Vice President Secretary/Treasurer Derek Demeter Patsy Wilson Emil Buehler Perpetual Trust Planetarium 140 Lyn Road Seminol State College of Florida Salisbury, NC 28147 100 Weldon Blvd. (704) 640-7643 Sanford, FL 32773 Email: [email protected] 407-708-2408 Email: [email protected] IPS Council Representative Past-President John Hare David A. Dundee 3602 23rd Avenue West Tellus Planetarium Bradenton, FL 34205 Tellus Science Museum (941) 746-3522, Fax: (941) 750-9497 P.O. Box 3663 Email: [email protected] Cartersville, GA 30120 (770) 606-5720 Email: [email protected]

Editorial Staff of Southern Skies

Southern Skies Editor James Sullivan Buehler Planetarium & Observatory Broward College 3501 Davie Road Davie, FL 33314 (954) 201-6681 Email: [email protected]

Associate Editors

Archeoastronomy Column Small Talk Woodrow W. Grizzle III Elizabeth Wasiluk 141 Horse Farm Trail Berkeley County Planetarium Jonesville, VA 24263 109 Ridge Road North Email:[email protected] Hedgesville, WV 25427 [email protected] (304) 754-3354, Fax: (304) 754-7445 Email: [email protected] Bookends Column Robin Byrne Northeast State Community College 2425 Tennessee 75 Blountville, TN 37617 Email:[email protected]

Southern Skies is the quarterly journal of the Southeastern Planetarium Association published for the purpose of communicating association news, reports, reviews, and resources to its members. Contents © 2015 by the Southeastern Planetarium Association and individual authors. Permission is granted to reprint articles in other planetarium, astronomy, or science related publications under the following conditions: 1. Attach a credit to the article stating, “This article was originally published in Southern Skies, journal of the Southeastern Planetarium Association;” and 2. Send courtesy copies of your publication to both the Southern Skies editor and the author. Ken Brandt Robeson Planetarium Lumberton, NC

I will begin by thanking David Dundee, who has John Hare done an outstanding job of leading this organization ASH Enterprises for the last two years. I realize, too, that every other Bradenton, FL member of council (with the exception of Derek and me) have served as president of this organization. In addition, many of you, have also served Are you an IPS member? SEPA in this capacity. Recent SEPA meetings have had a ‘hall of presidents’ air to them, so I know that Hopefully you will respond “yes” to the question. While you’re perusing the Website, follow this link there is plenty of leadership assistance available to IPS has something to offer to everyone working in for information for the 2016 IPS conference to be me should I require it. the planetarium field. A quick visit to the IPS Web- held in Warsaw, Poland, http://www.ips-planetar- site, www.ips-planetarium.org, will give you a good ium.org/?page=ips2016home So why am I here? I’ll blame the long tedious introduction to the many benefits of membership. hours of ‘hurry-up-and-wait’ that are a feature of for a new addiction-astronomy. I became a teacher As always, I urge you to join and actively partici- service aboard a Navy ship (I served aboard USS with a focus on High School Earth and Space Sci- Follow the link to the “Vision 2020 Strategic Plan” pate in IPS. Dues are $65 for a 1-year membership Ponce; which is the ship currently testing out the ence in Ocala, Florida ten years later. Two years and see what IPS has in store for the future. and $100 for 2-years. drone-killing LASER!). Add to these long sleepless after I started teaching, Jim and Shirley Smith were nights, wanderlust, and the ‘big eyes’-stereo binoc- training teachers in the use of the Starlab portable You’ll also find information about several, FREE, You can obtain membership forms from IPS Trea- ulars on the signal bridge. Throw in the near-perfect system. I fell in love with the idea of teaching about full-dome shows. These are available to IPS mem- surer, Ann Bragg at [email protected], seeing of a darkened ship (red lights only) trying the night sky during the day. Ten years later, the bers by simply furnishing various information myself at [email protected], or at the IPS not to be seen, friends who also want to be taught position of directing the Robeson Planetarium and about you and your planetarium on the accompany- Website, www.ips-planetarium.org about the night sky, and you have all the ingredients Science Center opened up. So here we are. So, ing form. when I do something boneheaded, you can just look Rates and submission formats for advertising space at Jim and Shirley and give them that “really, him?’ in SEPA’s quarterly journal Southern Skies are: look.

Rates Dimensions What do I want to see done while I’m in office, Paul Campbell Fellowship Award $100. Full-page 7” wide x 10” high you ask? You didn’t, but I’m telling you anyway. $50. Half-page 7” wide x 4.5” high Because President I am, I get this space for free, and Nomination Form $25. Quarter-page 3” wide x 4” high like Yoda I will write. 1. Figure out and implement new ways to Nominees must have been a member of SEPA for at least ten years, and they These rates are per issue and in B&W copy. The recruit membership. At the last business meeting, must display qualities in each of five areas, as represented by the five-pointed back cover, inside back cover or inside front cover we created a new membership committee to address of our journal is also available either in B&W for star shaped award: integrity, friendship, service, knowledge, and vision. Please this problem. Some great ideas are rolling in, and $125, or in color for $150. A 10% discount to any submit this form to any SEPA Council member. size ad can be offered only with a year’s (four we’ll try to implement some of these changes at con- issues) commitment of advertising. Ads accepted on ference in Georgia in June. I will email the member- a space available basis. Ads must be camera ready ship a summary of these ideas in time to bring them Nominee’s Name: and conform to dimensions listed. Payment must up as agenda items at the initial business meeting Qualifications: accompany advertisement order, made payable to at Tellus, GA. The members of this committee as the Southeastern Planetarium Association (send of this writing are: Phil Groce, Leslie Bochenski, payment to Secretary/Treasurer Patsy Wilson). The Derek Demeter, George Fleenor, Dave Maness, and underlying mission of our advertisements is to pro- Ross Workman. If you have ideas about this impor- mote resources, products, and services related to tant subject, please contact them or me. the planetarium profession. SEPA reserves the right 2. Also at the last business meeting, “…a com- to refuse advertisements. mittee on the increased use of technology to benefit (Continued on page 16) page 4 page 5 Submission deadlines: January 1 (Winter), April 1 James Sullivan (Spring), July 1 (Summer), October 1 (Fall). Buehler Planetarium & Observatory Davie, FL Thanks to Broward College and its wonderful print- ing department for assistance.

Wow, I hope that you all will take a look at what John Hare has to say in his column. It is probably one of the best notices that has appeared in SEPA since the SEPA planet show was announced. There is dome content at the price most of us like best of all - free. I was able to find it by searching “IPS free shows” in Google. So, he is not woofing.

Some of you States are slackin’ - send something in!

We can receive electronic files in most any format. Also, graphics can be received electronically or in hardcopy, including slides or photos, and will be converted to digital with sufficient resolution.

SEPA Membership Form Please send your check to SEPA, c/o Patsy Wilson, 140 Lyn Road, Salisbury, NC 28147 One Year, $25 ($15 outside SEPA geographical region) Two Years, $40 Name Organization Planetarium Address City State / Zip Code Voice Phone Fax Phone Email Address Staff Position IPS Member? Yes No Contribution to Scholarship Award Account: $

page 7 On the day of the partial solar eclipse, I meant to leave early, however, Steve Pielot, the planetarium Small Talk repair guy showed up a day early, unannounced, for routine maintenance on my star projector, so I stuck around to watch from school, but as would be the case, clouds got in my way and I did not see any- Elizabeth Wasiluk thing before the sun set. Instead, we watched a live Berkeley County Planetarium broadcast from Griffith Observatory. They had a live Hedgesville, WV brass quartet perform “Thus Spake Zarathusa” from “2001: A Space Odyssey” at the start of the eclipse. During mid-eclipse, Donovan Leitch performed Hey, I have the Folk Alley holiday music stream “Sunshine Superman.” I think they have it archived playing on the computer: on the web, so if you wish to watch it, you can go to http://www.folkalley.com/music/holidaystream/ “Griffith Observatory Television.” I especially liked Over the intercom, the powers that be have been the fact that there was a humongous sunspot right in running Christmas music during the change of the middle of the sun during the eclipse. classes here in the hallways until the kids and I have been kind of sick of them. There are still exams to give and it seems like an endless stream of pack- ages to wrap and shows to give and days I come home plum exhausted. Is it Christmas yet? I plan on sleeping in both Christmas and the New Year.

October was so busy with eclipses, as I alluded to in my last column. The Lunar Eclipse was clear, but was far too low in the sky as it moved into totality for me to view with the sky brightening and houses in the way. I did enjoy seeing the moon go into totality, however, as I did the kid from my astronomy class who shared his lunar eclipse report that he and Conrad Jung took this during the partial solar his grandma went out to watch it together. eclipse that occurred during October 2014. Note the large sunspot group on the sun. I tried giving two lunar eclipse programs, but did not get many takers, except a guy who came while I was glad to see Steve Pielot arrive to work on the I was in the bathroom and didn’t wait for me to star projector. I also was worried about a laser disk come back, must have not really wanted to see the player that refused to move from park. I still use program and that is after lots of publicity. old technology such as laser disks and slide projec- tors as well as our star projector. I actually use my laser disk a lot, however, the new laser disk does not seem to be able to take computer input com- mands to go to a specific frame or play until it gets to a specific frame. If anyone has some ideas for me as to how I can program my laser disk player, I would love to hear from you.

In November, a teacher friend of mine, who teaches in another county East of mine, came with me for Conrad Jung at Chabot Observatory in Oak- a visit to the Udvar-Hazy Center of the National land, CA took this lunar eclipse montage Air and Space Museum that is located in Chan- during the October 2014 lunar eclipse. tilly, Virginia. We went on a tour and marveled at page 8 (Continued on page 12) During World War II, Jackie organized and ran the Robin Byrne Women AirForce Service Pilots (WASPs) program. Northeast State Community College With her political connections and ties to other Blountville, TN female pilots, Lovelace asked her to help recruit other women to be test subjects. Of those contacted, 12 answered the call.

Promised the Moon: The Untold All of the women were under the impression that Story of the First Women in the they were being tested by NASA, since it was well known that the Lovelace Clinic was used by NASA Space Race to test the original astronaut candidates. They truly by Stephanie Nolen believed that they had a chance to go into space. That did not happen. The tests were being conducted by Lovelace primarily as a research project. When he Once again, we return to ye olde bookshelf to review contacted the same military base where Jerrie Cobb a book. This time, I read “Promised the Moon: The had completed some of her tests, with the request Untold Story of the First Women in the Space Race” to test the other women, he was denied permission by Stephanie Nolen. As a fan of anything to do with when they discovered that NASA was not backing the history of the space program, and as a raving the program. That’s when things got ugly. feminist, this looked to be right up my alley. I was not disappointed. The remaining 12 women weren’t notified until they had already made plans to go to Florida for 3 The story begins in September of 1959 while Ger- weeks of tests. Three of the women had to quit their aldyn “Jerrie” Cobb was attending the Air Force jobs. Now they were left hanging with no expla- Association annual meeting with her boss, Tom nation. Jerrie Cobb was furious and ready to fight. Harris. She worked for Aero Design and Engineer- She contacted every person she could think of from ing Company as a pilot and manager. While stroll- NASA to congress, and all the way to the White ing on the beach with Harris, he introduced her to House. She met with administrators, senators, and two men coming from the other direction: Donald Vice President Johnson. After enough publicity Flickinger and Randy Lovelace. When Flickinger hit the newspapers, the House Committee on Sci- and Lovelace discovered that Jerrie was a pilot with ence and Astronautics had a hearing about the issue over 7000 hours of flight time, her destiny was met. of women going to space. On July 17, 1962, the Lovelace was interested in putting women through hearing convened. Representing the women along the same tests the original Mercury astronauts had with Jerrie was one other candidate, Janey Hart, to endure to be chosen. He felt that women were who knew her way around Washington since her even better suited for some of the stresses encoun- husband was a senator. On behalf of NASA were tered in spaceflight, and he wanted to prove it. Jerrie George Low, John Glenn, and Scott Carpenter. The was more than willing to be a guinea pig. NASA line was that only military jet test pilots could be astronauts. If a qualified woman applied, After Jerrie successfully completed the tests, they would consider her. The women pointed out Lovelace wanted to test other women. He sought that only men were allowed in the military, so help from his longtime friend, Jackie Cochran. the requirements automatically excluded women Jackie made a name for herself as a competitive unfairly. Then Jackie Cochran took the stand. Much pilot, ran her own business, and was a millionaire to the shock of Jerrie and Janey, Jackie supported whose donations help Lovelace set up his clinic. (Continued on page 16) page 11 Small Talk (Continued from page 8) tinue on through the Kuiper Belt and the mission will likely be extended. A smaller, more primitive our first look at space shuttle Discovery which is Free Show Kuiper Belt Object will then be targeted for a ren- housed there. Since we both attended the Honey- dezvous in 2018 or 2019. These encounters prom- well Teacher Workshop at Space Camp in Hunts- ise us unprecedented close up views of these distant ville, AL, we got our picture taken in front of the New Horizons worlds and the information gathered by New Hori- space shuttle wearing our flight suits. zons will provide valuable insight into the forma- for a Little Planet tion of our solar system and its planets. “New Horizons for a Little Planet” is distributed by Audio Visual Imagineering, (AVI). The show comes Hartnell College Planetarium is offering a new free with a Resource Package which include animations, show, “New Horizons for a Little Planet”, to all artist renderings, education material, info and hand- full dome planetariums. “New Horizons for a Little outs. If you are interested in presenting “New Hori- Marianne Tomasic tries on the”Occulus Rift” Planet” is a lighthearted introduction to NASA’s zons for a Little Planet” simply go to http://www. goggles for the “Interstellar” virutal reality New Horizons mission to Pluto and the Kuiper Belt. av-imagineering.com/new-horizons/#more and fill experience. Launched in 2006, the New Horizons spacecraft out the New Horizons Download Application. Once is scheduled to fly by Pluto and its moons in July accepted, AVI will provide you with links to down- of 2015. The purpose of the program is to intro- load your Dome Master and Resources. No license My astronomy students have also begun a detective duce planetarium visitors to the mission prior to its Me and friend Marianne Tomaisic pose in agreement is required. lab on spectra where they look at lots of examples arrival at Pluto. front of “Discovery” in our flight suits at of spectra and try and determine what kind of spec- the Udvar-Hazy Center at the Air and Space tra they are looking at. We will continue it when After it encounters Pluto, New Horizons will con- Museum in Chantilly, VA. school resumes in January. They will also take a stab at naming crates on Mercury. We also got to see the movie “Interstellar” in the IMAX theater and afterwards we went to see the Winter break would have been a great time to visit life size model of the spacecraft “Ranger.” We also Dave Maness in Memphis, TN what with West Vir- took part in the Occulus Rift virtual reality expe- ginia University playing Texas A& M in the Liberty rience of floating through the spacecraft from the Bowl there. However, reading the last issue of South- movie, as if we were weightless. It was by far the ern Skies, I am glad I didn’t, since the Sharp Plan- best virtual reality experience I have ever had. I etarium where he works is undergoing renovation. reached for floating books and pens and could see out the window to Saturn and the black hole from What are you looking forward to in 2015? The further the film. It was worth the two hour wait to take part adventures of Rosetta a Comet P/67? The April lunar in the three minute experience. If you want to learn eclipse? Dawn at Ceres? New Horizons at Pluto? For more about the Occulus Rift company and how the latter, pictures start coming in on January 15th. they hope to move virtual reality into the gaming industry, there is a great article in the November What in your opinion is the highlight of 2014? 2014 issue of Smithsonian magazine. If you have answers to any of the questions I am asking here, drop Before exams, my astronomy students suggested me an E.-mail, several targets for a 20 inch telescope that is being write, phone or installed at Penn State. They had called for sugges- fax. The infor- tions for first light and so I submitted three propos- mation is on the als from students. The suggestions were very basic, second page of the one the Sun, one Mars and one 3C273, the brightest journal. I would be quasar. I do not know if any of these will be chosen happy to list your as targets. We will see on January 18 when they thoughts. take images. page 12 Armstrong and Aldrin, NOBODY GOES Conrad, Bean Shepard and Mitchell Attention: Planetarium Irwin, Scott TO THE MOON Young, Duke and Cernan Lovell and Schmitt People Who Also Like To Sing Jon U. Bell, August 25, 2014 All of them went to the moon.

Sung to the tune, “Everyone’s Gone to the Moon” Bridge: Long time ago by J. King, 1965 Stepping stones sought Jon Bell *STEM = Science, Technology, Engineering and The moon was our playground we thought Hallstrom Planetarium Math. I’m writing more of these songs now, as they Wings of Apollo Indian River State College are very popular at our local science fair awards Now we are grounded Long ago presentations, public speaking engagements, etc. On the beach Aimed for the Heavens I am trying to start up a singing group that I hope Rockets are broken Rockets’ glow will be able to present songs about astronomy, plus Stars out of reach Promise of living a lot of STEM* related tunes at the next SEPA con- Dreams are forgotten all too soon ference. I’m calling this group, The Sidereal Sing- Up there soon Everyone went to the moon. ers, (at least until I can think up a better name…) If NEW SONG Nobody goes to the moon. you have an interest in learning how to sing some Nobody goes to the moon. of these far-out science songs that I’ve been posting Nobody goes to the moon. to Southern Skies, e-mail me at [email protected], and I was looking for another moon song to accom- I’ll send you an information packet. pany “Moon Crater,” and “Moon Rovers,” for an upcoming planetarium concert – “Songs of Earth If we can get together at the beginning of the con- and Space” - and I wanted something to commem- ference to practice, we might even get to sing in orate the Apollo missions as well. The 60’s song, front of all our colleagues, and won’t that be fun? “Everyone’s Gone to the Moon,” popped up on my Here’s a partial list of songs that could be done: internet search, and the title just got to me, since all I could think of was, “Yeah, right, but nobody There Are Plenty of Stars in the Sky goes there anymore,” and that just got things roll- Fungi Isn’t Fun ing. Took only an hour or so to write new lyrics, the Constellation Barcarole words pretty much fell right out onto the paper (or DNA Microsoft Word document, whatever.) Moon Crater Why Does the Sun Shine? “On the beach,” is a reference to Florida’s eastern What’s the Value of Pi? “space coast” where NASA launches its big rockets. Universe Calling! “Stepping stones” are the planets that we should Nobody Goes to the Moon have tried to go to after establishing a moon base, I Know Why There’s Stormy Weather! as envisioned by those of us who were caught up in Mycologenia Dreamin’ the excitement of those incredible missions. What is Gravity? That’s a Moray! The list of astronauts who walked on the moon in What is a Shooting Star? the second verse is complete, although in no partic- Waltzing With Bears ular order because I had to maintain the cadence of Betelgeuse the music. And you will no doubt note that I did add Einstein the Genius one more astronaut who had the dubious distinction Jocelyn Found a Radio Star of being the only person to travel to the moon twice The Malacologist’s Farewell and yet never land (I’m pretty sure you can pick him out from the others…) Thanks! page 14 Book Review (Continued from page 11) President’s Message (Continued from page 4)

the decision to not include women. Between members will also be formed…” We have a new Jackie’s testimony and the statements made by facebook page, (https://www.facebook.com/sepa- Low, Glenn, and Carpenter, the case was lost. domes) which I strongly urge you to post to and contribute what you’re able. Other ideas for a more So much of the story of the Fellow Lady Astro- robust web presence are eagerly sought. naut Trainees (FLATs) is also a story of the Regarding these two items above, one great exam- attitudes towards women during the 1950’s and ple that we’ll be talking about some more is the 1960’s. This was an era when married women idea, contributed by Kris McCall and Steve Russo, had to have their husband’s signature to open a to do something that already works well for the Mid bank account or make a large purchase. These Atlantic Planetarium Association: master planetar- women were already anomalies just by the fact ians mentoring those new to the field. I was fortu- that they chose to fly airplanes, either as a hobby nate enough to be sent out to neighbor planetaria in or as a career. Much was made of the effort to NC, to see how they do their mission of education. appear feminine when participating in the vari- I can’t thank Patsy Wilson and Richard McColman ous flight competitions or when flying for dif- enough for the inspiration they provided to me as ferent businesses. They didn’t want anyone to I began my directorship of ‘The Mother Dome.’ think the female pilots were lesbian. Mean- Every newbie should have that same opportunity while, the early space program was simply an afforded them in our region. old boy network of men primarily from the mil- 3. Investigate making parts of our conference itary. They took for granted that it was a boys- virtual. I watched with great interest some of the only group. NASA didn’t change that attitude meetings at AGU and at GLPA, and have been until the 1970’s when the first women were wondering; why can’t we at SEPA do that? It is a recruited for the shuttle program. given that not every SEPA member can attend every conference. It is also a way for us to reach potential For Jerrie Cobb, Janey Hart, Jean Hixon, Wally new members, as well as increasing our footprint in Funk, Irene Leverton, Jan Dietrich, Marion the planetarium and astronomy communities. Dietrich, B Trimble, Sarah Gorelick, Rhea Hurrle, Gene Nora Jessen, Jerri Truhill, and K I look forward to the challenges, opportunities, and Cagle, they were just doing what they felt they adventures ahead. In Disney’s Pinocchio, Jiminy were born to do. Although a disappointing story Cricket’s character speaks the line: “What they that the women were never given the opportu- can’t do these days!” Sorry, Jiminy, but that list of nity to fly to space, they are still an inspira- ‘can’t do’s’ is getting smaller day-by-day. By the tion. They followed their dream in the face of time you read this Philae may have reawakened, much criticism, discrimination, and harass- Dawn will be spiraling down into its orbit around ment. Whether referred to as the FLATs or the Ceres, Curiosity may have found more evidence Mercury 13, these women are best described as of organics and methane on Mars, and New Hori- heroes. zons will be beginning collection of meaningful data about the denizens of the Kuiper belt. And no Reference: doubt, there will be other space science surprises Promised the Moon: The Untold Story of the that we’ll get to explain to our audiences. That, First Women in the Space Race by Stephanie for me, is the reason I teach this stuff-it is always Nolen; Thunder’s Mouth Press 2002 changing, making textbooks obsolete before the ink dries on them. “…I work for that. Short man, large dream …”-Ray Bradbury, If Only We Had Taller Been.

Peace. page 16

give James our full support! a spectacular set of space-themed tunes inside the plays the eccentric mad scientist and headmaster Planetarium under the stars. Dr. Demetrius Deuteron. • Kids built their rockets out of water bottles and Buehler Planetarium launched them into the sky over the Museum. News From Broward College • Florida International University’s Society of Davie, FL Women Engineers brought circuits for visitors to learn about the parts of robots, which are key to SEPA Region Susan J. Barnett reports: The Buehler Planetarium exploring space where humans can’t go (yet). & Observatory is running public shows four days • “Star Gazers” co-host James C. Albury presented a week. The weekend shows and monthly spe- a “Best of” compilation of “Star Gazers” episodes cials include Cosmic Colors, Amazing Stagazing, inside the Museum’s Theatre throughout the day. Discovering Distant Worlds, African Skylore, and • Visitors enjoyed showings in the Planetarium of Shadows in Space. On Wednsdays, we run Stories Horkheimer’s original “Helios.” for a Starry Night. FLORIDA As always, we continue to accommodate all visit- contact: George Fleenor The Buehler Observatory has viewing four times ing school groups and run a public show schedule GeoGraphics Imaging and a week. It has free public observing Wednesday, seven days a week. And of course every month, we Consulting, Bradenton, FL Friday, and Saturday evenings. In addition, we celebrate Fabulous First Fridays; with a free star [email protected] observe the Sun on Wednesday afternoons. show, observatory viewing, and a night, jammed- packed with our music laser shows!

Miami Space Transit Planetarium Well my fellow SEPA-ians that was our update for Florida Planetarium Association Patricia andPhillip Frost Museum of Science the fall of 2014. By the time you read this issue (FLORPLAN) Miami, FL of Southern Skies our new planetarium, currently under construction, will have been capped off! We Attn: Florida Planetarians! Claudia Hernandez reports: This season our dome are very close to finishing our new home where we buzzed with events like the Disney Vacation Club, will continue to keep the legacy of our late director Save the date: March 21, 2015 United Way’s volunteer appreciation day, and even Jack Horkheimer to “keep looking up!” What: FLORPLAN Meeting (Florida Planetari- an Interstellar promotion opportunity. The gem ums) of the season, however, was Astronomy Day! We kicked this celebration off with a couple of signa- Buehler Perpetual Trust Planetarium Hosted by: James Albury ture event nights; Science Up Close: Accelerating Seminole State College of Florida Kika Silva Pla Planetarium – Santa Fe College Our Understanding of Particle Physics and Plan- Sanford, Fla. Gainesville, FL etarium AstroJam! Phone: 352-395-5381 Derek Demeter reports: The Emil Buehler Perpetual http://www.sfcollege.edu/planetarium The Science Up Close series serves the inquisitive Trust Planetarium at Seminole State College enjoyed http://www.stargazersonline.org adults of our community with an informal atmo- a very active fall season! We presented a show in sphere to engage with local scientists in the fields October called “Into the West: Astronomical Ori- In December 2014, the planetarium retired its of astronomy and particle physics. The second gins of Halloween” that explored the ancient celtic aging digital planetarium projector and upgraded Astronomy Day event was Planetarium AstroJam!, culture and their festival of Samhain and its connec- to a higher definition, RSA Cosmos 1C-3K system. a night filled with the artistic aspects of the plan- tion to the Pleiades star cluster. We also teamed up This is only the second RSA Cosmos system in the etarium visual effects culture. This was a collabora- with the college physical science faculty to offer a United States and the first single lens system. Along tive effort with local artists and musicians to create unique family Halloween event called the Owlpher- with a Goto Chronos star projector, the Kika Silva a surreal planetarium experience. atz School of Science and Spooks. For one night, Pla Planetarium offers it’s visitors stunning visual we transformed the area where the planetarium is and educational experiences. Come see for your- Our Astronomy Day celebration was a great suc- located into a haunted science school featuring sci- self! cess with the visiting public. These are a few of the ence demonstrations, arts and crafts, slime making, Astronomy Day highlights posted on our museum and a costume contest. The pictures attached are of More information will be released as the date nears. blog (http://www.miamisci.org/blog/): the characters we played. Michael plays the big- So, please, save the date and plan to attend. Let’s • A Frost School of Music ensemble trio performed foot provost Dr. Samuel Adams Squatch and Derek page 20 page 21 including lectures and exhibits developed in-house at Tellus. We conducted 4 astronomy workshops, or more after my surgery. I remember Doc poking We also began a program during the month of Octo- and in collaboration with the Chandra folk and one for boy scouts earning their Astronomy Merit around in my eye. All nurses were very nice to this ber called “Telescope Thursdays” where we travel others, and continuing with the upcoming August badges, 3 others for families (stellar astronomy old man, but could not get any to go home with me. to various areas around Central Florida and present 2017 solar eclipse, Fernbank is looking forward to workshop; teaching folks the basics of observing free sidewalk astronomy events. These have been offering exciting programs for our visitors. and rotary star charts, lunar workshop; teaching This morning I went out and tried my new eye very successful and we plan to continue our pro- folks about the moon and lunar observing. The final optics. Even tho it was hazy, I could see Alcor sepa- gram until the month of April. We also presented Fulldome technology does allow a wider variety workshop was funded through a Harvard-Smith- rated from Mizar! My right eye keeps improving. our own version of the “Star of Bethlehem” plan- of planetarium presentations for both school and sonian grant to train students how to use robotic I can now read car tags at ~75 feet. The colors are etarium program during the month of December. public groups. Attendance continues to rise as the telescopes in Arizona and Massachusetts to take magnificent. My neighbor, who took me in for left economy improves. While our ticketing system and process their own color images of deep space eye surgery, has shared the flu with me, but didn’t This picture I took of Lagoon/Trifid/Mars hat made currently lacks the ability for visitors to purchase objects. We hosted events for both a lunar and solar stop me from going to see the beautiful sky last Astronomy Picture of the Day. planetarium tickets online, the Living Social web- eclipses in October. Although the clouds were pres- night. It was clear! I saw so many many deep sky site provides a good alternative. The web site is ent, we wowed the crowd with images on our big fuzzes from the Great Dog to the “W”. The Milky www.livingsocial.com. Patrons can get tickets sent screen from Los Angeles. We also hosted (GRAM) Way just stood out. M31, the Double Cluster, Bee to their smartphones and show them at our ticket Georgia Regional Astronomy Meeting, in October. Hive, and M42 all were naked eye. I can see stars booth for admission. Revenue has increased nicely We hosted 75 Georgia astronomers and astronomy another magnitude or more dimer! I love my new since we signed on with Living Social. graduate students from universities and colleges eyes. I could see the nebulosity around the Pleiades throughout the state presenting papers on their latest with my WW2 7x50 binoculars! Night driving is School programs in collaboration with other depart- research. In the planetarium we premiered “Super now a pleasure. I drove to a New Years party for ments at the science center are proving to be popu- Volcanoes” and brought back “Stars” for an encore the first time at night. There was no glare from all lar as well. An entire grade level from a school can run. In November we opened an annual favor- the lights. visit in one morning for a planetarium presentation, ite “Mystery of the Christmas Star”. As we move followed by individual hands-on class sessions. into mid-December we near about 80,000 visitors Please protect your eyes. Our first optics to see the Second and fourth grades attended sessions during through the planetarium for 2014, just over 20,000 star filled sky are our eyes. Some of us never see the fall of 2014. Astronomy, chemistry and physics will be from school groups. As the museum starts and some have a limited vision compared to others. work together well. its seventh year, public attendance has gone down You learn to appreciate what you have when your Hope all is well and clear skies to you! a bit, but school groups continue to grow in num- view of the sky is limited, such as a hole in the for- October’s “Fun with Flashlights” Halloween bers and we are just about sold out through May for rest of trees that opens to the sky. themed program for families with young children school programs. was a huge success. Well over a hundred small chil- GEORGIA dren and their parents, armed with flashlights of contact: David Dundee every imaginable light source, filled the dome with Chickamauga, GA Tellus Museum light. It reminded our director of the Devil’s Tower Cartersville, GA scene from “Close Encounters of the Third Kind.” Bobby Thompson reports: Cataract Surgery! [email protected] Lots of fun for all. Look no glasses! Well, except for reading. What an Jonn Serrie’s “Upon a Midnight Clear” concert in experience this is! I have had to have glasses all early December is already a tradition. The planetar- my life! I now have a contact in my left eye but Fernbank Science Center Planetarium ium was full of music - and star-lovers for the event that soon will be unnecessary. I thought my doctor’s Atlanta, GA in 2014. office was a dirty yellow, but no! It is a nice light gray. One fellow told me that when his wife had the April Whitt reports: By the time you read this, the Although this will appear in the “winter” issue, a surgery, he had to repaint the whole house inside, celebration will have begun. happy vernal equinox to all. because she didn’t like that old yellow. With my new color vision, I see my hair is not blonde, but silver Fernbank Science Center marks its 50th anniver- gray. Getting the yellow out of my left eye tomor- I have known that vision is something you can sary in December of 2017. We’re starting the party Planetarium row. No more glasses or contacts maybe. Another loose at anytime. Maybe the most tenuous of all early, with a “50 for 50” string of special events Tellus NW GA Science Museum week of eye protection and more eye drops. It will our senses. It was brought home to me when one between March 2015 and December 2017. Begin- Cartersville, GA be a real white Christmas with the left eye done. beautiful girl in my neighborhood lost an eye from ning with our “Spring into Science” theme for the Now everything is a pinkest white, and things are a piece on stone from another neighbors hammer. second Atlanta Science Festival on March 21st, David Dundee reports: We had a really busy autumn sharp from 3 feet out to Orion:) I slept for 5 hours We were about six years old. Not long ago I lost page 22 page 23 part of my vision in one eye. I watched it return as taking the internship astronomy class. Our second in schools and libraries every day for the first three things came back through a deep purple of a broken semester interns will also be creating their own pre- weeks of December. NORTH blood vessel in my retina. sentations to present as a public event and add to the Digistar cloud. The planetarium will continue being CAROLINA I did learn to see with my fingers. I worked with used in teaching some of our daytime astronomy Lafayette Planetarium contact: Bob Hayward a Pakistani Machinist in Saudi Arabia. He taught labs where we always have clear skies for observ- Lafayette Science Museum Pisgah Astronomical Research Institute me to feel bearings to a ten thousands of inch. I ing. Until next time, wishing everyone clear skies! Lafayette, LA Rosman, NC have had to work in dark or places I could not see, [email protected] but learn to form a image of what I was feeling. I Dave Hostetter reports: The Lafayette Science have worked with children that were blind or were Museum Planetarium had a good autumn. Live losing their vision in Walker County Schools, and LOUISIANA programs included The Sky Tonight, The Modern Morehead Planetarium most of the time very rewarding and funny at times. contact: Jon Elvert Universe, and Stonehenge, and playback programs Morehead Planetarium and Science Center You know you learn from your students! One little Pennington Planetarium (most with short live extra segments) included Chapel Hill, NC girl of about six was a brat, like Helen Keller. She Baton Rouge, LA Dawn of the Space Age, Black Holes, Firefall, To didn’t want to be limited. She knew me by my stink [email protected] Space and Back, Earth, Moon, and Sun, Rusty Amy Sayle reports: We are thrilled to have Mickey and feel. She would smell up my arm and feel my Rocket’s Last Blast, Larry Cat in Space, The Little Jo Sorrell back at Morehead Planetarium and Sci- hands. I had a band aide on my hand when we first Star that Could, Secret of the Cardboard Rocket, ence Center. After a few years away for graduate met. She almost didn’t recognize me when I took Two Small Pieces of Glass, and Flight Adventures. school, AmeriCorps, and several grandchildren, it off. Irene W. Pennington Planetarium Some of these ran only once (during an extended Mickey (former SEPA Secretary/Treasurer) is La. Art & Science Museum holiday schedule in the last two weeks of the year), under the dome, in the classroom, and around the May your visions all ways be fantastic! Baton Rouge, LA but we are finding some success in doing that. building again. She is Coordinator of the Statewide Star Party and standing in for the Science Programs Jon Elvert reports: We started the New Year with In September, our planetarium attendance (as Manager. Georgia Southern Planetarium a new line up of public shows: Dark Universe, opposed to overall museum attendance) passed the Georgia Southern University Hitchhiker’s Tour through the Universe, and The attendance for all of 2013! It looks as if our overall Morehead’s Education Internship program is in its Statesboro, GA Moon. Hitchhiker’s Tour through the Universe is 2014 planetarium attendance will be about 150% of fifth successful year, placing two energetic, moti- an updated in-house production of our ever popular that in 2013 and about 190% of that in 2003 (our vated educators into one-year positions with the Becky Lowder reports: After a very busy 2014, our Digital Universe show, now retired. Hitchhiker’s first full year in our new building). GSK Fulldome Theater, Science Stage, Morehead planetarium is heading into another wonderful and uses our DS2 system to tour the contents of the uni- Afterschool Program, and Summer Camp. Chosen busy new year in 2015! verse emphasizing the scaling of celestial objects Planetarium curator Dave Hostetter attended the from UNC students with excellent Morehead experi- from the Earth-Moon system to the furthest known Kavli Institute of Cosmological Physics’ “Cosmol- ence, these interns have the opportunity to explore Plans are underway again for a campus-wide solar galactic structures. It’s essentially a show about ogy Short Course” at the University of Chicago in all areas of science education while serving as key system walk in conjunction with the Georgia South- visualizing perspective, a relationship with space September, and would recommend it to anyone. personnel in two critical programs. Watch for these ern University Art Department. Participants will and time, and our audiences always seem to appre- talented educators as they launch into the job market. make rubbings in their solar system passports at ciate the live presentation. The planetarium’s sidewalk astronomy programs Our most recent planetarium and science stage each planet station and if they complete the entire were popular, the high point coming at a Christmas intern, Nick Eakes, has raised the bar to new heights, solar system walk, they can select a prize! We’re In January we had two of three talks in our science festival in early December when over 400 people also looking into having geocache boxes on campus lecture series – one on aurora, and the other on the got a look at the nearby full moon. Another 350 for added astronomy educational outreach and making of Dark Universe presented by Dr. Carter people (mostly school students) participated in prizes, more later. Emmart, director of the Astrovisualization for pro- our “Launch Fest” activities in support of NASA’s duction and education at the Rose Center for Earth Orion test launch in early December. We’ve added a couple new fulldome presentations and Space at the American Museum of Natural His- to our educational selections for school groups: tory. Carter also delighted the audience by taking Early in 2015, we will begin the process of acces- Chasing The Ghost Particle - From The South Pole them on his renowned “Magic Carpet Ride,” a sioning much of our traditional planetarium equip- Out To The Edge Of The Universe, and The Making three-dimensional tour through the universe. ment into our museum’s permanent collection in Of A Star And Her Entourage - A Celestial Journey order to preserve not only an important part of our Through Time. We’re looking forward to also show- The Pennington Planetarium also hosted NASA’s museum’s history but also some of the history of the ing these new presentations during our monthly Orion Launch back in early December, which was planetarium profession. Final planning is underway public events in the spring semester, along with live more a success with school teachers than the general to include some of the collection in a small plan- Nick Eakes current sky star shows by our university students public. And our two portable planetariums were out etarium exhibit. page 24 page 25 absorbing all we have to offer him with grace and Wright brothers come alive in a light-hearted story- Robeson Planetarium and Science Center radome that had be removed when NASA and NSA flare, and developing his own engaging style both line and introduce viewers to the physical phenom- Lumberton, NC left the site. The circular base of the radome has under the dome and with live science demos. ena and principles that make airplanes work. Along been fitted with benches and a speaker’s platform the way, audiences encounter notable aviation pio- Ken Brandt reports: We have just completed the so that we can use it for sky interpretation sessions. Fall 2014 marked the opening of Morehead’s origi- neers such as Charles Lindberg, Bessie Coleman, activities for the first launch of the Orion test vehi- As of this writing it has been used very successfully nal fulldome production “Grossology and You,” a Amelia Earhart, and Chuck Yeager. The show is cle, as well as our winter holiday shows. Here in for several public events even on rather cold moun- show based on the book Grossology and You, writ- due to open in October 2015, and will be available NC, we seem to be doing more and more testing tain evenings. The building at the site has been ten by Sylvia Branzei, illustrated by Jack Keely, and for leased distribution to other fulldome planetari- of students, and this is having a negative impact on remodeled into a small nature center and a warm- published by Price Stern Sloan. In the show, Noreen ums soon thereafter. attendance. I wonder if other institutions in NC, and up room for use on cold evenings and for telescope Neuron, host of the “Personal Universe” game, leads in the SEPA region overall are experiencing a simi- storage. This facility has been a great addition to us through a competition to decide which body Preparation is underway for the 3rd annual North lar downturn in attendance numbers? We are adver- our monthly Evening at PARI programs. Bob will system is the best and brightest. Will it be Scabby Carolina Statewide Star Party, a signature event tising the planetarium’s availability to non-testing make a presentation on this at SEPA in June. (the immune system), Boogie (the respiratory of the NC Science Festival, which is produced by school groups, senior centers, and other public system), or Flatus (the digestive system)? This show Morehead (www.ncsciencefestival.org). Approxi- groups. was supported by a Science Education Partnership mately 40 hosts, including some SEPA members, Award from the National Institutes of Health. are planning public skywatching events across the Fortunately, by the time you are reading this, we state on Friday, April 24, or Saturday, April 25, will have less testing and more kids visiting here. 2015. Thanks to funding from NC Space Grant, Other projects we are involved with include the pos- each host will receive a star party kit. We will try sible installation of several solar panels from a local out star party kit activities at the Astronomy Days company, who is installing solar farms throughout event hosted by the NC Museum of Natural Sci- Robeson County. ences on January 24-25, 2015.

PARI (Pisgah Astronomical Research Institute) Rosman, NC

Bob Hayward and Christi Whitworth report: Great PARI Nature Center and Outdoor Planetarium things have been happening at PARI both inside the inside planetarium and inside and outside the outside planetarium and elsewhere at PARI and at venues other than PARI. Clear? PARI staff continue outreach to the local community and elsewhere. Christi works with the local First, school programs are going well. Most groups 4-H folks on a monthly SciGirls program presented that come to the PARI campus request a StarLab at PARI or at the 4-H facility in downtown Bre- program that complements the classroom curricu- vard. She has also presented speaking engagements lum and then a walk from the Sun to the Kuiper Belt and training sessions on 3D printers and the Smiley up the hill. A while ago we added partial circles in remote control radion telescope not only in North the parking lot next to our “Galaxy Walk” scaled Carolina but also in Tennessee and Virginia. So, solar system. These circles of different colors repre- PARI is truly becoming a regional resource. Miss Boogie (aka Jarrett Grimm) signs sent the orbits of the terrestrial planets and enable us autographs at the opening of Morehead’s to have students become Venusians or Mercurians Mike Castelaz has left his full-time position at new fulldome show, “Grossology and and stand along the orbits of these planets to learn PARI to accept a professorship at Brevard College. You.” when and where we look for these two planets. The He continues to serve as PARI’s Science Director Martians stand on the red circle to demonstrate how on a contract basis. Mike, in character as Melchior, Mars can be on the other side of the Earth and, thus, joined Balthazar, a.k.a. Bob Hayward, for an Eve- Morehead’s production team is now working on a up at midnight. ning at PARI presentation on the “Star of Beth- new original fulldome production, “Take Flight.” lehem.” They didn’t solve the mystery but had a This aeronautical-oriented show explores the As Christi mentioned in our last report, a major lot of fun arguing the pros and cons of the various four forces of flight (lift, weight, thrust, and drag) Illustration by S. Brian Owen, physical change on the PARI campus is the devel- theories. through a series of historic aeronautical events. The brianowenart.com. opment of an “outdoor planetarium” on the site of a page 26 page 27 Another major change at PARI was the removal ming for educational value as well as entertainment. World Of Weather from The New Detroit Science of the radome over the 12-m radio telescope. This Each weekday throughout December and January SOUTH Center. was quite an operation involving the whole staff we welcomed the eager faces of first grade students assisted by local contractors. ready to explore the skies. Children from both CAROLINA contact: Gary Senn Rowan-Salisbury and Davie County public school BlueCross BlueShield of DuPont Planetarium, Aiken, SC systems, local private schools and special request South Carolina Planetarium [email protected] groups created our full schedule of programming South Carolina State Museum each week. “Sky News” was developed to directly Columbia, SC align with NC Essential Standards for science and aim to support teachers in their delivery of astron- DuPont Planetarium Liz Klimek reports: As part of the South Carolina omy topics for young learners with an integrated Ruth Patrick Science Ed. Ctr., USC Aiken State Museum’s “Windows to New Worlds” Proj- STEM approach. Aiken, SC ect, the BlueCross BlueShield of South Carolina Planetarium opened on August 16, 2014 to great In a few short weeks, the planetarium will begin to Gary J. Senn reports: The DuPont Planetarium success. The 55-ft theater is equipped with a Digi- serve third grade students as well. Our new seventy- at the Ruth Patrick Science Education Center star 5 system and SkyLase laser projector. We five minute class is entitled “Solar System Sleuths” (RPSEC) on the campus of the University of started simple with a single show, “Seven Won- as students will be responsible for resolving mis- South Carolina Aiken (USCA) enjoyed a success- ders”, which played for the first month and a half. conceptions associated with numerous objects of ful Christmas season with its annual presentation Afterward we slowly introduced a variety of other our solar system. Offerings provide opportunities of ‘Tis the Season (Season of Light) from Lochness offerings, including fulldome planetarium shows, for young learners to interact with each other using Productions. Back in October, we hosted events live sky presentations, and laser shows. For the kinesthetic activities. for the lunar and solar eclipses that occurred. Both holidays we featured the Eugenides Planetarium’s dates provided opportunity of good visibility of the “Star of Bethlehem,” as well as holiday laser shows The Margaret C. Woodson Planetarium takes pride eclipses and the events were greatly enjoyed by all from AVI and FirstLight Laser Productions. School in partnering with institutes of higher education who attended. groups, public shows, evening rentals, and special throughout the year based on the academic needs of events have kept us going nonstop. courses. Each session is accompanied by a live sky In January, we presented Ancient Sky Lore and Mis- portion that includes a review of seasonal patterns, sion to Mars. Ancient Sky Lore is a live presenta- More details to come after we’ve had a chance to and unique opportunities for monthly sky-gazing. tion that takes the planetarium visitors on a tour of catch our breath! the heavens as we discuss the history and stories of Public openings are held the second Saturday of constellations from a variety of cultures. Mission to each month, serving audiences of all ages. We Mars explores the idea of future Mars exploration South Carolina welcomes Jack Dunn PARI Radome removal from 12-m. are pleased to announce additional programming as the audience listens to what appears to be a con- offered by a multitude of Horizons Unlimited staff versation between the presenter and a patron. Dis- Jack Dunn reports: Glad to be here in South Caro- members. We now have multiple offerings designed cussions of travel to Mars as well as much exciting lina (Columbia). As of August 7th I retired as Plan- Finally, PARI has for many years hosted the astron- for scouts and look forward to providing our audi- information about Mars are presented during the etarium Coordinator of the Mueller Planetarium at omy session of the Duke TIP (Talent Identification ences with the best that the Margaret C. Woodson show. Both of these shows are local productions. the University of Nebraska State Museum. I started Program) at PARI. This 2-week resident program Planetarium and Horizons Unlimited has to offer. for high school students has be very successful and In January, our public show will feature “Stories In February, we will show Follow the Drinking popular with a waiting list each summer. We are of the Night.” This program is designed to support Gourd, based on the program by the New Jersey proud to announce that PARI recently signed a con- requirements needed for Girl Scouts’ Night Owl State Museum Planetarium and the Raritan Valley tract with Duke to expand to two sessions in the badge. Audiences will also enjoy a live sky, AVI’s Community College Planetarium. We updated the summer of 2015. Orion laser show, and hands on learning opportuni- script somewhat to make it a little longer and to ties as they familiarize themselves with winter con- include some more astronomy. We also address stellations. some of the concerns that others have expressed Margaret C. Woodson Planetarium about the accuracy of the facts in the show sur- Horizons Unlimited, Rowan-Salisbury Schools rounding the song and the Underground Railroad. Salisbury, NC In March, the planetarium will offer the Solar Jennifer Barbee reports: Exciting times in the Mar- System Adventure Tour from the Great Lakes Plan- Jack Dunn and Ken Brandt. garet C. Woodson planetarium include program- etarium Association and Blown Away: The Wild page 28 page 29 there in 1971 after coming from the Planetarium same stars! A modern-day narrator introduces each wraps right now and is contingent on a number of in Lafayette, LA. (SEPA was just getting formed TENNESSEE act and also shows how we can see each of these factors, the biggest being available funds. So, no in those days.)(g) I was the president of the Great contact: Kris McCall constellation collections. The stories themselves are more about it until it is set. Plains Planetarium Association since 1999. In fact, Sudekum Planetarium done in first-person and they link the star lore with I was one of the founding members of GPPA. As of Nashville, TN the teller’s real life during ancient times. See the Another addition to our planetarium are two, kinda- January 1st, I’m now past president. But I also have [email protected] image that shows a frame from the Inupiaq section. new interns. Joel Shelton was our intern for almost been a member of SEPA since the 1980s. I came Our audiences include all ages and they have really three years. He recently left to be able to do edu- to a SEPA meeting in Cocoa in 1979. Phil Groce enjoyed the program. They appreciate the mix of cational work that was closer to his schooling. He showed up with some musicians and puppeteers storytelling, artwork, and music. The show is mas- is tutoring mathematics while he is completing his with giant heads. My thought was: “this is really Bays Mountain Planetarium tered in 4K and is available in two versions. One last year of graduate school at ETSU. He is work- weird, but memorable and I like it.” And thus I was Kingsport, TN that will use your own star projector and another ing towards his Masters in Mathematics! Upon this hooked. I have so many great memories of confer- that is fully digital. Contact us for more info. change, Kayla Jenkins joined us last summer to ences over the years and I look fondly on old friends Adam Thanz reports: Greetings Fellow Planetar- learn and help out with our public programming. I made like Jim Hooks, Jane Hastings, Jack Hork- ians! Our secondary program that is offered at 2 p.m. on She is a high school senior who is interested in heimer and John Hare. SEPA members impressed the weekends is currently our live star program, earning degrees in astronomy. Julie Vaughn started me with their enthusiasm, creativity and love of the As I write this, we are just starting winter. After 6” “Appalachian Skies - Winter.” Then in March, that about two months ago and she is a freshman in col- profession. of snow at our house on Halloween, who knows show will be replaced with “Astronaut” from NSC lege with her sights on a degree in science with a how this season will turn out. Creative. We’ve added a great set of live activities focus on education. This is what makes our job so So, how did I end up here in South Carolina? As to “Astronaut.” We review major points of the U.S. great! you should see elsewhere in the South Carolina Our main program for Jan.-April is our own pro- & Russian Space Programs and then get the audi- report, my wife Elizabeth Klimek is the manager of duction, “A Part of the Sky Called Orion.” It looks ence out of their seats when we compare rocket the new planetarium here in Columbia. Sure, I vol- at three fascinating sky stories from three differ- sizes with huge printouts that are 1/50th scale! Sharpe Planetarium unteer a little at the observatory and planetarium, ent ancient cultures: Greek, Egyptian, and Inupiaq. Memphis, TN but mostly I’m just enjoying life. But, the common thread is that they are all using the Have you been able to see Comet Lovejoy C/2014 Q2? Robin & I have seen it at our house around Dave Maness reports: The Sharpe planetarium is For years, I tried to help other planetariums in the its perihelion. We have definitely seen it naked eye, still closed for renovations this winter. We are now plains. I’m Australian Paul Bourke’s US collabora- but binoculars are needed to see its green color running the winter version of Seasonal Skies from tor for his spherical mirror projection concepts. My with nucleus, coma, bow shock, and just a hint of a Loch Ness Productions in our flat-screen Wonders planetariums never had much budget and I know all small, spike of a tail. of the Universe program at the Mansion Theater. As too well how a planetarium might have to exist on always, the program includes a live section looking limited funds. So I’ve spent quite a few years work- Jason & I are working on a new show about Pluto at the sky tonight. Below is part time staffer Kelsey ing with people on the plains trying to survive. and the New Horizons spacecraft. It is slated to be Moody operating the program. available for distribution this spring at an extremely I’m most proud of helping the Astronomical Society low cost like we did for our Venus Transit program. of Kansas City save the Gottlieb Planetarium. That It will look at primarily exploration, discovery, and place is a 60-foot theater that had already closed our changing understanding based on new evidence twice before we were able to get it going again. I (the scientific method). The program is designed to really enjoyed that. So I enjoy consulting. If you have two live sections to increase audience under- have questions or just want to talk domes, you can standing and participation. Look for this exciting, find me at [email protected] I’m hoping to get new show this spring! to visit other planetariums in the area in the next year. It was great that several SEPA folk visited us I’m currently compiling two workshops for the around opening day here in Columbia. upcoming SEPA conference. One will be about creating a planetarium show in only one hour! Actu- See you at SEPA 2015. ally, it will be lots of fun in which we will learn about time management and utilizing talent to create a show in a timely manner. Everyone is going to be a part of it as it will be held on the bus ride In the Sharpe Planetarium space, big changes have to Huntsville, AL. The ride is three hours, but the already taken place as you can see below. Many of workshop is only one. The other workshop is under you have already gone through this before, as I had page 30 page 31 done decades ago at the Virginia Living Museum, by one of the Tribes in the area. I don’t know how from the Google Lunar XPrize folks. The offerings but that doesn’t make this sight any easier to take. well it will show up in black and white, but I think are rounded out with, of course, our live show, Vir- The gutting of the old Sharpe proceeded at a brutal the unknown designer beautifully and elegantly ginia Skies. pace in November, and I could only bear an occa- captured in blue, white, and shades of orange and sional glance. brown, the ancient tradition of storytelling around Winter is a busy season for us with numerous events a campfire, which (I think) is the ultimate origin of coming up on the calendar. Astro Camp-ins, our what we do. sleepover event for scouting groups, pick up this month. We’ll also be featuring extended show times for Martin Luther King Jr. Day and our Groundhog Day event on January 31st. February brings Follow the Drinking Gourd: A Quest for Freedom to the line up for Black History Month, as well as Rep- tile Weekend and its popular show A Sky Full of Scales. We’ll be offering My Laser Valentine at our February Star Party on Valentine’s Day.

Welcome, 2015! May it be a year of prosperity for all of our domes!

Happy New Year! This is essentially the view I have as I write this. Pretlow Planetarium However, the elevator platform in the center pit Old Dominion University area is no longer visible from this vantage point. Norfolk, VA Being disconnected from power, the mechanism is slowly losing pressure and gradually lowering its VIRGINIA Declan De Paor reports: This Fall, Pretlow Plan- floor toward the bottom of the pit. It is now about a contact: Kelly Herbst etarium introduced “Trivia Tuesdays” and gave a 4 foot drop. At some point, it will be connected to Virginia Living Museum Planetarium prize of a telescope to the semester’s winner. It was power one last time and raised flush with the rest Newport News, VA a big success and will be repeated in the Spring. of the floor level. Then it will be welded into place, [email protected] Credit is due to Planetarium Manger Justin Mason creating a stable floor for the new digital projector. for this innovation, which the readers may want to With the 20 inch remote/computer controllable emulate. telescope, and a Starlab, he supports local science Soon the dome will be professionally cleaned and education, including students on the Native Ameri- painted. Next a cove trough will be added to make Abbitt Planetarium Shameless self-promotion alert! Pretlow Plan- can reservations in his area. room for a new full color, LED lighting system that Virginia Living Museum etarium Director Declan De Paor received ODU’s will give us (for the first time ever) the ability to Newport News, VA “Teaching with Technology” award. Declan reads project a blue sky! Following shortly afterward, students’ (texted) questions during presentations we will install a new sound system, new carpeting, Kelly Herbst reports: Happy New Year! 2015 is off using Google Glass and has been awarded a U.S. new seats, and a new digital full dome projector. to a wild start here at the Virginia Living Museum. patent for a novel planetarium projection system. Now that I write about what is to come, I’m begin- We are back up and running again after a cable took ning to feel much better about the prospects for the us down just before New Year’s…but the great New Year! folks at Spitz had us back in business again within Planetarium 48 hours of learning about the problem. Thank you Thomas Jefferson HS Over the Holidays I made my annual trek 550 miles Spitz! Richmond, VA northwest to visit my sister near Topeka, Ks. This time I made contact with Mike Ford of the Banner We’re ringing in the New Year with a new slate of Leslie Bochenski reports: It’s been a fun-filled fall Creek Science Center. He operates a small, non- shows. Preschoolers will have the opportunity to semester, with over 650 first, third, and fourth grade profit science education center, and observatory. While we talked about our observatory and outreach learn about the constellation Orion with the laser students visiting the Planetarium. The first grade Mike was kind enough to open the day after New experiences, I couldn’t help but notice the wall version of Legends of the Night Sky: Orion. Space program “Shadows Big & Small” had proved espe- Year’s Day to give my sister and I a tour. hanging on the right side of the classroom space. science will be covered with a new fulldome pro- cially popular this season. It is about Earth’s rota- He said it was presented to him as a “thank you” gram, Back to the Moon For Good, a free show tion and is one of my favorite to perform because page 32 page 33 the students are always very excited on first seeing the Planetarium, and they come up with the fun- niest ideas. Like the kid who said “people on the REMEMBER other side of Earth walk upside-down.” YOUR STATE This winter, I will be closing the Planetarium for about 6 weeks while I recover from surgery. The programs already scheduled for this period will COORDINATOR! be postponed until spring. Jane Hastings will be making a return to Thomas Jefferson to teach the high school astronomy class in my absence. The ALABAMA: Mitzi Adams students are lucky to have such an experienced and mitzi.adams@nasa.gov enthusiastic teacher taking over, and I am lucky to have a good friend in Jane (and her husband George!). FLORIDA: George Fleenor [email protected]

GEORGIA: David Dundee [email protected]

KENTUCKY: Steve Russo [email protected]

LOUISIANA: Jon Elvert [email protected]

MISSISSIPPI: James Hill [email protected]

NORTH CAROLINA: Bob Hayward [email protected]

PUERTO RICO: James Sullivan [email protected]

SOUTH CAROLINA: Gary Senn [email protected]

TENNESSEE: Kris McCall [email protected]

VIRGIN ISLANDS: James Sullivan [email protected]

VIRGINIA: Kelly Herbst [email protected]

WEST VIRGINIA: Andrea Anderson [email protected] page 34