THE PLAN ETAR I N Journal of the International Planetarium Society
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THE PLAN ETAR I N Journal of the International Planetarium Society Vol .. 18, No .. 2, June 1989 Articles 09 Yet Another Scale Model of the Solar System ............. John T. Meader 11 Stars in Their Eyes; Poetry in Their Hearts ................ Jeanne E. Bishop 14 Who Are the Creationists .................................................. David Chandler 18 Selecting a Video System ................................................... Jeffrey L. Hunt 20 Digital Television Techniques and Applications ........ Terence Murtagh Features 27 Forum: Responsibly Accurate ................................................ Lonny Baker 32 Focus on Education: IAU Colloquium 105 .... : ............ Mark Sonntag and Mary Kay Hemenway 36 Book Reviews ..................................................... Carolyn Collins Petersen 40 Script Section: On Other Worlds With 'Weatherman" ............................. Jordan Marche II and John Mosley 53 Dr. Krocter ...................................................................... 0 ............ Norm Dean 54 Gibbous Gazette .................................................................... Donna Pierce 57 Regional Roundup .................................................................. Steven Mitch 62 President's Message ....................................................... Terence Murtagh 66 Jane's Corner ................................................................... Jane G. Hastings The Planetarian (ISN 0090-3213) is published quarterly by the International Planetarium The netarian Society under the auspices of the Publications Committee. ©1989, International Plane tarium Society, Inc., all rights reserved. Opinions expressed by authors are personal Vol. 18, No.2 opinions and are not necessarily the position of the International Planetarium its officers, or agents. The Editor welcomes items for consideration for PUIDllc:atlan. June 1989 Editor reserves the right to edit any solicited or unsolicited manuscripts to suit the needs of this publication. Executive Editor PUBLICATIONS CHAIRPERSON Carolyn Collins Petersen John Mosley Loch Ness Productions Griffith Observatory P.O. Box 3023 2800 E. Observatory Rd. Boulder, Colorado 80307 Los Angeles, Calif. 90027 213-664-1181 TREASURER AND MEMBERSHIP CHAIRMAN CompuServe 74156,473 Mark C. Petersen Loch Ness Productions Associate Editors P. O. Box 3023 Boulder, Colorado 80307 Lonny Baker Forum ADVERTISING COORDINATOR Suzanne Gurton Andrew Fraknoi Wallace Fiske Planetarium Universe at Your University of Colorado Fingertips Campus Box 408 Boulder, Colorado 80309 Jane G. Hastings 303-492-5002 Jane's Comer MEMBERSlflP CATEGORIES Keith Johnson Individual Membership: Computer Comer U.S. (3rd class bulk mail): $34 Other North America (lst class): supplement Gerald L. Mallon Overseas Atlantic (1 st $5 supplement Secondary Students Overseas Pacific (lst class): $8 postage supplement Institutional Membership: Jim Manning $125 first year; $50 annual renewal What's New Library Subscriptions: $24 with same postal supplement as above Jordan Marche II Script Section I. P. S. JOB INFORMATION SERVICE To receive word of new position openings in the planetarium David Menke field, send up to six self-addressed stamped envelopes to: Planetarium Lifeline Donald Hall, Director Strasenburgh Planetarium Steve Mitch P.O. Box 1480 Regional Roundup Rochester, New York 14603 Carolyn Collins Petersen BACK ISSUES OF THE Book Reviews Beginning with Vol. No.4, individual copies are $6.00 each. Donna Pierce All previous issues are $1.00 each Charlene Dukes, IPS Back Publications Repository Gibbous Gazette ~tr'asc~nt)uI'gh Planetarium P.O. Box 1480 Mark S. Sonntag Rochester, New York 14603 Focus on Education The Planetarian is designed at the Griffith Observatory. Printing by Victory Printing and Graphics, Van Nuys, California. 3 President: Treasurer &: Membership Chairman Elections Committee Chairman Terence Murtagh Mark C. Petersen Thomas Stec The Planetarium Armagh Loch Ness Productions Central Bucks East College Hill, Armagh P.O. Box 3023 Holicong and Anderson Northern Ireland, BT61 9DB, U. K. Boulder, Colorado 80307 USA Buckingham, PeI1ins,rlvamia 0861-524-725 303-455-0611 215-794-7481 President-Elect 1990 Conference Chairman Awards Committee Chair John Pogue Lars Broman Phyllis Grand Prairie ISD Planetarium The Furures' Museum The Adler l'lanetarilllm 301 Warrior Trail Galaxen Convention Center 1300 S. Lake Shore Drive Grand Prairie, Texas 75051, USA Jussi Bjorling's Road 25 Chicago, Illinois 60605 USA 214-264-4731 x261 5-78150 Borliinge, Sweden 312-322-0319 +46-243 734 27 Past-President Von Del Chamberlain 1992 Conference Chairman IPS Permanent """717"1"'0 Address: Hansen Planetarium Von Del Chamberlain 15 South State Street Hansen Planetarium Salt Lake City, Utah 84111 USA 15 South State Street International Planetarium .... n,-.la:'i-·U 801-538-2104 Salt Lake City, Utah 84111 USA c/o Hansen Planetarium 801-538-2104 15 South State Street Executive Secretary Gerald Mallon, Ed.D. Historian/Photo-Archivist Salt Lake Utah 84111 204 Haws Avenue John Hare Norristown, Pennsylvania 19401 USA Bishop Planetarium 215-631-9403 (office) 201 10th Street West Please notify the Editor of changes of 215-277-8767 (home) Bradenton, Florida 33505 USA Officers or Affiliate 1<.el>Jre5:eni:atlioes. 813-746-4132 Association of Mexican Planetari- Great Plains Planetarium Associa- Planetarium Association of ums (AMPAC) tion (GPPA) Canada (PAC) Ignacio Castro Pinal Alinda Wengenroth Ian U .. '.'-"L .... F..V Museo Technologico C.F.E. Grout Museum of History & Science McLaughlin Planetarium Apartado Postal 18-816 503 South Street 100 Queens Park CP 11870 Mexico City, D.F. Waterloo, Iowa 50701 USA Toronto, Ontario M5S 2C6 Canada Mexico 319-234-6357 416-586-5736 277-5779 Middle Atlantic Planetarium Mountain Planetarium British Association of Planetari- Society (MAPS) Association (RMP A) ums (HAP) Thomas Stec Schmidt Terence Murtagh Central Bucks East High School Planetari urn The Planetarium Armagh Holicong and Anderson Roads U. S. Air Force Ac,iClemy College Hill, Armagh Buckingham, Pennsylvania 18912 USA SO Northern Ireland, U.K. BT61 9DB 215-794-7481 ;:,pI'ln~;s, Colorado 80840 0861-524-725 Nordic Planetarium Network European/Mediterranean Plane- (NPN) Southeastern Planetarium tarium Association (EMP A) Lars Broman Association (SEP A) Dennis Simopoulos Broman Planetarium Dave Hostetter Eugenides Planetarium Fj~mhavren 7 <>+",.'u",,\+o Nat. Museum Syngrou Avenue-Amfithea 5-424 49 Angered, Sweden Athens, Greece +46-31 30 28 37 (office) 94-111-81 +46-23 101 77 (home) Great Lakes Planetarium Associa- Pacific Planetarium Association Southwestern Association tion (GLPA) (PPA) Planetariums (SWAP) Sheldon Schafer Larry Toy Donna Pierce Lakeview Museum Planetarium Chabot College Planetarium Highland Park Ind. School District 1125 West Lake Avenue 25555 Hesperian Blvd. 4220 Emerson Peoria, Illinois 61614 USA Hayward, California 94545 USA Dallas, Texas 75205 USA 4 1989 THE DIGISTAR UNIVERSE .. A new experience for your planetarium. DIGISTAR is the world's ~ St. Louis skyline presented by first and only planetarium and DIGISTAR. With DIG/STAR, your plan space theater projection system etarium visitors can fly through a com based on sophisticated computer puter data base of your city or through graphics. Instead of mechanical the DIGISTAR universe. Created by HOK components, OIGISTAR relies Computer Service Corp., St. Louis, Mo. on computer graphics to project standard planetarium features, ~ The DIGISTAR installation at the plus special effects that are totally McDonnell Star Theater at the St. Louis unique to OIGISTAR. Science Center. The DIGISTAR projector lens can be seen in the projection pit in A COMPLETE, the center of the star theater and always projects from below the spring line ofthe EXPANDABLE SYSTEM dome. OIGISTAR is delivered with all of the hardware and software DIGISTAR USERS required to generate images and project them onto a dome. The GROUP system features an extensive All DIGISTAR owners software package that can be belong to the DIGISTAR Users easily updated and expanded. Group. This provides an efficient Some of the standard DIGISTAR and economical way to share features include: information, and to exchange • 3-D outlines of 88 special effects ... at no charge! constellations No other planetarium system • Travel through space and can offer this powerful way to time, spatially flying through expand instrument capabilities 400 parsecs and horizons. • Proper motion of the stars and constellations one million ~ Line drawing of a proposed NASA years into the future or past space station created on DIGISTAR. • Instant positioning from the current sky to any other sky in Special effects let your planetarium visitors explore the past or future more than astronomy. Molecules • Alternate skies-Gamma Ray, and chemical designs may be pro x- Ray, Radio and Infrared jected on the dome bigger than • Meteors, galaxies and special effects life; engineering and scientific designs can be displayed, then • Sun, planets and their moons, comets and asteroids with rotated, panned and zoomed, to their motions accurately com study, to educate and to enter puted using a Keplerian model tain. A variety of other data bases and special effects can be dis • 3-D drawing package to create your own effects played and manipulated, in real time. DIGISTAR is truly unique • Extensive users library-free to all DIGISTAR owners because what you create and pro ject on the dome of your plan etarium is limited only by