA documentaries and training when Carr was there under the dome. Thank goodness for Robert Zubrin. Al- footage from the Skylab program, as well as While Skylab was overshadowed by the though we really haven’t started the trek to Carr in his capacity as a member of the Apollo Apollo project, its benefits were fully appre- our new planetary home, he has given us ev- 12 support crew. ciated afterwards with both the STS and ISS erything we need to feel homey and comfort- Carr kept an on-orbit diary during this programs. Even the Soviets admitted to close- able in our new environment. long-duration flight and extracts have been ly following and using Skylab results, partic- From getting there, to setting up a home- included, giving a unique perspective of what ularly those from Jerry Carr’s 84 day mission, stead, to getting a job, to raising a family, ev- was going through the astronaut’s head dur- in their planning for their own long-duration erything is clearly spelled out, ready for the ing the mission. And since this was for his per- space station, MIR. And with good reason; at new Martian. Pack your bags, take this little sonal use, Carr does not mince words: the time Skylab 4 was the longest running and volume with you, and you will be all set for Mission Day 4. November 19 (1973): Still be- most detailed in-flight medical experiment your great new adventure. Good luck! hind and dog tired. We’ve got to catch up and with a veritable gold mine of data on the ef- get a routine going! So far space flight isn’t fects of weightlessness on the human body. Around the World in 84 Days much fun. Don’t even have time for a look One of the interesting things about such ac- David Shaylor, Apogee Books, Burlington, On- outside. They had us scheduled for a fire drill counts are some of the “tips and tricks” shared. tario, Canada, 2008 today. What a laugh! It’s been a Chinese fire Two useful tips: to keep the inside of an astro- Reviewed by Tom Callen, former astrono- drill ever since we got here. naut’s EVA suit smelling fresh, apply some Old mer/program producer at Cosmonova, Stock- Why the initial frustration? One crew Spice® men’s cologne to the interior under- holm, Sweden member was struggling to get over space sick- arm areas, while the helmet visor can be kept Having worked at the National Air and ness while they all tried to stow added last from fogging up during long space walks by Space Museum and holding a long interest in minute experiments and equipment brought wiping them first with Joy® dishwashing liq- manned spaceflight, I have read many books along in their Command Module and having uid. about NASA’s programs, from Mercury to to cope with storage lockers whose contents Such tips would have only been useful on Apollo and even the Apollo-Soyuz Test Proj- did not match the supplied lists after the pre- long duration flights, such as on a manned ect (ASTP). Yet, somehow I managed to have vious two manned Skylab missions. space station. Apollo 11’s Neil and Buzz only not read anything about Skylab before. It did not seem to get better, either, as their (Continues on page 86)

82 Planetarian June 2014 June 2014 Planetarian 83 Air & Space gets $30M donation Waxing New The Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C., is the recipient An eclectic collection about planetariums, products and people of a $30 million donation from Boeing to re- compiled by Sharon Shanks model the Milestones of Flight exhibit. Part of the update will include improving visitor flow, enhancing the story of spaceflight to people born after 1972 who are now unfamil- Alan J. Friedman, IPS past president iar with it, and placing the Apollo-era lander as the centerpiece. Some new exhibits planned include a mod- Alan J. Friedman, 71, a past on the job, the hall recorded el of Star Trek’s Enterprise and early satellite president of the Internation- nearly 447,000 visitors. communications devices. al Planetarium Society and a In 1996, a $13 million ex- The renovation is hoped to be finished in physicist who specialized in pansion gave the hall a new 2016, coinciding with the museum’s 40th an- communicating science to entrance rotunda, drive- niversary and Boeing’s 100th. nonscientists as the director way, cafe, gift shop and the- of the New York Hall of Sci- ater. A year later, the 30,000 You rate when you get a tie ence in Queens, New York, square-foot Science Play- Did you know that Jerry R. Ehman, the as- died of pancreatic cancer on ground opened, inspired by tronomer at the former Big May 4, 2014 in Manhattan. outdoor science parks Alan Ear Telescope in Ohio, has his He was 71. had discovered on a trip to own tie? Ehman is responsi- Alan, who served as IPS India. ble for the “wow” comment president from 1985-86, In 2001, the rockets out- written on the charts that re- was born on November 15, doors were dismantled, corded the historic radio sig- 1942, in Brooklyn. His father, shipped to Ohio for resto- Alan J. Friedman nal. George, was an insurance ration, and returned to the Bay Cooper, the purveyor salesman; his mother, Elea- new Rocket Park in 2004. of mens’ accessories that of- nor, was a bookkeeper. The Later that year, the $92 mil- fers the tie, suggests wearing family moved to Carrollton, Georgia, when lion North Wing opened. it and making a “wow” state- Alan was a child, and then to Atlanta a few His approach was as simple as it was revo- ment of your own. Find more years later. lutionary. ‘‘Normally museums get togeth- ties with interesting stories at He studied physics at Georgia Tech be- er the best experts they can,” he said, ”have baycooper.com. fore going to Florida State. He taught at Hi- them design the exhibits, build them, put The radio telescope, locat- ram College in Ohio and received a Nation- them out—and pray they work.” But Al- ed in Delaware, Ohio, was op- al Endowment of the Humanities grant to an’s approach to curating exhibits was a bit erated by Ohio State University. The strong study literature, which he did at Berkeley. more iterative. “If they don’t get the mes- signal lasted for 72 seconds, and has never He then became director of physics and sage across, we’ll change them.” been detected again. The university stopped astronomy at the Lawrence Hall of Science After retirement, Alan became an advi- operation of the telescope in 1997 and it was at the University of California there and sor and consultant to museums and uni- later destroyed after the land was sold to de- served as a consultant to Cité des Sciences versities worldwide. He ultimately had a velopers. et de l’Industrie, the French national muse- 40-year career. He mentored hundreds of um of science and industry in Paris. museum professionals, many of whom A new Dark Sky Park in Michigan When Alan arrived at the New York Hall have written to the Hall of Science to share Michigan now has an International Dark of Science in 1984, he arrived at a gutted their memories of Alan. Sky Park. Called The Headlines, the park is 600 building with no exhibits and light fixtures We know how important he was to the acres of old-growth timber in Emmet Coun- and an inch of water on the floor. It had Hall of Science, but there’s also ample ev- ty, located along Lake Michigan and west of been closed since 1981. idence of his impact and influence else- Mackinaw City. The county itself has passed The City of New York appropriated $2.9 where. He helped us make sense of inter- laws to curtail the growth of artificial light, million for renovations, to include con- national student assessments. He rallied his and the land in and around the park has been struction of a 13,000 square-foot mezza- fellow museum directors to stand with one zoned for natural conditions and strict light nine, a 100-seat planetarium, and new of their besieged colleagues. Just last month, limits. lighting, heating and cooling systems. The he looked at what is happening to Detroit’s museum’s board pledged to raise addition- art museums and wondered “what exact- Planetarium operations workshop al private funds for new exhibits and pro- ly were the cost-benefit ratios of Newton’s The Parc Astronòmic Montsec in Catalonia, grams. Both of these funding efforts fell laws, or of the Parthenon?” Spain, is holding its first Montsec Workshop through and, with a smaller appropriation, In addition to his wife, the former Mi- for Planetarium Operations and Live-show the project started again and Dr. Friedman chaele Thompson, a mystery novelist Designers, from 9-13 June, 2014 in the Montsec was hired. whom he met at Florida State and married mountain region straddling the counties of By 2006, when Dr. Friedman retired, he in 1966, Dr. Friedman is survived by a sister, La Noguera and Pallars Jussà in the province had overseen expansion projects totaling June Entman. of Lleida. This is one of the darkest regions in more than $100 million, and the full-time - From the New York Times and Dan southern Europe and has been certified as a staff had expanded to 100. In his final year Wempa, New York Hall of Science Starlight Reserve. (Continues on page 86)

84 Planetarian June 2014 June 2014 Planetarian 85 (New, continued from page 84) This workshop is oriented to planetarium people related to creation and development of live shows in the dome. Among the topics to be covered are preparing scripts to manage live shows, presenting skills in the planetarium, and popular image formats and their tools. For more, go to www.parcastronomic.cat/live.

Everyone’s Universe receives award Congratulations go out to Noreen Grice for receiving the 2014 Independ Publishers of New England (IPNE) book award for Informational Non-Fiction Book for the second edition of Ev- eryone’s Universe. The book compiles accessible astronomy facilities and provides tips on how to provide meaningful programs across a wide Sites for the bucket list variety of disabilities. Wow. Talk about a vacation in paradise! The BuzzFeed submission A 30-year planaetarium professional and pio- calls it travel destinations for science nerds, but I call it a won- neer in making the planetarium environment derful compilation of must-see places around the world, whether accessible, Noreen also is the planetarium ed- you’re a science nerd or not. ucator/manager at The Children’s Museum in Go to www.buzzfeed.com/hannahcgregg/essential-travel-desti- Noreen Grice nations-for-science-nerds and see if you agree. West Hartford, Connecticut. Only one planetarium is mentioned specifically, the Hayden in New York City, but several international science centers with domes Chuck Rau moves to St. Louis make the list, as does the Neil Armstrong Museum, the Griffith Ob- Chuck Rau, co-founder of ChromaCove LLC (controllable LED cove servatory and the Hale Telescope at the Palomar Observatory. And, in what has to be an inadvertant omission, the Adler Planetar- lights) in Cleveland, Ohio, has been named the new planetarium sales ium is not included, although Chicago’s Field Museum and the Mu- director at Seiler Instrument, based in St. Lou- seum of Science and Industry are there. is, Missouri, a contract manufacturing compa- Above, the The City of Arts and Sciences in Valencia, Spain, was ny specializing in high precision machining Number 22 on the list, but I’ve placed it near the top on mine. Learn and optical instrument assembly and the only more about this striking fusion of science and beauty at www.cac. es. Photo courtesy of The City of Arts and Sciences. distributor of Zeill Planetarium in the United States and Canada. Chuck started his (Sound, continued from page 80) Reader question planetarium affilia- in degrees such as 90° x 50°, where 90 is the Q: Our various shows have different vol- tion in 1994 as a la- width and 50 is the height of the coverage. ume levels for the narration channel. The serist for AVI at the If you select a speaker with too wide a pat- Carnegie Science subwoofer levels vary greatly too. And some Chuck Rau tern your will spray the walls and dome shows don’t have any subwoofer channel. Center in Pittsburgh. with unneeded sound energy which de- It is really a problem. How do we solve this? Past jobs have in- grades the audio in the theater. If the pat- A: Please start by reading my article in the volved a variety of la- tern is too tight the audience won’t be prop- March 2014 Planetarian. It describes how you sers and laser shows and a time as producer/ed- erly covered. use an audio processor to adjust the levels for ucator at the Mayborn Planetarium at Central •• Watts: Not to get too deep, but just think of each channel of each show and then save Texas College in Killeen. this as a measurement of how much power these as presets. If you don’t have your copy of He also will continue with remotely with an amplifier can deliver to speaker system The Planetarian handy, you can read the arti- ChromaCove. I drivers. cle at www.bowentechnovation.com/ips. I So, if you get familiar with the terms listed above that will get you ready for the next is- (Books, continued from page 82) sue. Some questions we will answer will include spent about two-and-a-half hours walking on cation, an update on the careers of the other the following. The answers will surprise many the moon’s surface, so there was no need for Skylab astronauts as well as follow-ups on his of you. freshening up their EVA suits as compared to various family members; his oldest son, for ex- •• Should the speaker specification always be the 84 days for Skylab 4 and excursions up to ample, was at one time director of Public Af- 20-20K frequency response? 6 or more hours in length. fairs at NASA/Johnson Space Center. •• How much amplifier power do I need? Colonel Jerry Carr retired from Marine avia- The only other thing that I would have •• Do speaker systems blow up from too much tion in September 1975 and NASA in June 1977. liked to have seen was an appendix with a power? Taking part in an STS flight was more years short summary list and description of the var- •• What is tri-amping? Is it needed to have the than he wanted to wait. Wishing to test pri- ious experiments carried onboard Skylab 4. best systems? vate sector waters, Carr joined Houston-based If you have an interest in the manned space •• Are bigger speakers are always better? consult engineering company, Bovay Engi- program and have a “Skylab gap” as I did, I •• Will lots of speakers make better coverage neers, Inc., and he performed work for aero- couldn’t recommend a better book to fill it and a louder sound? space-related companies as well. than this. Perhaps someday Apogee will even •• Can I place a subwoofer anyplace? Isn’t it The book concludes with extensive sec- get around to publishing Carr’s complete on- omni-directional? tions on what the other members of Carr’s as- orbit diary, heavily supplemented with color •• How do you “eq”the system? tronaut class were doing at the time of publi- pictures from the mission. I

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

2014 Kingdom. Contact: Dr Jenny Shipway, [email protected]; 9–13 June 2014. 1st Montsec Workshop for Planetarium Operators and bapconference.org.uk Live-show Designers, Montsec Mountains (Lleida, Spain). www.par- 20-23 September. Giant Screen Cinema Association, GSCA 2014 Inter- castronomic.cat/live national Conference and Trade Show, Toronto, Ontario, Canada. 17-20 June. IAAPA Asia Attractions Expo, Beijing, China. www.iaapa.org www.giantscreencinema.com. Contact: Tammy Seldon, tammy@gi- 18-21 June. IPS-Macao International Fulldome festival (IPS-MIFF), Ma- antscreencinema.com cao Science Center, Macao. www.msc.org.mo 26-28 September. Russian Full-Dome Festival, Large Novosibirsk Plan- 21-26 June. ESOF 2014, Euroscience Open Forum, “Science building etarium, Novosibirsk, Russia. Contact: Sergey Maslikov: s.maslikov@ bridges”, Copenhagen. esof2014.org mail.ru, www.nebo-nsk.ru 21-22 June. International Planetarium Society Council Meeting, Bei- 1 - 5 October. XIV Meeting of the Association of Brazilian Planetarium jing, China. (ABP), Goiânia and Anápolis Planetariums, Goiás State, Brazil. Con- 23-27 June. 22nd International Planetarium Society Conference, Bei- tact: [email protected], www.planetarios.org.br jing Planetarium, China. www.ips2014.org, contact mail Dr. Zhu Jin, 4- 10 October. World Space Week, www.worldspaceweek.org [email protected] 6-8 October. Russian FullDome Festival, Large Novosibirsk Planetari- 15-19 July. Southeastern Planetarium Association, SEPA 2014 Annual um, Novosibirsk, Russia. Contact: Sergey Maslikov at s.maslikov@mail. Conference, Buehler Planetarium at Seminole State College, Sanford, ru. www.nebo-nsk.ru Florida, USA. Contact: Michael McConville, mcconvillem@semi- 18-21 October. Association of Science-Technology Centers (ASTC) An- nolestate.edu, www.sepadomes.org nual Conference, North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences, Ra- 22-25 July. Western Alliance Conference (Pacific Planetarium Associa- leigh, North Carolina, USA. www.astc.org tion, Southwestern Association of Planetariums, Great Plains Plane- 29 October-November 1. Great Lakes Planetarium Association, GLPA tarium Association and Rocky Mountain Planetarium Association), Conference, Ball State University Planetarium, Department of Phys- Planetarium, UT Arlington, Arlington, Texas, USA. Levent Gurdemir, ics & Astronomy, Muncie, Indiana, USA. Contact: [email protected], [email protected], wacdomes.org www.glpaweb.org 29 July –1 August. Spitz Summer Institute 2014, Chadds Ford, Pennsyl- 30 October-8 November. 20th International Symposium on Electronic vania, USA. Beginner to Intermediate, for SciDome, Starry Night and Art, ISEA 2014, Zayed University, Dubai. www.zu.ac.ae The Layered Earth educators. www.spitzinc.com/institute or con- 11 December. Deadline of the Stratoscript Compendium Ring 2014, a tact [email protected] scripting competition open to everybody by LSS-Planetarium. Con- 4-7 August. Spitz Summer Institute 2014, Chadds Ford, Pennsylvania, tact: [email protected], www.lss-planetariums.info/index.php?lang= USA. Intermediate to Advanced, for SciDome, Starry Night and The en&menu=compendium&page=compendium2013 Layered Earth educators. www.spitzinc.com/institute or contact 31 December. Deadline of the prize “Page of stars” organized by IPS Por- [email protected] table Planetarium Committee in collaboration with Serafino Zani 10-14 August, 41st International conference and exhibition on comput- Astronomical Observatory. The prize rules are available at the IPS er graphics and interactive techniques, SIGGRAPH 2014, Vancouver, Mobile Planetarium Committee web page. Contact: Susan Reynolds Canada. s2014.siggraph.org Button, [email protected] 13-15 August, Live Interactive Planetarium Symposium (LIPS), Trewor- gy Planetarium, Mystic Seaport, Connecticut, USA. Contact: Brian Koe- 2015 hler, [email protected] or Karrie Berglund, karrie@Digi- 15 March. International Day of Planetaria. www.dayofplanetaria.org talisEducation.com. LIPSymposium.org 1 May–31 October. Expo 2015, “Feeding the planet, energy for life,” 31 August. Deadline for the applicants of “An experience in Italy for World Exposition, Milan, Italy. http://en.expo2015.org a French-Speaking Planetarium Operator,” in collaboration with 1-4 May. Gesellschaft Deutschsprachiger Planetarien e.V.,GDP 2015, An- APLF. www.astrofilibresciani.it/Planetari/Week_in_Italy/Week_It- nual meeting of Society of German-Speaking Planetariums, Potsdam, aly.htm Berlin. Contact: Karin Flegel: [email protected] www.gdp- 3-5 September. Digistar Users Group, DUG 2014, Meeting in Hamburg & planetarium.org Kiel, Germany. Contact: Markus Schack, [email protected], www. 3-4 August. International Astronomical Union, XXIX General Assem- dug2014.de bly, Hawai’i Convention Center, Honolulu, Hawaii, USA. astrono- 5 September. International Observe the Moon Night (InOMN).obser- my2015.org vethemoonnight.org 4-6 September. Nordic Planetarium Association Biennial Confer- 10-13 September. Middle Atlantic Planetarium Society, Annual Con- ence, AHHAA Science Center, Heureka, The Finnish Science Centre, ference, Maryland Science Center’s Davis Planetarium, Baltimore, Helsinki, Finland. www.heureka.fi Contact: Kai Santavuori, kai.san- Maryland, USA. Contact: Patty Seaton, [email protected]; www. [email protected] mapsplanetarium.org For corrections and new information for the Calendar of Events, please 15 September. Deadline for the applicants of “A Week in Italy for an send a message to Loris Ramponi at [email protected] More de- American Planetarium Operator,” in collaboration with IPS Portable tails about several of these upcoming events is included in the Internation- Planetarium Committee. www.astrofilibresciani.it/Planetari/Week_ al News column in this issue. in_Italy/Week_Italy.htm The most up-to-date information also is available online at the IPS Calendar of Events at www.ips-planetarium.org/?page=calendar 19-20 September. British Association of Planetaria (BAP), annual meet- ing, Thinktank Birmingham Science Museum, Birmingham, United

June 2014 Planetarian 87 “…I love the planetarium and Thank you Last Light for helping us lern and I lerned that the sun is full of gas.” “Thank you for the show I hop you enjoyed the move becuus I did and agian thank you April S. Whitt for invot us to FernBank but I enjoyed that Fernbank Science Center you showed us about the moon and stars.” 156 Heaton Park Drive NE “I LOVED the planetarium! The chikens where sqwaky! That was the best fild tripe.” Atlanta, Georgia 30307 USA “I like the show beaeauase it was cool and [email protected] fun beauuese the movie was fun because the show was so cool and fun.” (Spelling improved Out of the mouths of babes “Thank you for the lesson on coyote and it somewhat as the sentence went on.) “Thanks for all the fun. We enjoy the show. Occasionally a school group will send was the grat time and it was the supe day on Your realistic animals were cool. Sum animals thank-you letters written by the students, and the Earth moon and sun.” creep me out! But you are sooo nice so that’s I’m always delighted to read them. Drawings “Thank you for the super Star in the top why we all right a not.” (“Write a note” per- usually help in deciphering some of the more ‘Earth, Moon and Sun’ and my favorite part haps?) cryptic messages, but sometimes the text is when the funny coyote was doing a funny “We had the best! At the planetarium we alone is priceless. thinking have a good week J” saw lizzards, and snakes, chickens, and roost- Last fall, a group from a local school visit- “Thank you for showing us about constella- ers. We loved it! Thanks. We had a good time!” ed Fernbank Science Center. The second grad- tions and thank you for showing us sun moon “You are so nice. I love your job. I learned ers (6- and 7-year olds) saw our version of the & earth. I felt like I was outside on the grass.” that the moon is Small and the sun is big. I like excellent fulldome program Earth, Moon and “Thank you for leting us watch the stars the Stars that look like pictures.” Sun, created in the planetarium at my alma and and the moom and the Earth and the sun “I liked the part when everyone thot a plan- mater, the University of North Carolina at thank you for leting us watching all of that et was a star and you said it was not a star.” Chapel Hill. good by” “I learned that groups of stars can make pic- The program features the coyote, a trickster “Thank you for leting us see the snaks and tures and that the planit that Earth is the sec- character from tales by Native Americans. His the stars it was funny and inporten I love ond planet from the sun.” (oops) misconceptions about the sun and moon are when we saw the cobra.” (We don’t have a co- “I learned the moon, Earth and our sun corrected by a patient narrator, and the pro- bra…) makes a eclipse and I learn that the sun puts gram has been a hit with our younger school “I love your move it was to funny when light on the moon and when the moon face groups. that funny coyte ride the Moon like a cow to the Earth the moon blocks the Sun.” (Well, In our version, we first use the Zeiss star pro- Boy I had a graet time thank you.” sometimes.) jector to show the current evening sky, ob- “Thank you for watching the ‘Earth, Moon, ”I learn that the other halfe of the Earth serve some constellations, then view Earth, and sun.’ And the silly coyote was doing sil- night and other and the day the Halfe of the Moon and Sun and end with questions from ly things.” Earth and the day.” the students. “We loved your show I didn’t know that “I like the part where you needed to look up The planet Jupiter was high enough in the the sun is biger then the moon thank you for and look at the stars it was beautiful.” evening sky that it was visible when I brought averthing.” “I loved when you showed us the constel- it up and said, “First person to see a star, raise “Thank you for the show. I rely enjoyed it. lations in the movie room that was amazing. your hand” Hands went up, and then I could But the part that I liked best were the snakes. it One more thing I learned so much that I want add, “Psych! That’s a planet.” Their laughter was an honor getting to to go again.” turned to “OOOoooooh!” when the stars actu- see so much You can’t beat that. I ally appeared. stars.” Fernbank also has displays of live animals— snakes and amphibians of various kinds— in the exhibit halls, along with some chickens in a pen outside. Apparent- ly this group toured the exhibits af- ter their planetarium lesson. At least I hope that’s what they’re mentioning in these notes, original spellings and all: “Thank you so much for the stars. The wierd part was when I felt like I was sick.” “Thank you for the super pantari- um I like the stars. The movie flet like I was sick and it flet like I was moving around.” All individual images in this collage © Alexey Bannykh/Dollar Photo Club

88 Planetarian June 2014 Experience 8K Ad - Q1 Final.indd 1 4/21/2014 5:28:51 PM