Journal of the International Planetarium Society

Vol. 34, No. 2 June 2005

Lunar astronauts watch a solar eclipse in 2081

The Planetarian (ISN 0090-3213) is published quarterly by the International Planetarium Society. ©2005, Inter- national Planetarium Society, Inc., all rights reserved. June 2005 Vol. 34, No. 2 Opinions expressed by authors are personal opinions and are not necessarily the opinions of the International Planetarium Society, its officers, or agents. Acceptance of advertisements, announcements, or other material does Executive Editor not imply endorsement by the International Planetarium Society, its officers or agents. John Mosley The Editor welcomes items for consideration for publication. Please consult "Guidelines Griffith Observatory for Contributors" at www.GriffithObs.org/IPSGuidelines.html. The Editor reserves the 2800 E. Observatory Road right to edit any manuscript to suit this publication’s needs. Los Angeles, California 90027 USA (1) 323-664-1181 daytime phone Articles (1) 323-663-4323 Griffith fax 6 Screen Media Before Film and the Frontiers of Space ...... John Plunkett [email protected] 10 Producing a Nationwide Planetarium Show ...... Advertising Coordinator ...... Pierre Chastenay, Alan Dyer, Erik Koelemeyer, Scott Young Chuck Bueter 14 Star Magic ...... Tom Callen 15893 Ashville Lane 19 What the Heck is a Planetarium Anymore? ...... Mark Petersen Granger, Indiana 46530 USA 21 John Ebdon, 1923-2005 ...... Undine Concannon (1) 574-271-3150 22 Explore the Edge at the Adler Planetarium: IPS 2008 ...... Paul [email protected] . . . . . Knappenberger, Larry Ciupik, JoseFrancisco Salgado, Karen Donnelly http://www.ips-planetarium.org/planetarian/ 25 Invitation to Oakland: IPS 2008 ...... Alex Barnett ratesheet4.htm Columns Membership 29 Reviews ...... April S. Whitt Individual: $50 one year; $90 two years 35 Forum: Space Initiative ...... Steve Tidey Institutional: $200 first year; $100 annual renewal 41 President’s Message ...... Martin George Library Subscriptions: $36 one year Direct membership requests and changes of address to 44 Digital Frontiers ...... Ed Lantz the Treasurer/Membership Chairman on next page. 39 NASA Space Science News ...... Anita Sohus 46 Mobile News Network ...... Susan Reynolds Button Back Issues of the Planetarian 52 International News ...... Lars Broman IPS Back Publications Repository 60 Gibbous Gazette ...... James Hughes maintained by the Treasurer/Membership Chairman; 64 Last Light ...... April S. Whitt contact information is on next page Index Index of Advertisers A cumulative index of major articles that have appeared in the Planetarian from the first issue Adler Planetarium ...... 40 through the current issue is available online at Allsky.de ...... 49 http://www.ips-planetarium.org/planetarian/ Astro-Tec, Inc...... 38 planetarian_index.pdf Audio-Visual Imagineering ...... 43 Bowen Technovations ...... 59 Final Deadlines Calgary Science Centre ...... 34 March: January 21 Clark Planetarium ...... 50 June: April 21 East Coast Control Systems ...... 42 September: July 21 Evans & Sutherland ...... outside back cover December: October 21 GOTO USA Inc...... 43 Konica Minolta Planetarium Co. Ltd...... 51 Learning Technologies, Inc...... 62 International Planetarium Society home page: R.S.A. Cosmos ...... inside back cover www.ips-planetarium.org Scott Electric ...... 57 Planetarian journal new home page: SEOS ...... 5 http://www.ips-planetarium.org/planetarian Sky-Skan, Inc...... centerfold Spitz, Inc...... 28 Stadpoolen AB...... 13 Zeiss, Inc...... inside front cover Cover: Astronauts on the moon watch a solar eclipse in the year 2081. They gaze across the dome to the earth, Associate Editors which is near the opposite horizon. This fulldome Forum International News NASA Space News image appears in Earth’s Wild Ride by Home Run Steve Tidey Lars Broman Anita Sohus Pictures, produced by Houston Museum of Natural Digital Frontiers Last Light Reviews Science and Rice University. For more information visit Ed Lantz April S. Whitt April S. Whitt www.e-planetarium.com." See page 61 in this issue. Gibbous Gazette Mobile News Network What's New James Hughes Susan Button Andrew Buckingham

June 2005 Planetarian 1 I. P. S. Officers President Past President (1) 703-750-5010 fax Martin George Jon W. Elvert, Director [email protected] Launceston Planetarium Irene W. Pennington Planetarium Queen Victoria Museum Louisiana Art & Science Museum Treasurer and Membership Chair Wellington Street 100 South River Road Shawn Laatsch Launceston, Tasmania 7250 Australia Baton Rouge, Louisiana 70802 USA P.O. Box 1812 61 3 63233777 (1) 225-344-5272 Greenville, North Carolina 27835 USA 61 3 63233776 fax (1) 225-214-4027 fax (1) 252-328-6139 office [email protected] [email protected] (1) 252-328-6218 fax [email protected] President Elect Executive Secretary Susan Reynolds Button Lee Ann Hennig Quarks to Clusters Planetarium 8793 Horseshoe Lane Thomas Jefferson High School Chittenango, New York 13037 USA for Science and Technology (1) 315-687-5371 6560 Braddock Road (1) 315-432-4523 (fax) Alexandria, Virginia 22312 USA [email protected] (1) 703-750-8380 I. P. S. Affiliate Representatives

Association of Dutch Speaking Canadian Association of Science Japan Planetarium Society Russian Planetariums Association Planetariums Centres Shoichi Itoh Zinaida P. Sitkova Chris Janssen John Dickenson, Managing Director Planetarium Ur Nizhny Novgorod Planetarium Director, Europlanetarium Pacific Space Centre Suginami Science Education Center Pokhvalinskii S’Yezd 5-A Planetariumweg 19 H.R. MacMillan Planetarium 3-3-13 Shimizu, Suginami-ku Nizhny Novgorod, 603 600 Russia 3600 Genk Belgium 1100 Chestnut Street Tokyo 167-0033 Japan (7) 831 2 30 51 51 +32 89 30 79 90 Vancouver, British Columbia V6J 3J9 (81) 3 3396 4391 (7) 831 2 30 51 66 fax +32 89 30 79 91 fax Canada (81) 3 3396 4393 fax [email protected] [email protected] (1) 604-738-7827 ext.234 [email protected] [email protected] www.europlanetarium.com (1) 604-736-5665 fax [email protected] [email protected] Southeastern Planetarium Associ- Association of French-Speaking Middle Atlantic Planetarium Society ation Planetariums Council of German Planetariums Paul Krupinski John Hare Agnes Acker Dr. Andreas Haenel, 180 Crandon Blvd. Ash Enterprises Observatoire de Strasbourg Planetarium des Museums am Mobile Dome Planetarium 3602 23rd Avenue West 11, rue de l'universite Schoelerberg Buffalo, New York 14225 USA Bradenton, Florida 34205 USA 67000 Strasbourg France Am Schoelerberg 8 (1) 716-681-0204 (1) 941-746-3522 03 90 24 24 67 D 49082 Osnabrueck Germany [email protected] (1) 941-750-9497 fax 03 90 24 24 17 fax +49 541 560 0326 [email protected] [email protected] +49 541 560 0337 fax Nordic Planetarium Association [email protected] [email protected] Lars Broman Southwestern Association of Plane- Dalarna University tariums Association of Mexican Planetariums European/Mediterranean SE 791 88 Falun Sweden Tony Butterfield Ignacio Castro Pinal Planetarium Association (46) 2310 177 Houston Museum of Natural Science Torres de Mixcoac, A6-702 Dennis Simopoulos [email protected] One Hermann Circle C.P. 01490, México D.F. México Eugenides Planetarium www.planetarium.se/npa Houston, Texas 77581 USA (52) (55) 55 24 51 50 Syngrou Avenue-Amfithea (1) 713 639-4637 (52) (55) 55 24 01 40 Fax Athens Greece Pacific Planetarium Association (1) 713 639-4681 fax [email protected] (30) 1 941 1181 Gail Chaid, Director [email protected] (30) 1 941 7372 fax Independence Planetarium Association of Spanish Planetariums [email protected] 1776 Educational Park Drive Ukranian Planetariums Association Javier Armentia San Jose, California 95133 USA Lydmila Rybko Planetario de Pamplona Great Lakes Planetarium Association +1 408-928-9604 Kiev Republican Planetarium Sancho Ramirez, 2 Chuck Bueter +1 408-926-9515 fax 57/3 Velyka Vasyikivska Street E-31008 Pamplona Navarra Spain 15893 Ashville Lane [email protected] 03150 Kiev Ukraine +34 948 260 004 Granger, Indiana 46530 USA +380 442 27 27 81 +34 948 260 056 (1) 574 271 3150 Planetarium Society of India +380 442 27 37 43 fax +34 948 261 919 fax [email protected] Professor S. Gopinath [email protected] [email protected] Director-Astronomer [email protected] Great Plains Planetarium Association Daruna, cio.com Jack Dunn 80, Kathatorn Road Ralph Mueller Planetarium Amper Muang, Australasian Planetarium Society University of Nebraska- Lincoln Ratchaburi- 70000. Thailand Glen Moore 210 Morrill Hall +66 323 26156 Planetarium, Science Centre Lincoln, Nebraska 68588-0375 USA [email protected] University of Wollongong (1) 402-472-2641 [email protected] Northfields Ave, (1) 402-475-8899 fax Wollongong, NSW 2522 Australia [email protected] Rocky Mountain Planetarium +61 2 4286 5000 Association +61 2 4283 6665 fax Italian Planetaria’s Friends Jim Manning [email protected] Association Taylor Planetarium http://home.vicnet.net.au/~apsweb Loris Ramponi Museum of the Rockies National Archive of Planetaria 600 W. Kagy Blvd. British Association of Planetaria c/o Centro Studi e Ricerche Serafino Bozeman, MT 59717 Teresa Grafton Zani +1 406-994-6874 London Planetarium via Bosca 24, C.P. 104 [email protected] Marylebone Road 25066 Lumezzane (Brescia) Italy London NW1 5LR England United (39) 30 87 21 64 Kingdom (39) 30 87 25 45 fax 44 (0) 20 7487 0243 www.planetaritaliani.it 44 (0) 20 7465 0923 fax [email protected] Teresa.Grafton@madame- tussauds.com

2 Planetarian June 2005 I. P. S. Standing Committees

IPS Conference Committee IPS Awards Committee IPS Finance Committee - President, Past- Martin George Jon Bell President, President-Elect, Treasurer, Launceston Planetarium Hallstrom Planetarium Secretary Queen Victoria Museum Indian River Community College Wellington Street 3209 Virginia Avenue Launceston, Tasmania 7250 Australia Fort Pierce, Florida 34981 USA 61 3 63233777 (1) 561-462-4888 61 3 63233776 fax [email protected] [email protected] IPS Publications Committee IPS Membership Committee Dr. Dale W. Smith Shawn Laatsch BGSU Planetarium, 104 Overman Hall P.O. Box 1812 Physics &Astronomy Dept. Greenville, North Carolina 27835 USA Bowling Green State University (1) 252-328-6139 office Bowling Green, Ohio 43403 USA (1) 252-328-6218 fax (1) 419-372-8666 [email protected] (1) 419-372-9938 fax [email protected] IPS Elections Committee Steve Mitch, Chair IPS Web Committee Planetarium Alan Gould Please notify the Editor of any changes Benedum Natural Science Center Holt Planetarium on these two pages. Oglebay Park Lawrence Hall of Science Wheeling, West Virginia 26003 USA University of California Contact the Treasurer/Membership Chair (1) 304-243-4034 Berkeley, California 94720-5200 USA (1) 304-243-4110 fax (1) 510-643-5082 for individual member address changes and [email protected] (1) 510-642-1055 fax general circulation and billing questions. [email protected] I. P. S. AD HOC Committees Armand Spitz Planetarium Education Fund 61 3 63233776 fax Vancouver, British Columbia V6J 3J9 Finance Committee [email protected] Canada (1) 604-738-7827 ext. 234 IPS Education Committee IPS Outreach Committee (1) 604-736-5665 fax April Whitt Christine Shupla [email protected] Fernbank Science Center Arizona Science Center 156 Heaton Park Drive NE 600 East Washington Street IPS Technology Committee Atlanta, Georgia 30307 USA Phoenix, Arizona 85004 USA Jan Sifner (1) 678-875-7148 (1) 602-716-2078 Planetarium Praha (1) 678-874-7110 fax (1) 602-716-2099 fax Observatory and Planetarium of Prague [email protected] [email protected] Kralovska obora 233 CZ-170 21 Prague 7 Czech Republic IPS Full-Dome Video Committee IPS Planetarium Development Group +420 2 333 764 52 Edward J. Lantz Ken Wilson +420 2 333 794 44 (Jan) Planetarium Consultant Ethyl Universe Planetarium +420 2 333 764 34 fax Visual Bandwidth, Inc. Science Museum of Virginia [email protected] P.O. Box 1367 2500 West Broad Street www.planetarium.cz 1290 Baltimore Pike, Suite 111 Richmond, Virginia 23220 USA Chadds Ford, Pennsylvania 19317 USA (1) 804-864-1429 (1) 484-467-1267 (1) 804-864-1560 fax (1) 610-358-1689 fax [email protected] [email protected] http://www.visualbandwidth.com IPS Portable Planetarium Committee Susan Reynolds Button IPS History Committee Quarks to Clusters John Hare, IPS Historian 8793 Horseshoe Lane Ash Enterprises Chittenango, NY 13037 3602 23rd Avenue West (1) 315-687-5371 Bradenton, Florida 34205 USA [email protected] (1) 941-746-3522 (1) 941-750-9497 fax IPS Professional Services Committee [email protected] Mike Murray Clark Planetarium IPS Job Information Service Subcommittee 110 South 400 West (Professional Services Committee) Salt Lake City, Utah 84101 USA Steve Fentress (1) 801 456 4949 Strasenburgh Planetarium (1) 801 456 4928 fax IPS Permanent Mailing Address Rochester Museum & Science Center [email protected] 657 East Avenue International Planetarium Society Rochester, New York 14607 USA IPS Script Contest Committee c/o Taylor Planetarium (1) 585-271-4552 ext. 409 Steve Tidey Museum of the Rockies (1 )585-271-7146 fax 58 Prince Avenue Montana State University [email protected] Southend, Essex, SS2 6NN England United Kingdom 600 W. Kagy Blvd. IPS Language Committee [email protected] Bozeman, Montana 59717 USA Martin George Launceston Planetarium Strategic Planning Committee IPS Web Site Queen Victoria Museum John Dickenson www.ips-planetarium.org Wellington Street H.R. MacMillan Planetarium Launceston, Tasmania 7250 Australia Pacific Space Centre 61 3 63233777 1100 Chestnut Street

Produced at the Griffith Observatory, Los Angeles, California

June 2005 Planetarian 3 ran out of new things to say, and the debate Editor’s Keyboard subsided years ago. I’m surprised that the debate over the date of the Christmas Star, or the Star of Bethle- of Herod’s death wasn’t ended when histori- hem, and that’s where we planetarians come ans of the period got together, considered it in. If Jesus was born in 3 or 2 BC, then our carefully, and resolved it one way or the long-standing identification of the “star” seen other, especially with the 2000-year anniver- by the magi as a triple conjunction of Jupiter sary approaching through the 1990s. I quiz- and Saturn in 7 and 6 BC was wrong, and an zed Dr. Martin on this regularly. He explained explanation that dates back to Kepler himself that, unlike astronomy, where progress is so needed to be revised. rapid it can be hard to keep up, historians The article came from a symposium on the work at a much more leisurely time scale. date of the nativity held at Griffith Observa- Perhaps so. Dr. Martin was convinced he was tory in 1980 that convinced me that Dr. Mar- correct and eventually consensus would tin was onto something. We revised our swing his way, and I still think that it will. “Christmas Star” planetarium show, which Dr. Martin died in January, 2002. Several we had presented essentially unchanged new books have appeared on the subject in since the 1940s, to reflect the new, later date the last few years, but I’m not aware that and the consequent identification of a series they add much. The history still needs to be of Jupiter-Regulus and Jupiter-Venus con- sorted out; the astronomy follows. On one The summer 1980 issue of the Planetarian junctions as the “star.” That revised show was hand, I’d like the issue to be resolved so I (see below) took me back – it contains the presented most Decembers through 2001 (a know one way or the other; on the other first article I published in this journal. It was a copy of the script appeared in the Vol. 13 #3 hand, it is nice for there to be unsolved mys- cooperative effort with Dr. Ernest Martin, issue of the Planetarian). I wrote several more teries to keep us intrigued and to remind us and it presented his new work in redating the articles on the “star” for the Planetarian and a that science and history is a process of dis- nativity of Jesus. For numerous historical rea- short souvenir book that is still available by covery, rather than a collection of facts. sons Dr. Martin concluded that King Herod mailorder from Griffith’s bookshop. died in 1 BC as opposed to the commonly Others contributed their thoughts on the At press time, Ed Lantz contributed the accepted year 4 BC. The effect of this was to matter to the Planetarian, and a spirited de- first installment of a new column: Digital move the Jesus’ birth to 3-2 BC (he later sug- bate raged through these pages in the 1970s Frontiers. Ed will bring us news of develop- gested the exact day in arguments I couldn’t and ‘80s and made for lively reading. Several ments in the digital planetarium and “full- and still don’t agree with), as opposed to 6-7 articles are on-line at the Planetarian website. dome” video theater field. This is a welcome BC. This in turn called for a reinterpretation Perhaps the parties exhausted themselves or addition – and welcome, Ed!

Long-time readers of the Planetarian will resembled the von Braun-Bonestell space sta- recall a series of articles on the Star of Bethle- 25 Years Ago tion of the 1950s) out of the lid of an ice hem that appeared in the 1980s and into the cream container, a coat hanger, and other ‘90s. The first two of these appeared 25 years James Brown’s What’s New filled almost such odds and ends. It looks convincing to ago in the Summer 1980 issue, and they were one-half page (a far cry from Jim Manning’s me. Two steps in the process are reproduced “The Star of Bethlehem Reconsidered: A The- massive columns decades later), introducing below. 3D modeling 25 years ago! ological Approach” by Carl Wenning of Illi- products for pin-registering and storing Jane’s Corner rounded out a full 28-page nois State University and “The Star of Bethle- 35mm slides. issue. hem Reconsidered: An Historical Approach” The issue’s longest article (at 10 pages, with by John Mosley and Ernest Martin in Califor- 18 illustrations), by Dave DeVorkin and nia. The first argued in three pages that the Michael Mendillo, was a retrospective on the famous “star” seen by the magi at the time of canals and atmosphere of Mars as debated the birth of Christ was the shekhina glory during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. (the visible manifestation of God’s presence) Other than that the topic is often included in or midrash (a literary device), as opposed to planetarium shows, the article had little to an actual astronomical event. The second in- do with planetariums. troduced Dr. Martin’s historical research, just Jeanne Bishop’s single-page Focus on published in his new book The Birth of Education alerted readers to a series of minor Christ Recalculated!, in which he concluded, issues. for historical reasons, that Herod died in Jan- This was followed with Georgia Shurr’s uary, 1 BC, rather than the previously accept- “The Heavens and a Conscious Mix of Im- ed 4 BC, and consequently that Jesus was mortality.” In two pages this Professor of born in 3/2 BC, and that the most likely French at the University of Idaho critiqued a explanation for the star was a series of con- novel about Roman Emperor Hadrian’s view junctions between Jupiter, Venus, and of the sky. According to the novel, Hadrian Regulus. His research caused the Griffith was absolutely entranced by the sky. Observatory to revise its age-old Christmas In Herb Schwartz’ Creative Corner, Brian Star planetarium show to incorporate his Sullivan of the Flandrau Planetarium in Tuc- new ideas. And it sparked a debate that con- son, Arizona, described how to assemble a 3D tinues today. model of a futuristic space station (which

4 Planetarian June 2005

Screen Media Before Film and the Frontiers of Space John Plunkett School of English University of Exeter Exter EX4 4QH United Kingdom [email protected]

Planetariums and museums often use but interrelated types. The first of these Leicester Square was around 27 meters (90 interactive screen media as part of their exhi- stems from the purpose-built institutions feet) in diameter, while the diorama screen bitions. The use of the latest screen technolo- designed to house panoramas and dioramas. in Regent’s Park was 14 by 22 meters (45 by gy to portray the stars has a long history, one Robert Barker took out the first patent for a 72 feet). However, despite their novelty, the which stretches back the to the end of the circular panorama in 1787, in which he appeal of such large-format images was eighteenth-century and the growth of opti- envisaged the creation of a purpose-built inherently limited. The large outlay of capi- cal recreations as part of a larger Planetariums and museums often use interac- tal required for each picture and industry of popular entertain- a building, along with the conse- ment and instruction. The nine- tive screen media as part of their exhibitions. quent inability to change the teenth-century was obsessed The use of the latest screen technology to por- scene more than once or twice a with the disorientating thrill of tray the stars has a long history, one which year, meant that only London new optical and screen media, could support such purpose- ranging from panoramas and stretches back the to the end of the eigh- built institutions. dioramas to stereoscopes and teenth-century and the growth of optical recre- Large-format screen media magic lanterns. There was a bur- ations as part of a larger industry of popular often prospered better as one ele- geoning industry of large format ment in venues that offered screen images that was ideally entertainment and instruction. … nineteenth- multiple attractions. The most suited for portraying the solar century public shows that opened up the sub- significant example of this is the system. From the microscope limity of the stars and planets were part of a London Colosseum in Regent’s and magic lantern of the Re- Park (fig. 3). It claimed to have naissance, new optical devices wider disorientating thrill of situating the viewer been visited by more than one have opened up previously in different kinds of space. million people in the first fifteen unseen worlds. In keeping with years. Its main attraction was a this tradition, nineteenth-century public rotunda to accentuate the all-enveloping panorama of London viewed from an imagi- shows that opened up the sublimity of the visual impact of a painted 360-degree scene. nary standpoint at the top of St Paul’s, and stars and planets were part of a wider disori- The first rotunda opened in Leicester Square which measured 3,700 square meters (40,000 entating thrill of situating the viewer in dif- in 1793 and another soon followed it in the square feet). Additionally though, the ferent kinds of space. Strand (fig. 1). A similar entertainment that Colosseum offered a Saloon decorated with The exhibition of large-format screen relied on a purpose-built venue to present an sculpture and objet d’art, a cleverly con- images can be separated into two distinct illusionistic moving scene was the Diorama. structed landscape garden in which had been The Diorama relied on a clever arrangement cut ravines, mountains, and dells, and a con- I first became interested in the long histo- of shutters and blinds to alter the play of servatory 90 meters (300 feet) in length that ry of screen entertainment when I was light falling onto a painted transparency. By was filled with exotic flowers and plants. appointed as a research fellow and then changing the direction and amount of light The range of entertainment was completed lecturer at the University of Exeter, UK. the transparent image could be made to by an imitation Swiss Cottage, which looked Much of my work is Exeter is based at the “move”, often transforming from a day to out onto a cleverly constructed mountain Bill Douglas Centre for the History of night scene. The Diorama first opened in waterfall, and an enormous camera obscura Cinema and Popular Culture, a research Paris in July 1822, and was the brainchild of on the roof. Other institutions similarly used centre-cum-museum, which opened in Louis Daguerre and Charles Bouton, two the- individual optical media as only one ele- 1997, and which is devoted to the long his- atrical scene painters. Its success led to the ment in larger exhibitions of technological tory of the moving image. The collection opening of a building in Regent’s Park in curiosity and entertainment. The Regent contains around 50,000 artefacts, includ- 1823; temporary buildings soon followed in Street Polytechnic, for example, which ing many examples of panoramas, peep- Manchester, Liverpool, Edinburgh, and opened in 1838, had a typically eclectic pro- shows, magic lanterns, and stereoscopes. Dublin. gram that included oxyhydrogen micro- One day, when I have finally finished Panoramas and dioramas housed in specif- scopes alongside phantasmagorias, dissolv- playing with all of the optical toys, I hope ic venues were notable for their visual spec- ing views and elaborate lantern shows. to write a book on nineteenth-century tacle and scale. The pictures displayed were While the London Colosseum and Barker’s optical recreations. – JP enormous. The largest panorama circle at Panorama were fixed entertainments, most

6 Planetarian June 2005 Fig 1. Henry Aston Barker’s Panorama, Leicester Square, London, Fig. 2. The Portable Eidouranion; Or, Juvenile Trans- View of the city of St Petersburg, taken on the tower of the obser- parent Solar System (London: John Offor, 1824) vatory (1819) panoramas, dioramas, and magic lantern matter of the panorama for example. It is 1978), 81.). Unlike the small size of traditional shows toured a large number of venues in thus unsurprising that astronomy and the orrerys, the size of Walker’s Eidouranion London and the provinces. Optical enter- mysteries of the heavens was a common sub- meant that it could be exhibited to large tainments could be found in bazaars, plea- jects for optical shows that sought to provide audiences in darkened auditoriums. Walker sure gardens, theatres, scientific institutions, a mixture of entertainment and instruction. first exhibited his Eidouranion in 1781, play- and mechanics institutes. Individual media As one London guidebook, London Lions for ing for twenty-five nights at the Theatre adapted to this mode of exhibition that Country Cousins and Friends about Town Royal, Haymarket, and subsequently at the maximised the commercial success of any declared in 1826, “Astronomy, universally Lyceum Theatre in the Strand. one show. Moving panoramas, for example, acknowledged the most sublime and inter- Walker’s Eidouranion was for many years came to the fore from the early 1820s. In- esting of those sciences which admit of pop- a fixture on the London exhibition circuit. stead of being fixed circular scenes, they ular illustrations, is doubly valuable for its After Adam Walker’s death it was exhibited were enormous scrolling canvases that were powerful influence and effect in the general his son, Deane F. Walker, who was lecturing mounted between two rollers, and which improvement of the human mind” (Horace until at least the 1820s. London Lions for could consequently be transported to a Wellbeloved, London Lions for Country Country Cousins and Friends about Town number of venues. One of the most famous Cousins and Friends about Town (London, declared of Walker’s lecture that “its early early shows was Marshall’s Grand Moving 1826), 3). Astronomical lectures livened up days formed so novel, and, really, so interest- Panorama of the coronation of George IV, with mechanical and optical devices benefit- ing, so dignified an amusement, that we can- which was accompanied by a band playing ed hugely from the drive for popular educa- not hesitate to place it amongst the most suitably patriotic music at the correct tion in the early nineteenth-century. respectable efforts to extend the beneficial moment. By the 1840s, the majority of pano- The fashion for public shows using new uses of the stage” (Wellbeloved, 2.). An illus- rama shows were of this type. optical media to demonstrate the working of tration of Walker’s lecture suggests that way Optical shows often played upon a mix- the solar system was started by the success of that the Eidouranion employed features ture of technological realism and visual spec- Adam Walker’s Eidouranion, or Grand used in large-scale transparencies to create its tacle; they were predisposed towards subject Transparent Orrery. Walker’s Eidouranion luminous effects (fig. 6). matter that accentuated the impact of the was a 6-meter (20-feet) high model orrery The success of Walker’s Eidouranion led to screen experience. Exotic landscapes, vast with transparent luminous globes to repre- many similar shows and devices. In London, cityscapes, and large events like the battles of sent the planets (Richard Altick, The Shows R.E. Lloyd’s Diastrodoxon, another large Waterloo and Trafalgar formed the staple of London (Cambridge, MA: Belknapp Press, Grand Transparent Vertical Orrery, provided

June 2005 Planetarian 7 astronomical projections were exhibited in the same fashion as the ghost shows of the Phantasmagoria, whereby images were back- projected onto a transparent screen from a magic lantern, thereby giving an impression of an image suspended in space. Astronomical lectures, like moving panoramas and dioramas, regularly toured pro- vincial cities. Fig. 4 shows a typical advert for a series of twelve lectures on Astrology at the Natural School, Brislington, Bristol. Like the London shows, the principal attraction was a large transparent orrery “in which the Rays of the Sun, and the Brilliancy of the Planets, the accuracy of their Motion, their Appear- ances, as though they were suspended in Space, produces one of the grandest Illustra- tions of the Heaven ever beheld.” A psalm printed at the top of the advertisement, stating that the Heavens declare the glory of God, emphasises that, in the early years of the nineteenth century, astronomical shows Fig. 3. The Coliseum, Regent’s Park were often intended to reach a respectable God-fearing audience that would still regard going to the theatre with puritanical suspi- cion. The success of the Eidouranion stretched as far as the United States. As early as Febru- ary 1801, an Eidouranion show was being advertised at Mr Stelle’s Hotel, Washington, by a lecturer who was a “former Pupil of Messieurs Walker, Martin, and Ferguson”, suggesting a link back to Walker’s original device. Like the British shows, the Washing- ton lecture provided a mix of education and amusement. An advertising handbill declared that that the appeal of the show was such that “the man of science may spec- ulate, the serious admire the wonderful works of Nature, and the gay be allured to intellectual pleasures.” In addition to lectures and shows dedicated to astronomy, viewing the heavens often formed one element within larger exhibitions. Fig. 5 is a handbill for an exhibition at Short’s Observatory in Edinburgh from the early 1850s. Visitors could experience the infinity of space via two telescopes and an orrery of the solar system. Yet there was also a solar microscope that demonstrated the infinity of matter in a single point of space. The solar microscope projected an enor- mously magnified image of a drop of water Fig 5. Short’s Observatory, Calton and promised to show the eye of a fly “mag- Hill, Edinburgh, c. 1851-2 nified into an expanse of 12 feet [3.6 meters], each of its many hundred pupils assuming the size of a human eye.” Other attractions the principal competition. In 1819, Lloyd’s included a camera obscura of Edinburgh, a Diastrodoxon was showing at the Theatre peristrephic view of the city, probably some Royal, Haymarket, while Deane F. Walker’s kind of moving panorama, and a Colosseum improved Eidouranion was playing at the view of London that was obviously an imita- New English Opera House. Magic lantern tion of the more famous picture at the Re- Fig 4. Mr Children, Two Lectures on shows showing star constellations and tele- gent’s Park venue. The appeal of the optical Astronomy, National School, Brisling- scopic views of planets also came to promi- artefacts at Short’s Observatory typifies the ton, c. 1830 nence around the turn of the century. These way that such exhibitions sought to go

8 Planetarian June 2005 audience. The show is a the Eidouranion had a rudimentary translu- microcosm of the cross- cent effect akin to its larger counterpart. over between those Another transparent orrery produced for the shows devoted to unseen home was by Elton of London in 1817, and worlds of science and was dedicated to Deane F. Walker. Elton’s those which provided a transparent orrery consisted of a moving glimpse of unseen land- panorama set in a wooden frame like a scapes or cityscapes. miniature theatre. The rolling scene was The effects of large-for- pierced with illustrations of star constella- mat optical media were tions and planets and backed with transpar- often reproduced by ent coloured tissue. A window or a lamp small-scale artefacts and could thus illuminate the scene from prints that were designed behind. The device borrows from the fash- for domestic consump- ion for both transparencies and moving tion. Hand-held panora- panoramas. Through scrolling the scene mas, small dioramic along, the user could be educated in the prints, and magic lanterns arrangement of the planets. for the home were widely The success of nineteenth-century optical available. An offshoot of recreations helped to determine the range of the success of public lec- attractions subsequently offered by the cine- tures on astronomy was a ma and more recent multimedia technolo- series of small-scale gies. The visual spectacle of purpose-built domestic devices. The panoramas and dioramas is part of a tradi- Portable Eidouranion; Or, tion that stretches forward to Cinemascope Juvenile Transparent Sol- and IMAX. Moreover, contemporary multi- ar System was an educa- media continue to be used to provide the tional children’s toy pro- same mixture of public entertainment and duced in 1824 that ex- instruction as their nineteenth-century pre- ploited the success of cursors. large-scale transparent orrerys (fig. 1). The astro- Note: The images in this article are repro- nomic chart was backed duced Courtesy of the Bill Douglas Centre with coloured transpar- for the History of Cinema and Popular Cul- Fig. 6. “Mr. Walker’s Eidouranion”, from London Lions ent paper and the shapes ture, University of Exeter, UK. Its web cata- for Country Cousins and Friends about Town (London, 1826) of several planets and logue, including many digitised images of comets were cut out from artefacts from the collection, is available at beyond the ordinary perceptual limits of its the card so that, when held up to the light, http://billdouglas.ex.ac.uk/eve.

Web site/booklet respond to claims that the universe is young

The American Astronomical Society (AAS) has published “An Ancient Universe,” an illustrated guide explaining how astronomers know that the cosmos is old and that it changes with time. In several U.S. states there have been demands that discussions of the Big Bang and the vast age of the universe be excluded from science curricula in K-12 classrooms. In response, the Astronomy Education Board of the AAS put together an article first published in a newsletter for teachers on the Astronomical Society of the Pacific web site. This article has now been expanded and updated into a booklet designed for school boards, principals, parents, and anyone who wants to see the scientific perspective on the age of the Earth and the physical world. The 20-page non-technical booklet is available for free downloading on the web site:

http://education.aas.org/publications/ancientuniverse.html

The authors explain the evidence showing that we live in a universe that is between 10 billion and 15 billion years old and that both the universe and its contents undergo evolutionary change. A list of written and web resources is also included.

June 2005 Planetarian 9 Producing a Nationwide Planetarium Show Pierre Chastenay1, Alan Dyer2, Erik Koelemeyer3, Scott Young4

The Quest for Origins um), and Erik Koelemeyer (H.R. MacMillan institutions whose production and screening The adventure began in the spring of Space Centre in Vancouver). (The McLaugh- capabilities weren’t all compatible. Still, we 2002. CASCA (the Canadian Astronomical lin Planetarium in Toronto had closed its were all willing to embark on the adventure. Society) had just published its long-term doors in 1995.) The idea appealed to every- We expected the learning curve to be rather plan for the future of astronomy in Canada, one, provided of course that Canadian Heri- steep, but we recognized the real potential of titled The Origins of Structures in the Uni- tage funded the project. creating a much larger scale show with five verse (you can download this plan in PDF Not surprisingly, there was some skepti- participants rather than one. format at http://www.casca.ca/lrp). In this cism about the feasibility of sharing the pro- Montreal staff took on the task of prepar- document, professional astronomers in duction of a 35-minute show among five ing the official proposal for Canadian Heri- Canada outlined the themes and re- tage (since the original idea was Mont- search topics they intended to focus on Producing a full-scale planetarium real’s), including a project description over the coming decade and drew up a show at one facility is challenge (written in collaboration with Calgary), list of new telescopes they would need a detailed budget, and a precise time- to achieve their scientific goals. enough. Doing it amongst four plane- table. As English wasn’t the first lan- The key word from this vision of tariums spread across one of the guage of most Montreal staff, and the astronomy in Canada was “origins” — largest countries on the planet was other producers across Canada didn’t read French, the proposal was first done the origin of stars, planets, galaxies, and even more fun! But in 2004 four the universe as a whole. To us at the in French, then translated into English Montreal Planetarium, “origins” seemed major theatres in Canada jointly pro- and submitted to others across Canada an ideal theme for a planetarium show, duced a planetarium show with a for revisions. We modified the original especially since such a theme would $200,000 budget and opened it French version to reflect these addi- help us showcase the work of Canadian tions and submitted the proposal to astronomers and explain to the general simultaneously across the nation. Canadian Heritage a few days before public how research funds are used. the deadline of November 1, 2002. Our The pan-Canadian aspect of our endeav- next step was to wait. our also seemed a good way to put into prac- We’d been told that the deliberation peri- tice a production approach that several od could be long. Six months later, on May 8, French planetariums had experimented with 2003, a letter from the Honourable Sheila recently, namely sharing production duties Copps, then the Heritage Minister, informed among several institutions. From the start, us that our project had been approved for the plan was that each of our country’s funding to the level of $82,920 (Canadian), major planetariums would produce key ele- only $9,000 less than the amount we’d re- ments of the show best suited to their staff quested. This funding difference wasn’t large talents, rather than have one facility create a enough to derail the project. Indeed, it was complete product then distribute it. We also easy to amend our budget to reflect the knew that the Museums Assistance Program reduced funding, especially since all partners overseen by Canadian Heritage, a depart- had agreed to provide the equivalent of ment of our federal government, would look $20,000 each in services of all kinds (staff favourably upon a grant application for a time and equipment). show on astronomy in Canada that would However, by this time we were down to be presented at facilities right across Canada. four partners, with Edmonton having pulled So we embarked on our project, The Quest out, feeling that the final show, relying heav- for Origins. ily on video, would not be presentable in their planetarium still populated only with The Quest for Funds slide and special effect projectors. Despite With these notions in mind and a one- that, we now had the resources to begin pro- page project outline, the Montreal Planetari- duction of The Quest for Origins, with the um contacted its colleagues from western The Montreal Planetarium created ambitious goal of opening the show one Canada: Scott Young (Manitoba Planetari- the base art for the poster for The year later in May 2004 in four theatres on um), Alan Dyer (Calgary Science Centre), Quest for Origins, a 35-minute plane- the same weekend. tarium show co-produced by a con- Max Scharfenberger (Edmonton’s Odyssi- sortium of Canadian planetariums in 2004. Standardizing Techniques and Formats All our theatres had produced shows 1 Montreal Planetarium (contact: [email protected]) before that had been staged elsewhere in 2 Calgary Science Centre (contact: [email protected]) Canada. For example, Montreal had just pro- 3 H.R. MacMillan Space Centre (contact: [email protected]) duced the nationally-distributed Climate 4 Manitoba Planetarium (contact: [email protected])

10 Planetarian June 2005 these past attempts quences as standard QuickTime files on allowed us to develop DVDs (it took a few attempts to settle on the a new model of co- right format) for further editing. We then operation, which distributed the final show’s video content, worked quite well, both as an edited tape synced to the sound- much to our surprise. track and as raw clips for local conversion One reason for the into multi-screen formats. (Our theatres have success we can attr- anything from one to four video screens, in ibute to the techno- varying sizes and aimed in various direc- logical advances in tions, but we all have some form of audio show production and video editing capability.) over the past decade. Instead of having to Assigning the Tasks produce a unique set Early in the process, we settled on who of panoramas and all- would do what based on our strengths. As skies for each facility, the script and visuals list became finalized, we were able to create each visual element was assigned to a specif- “dome masters” in ic facility so there would be no confusion as much the same fash- to who was responsible for each element. ion as digital theatres Vancouver did much of the 3D video ani- do, only we were deal- mation, using Lightwave software, with ing with just still Calgary supplying some additional clips out images. The Manitoba of 3D Studio Max and After Effects. Manito- Planetarium was the ba took care of all still visuals, including panoramas and individual 35mm slides, and Montreal staff also created original show artwork such as master of this tech- this all-sky collage of imagery used to open the program, nique, taking scenes shooting location pans with digital cameras. and onto which were projected smaller screens of changing shot on location and Montreal created new digital artwork as well slides and edited video clips. By distributing such all-sky as supplied art panoramas from their stock li- images as layered Photoshop files, local planetariums could from other stock adapt the base art to suit their projector configuration and sources and stitching brary. Montreal also took care of all the intri- screen sizes, then output the digital files to film through a and distorting them cate work in providing a French version of film recorder. Of course, with digital projection that last step will become an outmoded method of the past. through software the show narration that exactly synced with such as PanoTools to the English soundtrack, no small task. (We Change under a federal grant, and Calgary create a single dome master that could be narrated the show in English first, then had had produced several live actor shows that further manipulated to suit a horizontal or it translated into and narrated in French.) other theatres had staged. And Vancouver tilt dome. Each had promoted the idea of co-producing plan- planetarium could etarium shows for a number of years. The then process these motivation was the promise of an improved using products like product through the combined efforts of a DigiDome to chop number of production teams, with each the master back exercising their own specialty. In practice into individual 35- however some early attempts faced a num- mm slides sized to ber of problems which eroded some of the work in each the- hoped-for advantages. These difficulties orig- atre. inated with the varying theatre configura- We also passed tions and dome sizes, and to some extent around raw video production philosophies. Learning from and animation se-

The Manitoba Planetarium shot scenes on location using digital SLR cameras and wide-angle lenses, stitching them together to create a full 360° spherical scene from zenith to nadir. This could then be converted into a cylindrical projection [left] (for virtual reality pans for promotional purposes and websites) or to a hemispherical scene [right] for use as an all-sky in the theatre, in either a horizontal or tilt dome, with either multiple 35mm projectors or, in Calgary’s case, with a single ProDome 2PI large-format projector.

June 2005 Planetarian 11 videotaped them in English and French, in sync with video edit- studios in Vancou- ed and supplied by Calgary. Being able to e- ver and Montreal. mail MP3 audio and MP4 video clips back Two were able to and forth made life a lot easier. narrate in both One of the most important decisions we English and French, made was the selection of an all-powerful (!) while for the other director, someone who had the final say in two we overdub- all production issues. The director would be bed a translation. present for all important production events, Select anima- like the live video shoots, and would work tions of solar sys- directly with the musician on the creation tem and galaxy for- and mixing of the soundtrack. Calgary’s Alan mation were con- Dyer served as the show’s central director, tracted out to well- visualizing and editing the show, supervising known space artist staff from across Canada, and managing the and digital anima- production schedule and delivery of show tor Don Davis who elements. did a great job for The script, however, was written by one of us. For Calgary’s Canada’s best known astronomy writers, Ken facility, with its Hewitt-White. Finding an author like Ken, Digistar II, Aaron who knows the subject and the scientists McEuen and his involved and who has extensive experience staff at Starlight writing for TV and the planetarium medium, Productions was was essential to the success of the program. hired to create all In any show, the script is everything. Focusing on Canadian research, the Origins show visited ob- the Digistar graph- While cross-Canada conference calls took servatories in which Canada has a share in the operations, ics in superb fash- care of some issues, an important part of the such the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope (shown here), Gemini North and South, and the coming ALMA sub-millime- ion. Providing Star- budget and production process was getting ter array in Chile. The show’s goals were to not only outline light with detailed key staff from every theatre together for research findings but also to give the audience some idea of instructions and face-to-face production meetings, usually the people, techniques, and instruments involved in the research. timing for each with the writer present. These meetings, held scene as well as a centrally in Winnipeg at key milestones in The show featured four Canadian astrono- QuickTime of the video and soundtrack the schedule, kept the show on track and mers who appear on video to introduce each resulted in a set of code that was virtually everyone informed, permitting the timely of the show’s four main parts and to give a plug-and-play, despite all programming arrival of production elements in our “just- “face” to Canadian astronomy. They were being handled offsite. in-time” process. selected for their on-camera presence, while For the soundtrack we hired Donovan also representing various regions across Reimer, an experienced musician and sound- The End Product Canada and quite literally the spectrum of track artist from Edmonton, who created all The end result was a show with much wavelength regimes (radio, infrared, micro- the original music and sound effects, then higher production values than any one of wave and optical) discussed in the show. We assembled the final soundtrack, in both our facilities could have created alone, to the

At each observatory site, a videotaped astronomer appears superimposed onto the scene, scaled and placed as realistically as possible, to introduce the next segment of the show. They were shot in studios in Vancouver (as with Doug Johnstone at left) and in Montreal (Rene Doyon at right). Other “star” astronomer hosts were Rene Plume and Christine Wilson

12 Planetarian June 2005 The show’s other “star” was an animated character, Ollie the Observatory [left], created by Erik Koelemeyer in Vancouver and added for humor and kid appeal. The script subjected Ollie to various contortions as he demonstrated basic science concepts such as the EM spectrum [right], the Doppler shift, and the speed of light. benefit of all our audiences, serving as a to further partnership successes. tive national and local advertising cam- model for future immersive video produc- Lessons learned: the director needs to paigns. And while some panoramas acquired tions. It opened on time and on budget, spend time at each facility, talking to and in- from other sources served the purpose, the across Canada on the same date, and during structing all production staff directly, rather best-looking scenes were the ones we shot on its prime summer run played to 50,000 peo- than just communicate through a local pro- location in a format to suit our unique medi- ple. That was the obvious goal. But perhaps ducer who might normally direct that staff um. more importantly, we all benefited from the but who, in this case, does not have the final Building on the success of this initial effort production expertise of other centers. Each “vision” of the show that the main director with The Quest for Origins, our group is of our production team members became has. Extensive storyboarding is great but looking forward to producing another show. schooled in the techniques of our colleagues. nothing replaces face-to-face discussions. We Applications are in place to fund a major Even more critically, we learned to trust also need to devote more money and effort program about extra-terrestrial life. Stay each other’s abilities, and that’s a critical step to developing marketing materials for effec- tuned for more to come from Canada. C

June 2005 Planetarian 13 Star Magic: Per Ardua Ad Astra Recreata* Tom Callen Astronomer/Program Producer Cosmonova Swedish Museum of Natural History P.O. Box 50007 Stockholm, Sweden

It’s after three o’clock in the morning, Author’s note: during this past Christmas Stopping the tape recorder before and I’m realizing that the caffeine in a vacation I was cleaning through a box of rewinding catches Pernell midword. can of soda doesn’t have enough zip to things from my days in Washington, D.C., Normally you wouldn’t find this keep my eyes open. Before me is the and I came across this article that I had writ- funny. Played loudly through a two bright green display of a computer ten about 20 years ago but never had pub- thousand watt sound system in the screen, its blinking cursor subtly hypnot- wee hours of the morning, it suddenly lished. Reading through it made me think ic. Somewhere out in the pitch black on becomes very funny. Between us we the other side of the control console how far we had come in planetarium tech- have nearly 70 years experience in the where I’m sitting are my boss and one of nology since that time, especially with the planetarium field; when you’re really our contractors for the presentation advent of all-dome video. When this article tired it all goes out the window. We’re we’re working on. Even though the con- was originally written, video projection had laughing like a bunch of kids who’ve sole’s number displays and illuminated come about in planetaria, but even we at the just heard the latest teacher joke out on push buttons are turned down really low, Albert Einstein Planetarium at the Smithson- the playground. “Break time!” my eyes are so dark adapted that they are ian’s National Air and Space Museum didn’t Trudging down to the staff vending dazzled by what looks like the multi-col- have access to it. That finally happened machines in NASM’s basement we pass ored readouts on the bridge of the star- around 1991, just as I was leaving for Stock- a security guard making his rounds. By ship “Enterprise.” holm. This article shows how far we’ve come now they are used to us shuttling If the lights were turned up on this around the building at all sorts of odd in the elapsed time and provides some scene, an outsider would instantly know hours. “How’s it going tonight?” he they weren’t in an ordinary room. But, background to those in the planetarium field calls out. “Slowly, but surely.” “Think which of its unique qualities would who have entered through the digital portal. you’ll have another hit on your impress them the most? This room has Sure – having a render cycle not finish can hands?” Good question. The gut reac- round walls and a hemispherical dome make for a bad day, but it certainly doesn’t tion would be “yes,” though at this crit- for a ceiling that’s 70-feet (21.3-meters) beat a one-of-a-kind projector sitting in the ical point in a show’s production across. The giveaway that we’re in a plan- projection gallery going up in smoke. there’s always nagging doubts. Trans- etarium is the giant, bug-like star projec- lating what we’ve seen in our collec- tor in the center of the room. Made up of “State of the Universe” music and narration. tive mind’s eye into a sight and sound thousands of parts – gears, lenses, light bulbs, It also contains the time code that triggers extravaganza is a laborious process fraught motors, star plates and more nuts and screws my computer to send its cues to the star pro- with all sorts of pitfalls on paths the public than you’d want to count – it looks more jector and the hundreds of special effects never treads. At the same time, however, like a giant toy rattle than a complex instru- devices shoehorned into the projection gal- there is a sustained high that comes from ment capable of duplicating the night sky leries. Stepping through the cues on the com- trying to creatively depict complex astro- with stunning realism. You won’t find any puter, I change the two bum programming nomical concepts on the planetarium dome. clearer skies in our air- and vapor lamp-pol- lines. By now the tape recorder has rewound Contrary to what many people think, a luted cities short of leaving urban lights far to the right place and stopped. Pressing the planetarium show is not a giant movie, but behind for a mountaintop in the southwest, play button the chamber fills with composer hundreds of individual special effects or a boat out on the ocean. Cary Ratcliff’s lush synthesized score. The devices whose images are created live show Jim Sharp, Chief of NASM’s Albert Einstein galaxies come up on cue exactly as request- after show, day after day. Some of these “cut- Planetarium, calls out from the darkness, ed. Narrator Pernell Roberts, personable star rate cosmos creations” have unusual stories “Could we make that fade up on the two of television’s “Bonanza” (if you’re old of their own. At times even what should be galaxies about a second earlier, but change enough to remember the western series) and simple visual effects turn into major produc- the rate so it takes a few seconds longer?” “Trapper John, M.D.” (if you’re not), tells us tions of their own. Steve Savage, our special effects contractor, that collisions can take place between galax- We once needed a fire blazing in front of a agrees. ies, their stars passing by each other like Greek temple for “Comet Quest,” our Comet Reaching over I punch the rewind button ghosts. “That’s fine,” yells Jim over the Halley presentation. An ancient temple and on the 8-track tape recorder that has the soundtrack. “Can we back up one more time twilit sky were easy enough to do with and see this entire section from the start to slides, but the fire was where we needed a dif- check the transition from the previous ferent approach. * Through Rugged Ways to Recreate the Stars scene?” The simplest way to reproduce a fire is to

14 Planetarian June 2005 project a still image of flames through a had as a graduate student was belonging to Fading in after the second to last song, the rotating piece of clear plastic, though not the in-house light show at Michigan State’s quadraphonic tape would blend into the just any plastic will do. To give the flames Abrams Planetarium. These artistic perfor- beginning of the band’s last piece. The motion, plastic glass like the kind found in mances of slides, lasers and dome-covering storm’s aural ambiance complete, we had to home shower stalls can be used. While it has special effects were set to music ranging create the visual thunderstorm. the right texture to produce turbulent from classical to electronic to good old rock Lightning is a standard visual effect: a flames, a fire would soon repeat its motion and roll. small photo strobe mounted in a small single every time the wheel turned once. While slide projector. When discharged, a hi-con- One feeling we hope to convey this is a tried and true method, we could do trast image of a lightning bolt flashes on the better. is a sense of wonder about the dome. Time it to a clap of thunder and you Why not make a short movie of an actual universe that surrounds us. have an approximation of the real thing. fire to be projected with the Greek building Sometimes just seeing the They’re good, but we wanted the audience’s and sky? Made into a continuous loop, the planetarium’s starfield is experience to be something more. That’s finished movie would never need rewinding, enough. Other times acquiring when we hit on using charges of flash pow- an important consideration since the Albert a sense of wonder may take der to simulate nearby bolts. A small amount Einstein Planetarium gives as many as ten something more. of the explosive material was poured into a shows a day in the winter and thirteen in the hollow on wooden, disk-shaped flash pots summer. Besides performing weekly light shows on after a piece of nichrome wire was stretched It’s anyone’s guess what the neighbors Friday and Saturday evenings, “Cosmic Radi- over the depression between two screw ter- thought the night we set up in my backyard ance” also gave a special theme presentation minals on either side of the disk. Flipping a to film our barbecue grill in action. Living from late October through Thanksgiving safety interlock and a switch at the control out in Virginia twenty miles [30 km] from with a live jazz/rock band. They composed console instantly heated the wire and ignit- Washington, D.C. made this the ideal loca- an hour of original songs, which we matched ed the powder, producing a loud bang and tion as there would be few outdoor lights to with equally original visuals. One year the blinding flash. There still was one missing effect our movie making. A large black tarp theme was the circus while in another it was element we had to work out. What’s a draped over the side yard fence provided a traveling around the world in a whirlwind heavy-duty storm without driving rain? dark background. Even the grill’s light-col- tour of sight and sound. Obviously we couldn’t install an elaborate ored wooden handles had to be removed, or The last song, the prettiest one in the trav- sprinkler system to shower the audience else the audience would have seen the el show, began with the words “After the from above, so we relied on two large the- filmed fire sitting in front of the temple with storm …” and continued how after your trav- atrical wind machines mounted on tall, mysterious handles on either side of it. els there was nothing better than to “Come wheeled carts. Giant fans to make rain? While Jim and I prepared the pyre, pro- on home …” It was obvious that the song had As the thunderstorm began to build from duction coordinator, Geoff Chester, set up to be preceded by a storm as part of the the pre-recorded tape, strobe lightning the super-8mm movie camera about 15-feet show’s grand finale. Achieving the desired flashed on cue with peals of thunder, the [4 meters] from the grill. Liberally dosed with results strained even our usual resource- closer claps accented by flash powder “light- starter fluid, the blazing briquettes would’ve fulness in a new direction. ning.” The driving rain? With both fans made a Valhalla-bound Viking proud. Prob- We first put together a really violent thun- blowing, their prop wash directed from side lem was we made the fire too well; it was derstorm from sound effects records to pro- to side, industrial-sized squirt bottles sprayed leaping higher than the camera’s lens could vide the audible rain and claps of thunder. water across their fronts. As the droplets hit cover. After waiting a few minutes filming could begin, but – for continuity – we could only run the camera until the flames were about to disappear below the rim of the grill. With the fire re-stoked and re-soaked, the procedure was repeated until we had several useable movie film rolls exposed. The high point of the evening was when a bit too much starter fluid was squirted on the glow- ing embers and SSSS … KA-WHOMP!, a ball of flames the size of a small foreign car rolled up the back of my two story house. It certainly would have lent new meaning to giving one’s all for the cause if anything besides the briquettes had caught fire. Altogether the finished fire film was visible in the ancient Greece scene of “Comet Quest” for about 35 seconds, yet it took a day to organize, an evening to film, plus the development time at the lab prior to the continuous film loops being made up. Our visitors saw a realistic fire effect that illuminated the front of a temple. We also go to Flash Pot -- After running a piece of nichrome wire across the terminals a small similar lengths to produce lifelike experi- amount of flash powder was carefully poured into the "well" on the wooden disk. When 110V was applied to the wire during the show, it instantly became red-hot, ences right before the audience. igniting the powder resulting in a blinding flash and a loud KA-BOOM. Basically a One of the most enjoyable times I ever standard theatrical effect used anew. All illustrations by the author.

June 2005 Planetarian 15 the air stream they were blown out into the rush away from one another as if after the [50 cm] in diameter, which was once used on audience. Listening to a tape recording we Big Bang, the motors turn the cams forward, aircraft carriers in broad daylight to wave off made during one of these shows over ten pushing the rods against the rubber sheeting. planes making bad approaches during deck years ago, you can still hear the crowd’s over- As it stretches, the mirrors move apart from landings. Show scenes can also move you enthusiastic reaction amid the audio thun- physically as all these flashes of high intensi- derclaps and pops of flash powder. While A single slide projector was ty light go off unannounced. this kind of planetarium presentation differs pointed toward each of the While planetarians know what most of greatly from people’s traditional expecta- drumheads so that the “cluster the astronomical objects they recreate look tions, I’ve always found them to be creative- like, there are others which must be based on of galaxies” image each threw ly satisfying, especially when they cause this best scientific guesses. “What does an invisi- strong a response. fell on one set of the tiny mir- ble black hole look like?” might be a ques- Getting such reactions is difficult consid- rors and then out onto the tion posed today just as recently as a decade ering they can only be accomplished dome. To make the galaxies all ago the same question might be asked of through sight and sound. One feeling we seem to rush away from one Venus’s cloud-enshrouded surface. Fortu- hope to convey is a sense of wonder about another as if after the Big nately, the American Pioneer Venus and the universe that surrounds us. Sometimes Bang, the motors turn the Soviet Venera probes have given enough of just seeing the planetarium’s starfield is cams forward, pushing the an answer that the landscape of Earth’s so- enough. Other times acquiring a sense of rods against the rubber sheet- called twin can be represented with a high wonder may take something more. ing. As it stretches, the mirrors degree of accuracy. Our most recent production, “State of the move apart from each other. Unfortunately, there are some objects Universe,” offers how our perceptions of the whose true appearance will elude us for a With each small mirror project- cosmos have changed as ways of observing it long time. Quasars readily come to mind. became more sophisticated. In closing we ing some part of the slide pro- The most distance objects known, they got consider one of its theorized fates. Expanded jector’s image, the galaxies their names because of their quasi-stellar to an unknown limit, gravity may pull it all appear to flee from each other appearance. Seen through a telescope, a back together like an over-stretched rubber across the planetarium dome. quasar looks no different than the fore- band. ground stars of the Milky Way it appears Dealing with billions of galaxies, the visu- each other. With each small mirror project- against. Only when you take their spectral als had to convince the audience that this ing some part of the slide projector’s image, “fingerprints,” or observe them in non-opti- change would affect a cosmos of objects. A the galaxies appear to flee from each other cal portions of the electromagnetic spec- large number of galaxies had to expand across the planetarium dome. To simulate trum, does a quasar’s incredible properties across the dome, reverse direction, then col- how the universe might collapse upon itself become apparent. Receding faster than any lapse into a small area. This would be impos- in the distant future, you run the motor in other objects in the cosmos, they have ener- sible with conventional zoom projectors reverse. The rubber sheeting resumes its gy outputs thousands of times greater than a unless we had a lot of them. In fact we only shape, carrying the tiny mirrors with it. normal galaxy. Minute fluctuations in these have one with a bright, 1000-watt arc lamp, At this point in “State of the Universe” prodigious displays indicate that quasars are but that doesn’t have sufficient light output we’re contemplating the simultaneous death relatively small, perhaps only as large as the to do the job even if it did have a wide field of the cosmos as we think we understand it diameter of the solar system. If that isn’t puz- projection lens. As it turned out the solution and the birth of a whole new one, which we zling enough, highly detailed views of closer used standard projection lenses and 300-watt can never hope to know. Following the quasars show they are surrounded by what light sources. And what Rube Goldberg con- demise of our universe a new one is created astronomers call “fuzz” for lack of a better traptions these projector turned out to be. in the biggest Big Bang in planetarium histo- name. Current theory speculates that this They began as three cylinders of thick ry; 110 colored strobes led off by a gigantic fuzz is the outskirts of a very young galaxy, cardboard about five inches [13 cm] in diam- white one with a reflector about 20-inches making the quasar an area of intense activity eter and five inches long. A sheet of rubber was stretched taut and glued across one end making what looked like a cheap set of toy tom-toms. Small, square, first surface glass mirrors were then glued on the surface of the rubber drumhead. The tubes were then fas- tened horizontally across boards so the mir- rored drumheads were flush with one end of the boards. A reversible motor with a cam and rod mechanism was mounted directly behind each tube so that the rod entered the open back of the tube and rested against the rubber sheeting. Voila! You have an expanding and collapsing universe … or you almost do as we’ve only the method of setting the whole thing in motion. A single slide projector was pointed toward each of the drumheads so that the Expanding Galaxy Cluster -- As the drive shaft moved inward the rubber sheet over “cluster of galaxies” image each threw fell on the end of the tube pushed out, spreading apart the small mirrors glued to the sheet. A single slide projector aimed backwards toward the mirrors provided the one set of the tiny mirrors and then out onto cluster of galaxies that were in turn reflected out onto the dome. Reversing the the dome. To make the galaxies all seem to motor and the expansion collapsed.

16 Planetarian June 2005 at its center. But what process powers the the perfect solution. meters] below. It’s even more unsettling if galaxy’s core remains to be seen. One simple, yet accurate, coordinate sys- you’re close to the zenith and the planetari- “State of the Universe” considers these tem has two axes; one horizontal and one um projector is lowered in its elevator shaft. enigmatic objects. To first show how quasars vertical. Azimuth and altitude, the horizon One has the distinct impression of climbing are found all over the sky and at varying dis- coordinate system, is an example. In the case horizontally in free space over a deep dark tances we needed a way to keep their images of the planetarium dome, its structure sup- well. And there’s no place to step off of the small, but bright. The six Carousel slide pro- plied half the necessary coordinates. Sixty ladder either. If you miss a rung and step jector, wide-angle all-sky system was a possi- equally spaced ribs that reach from a con- onto the back of the dome there’s a chance ble choice, but it didn’t meet the brightness crete support ring at its base to the zenith that you will either dent it, or punch a panel requirement. While the audience’s eyes where they are joined by a common ring free from its rivets. This doesn’t mean that I would have become dark adapted at this late support its 271 perforated aluminum sheets haven’t gone to the zenith on the dome lad- point in the show, the all-sky just couldn’t making up the hemisphere. By alphabetizing der. I did once, but I was much younger and deliver the quantity and quality of light the ribs (A, B, C, … Z, AA, BB, etc.) we had our more foolish then. befitting the awesome nature of quasars. horizontal scale. The vertical component One other consideration; it helps to have “Quasar cans” attached to the back of the turned out to be almost as easy. someone steady the ladder’s base. Those dome was the best solution. Imagine the steps it takes to same wheels that allow the ladder to be Cans are a fairly common planetarium pushed around the perimeter of the dome make a fresh brewed cup of effect; simply a tin can with a light bulb also cause it to disconcertingly shimmy socket mounted inside. Since a dome is made coffee, or a bacon, lettuce and from side to side as your weight shifts during of perforated aluminum (there are over 80 tomato sandwich. Now picture your ascent. But then again, this can work to million holes in the Albert Einstein Planetar- the interleaving sequence of your advantage. You can climb up part way, ium’s – we calculated it once) when a can’s events if you are preparing then pull the ladder and yourself around by light bulb is on, it shines through, making a both together. By extension, using the dome’s horizontal rib pipes as long circular spot of light in the sky the same then, you might be able to as you remember to duck the ventilation diameter as the can. The can’s name comes imagine preparing over a hun- ducts. from what you sandwich between its front dred different foods simultane- After I held while Jim climbed and count- and the back of the dome. For example, a ously in the space of half an ed, we converted the azimuth and altitudes piece of plain typing paper can make it a hour. This is what it’s like to we had marked on the polar graph paper “sun can,” while a drawing of the moon into “dome ribs” and “ladder rungs” so the coordinate the automation pro- makes a “moon can.” I once used both to audio-visual technicians could install the show special rising and setting points of the gramming for a presentation. quasar cans on the back of the dome. sun and moon relative to a panorama hori- With 20 cans representing distant quasars zon scene of Stonehenge. As simple as cans To install effects projectors behind the installed we still needed a spectacular quasar are, they can be quite effective. One of the dome and check the condition of audio as seen close up. Since nobody knows how best uses I’ve seen is to mark the sun’s hourly loudspeakers, or air ventilation ducts, there is they appear from such a distance, we had a path across the sky for the shortest day of a special ladder made for hemispheres like certain amount of latitude to work with as the year (the Winter Solstice), the days of ours. Mounted on a pair of wheels at its base, long as we stayed within the bounds of what equal day and night hours (the Vernal and the ladder curves along the back surface of was known. We needed something brilliant Autumnal Equinoxes) and the longest day of the dome, ending at a pivot at the top. It’s and blue. Blue? The quasar cans ranged from the year (the Summer Solstice). Combined kind of like the ladders used in a library, or in colorless to deep red, but that was because with the motions of the planetarium instru- an old fashioned general store. Rather than they are far away. ment and you have a powerful teaching tool slide left and right parallel to a bookcase, or a Quasars emit a tremendous amount of for learning the reasons for the seasons. set of store shelves, the dome ladder can be energy at the blue end of the electromagnet- Using a piece of polar coordinate graph pushed around parallel to any point on the ic spectrum, which is what originally paper, Jim Sharp and I mapped out the loca- outside of the dome’s surface. With 90° from brought them to astronomer’s attention on tions of 20 quasar cans. These differed from base to zenith it’s simple to calculate how photographic plates. A simple, yet elegant, traditional cans by having different wattage many degrees of elevation in the planetari- special effect from an earlier show came to light bulbs, colored filter gels that ranged um sky equals one rung on the dome ladder. our rescue. from clear to yellow to red to deep red and The only problem was that one of us had to An argon laser produces an intense point different diameter apertures over their open climb the ladder and count the rungs. of blue-green light on the planetarium dome ends to better control the quantity of light Jim volunteered, which was just as well as even after traveling about 70-feet [21 meters] they admitted. Why so elaborate? The far- there was no way that I was going to. Heights to get there. Unfortunately, it’s also pretty ther a quasar is from us the dimmer and red- (at least from a ladder, or similar support) boring just by itself. Passing its light through der it will be. A quasar can for a relatively scare the neutrinos out of me. Regular lad- a turning piece of glass randomly covered nearby object would have a higher wattage ders are bad enough, but let me remind you with spun glass “angel hair” improves it con- bulb, a clear filter and a large aperture. Our that this one is far from regular. At the base siderably. Not only does this produce con- most distant quasars have the lowest wattage you climb vertically. The higher you climb, stantly shifting spikes of light that radiate bulbs, deep red filters and the smallest aper- the more the ladder approaches the horizon- from the blue laser spot, it also makes a dif- tures. tal. By the time you reach the zenith you’re fuse glow where they converge that’s analo- After Jim and I had worked out where we climbing the rungs while lying almost on gous to the young galaxy “fuzz” seen around wanted the quasar cans, their positions had your stomach. Doesn’t sound too bad to real quasars. to be converted into coordinates that would you? As you climb you see right through the Even though we had created a pretty make sense to the NASM audio-visual tech- perforations in the dome’s aluminum sheets effective quasar simulation, there was still an nicians who would have to install them. The down onto the audience’s seats and the floor aesthetic matter to consider. Lasers only planetarium dome itself provided us with of the planetarium chamber some 50-feet [15 have two operational states; ON, or OFF.

June 2005 Planetarian 17 They can’t be faded up and down like a light Imagine the steps it takes Imagine the steps it takes to make a fresh bulb in a conventional special effects projec- to make a fresh brewed brewed cup of coffee, or a bacon, lettuce and tor. It would look pretty poor artistically tomato sandwich. Now picture the inter- speaking to fade on the distant quasar cans cup of coffee, or a bacon, leaving sequence of events if you are prepar- only to have the laser quasar suddenly snap lettuce and tomato sand- ing both together. By extension, then, you on. A cheat was devised to make the laser wich. Now picture the in- might be able to imagine preparing over a also appear to do so. Yet another variation of hundred different foods simultaneously in a plastic wheel was the solution. terleaving sequence of the space of half an hour. This is what it’s Since the output of the laser couldn’t be events if you are prepar- like to coordinate the automation program- changed, a clear motorized wheel spray- ing both together. By ex- ming for a presentation. And that’s not mak- painted with a smoothly graded layer of ing sure that a particular step in a recipe is opaque black paint produces the dimming tension, then, you might carried out on the right fanfare of music, or effect. As in the case of many special effects be able to imagine pre- in synch with a sound effect, like a clap of projectors, it’s the timing of the commands paring over a hundred dif- thunder. of the automation programming that en- It can be very rewarding when a planetari- sures visual success. Written out in longhand ferent foods simultane- um show impresses a research astronomer the automation sequencing for this part of ously in the space of half with a scene about their specialty. Fortunate- the show might look something like this: an hour. This is what it’s ly, this is exactly what happened opening like to coordinate the night of “PROBE,” an odyssey through the 1) turn on laser’s power supply to allow it solar system. James Christy at the Flagstaff, at least 30-seconds to begin lasing… automation programming Arizona station of the United States Naval 2) select direction of motor driving paint- for a presentation. Observatory in 1978, had found a moon cir- ed dimmer wheel to FORWARD … cling Pluto a few years before the show was 3) begin rotation of dimmer wheel from produced. Robert Harrington, the astrono- most opaque section of wheel to clear- consistent start/stop point for the effect mer who derived its orbit at the Observa- est section at a voltage to its motor that show after show … tory’s Washington, D.C. headquarters, was will make the laser quasar appear to 7) shut off the laser’s power supply once asked what Charon might look like from fade up over 10-seconds at the same the dimmer wheel on the laser quasar Pluto’s surface. A simple calculation taking time that the quasar cans are fading up has stopped turning … the satellite’s diameter and distance into over 10-seconds … account would then tell us how to photo- 4) stop rotation of dimmer wheel when at There may be hundreds of such slide and graph a scientifically based artwork of its clearest section … special effects projectors in a show, each Charon so that it would appear the correct 5) change direction of motor driving dim- with its own requirements for operating on angular size in the sky. During the premiere I mer wheel to REVERSE … time and at the right speed, lamp level, slide sat two rows behind Harrington to try and 6) start fade out of quasar cans behind number, etc. And, it’s not unusual for several catch his reaction to the scene firsthand. dome at about a 10-second rate and projectors to be in operation at the same Uranus and Neptune far behind, a 360° pano- begin reverse rotation of dimmer wheel time. It’s easy to see that programming can rama of Pluto appeared, a few stray wisps of so that its opaque section (which will be a major dose of mental gymnastics. If you the planet’s very tenuous methane atmo- fade out the laser quasar) is reached in can think in logical linear sequences for long sphere suspended over its frozen surface. the exact same amount of time as when stretches of time you might have a chance of These bits of thawed gas were slides of clear the effect was faded in; this will ensure a being successful at it. wavy horizontal lines on a dark film background projected through rotating baby food jars. Charon hung overhead, illuminated, like Pluto, by a brilliant though distant sun. As soon as the scene had established itself I saw Bob extend one arm with a closed fist; he was estimating the apparent angular size of the satellite. After the show was over I asked him what he thought of the Pluto scene. “Not bad … it looked about right.” Those six words were the high point of my evening. Special effects in planetarium shows have come a long way since they were introduced in the 1950s. As long as new discoveries are made in astronomy and people want to learn about them, planetaria will continue to invent new and innovative ways to depict them. New equipment and techniques, like video projection and computer graphics, will be a part of this future. For the present, however, we’ll continue to save Baby Food Jar "Pluto's Atmosphere" -- The gelled hi-contrast image was projected baby food jars. You never know when you through the slowly rotating clear baby food jar. Several of these shown over a panorama of Pluto's surface gave the appearance of a thin wafting veil of atmo- might need one. C sphere.

18 Planetarian June 2005 What the Heck is a Planetarium Anymore?

Mark Petersen Loch Ness Productions P. O. Box 1159 Groton, Massachusetts 01450 USA [email protected]

My fellow planetarians, um database has evolved a bit over the So, now the simple questions can’t be What follows is an essay reflecting both decades. I made more work for myself as I answered so easily. When you ask “how personal and professional views about the added new data items to track: classifications many planetariums are there in the world?” state of our chosen profession. I hope you’ll (school/university, museum, etc.), seating does a facility with one fixed-dome theater take the time to consider the questions layouts, gift shops, attendance, staff posi- and three portables count as one planetari- posed, and will offer your own opinions here tions, e-mails, web sites, and more. But the um, or four? When you ask what “the plane- in response. original fields I started with for each data tarium’s attendance is” should we be talking In March, 1994, Dr. George Reed published entry were: about a grand total of fixed and portable an article in the Planetarian, provocatively Planetarium Maker attendance, or should those be tracked sepa- titled “Who in the hell needs a planetari- Projector Model rately, since the chances are good that differ- um?” A worthy read then; still interesting Dome size ent programming is presented in each? What more than a decade later (and now we can Number of seats is significant? And – in the theme of this say, “it’s only a click away”, at http://www What I’m finding is that even these basics essay’s title – who in the heck cares? .griffithobs.org/IPS%20Planetarian/IPSWho – though seemingly obvious and clear-cut – Then there’s the simple query “What year NeedsPlan.html. I mention this because I’d don’t adequately reflect the “reality” of the did a planetarium open?” Let’s say a facility like to take the question a step further. These state of today’s planetarium. starts out small with a Starlab, and then a days more and more I find myself pondering: In the olden days, “the planetarium” was a few years later builds a fixed-dome theater. “What in the heck is a planetarium, any- unique place. You had a round room with a Or maybe they build an entirely new facility more?” across town, all new equipment, As many of you know, since … nowadays, “things ain’t what they used to new staff, and all vestiges of the 1977 I’ve maintained a database of old place are demolished. Does the world’s planetariums. It’s what be.” This is good – it shows that evolution is the “year of opening” refer to the Loch Ness Productions uses every not a theory, it’s a fact! But it also gives one institution, the theater, or the day to run its operations; it con- pause, especially when issues that are funda- installation of the current projec- tains the data we publish as The tor? LNP Planetarium Compendium; mental to one’s chosen profession seem to Time was, we had planetari- it’s what I used to generate the IPS morph before one’s eyes after years of rela- ums with one big dome and Directory when I was Treasurer/ tive constancy. maybe some portables. But even Membership Chairman in the late this exemplar has changed. Now 1980s. From its start on punch you find more and more plane- cards (!) through microcomputer paper tape dome overhead and a mechanical star pro- taria with multiple fixed-dome theaters – to floppy disks to CDs to HTML documents, jector in the middle. There were a certain Adler in Chicago; the Buehler Planetarium in I’ve probably spent more time massaging number of seats under the dome. A pretty Davie, Florida; the Pennington in Baton and working the data, and become more straightforward and unambiguous defini- Rouge, Louisiana, to name just a few (oh, and familiar with the corpus of the “planetarium tion – and singular. There was one dome, one they also operate portables). In these cases, community,” than anyone else in the world star projector, one theater. Very simple, very the definition of “the planetarium” has (would want to be). easy. expanded to include multiple star theaters I don’t say this to brag; it’s just that nowa- Then the Starlab portable planetarium operating under the aegis of a single institu- days, “things ain’t what they used to be.” arose onto the scene. Now the “round room” tion. This is good – it shows that evolution is not a was removed from the definition. Portables For many years, through a proliferation of theory, it’s a fact! But it also gives one pause, don’t have fixed numbers of seats; they have theaters, it was still mostly “one projector per especially when issues that are fundamental a generic “capacity”. And a goodly number theater.” Then Cocoa opened in 1994 with to one’s chosen profession seem to morph of fixed-dome facilities in major metropoli- both an analog and digital star projector in before one’s eyes after years of relative con- tan areas acquired one or more portables for the same theater. So, when you would look stancy. outreach programs and such. All well and up “Projectors” in the Compendium index, Naturally, the structure of the planetari- good … but now “the Farley McKluth Plane- their theater would show up twice. Okay, tarium” as an institution is bringing the one could cope with that. planetarium experience to the public But since then, things have degenerated Mark C. Petersen was IPS Treasurer and through multiple venues – there is more completely in terms of projector classifica- Membership Chairman from 1985-1990. than one dome, more than one star projection “like the olde days” when there was a This article with hypertext links can be tor, more than one theater. You could pre- star projector – a specialized device in the found at . theater and a Starlab in another. dome. Now even that has changed. These

June 2005 Planetarian 19 days, you can have seats in the middle of the It used to be that a planetarium staff Vision” in fulldome video form on the theater instead of a star machine, and quite would renovate its theater, and upgrade the Digitarium Alpha at the planetarium of generic video projectors around the periph- star projector to a more capable model, and Suffolk County Community College in ery. The stars on the dome shine Selden. From the audience’s from those video projectors, but … if we’re no longer planetarium show pro- viewpoint, the visual material upstream, they can come from a ducers, what in the heck are we? Must we that appears on the dome is the variety of sources. Take the same, or pretty close; the sound- Eugenides Planetarium in Athens, succumb to that overwrought descriptor: tracks are identical. One facility Greece. It has multiple video projec- “content providers”? As John Stoke astutely has a classic star projector and tors around the dome, fed by both opined, “Shakespeare was not a content banks of slide projectors; the Sky-Skan’s DigitalSky and Evans & other has a video projector and Sutherland’s Digistar 3. There is no provider!” computer in a box. Each one “star projector” per se. Actually, bills their theater as a planetari- Athens does have a star projector – it’s their that was a significant event. Planetarians um. It’s obvious to me the argument about old Zeiss IV under a separate dome in their wanted to be sure their published entries “fulldome being just fancy video games and lobby as an exhibit. Should I keep track of included mention that “the planetarium was not a planetarium” is demonstrably spurious, that in my database? And if so, how, and refurbished” in a certain year. These days, especially in this example, but I wouldn’t be why, and does anyone care? one can swap out computers, operating sys- surprised to hear more similar wails in the It used to be that planetarians delighted in tems, video projectors … and it’s just routine, future. debating the quality of the starfields pro- no big deal. You can have the WhizBang We’ve even heard it said that the types of duced by the various projector manufactur- 1500XLT video projector, and upgrade to the shows Loch Ness Productions creates aren’t ers – through pinpoints from arc lamps, MondoWhup 3200EXS, and no one but the really planetarium shows at all. If one limits plates and lenses, to fiber optics. Now, with accountant will raise an eyebrow. Of course, the definition of “planetarium show” to a fulldome video the apparent medium of it used to be you had to save up the capital show of a planetarium projector then that choice, the old criteria of comparison no over several years to upgrade; nowadays you could be true. Our multimedia style shows longer apply. can buy entire fulldome systems for the cost are definitely not analog star projector Let’s say you have a new SciDome from of an upgrade of yesteryear. demonstrations – no explanations of how Spitz. You don’t have a “Spitz starfield” like The “that was then, this is now” philoso- the machine in the center of the room dis- you would if you had an A3P. Your stars are phy is brought home even more strikingly, plays diurnal motion and latitude move- generated by the software application Starry when at conferences and such we hear com- ment, for instance. But they are presenta- Night. Or, you could run a fulldome video ments like, “This fulldome stuff isn’t even tions optimized for display in a planetarium show produced by, say, Loch Ness Produc- about planetariums any more; it’s just video environment – darkened room, stars on the tions. We use DigitalSky to generate our star games under a dome.” dome overhead, theater sound. And frankly, fields, so could you say the stars on your Again, what in the heck is a planetarium, when hundreds of places calling themselves dome came from Sky-Skan? Does it matter to anymore? planetariums run our shows, by default, our the audience? To you? You could also run Let’s say you build a new facility, and be- programs have to be called planetarium the open-source software Stellarium in fish- neath your dome you put seats and video shows! eye mode to display stars … or Partiview, or projectors, the computers and software, the Still, the definition of “planetarium” is Digital Universe … or create your own sound system, and all. On Central Park West kind of crumbling at this point. Many digital starfield generator program. You could have in New York City, they call such a place the dome theaters debate whether or not to a myriad of starfields, all in one show, if that Hayden Planetarium at the Rose Center for even use the term “planetarium” with regard floats your boat. Earth and Space, and they show their stuff to to what they do. Said one executive director My point is, no longer is “the quality of more than a million people a year. A couple of a museum with a fulldome theater: “the the starfield” you project necessarily depen- of miles away is another domed facility minute you start mentioning the word dent upon the vendor from whom you buy where beneath their dome they’ve put seats “planetarium,” what you’re saying is the equipment. The quality and method of and video projectors, the computers and soft- ‘Boring!’” The theater director had to come the video projection itself is the new arguing ware, the sound system, and all. It’s in up with a good reply to that. point. Madame Tussaud’s Wax Museum. What Yes, using the term planetarium when So, given all this folderol, I’m left wonder- makes one a planetarium and the other not? billing a digital dome theater can indeed by ing what to do when trying to fill in a field Or can one even make the distinction? Is it quite limiting, especially when you can called “Projector model” in my database. The the content, the show material presented? show any content in your theater, not just combination of software and hardware – Granted, the facility’s mission statements are the astronomy topics. Why associate your- basically a computer hooked up to a video different … but still. Produced in dome mas- self with and reinforce the negative impres- projector – certainly doesn’t seem like the ter form, a show created by either facility sions given our hallowed term “planetari- unique, specialized planetarium star projec- could show on the other’s theater’s equip- um” by TV shows such as “South Park” and tors I’ve been keeping track of in my data- ment. Madame Tussaud’s already runs the “WKRP in Cincinnati”? base all these years. London Planetarium; with a simple change Perhaps we at Loch Ness Productions Which brings me to this: if there is no sig- of signage, they could have another one in should come up with a more appropriate nificant star projector in a planetarium any- New York City if they wanted. term for billing our creations; maybe calling more, why would/should anyone try to keep Still in New York, but farther “down the them “planetarium shows” isn’t doing them track of such things anymore? I suppose I road” on Long Island, you can see the Loch justice, especially in their fulldome video could maintain an equipment list inventory Ness Productions planetarium show “HUB- form. for a given planetarium facility – but does BLE Vision” in classic (slide-based) form at But if we’re no longer planetarium show this really matter to anyone anymore? Did it the Vanderbilt Planetarium. A little farther producers, what in the heck are we? Must we ever? east on Long Island, you can see “HUBBLE succumb to that overwrought descriptor:

20 Planetarian June 2005 “content providers”? As John Stoke astutely good thing, or too much of a good thing? question: opined, “Shakespeare was not a content Now anyone and everyone can have a plane- What in the heck is a planetarium, any- provider!” tarium in the comfort of their own comput- more? It’s these sorts of things that drive me er – as well as an audio recording studio, a This article was first posted as a message on batty late at night. video editing studio, a photo lab, a library, Dome-L ([email protected]) on January 27, Regardless of the definition of planetari- and with Internet access, “live” images from 2005. It is also posted it in HTML form in the um, I can safely say that since the time I Mars and Saturn piped in daily for free. A Planetarium Reference Library section on the started keeping track, the world’s population marvelous world we live in, when some- Loch Ness Productions web site http://www of these danged domed things has doubled. thing that once was miraculous and wonder- .lochness.com/pltref/wth/wth.html. Copyright What was once a very unique specialty is ful is now routine, eh? Or not. 2005, Loch Ness Productions. Reprinted with now commonplace – a commodity. Is this a In conclusion, then, I return to the basic permission. C

John Ebdon 22 December 1923 - 19 March 2005

John Ebdon, Director of the London tion of Laserium, in spite of its initial popu- Greece, where he found a rich fund of char- Planetarium from 1968 to 1989, died in larity. The historical Astronomers’ Gallery acters and anecdotes on which to base a March after a long battle with cancer. exhibition featuring six great astronomers, number of radio programmes and books. John used to say that his love of astrono- was much more to his taste; it was the His parallel life as a broadcaster brought my was nurtured very early by his nanny, scene of Silver Jubilee celebrations, which him a large fan club, mostly of elderly whose passions in life, he used to say, were perhaps was the high point of his tenure. ladies, who enjoyed his regular 15-minute astronomy, himself, and gin – in that order. Many of the guests will have found it hard talks which wove together inconsequen- Unlike most planetarium directors he was to forget the double act which he and tial oddities from the BBC Sound Archives, not a scientist, but he valued and believed Patrick Moore performed from the control and always ended “If you have been, thank in astronomy as a key to the greater under- desk, both vying to spot Mars in the sky you for listening”. standing of a diversity of subjects, from lit- before the other. John retired in 1989, while These talks to a great extent summed up erature to theology, and from arts to social his beloved Mark IV Zeiss projector was his character. Although he did not suffer behaviour. still in use, and visited the planetarium fools gladly, and infuriated some, he was a His regular planetarium programmes only once more. courteous and amusing man, punctilious reflected this, ranging from talks on poetry Before taking on the job of lecturer, he in his own use of language, and keenly and astronomy, and on Chaucer and medi- had been the only “Pom” in an Australian observant of the linguistic foibles of others, aeval cosmology to the standard educa- squadron of Spitfire pilots during World whom he would imitate to perfection. But tional fare for primary and secondary stu- War 2, and had (by his own admission not always without malice, for his humour and dents. His Chaucer lectures included large very successfully) attempted to sell skins in sense of the absurd was of a gentle and old- chunks of The Canterbury Tales which he Africa. He developed a huge affection for fashioned kind - from an age which has all delivered in what he thought was a pretty that continent, as he did later on for but disappeared. good imitation of middle English pronun- ciation (but which was very nearly unin- telligible to most students!). He also pioneered short talks for children with learning difficulties; and, at the other end of the scale, for gifted children, whose more precocious comments he much enjoyed. A smart boy of about six asked why John had not mentioned Sirius B in his talk, while another child of four or five, clearly unimpressed with what she had heard, lisped, “my Daddy thayth there’th a pulthar in the Crab Nebula and he’th cleverer than you.” He was also amus- ed at an outraged mother who marched her child out of the planetarium on hearing the apparently shocking phrase “homo sapiens”. Although he was brought up on the classic planetarium talk embellished with one slide projector and a pointer (in his case always a very shaky one!), he was impressed with the semi-automated show produced by Ian McLennan, which brought to the planetarium a more modern style; but less than enthusiastic about the introduc- John Ebdon, Director of the London Planetarium, 1969-1989. © London Planetarium.

June 2005 Planetarian 21 Explore the Edge at the Adler Planetarium: IPS 2008 Paul Knappenberger, President Larry Ciupik, Astronomer JoseFrancisco Salgado, Astronomer Karen Donnelly, Executive Secretary Adler Planetarium & Astronomy Museum 1300 South Lake Shore Drive Chicago, Illinois 60605 USA www.adlerplanetarium.org

Would you like to attend an IPS confer- • “cutting-edge” technology will be dis- The Adler plans to host the conference the ence that includes with a moonlight dinner played by vendors at the conference. week of June 15-20, 2008, as historically local cruise or dining on the 100th floor of one of • local scientists at the University of Chi- hotel rates begin to rise after that week due the world’s tallest buildings? Do you like the cago’s Kavli Institute for Cosmological to the annual influx of summer tourists. sound of live blues music or would you Physics (KICP) and Fermi National In addition to ease of travel, the Adler’s rather listening to a lecture by a famous sci- Accelerator Laboratory – potential sites proximity to Chicago’s central business dis- entist? Does “cutting-edge” planetarium for pre- or post-Conference trips — study trict will offer conference-goers a wide array technology stir your imagination or does a the “edge” of the Universe at both vast of lodgings within a short distance. The behind-the-scenes tour of a world-class col- and minuscule distance scales. Adler has at least three sites specifically tar- lection of ancient astronomical instruments • a dinner cruise on Lake Michigan could geted for IPS. The Chicago Hilton, one of the sounds more intriguing? If you find one or go out to the “edge” of the city (hori- city’s largest hotels, is the closest major facili- more of these possibilities appealing, we zon); alternately, a dinner in the sky- ty of its kind to the Adler. It offers a range of invite you you will definitely want to come deck at at the top of Sears Tower or in room sizes and prices, as well as meeting Explore the Edge at Adler Planetarium in the Signature Room 95 floors up in the rooms and exhibition halls that can easily Chicago for IPS 2008. John Hancock Building could reach the accommodate the 400 to 600 participants As the first planetarium in the Western vertical “edge” of the city. expected to attend. Its sister facility, the Pal- Hemisphere, the Adler has maintained itsa • NASA’s Interstellar Boundary Explorer mer House Hilton, is less than a mile north historical reputation for “Exploringbeing (IBEX), the first mission designed to and has its own assortment of meeting and “on the Edge.” Indeed, shortly after the con- detect the edge of our Solar System, guest rooms. struction of the Adler’s most recent addition, launches in 2008. Fittingly, the Adler Acknowledging the cost-conservative a New York Times article affirmed this edgy has been chosen to lead the Education nature of most planetarians (including those reputation: “It looks like a U.F.O. landing on and Public Outreach efforts of this great at the Adler), quality accommodations were the edge of Lake Michigan.” Judge for your- mission. also sought at a price-point considerably less self. (Fig. 1) For all its “edginess,” the Adler also has the than the standard rate for a downtown A Chicago conference in 2008 would be a advantage of its central location in the U.S. Chicago hotel room. Only a few blocks away fitting point in time and space to Explore the Chicago is a continental transportation hub from the Hilton hotels is University Center Edge. Consider: for air, rail, and motor-vehicle travel. This of Chicago, a newly built 18-story structure • 2008 is the 50th anniversary of the U.S. convenience will allow for a maximum designed to house students of the numerous space program—the Explorer I satellite number of planetarians to attend the confer- downtown Chicago institutions, including launch to the “edge” of space. ence by minimizing travel time and expense. DePaul University, Roosevelt University, Columbia College, and Robert Morris Col- lege. Nicknamed the “Superdorm,” Univer- sity Center would offer the IPS conference about 200 freshly appointed, bright, spacious rooms, currently in the $75 to $90 per-night range. University Center also has its own food court as well as meeting rooms and a landscaped rooftop garden. Both Hilton hotels and University Center are a quick ride from the Adler by either taxi or public transit—or a scenic 20 to 30 minute stroll along Lake Michigan and through Fig. 1: Eastern exterior of Adler Sky Pavilion, daytime; Courtesy Adler Planetarium beautiful Grant Park. Photographer Craig Stillwell.

This is the first of two articles that invite the membership to choose a conference venue for 2008.

22 Planetarian June 2005 Fig. 2: Sky Pavilion interior with banquet arrangement; Courtesy Adler Planetarium Photographer Craig Stillwell Fig. 4: Sky Theater with Zeiss Mark VI projector; theater seating removed; Courtesy Adler Planetarium Photographer Craig Stillwell. The Adler itself is well suited for an international conference. (Fig. 2) Since it last host- museum walls into Chicago-area communi- multimedia Universe Theater. Each of the ed IPS in 1980, the Planetarium has signifi- ties through a variety of observing events theaters accommodates over 200 seats. cantly increased its staff, now numbering and other educational activities. In addition to its three primary theaters, nearly 200. In addition to its innovative Also since 1980, the Adler has expanded its the Adler has a number of meeting areas that Production and Theaters staff, the Adler now physical facilities, most recently adding over can accommodate smaller groups with spe- has professional staff in the Departments of 5,600 square meters of new exhibition space. cific needs including paper sessions and Astronomy, History of Astronomy, and This expansion included the StarRider workshops. State-of-the-art technologies are Education, who work together to meet the Theater with a state-of-the-art Digistar 3 sys- deployed throughout the Planetarium, needs of a broad range of audiences. More tem (Fig. 3) to complement the Adler’s exist- including wireless internet connections, digi- than 150 Adler volunteers also extend the ing Sky Theater with its Zeiss Mark VI projec- tal audio/video equipment and teleconfer- services of the Planetarium beyond the tor and its removable seating (Fig. 4), and its encing capabilities, and multiple platform hardware/software computer resources. Adler’s CyberSpace Center, which opened in late 2001, consists of three components: a 16- unit computer classroom, a broadcast studio that can double as a meeting room, and an electronic exhibit display area with 17 plas- ma screens that have been successfully used in previous conferences for electronic poster presentations. The Adler’s Doane Observatory, housing Chicago’s largest public telescope (a 50-cm cassegrain reflector), is another facility that would serve the special interests of planetarians, for meeting space in the daytime tours and for telescope viewing at night. (Fig. 5) For those astronomers who prefer somewhat larger scopes, the Yerkes Observatory—the world’s largest refracting telescope—is just a few hours away by motorcoach. A visit to Yerkes is being planned as an extra-Confer- ence excursion. Additional pre- and post- Conference excursions may include visits to FermiLab and Argonne National Laboratory.. The Adler is also close to, and maintains Fig. 3: StarRider Theater with Digistar 3 system; Courtesy Adler Planetarium Photographer Craig Stillwell. working partnerships with, numerous local

June 2005 Planetarian 23 research entities. Historically the Adler has been aligned with both the University of Chicago and Northwestern University. The Adler’s charter, dated 1928, requires its scientific content be monitored for quality by the Astronomy Department of the U of C. And Philip Fox, the Adler’s first Director when it opened in 1930, was hand-selected by Max Adler from the Northwestern University fac- ulty. More recently, the Adler has enlisted professors from the U of C and Northwestern to serve as working astronomers at the Adler. Our relationships with astronomers at Loyo- la University, University of Illinois at Chica- go, FermiLab, Argonne, and other local science institutions contribute to the vibrant research community that surrounds the Adler. Even closer than these institutions are the Adler’s two closest neighbors. The Field Museum of Natural History and the John G. Shedd Aquarium, both leaders in their own scientific fields, comprise with the Adler the parkland known as Museum Campus Chi- cago. A short drive away from the Museum Campus are the world-renowned Art In- stitute of Chicago and the Museum of Science and Industry. A lakeside walk (or Fig. 6: Aerial view of Adler Planetarium and environs; Courtesy Pacific Construc- tion Services, Inc. water-taxi ride) from the Adler brings visitors to Navy Pier, currently Chicago’s most to the Adler are so numerous that their sits, boasts over 30 square kilometers of park- popular tourist attraction with two muse- descriptions would easily fill an entire land with 552 parks, 33 beaches, two world- ums, two theaters, a 45-meter illuminated Planetarian article on their own. class conservatories, 16 historic lagoons, ten Ferris Wheel, and numerous other amuse- The Adler’s Chicago setting would give IPS bird and wildlife gardens, and many facilities ments. In fact, the cultural institutions close conference-goers and their families the for sports including baseball, basketball, advantages of convening in a world-class boating, fishing, golf, skating, swimming, city, with its wealth of ethnically diverse tennis, and volleyball. Beyond the city lim- neighborhoods, its array of fine dining, its its, the entire Great Lakes region offers bluffs, groundbreaking architecture and public art- dunes, forests, prairies, ravines, shores, and works, its professional theaters and music countless other natural environments for venues of every genre, and its wide range of exploration. spectator sports (including the Cubs and At each summer solstice, from the center White Sox). of Adler’s outdoor sculpture “Americas’ However, as urbanized as Chicago is, it has Courtyard,” one can peer down a channel also maintained much natural beauty, per made of stone and view the Sun setting the City’s Latin motto Urbs in Horto—“City behind one of the world’s tallest buildings. in a Garden.” (Fig. 6) The entire Chicago lake- The Adler would welcome the opportunity front has by law remained open and free for to give the world’s planetarians a chance to public recreation. The Chicago Park District, view this sight for themselves, and greet the which owns the property where the Adler 2008 summer solstice in Chicago. (Fig. 7) C

Fig. 5: Interior of Doane Observatory; Courtesy Adler Planetarium Photo- Fig. 7: Eastern exterior of Sky Pavilion, nighttime; Courtesy Adler Planetarium grapher Craig Stillwell. Photographer Craig Stillwell.

24 Planetarian June 2005 Invitation to Oakland: IPS 2008

Alex Barnett Executive Director/CEO Chabot Space & Science Center 10000 Skyline Blvd. Oakland, California 94619 USA [email protected]

Introduction tory, California Academy of Sciences, Chabot Space & Science Center in Oak- Lawrence Hall of Science, and facilities such land, California, USA, would like to invite as the SETI Institute in bringing our col- the International Planetarium Society and leagues to the Bay and giving them a confer- its affiliates to consider us as the host for IPS ence to remember. 2008 around the dates July 20th to 24th. The The next few years will see a great deal of two main facilities that would host the con- change in the planetarium field. The differ- ference activities would be Chabot Space & California, provides an exciting opportunity ent needs of traditional teaching planetaria, Science Center and the Oakland Marriott for planetarians to meet, confer, network small domes, portable domes, large domes City Center. and innovate. The Bay Area is a fabulous des- and those with digital projection technology Chabot, with its two large capacity domes tination with many astronomy, space and need to be addressed and it is a tall order to (210 and 240 seats), and its links to many media-related attractions. We are delighted do so in one facility and conference! We other similar facilities in the Bay Area and to have the support of the Griffith Observa- would like to suggest a conference theme Immersive Space to reflect the fact that even though our members and friends use their domes in many ways, they all create immersive experiences.

Oakland and Getting There Oakland itself is an unknown jewel - The Other City by the Bay. Our partners include the Oakland Convention and Visitors Bureau who would handle a great deal of the administration and organization under our direction. They are experienced conference planners and organizers, giving confidence to the IPS membership that we can deliver a program in a cost-effective and efficient manner. The Oakland Marriott City Center can cope if the conference draws several times the suggested attendance. The Mar- riott, and the many other hotels located nearby, are in the vibrant downtown center of Oakland, with easy access to shops, restaurants, museums, gondola rides on the lake and a ferry to San Francisco! Oakland is served with an International Airport (OAK), a short taxi ride away from the City Center. A shuttle connects the airport to the BART (Bay Area Rapid Transit) line and the hotel is outside the 12th St. BART station. San Francisco International Airport (SFO) is about 45 minutes drive from Oakland City Center, and is also served by a BART station. It takes about an hour to get from SFO to the Marriott by BART. The hotels are less than three kilometers from the nearest Amtrak Station (Oakland, Jack Lon- Chabot_air300.jpg - Courtesy Chabot Space & Science Center. Photo by Dan Miller. don Square). SFO is a major tourist airport

This is the second of two articles that invite the membership to choose a conference venue for 2008.

June 2005 Planetarian 25 trol systems. Our 18- profession is changing rapidly as technology meter Megadome has moves forward. There are differences in the 210 seats. It is equipped conference needs of big domes, digital with an 8:70 film sys- domes, small domes, teaching domes, tem, 35mm system and portable domes, etc. Different issues affect high definition projec- these various groups, and they are interested tion, and can be outfit- in related but varying topics and themes. ted with full dome pro- What if I am a … Small Teaching Dome or jection for demos. This Portable Planetarium? gives us the capacity to Our partner, the Lawrence Hall of Science, run demos for up to 450 has an international reputation for their live, participants at one time hands-on programs. Working with the LHS, and to run different we propose at least one day of specific ses- types of programs. We sions held at the LHS, tailored for smaller are not open 7 days a teaching domes. week, so we will be able There is space at our proposed conference Courtesy Chabot Space & Science Center. Photo by Carter to hold some work- venue, the Oakland Marriott City Center, to Roberts. shops and demonstra- set up several portable domes in order to and often attracts bargain fares from Inter- tions in the domes during the daytime, conduct sessions using a variety of old and national departure points. Due to the good avoiding the very late nights that sometimes new projector types. We are also proposing public transportation, it will be possible to have been needed at attend this conference without renting a car, other venues. cutting down on costs to participants. Accommodations, Chabot Space & Science Center Conference Originally established in 1883, Chabot Facilities, and Space & Science Center has a stellar record of Costs using space and astronomy to inspire visitors The Oakland Marriott of all ages. In our new facility, which is set in City Center / Oakland 5-1/4 hectares of Redwood forest and opened Convention Center has a in 2000, we have exhibits, classrooms, labs, large number of flexible outdoor spaces, meeting rooms and both a meeting rooms, banquet planetarium and movie theater. rooms, lounges etc For the dome demonstrations and any day accommodating up to and evening sessions, coaches will be laid on 700 people sitting for from the Marriott downtown to our 450- banquets. About 20 meter hilltop location. If attendance is high- rooms are available for er than the two domes can handle at one sit- parallel sessions, break- ting (450), evening sessions will be staggered out groups, and meet- to allow for eating, demonstration and travel ings, seating from 30 to times. 1000. This allows us great Chabot Space & Science Center has two flexibility when plan- Courtesy Chabot Space & Science Center. Photo by domed theaters. Our 21-meter planetarium ning the schedule. A rea- Conrad Jung. dome has 240 seats, a Zeiss VIII Universar- sonable amount of meet- ium, SEOS full dome projection system run- ing equipment, including all sound needs, sessions on production for small digital ning Digital Sky and the usual assorted con- (tables, chairs, easels, boards etc) is provided domes, and some maintenance sessions. free of charge. Our cur- Older mid-sized or large dome? rent cost summary Do you use slides and home made special (2005 estimate based on effects? Have just a single video projector? sharing a room) is; regis- We will not be forgetting more traditional tration estimate $400; show production and issues that you face, Room costs for five and will have special sessions on the mainte- nights allow $400; nance and marketing issues for traditional Allowance for expenses domes. We are also proposing a forum to dis- not covered by confer- cuss the pros and cons of changing to digital ence $150; Banquet tick- systems, and some fundraising ideas. et target cost $45; Total Mid- to large-sized digital dome? before flights = $945. Have we got a conference for you! Chabot is situated among some of the premier ani- Why should I sup- mation and gaming houses in the world - port Chabot Pixar, LucasArts, Dreamworks, Electronic Space & Science Arts, etc. We intend to explore all the ways Center’s bid? in which a digital dome can be used, from Courtesy Chabot Space & Science Center. Photo by Carter One answer - Flexibil- teaching to entertainment. Roberst. ity. Our planetarium DomeFest, the independent ‘film’ festival

26 Planetarian June 2005 to encourage art and innovation in fulldome Telescope Array at Hat Creek with a point and feedback and ideas (via the web- production, will move from Lodestar Plane- detour through the wine country. site below) are welcomed. tarium in Albuquerque to Chabot Space & * Along with the DomeFest attendees, we Saturday Science Center for 2008 if we are successful are planning to organize a tour of Pixar * PS Council Meeting, Exhibition set up, with our bid. DomeFest includes people and other Bay Area animation houses Registration opens (pm) involved in fulldome gaming and entertain- such as LucasArts or Dreamworks. * DomeFest jury meetings and discussion ment as well as music and art, enabling sessions attendees to see all this medium has to offer. In addition, if the sky is clear following * Facilitated networking dinners at vari- Potential Exhibitor? the demos each evening, Chabot’s large tele- ous restaurants for different groups The Convention Center has ample space scopes (20-cm and 51-cm refractors, 91-cm re- (we’ll just book tables and organize get- and 6.7-meter ceiling height. Chabot Space & flector) will be available for viewing. Walk- ting people together! Participants pay Science Center is committed to driving traf- ing tours of the sights of Oakland will be for their food) fic and awareness for our exhibitors. We are available and attending spouses and families * DomeFest screenings at Chabot proposing to have several public events/ will be given a package with free and money Sunday demos/lectures within the exhibit space, and off passes to local science centers and attrac- * Registration, IPS Council Meeting are looking at the logistics of having an exhi- tions. * Public Exhibition Day and activities bition-only ticket on one day to increase * Opportunities for special interest groups traffic. But what makes us think that the A Possible Conference Program (such as fulldome standards, or Digistar public would be interested? Recently San Balancing the needs of a very full confer- Users Group etc) and IPS Committees to Francisco hosted NextFest, from Wired Mag- ence agenda with the need to allow time for meet azine. Although most of the sellout crowds networking, Chabot Space & Science Center * Happy hour’ with the exhibitors, fol- were not able to buy a personal helicopter or is considering extending the conference by lowed by evening welcome reception VR system, there was great appeal in being making more use of the ‘weekend before’. with special guests. able to try things out, see things, and experi- This time is really ideal for business meetings Monday ment. and networking. * Registration, Opening breakfast and cer- The addition of DomeFest to this confer- Many people don’t arrive until the last emony, IPS Business Meeting ence will attract additional Bay Area tech- minute given that traditionally the business * Papers, workshops, panels, exhibition nology and animation professionals/compa- meeting has been on the first morning, and and posters (all day) nies giving an added buzz and dimension to some consider that ‘missable’. Air fares how- * Breaks and Lunch in the exhibition area the trade show. For example, who knows ever are usually cheaper if a Saturday night * Portable dome sessions (afternoon) where fulldome gaming will be in 2008? stay in included. All of the IPS Committees * Vendor or workshop/paper sessions that What sort of interactive systems might be and informal special interest groups will be require a bigger dome at Chabot (after- available? encouraged to ‘come early’ and meet. Dome- noon) In addition, we will use our press contacts, fest, and the suggested public exhibition day * Dinner at Chabot, Vendor demonstra- such as Wired Magazine, and our University, with lectures and activities should also pro- tions (evening) media, and education contacts to insure that vide some incentive. Tuesday we reach into many different communities Please note this is very speculative at this * Papers, workshops, panels, exhibition who could be interested in attending the and posters (all day) exhibition to investigate the technologies. * Breaks and lunch in the exhibition This strategy will insure not only a vi- * Live, teaching dome sessions at LHS brant and active exhibition for IPS attendees, (special one day of activities) but could generate some additional revenues * Possible afternoon dome sessions at to help offset the costs of attendance. Chabot * Dinner at Chabot, Vendor demonstra- Activities before, during and tions (evening) after the conference. Wednesday Many fun activities are possible due to the * Papers, workshops, panels, exhibition creativity of our partners. and posters (until midday) * An afternoon and evening in San * Portable dome sessions Francisco hosted by the Morrison Plan- * Breaks and lunch at conference, last etarium at the California Academy of chance to see exhibition. Sciences. They are expecting to be just * Free afternoon and evening open, or close to re-opening in 2008! o Afternoon/Evening in San Francisco * A pre- or post-conference tour in South- with Morrison Planetarium (option) ern California, hosted by the Griffith o Animation tours (option) Observatory, (reopening in 2006) and o South Bay SETI and NASA tour including astronomical sites such as JPL (option) and Mount Wilson. May also include Mojave if it really is a thriving Space- Post conference activities begin Port by then! More details on the Chabot Space & * A day in the South Bay hosted by the Science Center bid, including possible con- SETI Institute, and including NASA ference programs and an online discussion Ames and some of the smaller domes. area to give your feedback can be found at The SETI Institute is also proposing a Courtesy the Oakland Convention & our bid website www.ips2008.org. Visitors Bureau. Photo by Barry C pre- or post-conference visit to the Allen Muniz. We look forward to seeing you!

June 2005 Planetarian 27

Henry C. Dethloff and Ronald A. Schorn, the atmosphere of Venus appears to have Reviews Smithsonian Books, Smithsonian Institution solved the planetary problem in its entirety.” Press, Marketing Department, 470 L’Enfant Sadly this attitude was prevalent at NASA. Plaza, Suite 7100, Washington, D.C., 20560, The authors state, “Decades later, after the 2003, ISBN 1-58834-124-0, US$ 29.95 initiation of NASA space programs, similar attitudes among a wide variety of “distin- Reviewed by John Potts, The New Detroit guished senior scientists” discouraged plane- Science Center, Detroit, Michigan, USA. tary research in general, and deterred invest- ment in expensive space probes to the outer The Voyager mission is a result of many planets” (pg. 150). It is amazing that the Voy- factors being brought together under some ager mission succeeded while faced with very special circumstances. A rare alignment such attitudes. of the Earth and outer planets, a visionary Voyager’s Grand Tour includes eight pages team, and many technical breakthroughs all of color photos and many black and white contributed to a mission that changed our photos and diagrams. The images that the view of our neighborhood in space. The his- Voyagers sent back are still stunning today. I tory of the Voyager mission is traced back to find it reassuring that Voyager I and II are the 1960s. During this time, a “Grand Tour” still traveling the cosmos, looking for edge of of the outer planets was viewed as impracti- our solar system, the place where the solar cal. A journey to Neptune would take 30 and interstellar winds meet. years using the technology of the time. It is April S. Whitt hard to imagine a mechanical device operating flawlessly for over 30 years without any Fernbank Science Center maintenance. As technology advanced, the 156 Heaton Park Drive NE Voyager missions became possible. Atlanta, Georgia 30307 USA A rare alignment of the [email protected] Earth and outer planets, a visionary team and many

It’s the outer limits this quarter, gentle technical breakthroughs readers. Our loyal reviewers bring their all contributed to a mis- expertise from Earth orbit to the edges of the sion that changed our Universe. Best wishes for a peaceful solstice, view of our neighborhood and many thanks to our excellent reviewers: Chris DePree, John Potts, and Steve Tidey. in space.

In this book we get a behind-the-scenes view of the Voyager project. All the facets of one of NASA’s most complex mission are detailed, including many of the administrative, political and technical issues. Unfortu- nately the book gets tedious by the amount of details covering the political and bud- Our Improbable Universe getary aspects. The astronomical and techno- Michael Mallary, Thunder’s Mouth Press, 245 logical breakthroughs that made the Voy- West 17th Street, 11th Floor, New York, New ager missions possible are treated as sec- York, 10011, 2004, ISBN 1-56858-301-X US$ ondary to the administrative maneuverings 26.00 that seem to prevail in any large governmental organization. This book follows the many Reviewed by Chris De Pree, Associate Profes- incarnations of the “Grand Tour” mission as sor of Physics & Astronomy, Agnes Scott it is canceled in one program, and reappears College, Decatur, Georgia, USA. as another. Advances in technology and changes in the national political arena made Since the time of Galileo, most scientists the mission possible. The “Grand Tour” mis- have stuck to observing and modeling the sion was finally named “Voyager”, and a leg- physical world, and let the philosophers and endary mission was born. theologians talk about why things are the It was not an easy birth. In the first half of way they are. But in recent years, scientists — the twentieth century, planetary astronomy a large fraction of them physicists — have was considered only a secondary field of more openly taken on topics along the fron- interest or study. In a 1944 article in the jour- tier of science and religion. In a lecture at Voyager’s Grand Tour: To nal Reviews of Modern Physics, Nicholas T. Agnes Scott College in Decatur, Georgia sev- Bobrovnikoff stated, ”The identification of eral years ago, Sir John Polkinghorne (Eng- The Outer Planets and methane and ammonia in the atmosphere of lish particle physicist turned Anglican priest) Beyond the major planets and of carbon dioxide in described the “battlefront” between science June 2005 Planetarian 29 and religion as having zones with differing third to the origin and evolution of life, and Leaving Earth: Space levels of strife, with some areas of open con- the final third to speculation about other life flict (biology) and other areas of relative in the universe, and the possible signature of Stations, Rival Superpowers, calm (physics). a creator. Since the book is written by a phy- And The Quest For As an indication of their level of involve- sicist, it is not surprising that the first part is Interplanetary Travel ment along the frontier between science and the strongest of the three. The final third of Robert Zimmerman, Joseph Henry Press, 500 religion, physicists and astrophysicists have the book contains interesting philosophical Fifth Street, NW, Washington, DC 20001, won a disproportionate share of Templeton speculation about the implications of an USA, 2003, ISBN 0309085489, US$27.95. Prize awards in recent years. This prize is improbable universe, but the narrative given annually to an individual who is cred- seems to lose direction in the later chapters, Reviewed by Steve Tidey, Southend, Essex, ited with the “creation of new structures of in particular in Chapter 13 (“Where is the England. understanding the relationship of the Signature?”). Let me be clear, this is not a Creator to his ongoing creation of the uni- book that argues against evolution or any If you buy this book (as I recommend you verse.” While the prize is open to all disci- other well-established scientific theory, but do) prepare for your flabber to be gasted by plines, close to half of the winners of the its speculation about a creator in later chap- many jaw-dropping revelations of behind Templeton prize since 1987 are physicists or ters might make even physicists along the the scenes arguments, petty rivalries, near astronomers. In fact, Sir John Polkinghorne frontier with religion a bit uncomfortable. calamities in orbit, mutinous behaviour, won the prize in 2002. Mallary makes a convincing case that the truth-bending, outright lies, political shenan- Michael Mallary is yet another physicist universe that we inhabit is highly improba- igans and occasional dumb luck that has ble. In his introduction, Mallary states: characterized the hidden aspect of the Michael Mallary is yet American and (this book’s main focus) the another physicist who If the life-begetting substructure of Russian space programme. But on the other does not shy away from our cosmos arose from a random pro- hand, you’ll also get a new appreciation for cess, then our fertile universe is a rare the immense skill, dedication and heroism the frontier between reli- gem amongst an uncountable num- that made possible all those historic gion and science, and in ber of dead ones. If its physical laws were micro-engineered by a creator, moments we cherish. his new book Our Improb- the accomplishment is awe-inspiring. Zimmerman’s book follows in the able Universe, he takes Either way, this incredible universe, admirable wake of others such as Red Star In and the life it has spawned, should be Orbit, Dragonfly and Korolev, which in their on the philosophical impli- cherished. own ways blew the lid off the cozy public cations of the uniqueness relations gloss that NASA and the Russian of our universe When Mallary sticks to this message in the Space Agency have applied to their respec- book, he is most successful. His descriptions tive programs, to show instead the real hu- of the science are clear and entertaining, and man drama behind the headlines. Zimme- who does not shy away from the frontier his style is engaging throughout. But when rman repeats some of those amazing stories between religion and science, and in his new the book meanders into suggestions for the (which is OK; they deserve repeating) but he book Our Improbable Universe, he takes on signature of a creator in the universe, the also brings us up to date with the more the philosophical implications of the arguments lose their clarity. This may be the recent flights since Red Star was published in uniqueness of our universe. His arguments book you’ll need for answering questions 1980, and he finishes with the Shuttle-Mir are an extrapolation of an idea called the after a planetarium show, or to browse program. anthropic principle. The idea is basically this: through some evening when the clouds So there are plenty of new anecdotes here the universe is the way it is because, if it have pre-empted the observatory program. (at least they were new to me) to keep the were different, we would not be here to Check it out. reader goggle-eyed and keen to turn the observe it. page. It really does read like a pot-boiler at Mallary’s book begins with an interesting times. Indeed, there’s enough material to premise: whether the universe was designed, write several planetarium shows entitled, or came into being randomly is not the most Things You Weren’t Supposed To Know important issue. Mallary states that whatev- About The Russian And American Space er its origin, our universe is highly improba- Programs – But Do Now, or you could cherry ble, and for that reason, we are obliged to be pick from the many anecdotes and slot them good stewards of it. The book opens with an into your answers to generic questions from explanation of just how finely tuned this the public at the end of a planetarium show. universe of ours appears to be, describing Or you can just read the book and think, what Mallary calls the fourteen stepping “They did what? They said WHAT?” stones required for our existence as obser- A few of the lighter moments occur when vers. His stepping stones span particle phy- we learn that when Norm Thaggard landed sics (CP Asymmetry), nuclear physics (mass in Florida on the space shuttle with two re- of neutrons), and astronomy (stellar evolu- turning Russian cosmonauts from Mir, NASA tion and supernovae). The first five chapters had to urgently apply to the Immigration then expand on the details and quirks of and Naturalization Service for a special ‘visa physics that make life in the universe (us) waiver for aliens from outer space’ because possible, and this part of the book is quite the Russians didn’t have passports; and in clear and readable, with helpful diagrams. 1991 when Britain’s Helen Sharman spent 10 The book is divided into thirds, with the days aboard Soyuz, on her second night first third devoted to physics, the second there she put on a frilly jumpsuit for dinner

30 Planetarian June 2005 and one of the cosmonauts in turn put on a charges on spacecraft surfaces and the bom- formal tie that, of course, floated. bardment of micrometeorites, to name but a In Leaving Earth, Zimmerman uses a nice few. technique that he put to good use in an earli- On that last point, we learn that during er book, Genesis: The Story of Apollo 8, in STS-7, a fleck of orbiting paint struck a shut- which he draws direct correlations between tle window causing a crater 0.2mm wide, political developments on Earth and events which required $50,000 of repair on the in space that either came about as a result of ground after the mission. Another wow fac- those machinations, or which quickly tor is that a 3mm-wide piece of space junk shaped them. This pushes the space race into orbiting at 10 km/s has the kinetic energy of the realms of sociology, which is a common a bowling ball moving at 100 km/hr. thread throughout the book. The overall treatment is very academic (I suppose the fact that it’s published by So there are plenty of Princeton University is a bit of a giveaway new anecdotes here (at there) with lots of references and bibliogra- least they were new to phy notes at the end of each chapter, so readers may feel as though they’re moving me) to keep the reader through a succession of papers in an academ- goggle-eyed and keen to ic physics journal. That’s OK, as long as you turn the page. It really don’t open the book expecting something different. does read like a pot-boiler So, all things considered, I’m deeply at times. Indeed, there’s space/astronomy topic that hasn’t had much impressed with the depth of technical know- enough material to write coverage over the years (that’s getting how spacecraft design engineers need to have to give their probes even a small hope several planetarium increasingly hard to do, as space books are so common these days) but I just wish this of working for any length of time, given the shows … book had been written on a more popular harsh conditions out in space. It’s all very level. To be fair to the author, 190 equations well us telling the public it’s not easy to For me the end result of all these insights is and a few dozen technical diagrams spread design and build satellites, but a book like that I have an even greater admiration for over 232 pages means the book is exactly this really brings home the daunting task the people involved in space programs over what it claims to be: a college level introduc- even to us planetarians who know a thing or the last 50 years than I had before, when I tion to the physics of the space environ- two more about it than most people. think of all the obstacles (some self-imposed) ment, which impact the design and con- If you already have the physics knowledge they’ve had to overcome to achieve the struction of satellites and space probes so as to follow the equations you’ll feel right at remarkable things they’ve done. Yes, the to minimize damage and poor performance. home with this book, and I imagine it’ll be result of Zimmerman’s meticulous research But there are enough interesting tidbits of looked on as somewhat of a bible for people doesn’t always show humanity in a favor- information in these pages to justify a differ- studying to become spacecraft engineers, but able light, but in the end the indomitable ent treatment for the common person, who if you don’t fall into either of those cate- human spirit does shine through. And with isn’t studying the subject as part of a degree. gories I’d wait until a more popular level ver- the recent discovery of the diaries of the late sion appears. Vasily Mishin (Korolev’s rival Soviet rocket … the book is exactly developer in the 50s and 60s) we can expect what it claims to be: a more books like this, which I welcome; the world’s a cynical enough place these days college level introduction that we don’t necessarily think less of space to the physics of the scientists and astronauts after we’ve had the space environment, which chance to examine their warts and weak- nesses. It just makes them look all the more impact the design and like the rest of the world, which is somehow construction of satellites comforting. and space probes so as to minimize damage and The Space Environment: poor performance. Implications for Spacecraft Design Still, if you stick with it this is a compre- hensive treatment that covers a wealth of Alan C. Tribble Princeton University Press, 41 material. For instance, you’ll learn about the William Street, Princeton, New Jersey, 08540, design modifications needed to reduce USA, 2003, ISBN 0-691-10299-6, US$45.00, UK adverse space environmental effects on £29.95. spacecraft caused by things such as the deg- radation of electrical circuits from solar radi- Reviewed by Steve Tidey, Southend, Essex, ation, cosmic rays, etc., damage by ionised England. atoms in Earth’s upper atmosphere, material Deep-Sky Companions, The erosion by atomic oxygen, electrical dis- I applaud Tribble for identifying a Caldwell Objects

June 2005 Planetarian 31

Stephen James O’Meara, Sky Publishing Cor- Stephen James O’Meara tion on each object, O‘Meara also includes a poration, Cambridge, Massachusetts, 02138- drawing made at the eyepiece, a photo, a 1200 USA and Cambridge University Press, is one of the leading ob- finder chart, and written directions for find- The Edinburgh Building, Cambridge, CB2 servers of our time. ing the object. 2RU, UK; 2002, ISBN 0-933346-97-2 and 0-521- My favorite part of the book? The special 82796-5, US$39.95, UK£25.00. then a preface and acknowledgments. The points of interest O’Meara includes for each first chapter tells about the book – its mak- object. There’s some history, a description of Reviewed by Karl von Ahnen, Minolta Plan- ing, and how to use it. The second chapter is the physics involved and often some person- etarium, De Anza College, Cupertino, Cali- the meat of the book, where the Caldwell al story. He also includes descriptions from fornia, USA. objects are described one by one. The third other observers and often describes near-by chapter lists 20 more objects O’Meara objects one might want to look in on while Deep sky observers now have a list of 109 thought should be included – it is his book! in the neighborhood. “C” objects to go along with the poplar 109 Perhaps we should call these the “O” objects. Time will tell if Sir Patrick Moore’s list will “M” objects. “M” objects are those galaxies, There are a number of appendices, both catch on to the degree that Messier’s list has, th star clusters and nebulae, listed by the 18 interesting and useful. but with this book, there’s a new list of century French comet hunter Charles Mes- Stephen James O’Meara is one of the lead- objects that observers can enjoy reading sier. This was Messier’s list of ‘nuisance’ ing observers of our time. His keen eye, about and viewing on the next clear night. objects that might be mistaken for a comet. amazing patience, and undying enthusiasm This is the second in O’Meara’s ‘Deep Sky Although this list is now used as a guide to for the night sky have come together in a Observer’s’ series. The first covers the Messier some of the most beautiful objects in the captivating presentation of Moore’s list. Objects. I’m anxious to see what comes next. night sky, this was not its original intention. Moore mentions in the forward that he I think this series will long survive as a great And it is incomplete in this regard. wanted to include some challenging objects. set of observing books. I can’t help but be World famous astronomy popularizer, Sir I can testify that he has succeeded. After reminded of the landmark three volume set Patrick Moore (as in Patrick Alfred Caldwell- viewing some of the objects through a 25 cm of Burnham’s Celestial Handbook. Moore) decided to help rectify this situation (10 inch) telescope under pristine skies, I can This would be a good book to have in by creating a new list of objects to supple- state that these are not all easy objects. your gift shop especially if you are visited ment Messier’s list. Stephen James O’Meara Stephen O’Meara has performed magic at regularly by amateur astronomers. It would has now written the definitive guide to these the eyepiece of his 10 cm (4 inch) scope! He also be useful as a reference book in your objects. describes the appearance of the objects in library or definitely as an observing guide at C The book includes a forward by Moore, amazing detail. In the three or four page sec- the observatory for star parties.

34 Planetarian June 2005 Washington into a planetarium. But I can’t aspects of NASA would have to be decisively Forum think of a way to get a huge killer whale transformed, and that a robust U.S. space through the front door. Any ideas? industry and international cooperation Steve tells me that in the last issue he would be required. It concludes, “the Com- asked for contributions on this subject: mission unanimously endorses this ambitious but thoroughly achievable goal.” How realistic is President Bush’s new As of this writing, the Vision is still only a Space Initiative? Will astronaut safety proposal. Congressman Sherwood Boehlert issues hold NASA back from achieving (R-NY), Chairman of the Science Committee the initiative’s stated goals of establish- of the House of Representatives (and thus arguably the single individual with the ing a base on the Moon and Mars, or greatest power over the NASA budget) said in will it forge ahead and view this as its a hearing in February, “I think it’s critical new reason for being, for which the that Congress have a full and open debate on Agency has been searching these last the President’s Vision for Space Exploration few decades? and the future of NASA before NASA barrels ahead with the program. Congress has never So let’s run that up the flagpole and see endorsed – in fact, has never discussed – the who salutes it first. Oooh, it’s Steve Fentress. Vision .... I am for a NASA that sees itself as a While you read the contributions I’m going science agency, with all of Space Science, Steve Tidey off to have an argument with my brain. Earth Science and Aeronautics receiving the funding accorded to priority areas .... There 58 Prince Avenue, * * * are a lot of fundamental questions that I am writing this the day after hearing Southend, Essex, SS2 6NN NASA still isn’t ready to answer. That’s not a Astronaut Pamela Melroy speak at the criticism of the agency. That’s just a descrip- England Rochester Institute of Technology. With no tion of where they are in the planning pro- prompting from me, she mentioned astro- [email protected] cess.” naut safety issues, including radiation and re- So, until the Congress gets the information adaptation to gravity after long weightless- (The Forum column has a one-off guest it wants and thoroughly debates the Presi- ness, as serious challenges facing any plan for editor for this issue – Homer Simpson) dent’s Vision, we can ask not only, “How human travel beyond the Moon. She also Hello, I’m Homer Simpson. Well, some- realistic is it?” but also, “How real is it?” said, “The opinion of the Astronaut Office body has to be. Steve Fentress, Director has not changed from what it was before So, you guys are into astronomy, eh? Strasenburgh Planetarium Columbia – human space flight is not safe. It Hmmmm, fooood. Mars bars, Milky Way, Rochester Museum & Science Center is an inherently risky endeavour.” But she Galaxy. Hey, I love space! Why, Jupiter’s the 657 East Avenue made it clear that she believes it’s worth same size and shape as my stomach. I kinda Rochester, New York, 14607, USA doing. like Neptune, too. He was that guy who lived How many more Columbia-like disasters * * * in the ocean, right? So why didn’t they call will the American public accept and still sup- Will American astronauts go back to the the planet Jacques Cousteau? port human space flight? That may depend Moon within the next twenty years? Despite I looked at Pluto the other night. Doesn’t on whether people can place the setbacks in the huge cost, I am sure that, somehow, look anything like a dog. Somebody sold me the context of a bold forward purpose. There Congress will make sure Americans return to a Mickey Mouse telescope! was such a purpose in the 1960s. JFK was will- the Moon before the Chinese and other for- When I was in England last year with ing to “wreck the budget” for Apollo. NASA eign powers reach the Moon. Yes, we have Marge and the family, the British Prime Administrator James Webb saw the Moon another “Space Race.” Meridian Minister, Tony Blair, met me at the program as an endeavour that would stretch Will American astronauts reach Mars airport and asked me on Steve’s behalf to and expand the country’s entire industrial within a decade or two thereafter? Con- write the Forum column for him just this and educational infrastructure. Each new sidering the price tag of such a mission, I one time. Fortunately, they’ve got the Inter- flight represented a dramatic, high-risk doubt it. The official line will be that there net on computers now (what will they think advance. are “delays.” In reality, without pressure from of next?) so I emailed Steve the column after Compare today. President Bush announc- a “Space Race” to Mars (as no other power I wiped off the jam doughnut stains. ed his “Vision for Space Exploration” on could afford to even think about sending Hey, can you folks in the IPS clear some- January 14, 2004. A week later, in an hour- people to Mars), Congress will not be willing thing up for me? I keep hearing about a man long State of the Union address, he did not to provide the additional funding necessary in the Moon, but I thought we brought them mention it, though he did mention such for such a mission anytime in the foreseeable all back to Earth. Am I missing something matters as steroid use among professional future. here? And what’s with the Moon going athletes setting a bad example for children. Having the future of space exploration round and round the Earth all the time? Are Nor did he mention the Vision in his State of depend on political “space races” is not the we being watched? Grrrr, those pesky aliens! the Union Address this year. way for mankind to reach out into outer Do you guys have any pull with NASA? President Bush did appoint a commission space. And the costs of the current NASA ini- Could you ask them to send out astronauts to examine and make recommendations on tiative, including the shutting-down of the to bring home those millions of pizzas that implementation of his Vision. The resulting Hubble Space Telescope and the Voyager are lying around on Io? Doh, I’m hungry report says that the Vision would have to be missions to the edge of the Solar System, are now! managed as a significant national priority pennywise and pound-foolish! Hey, I’m trying to think of a way to turn over multiple administrations, that many NASA has had many successes over the the white dome of the Capitol building in

June 2005 Planetarian 35 last 45 years – and some setbacks, as all Glenn A. Walsh to service a telescope that is only a few hun- human endeavours experience setbacks, Planetarium Lecturer 1988-1991 dred miles up in the sky? How can we ever from time to time. However, no one nation, original Buhl Planetarium progress, when we stop the program for or even group of nations, can commit the Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA. more than two years when we have a disas- amount of public resources to aggressively ter? move mankind into space, as I believe needs * * * NASA must change their mindset. Ex- to be done. This is particularly true in a plu- As exciting as human exploration of Mars ploration has always had its potential dan- ralistic democracy, with many competing and colonizing the Moon would be, and as gers. Columbus, Lewis and Clarke, the settlers interests. beneficial as these adventures would be for that moved West, etc. Where would we be The very limited public funding available the planetarium field and science education now, if they stopped for every death? I have should be spent to maximize the benefits of in general, I don’t think this is very realistic also heard NASA spokesman say that we the existing space infrastructure, including at this time. In my opinion, this program is a have to make it safe, because the public can- Hubble, Voyagers, and the International bit too ambitious for today’s economy and not handle another group of astronauts Space Station. The taxpayers have already the present general mood of people. NASA is dying. Well, if the public can handle tens of made huge investments in this infrastruc- struggling to recover from the Columbia dis- thousands of people dying each year in auto- ture. This infrastructure should not be cast- aster, and is very gun-shy. Even the nearly mobiles, then they should handle a Shuttle aside or completely abandoned. Abandoning routine servicing of the Hubble seems way disaster. And NASA should be able to handle valuable infrastructure is not conservative, too scary. How can a trip to Mars fit with public reaction. Cars, planes, and trains don’t in the true definition of the word! this mentality? stop for two years every time someone dies. Mankind desperately needs to aggressively The diverting of resources from other sci- Shuttles shouldn’t either. move into outer space, and not just for ex- entifically important programs to pay for The astronauts know the risks, and they ploration. As the world population contin- this initiative is a big concern. For instance are the ones willing to take them. In a 2003 ues increasing, and resources to support that plans were just announced to withdraw article by former astronaut Walter Cunning- population continue dwindling, we need to funding for the continued monitoring of the ham, he said, “There will always be risk asso- find new resources, out there, to support the two Voyager spacecraft, just as they are near- ciated with manned space flight. We should people on our planet. ing the heliopause. And letting the Hubble reduce the risk to a point where gain to be I would also argue that the government die would be a scientific tragedy. made exceeds the perceived risk and then should commit some resources to promote The thrill of space travel and exploration get on with the job”. Gus Grissom said, “If we an aggressive, manned, commercial space would be a very useful diversion from our die, we want people to accept it. We are in a program. Yes, this past-year’s success of worldly concerns and a great way to get peo- risky business, and we hope that if anything SpaceShipOne, and the prospect of a Space ple thinking in a more global, scientific and happens to us, it does not delay the program. Tourism industry, is a good first step. But, we humanistic way. Alas, I don’t think we can The conquest of space is worth the risk of need to go much farther than space tourism. expect anything quite this big just yet. life”. In the mid-nineteenth century, when Karl von Ahnen The day before I wrote this (April 5, 2005) Congress wanted to develop the American Minolta Planetarium, De Anza College Shuttle systems engineering Manager John West, they enacted specific incentives to 21250 Stevens Creek Boulevard Muratore said, “It is a risk that NASA and the such development: Railroad Land Grant Act Cupertino, California, 95014, USA nation must accept for flights to resume any- of 1850 and the Homestead Act of 1862. To * * * time soon”. He added, “What NASA has to do make similar incentives for outer space Recently, President Bush came out with to get smarter is to stop relying on computer development will probably require the the new space initiative; we are going back models and start flying the Shuttles again”. amending, or complete rewriting, of the to the Moon and on to Mars. Is this some- And what about President Kennedy’s May Outer Space Treaty of 1967 (which is vague thing to really believe in? Can and will it 25, 1961 speech, when he announced, “… on commercial space activities). Without a really happen? landing a man on the Moon and returning new or amended space treaty designed for Well, before I give my two cents worth, let him safely to the Earth”? Nowhere in his the needs of the twenty-first century, which me say the following. I grew up with the speech did he say that we would go only if it provides for property rights on celestial bod- glory days of space; Shepard, Glen, Gemini, is absolutely safe. As a matter of fact he said: ies, outer space development will continue Apollo, etc. I have, over the years, publicly, “… if we are to go only half way, or reduce to lag. via TV, radio, and newspapers, strongly sup- our sights in the face of difficulty, in my And, a successful, aggressive, manned, ported NASA and the space program. When judgment it would be better not to go at all”. commercial space program would actually Professor Gold at Cornell said that the We can redesign every square inch of the increase scientific access to outer space. So Challenger astronauts were just a sacrifice for shuttle, and say its safe, but I can guarantee long as there is a government near-mono- a NASA publicity stunt, I, on TV, voiced my that we will lose astronauts in the future. We poly on manned space exploration, the costs disapproval of his opinion, and explained are dealing with millions of moving parts. of manned scientific exploration of space the value of manned space flight. I have, We are pushing alloys, metals, and materials will remain high, and a government bureau- argued publicly with people that claim that to, and past the limits of the laws of physics cracy will decide which scientists go into the space program is a waste of money. So I and chemistry. Then we attach it all to a space and which cannot. am not anti-NASA. tank filled with hydrogen and oxygen. And With a successful, aggressive, manned However, I see no way that this new space to top it all off, we put a group of humans on commercial space program, over time the initiative can work. And it will be NASA’s board this thing (who get a yearly salary price for human access to space will come own fault. The organization under O’Keefe, that’s actually less than what most of us down. And, eventually, even planetarians has lost all of its guts. Maybe the new person make in the planetarium field) and launch it will be able to afford to go into space (and I in charge will change this. But explain to me, into space. What’s wrong with this picture? do not mean just a sub-orbital tourist flight), how we can get to the Moon and to Mars, Nothing! As long as you see the risks, and and perhaps even conduct their own inde- when NASA thinks that it is too dangerous realize the value and knowledge to be gained pendent research in space! by taking these risks.

36 Planetarian June 2005 So, can we get back to the Moon and go to Safety issues are a problem for NASA. The walking around on the Moon again and Mars? I would hope so. It is something that I problem, however, is primarily one of pro- on Mars is thrilling – and I believe it will personally would love to see. But can we do cedure. The most recent accident was caused thrill the people of the world. it with the mindset that NASA currently by a piece of foam falling from the external d) Our vision of the Universe and our love- has? I don’t think so. And if anyone else tank. This had been observed on at least ly little world will expand exponential- does, well, there is a bridge for sale in Brook- three earlier missions. Rather than test the ly, perhaps even more than the expand- lyn, and you can name a star for yourself! consequences of a piece of foam hitting the ed vision we’ll get from the most ad- Steven LJ Russo orbiter at high speed when the anomaly was vanced space telescopes. Planetarium Manager first observed, it was assumed that there was I believe that philosophical and spiritual Suits-Bueche Planetarium no real problem since the foam had a low insights – perhaps subtle, perhaps not – will Schenectady Museum density. Some engineers had expressed con- result. These are unpredictable. I’m not 15 Nott Terrace Heights cerns early on, but testing their concerns aware that anyone predicted the stunning Schenectady, New York 12308, USA would have been “too expensive”. In reality, beauty of our planet from space that we first not testing those concerns was very much saw on our trips to the Moon. Those pictures * * * more expensive. Unfortunately, this is a have changed humans’ view of our home For myself I don’t believe the promises of mode of operation that evolves within an world and our place in the Universe like President Bush. I think, unfortunately, that agency constantly under funded with nothing else could. I think of my college pro- the US Space Agency has become a tool in respect to the scope of the mission it is ex- fessor who, in 1970, after seeing 2001: A Space the hands of the President. I am not sure that pected to accomplish. Odyssey, exclaimed to his Renaissance the decision not to maintain the HST (while Dale A. Etheridge, Director Literature class, “It’s out there that we’ll meet continuing to organize missions to ISS Community College of Southern Nevada God!” (Let’s not argue about the word “God.” whose scientific benefits are much lower Planetarium He just meant God, or the meaning of life, or than HST’s) will be the best choice for the 3200 East Cheyenne Avenue the meaning of the Universe or some such.) development of fundamental astronomy. Las Vegas, Nevada 89030, USA I guess I think we should go to the Moon Perhaps my ideas are too sectarian? I would and Mars. But I think we should be infinitely prefer that the missions of the Agency be * * * more gentle and thoughtful than we are focused on astronomy and not on industry. I haven’t the slightest idea whether NASA accustomed to being. Honestly, I wouldn’t Agnes Acker will actually establish bases on the Moon trust the current US government with that. On behalf of the Association of French and Mars in the next few decades, as George Robin Symonds Speaking Planetariums Bush has proposed. It seems so difficult to tell Director, Charles Hayden Planetarium what direction the United States is going on Museum of Science * * * anything. Much depends on who the next 1 Science Park President Bush’s Space Initiative is about President is, whether the US economy can Boston, Massachusetts 02114, USA as realistic as most initiatives from this recover from the current budget deficits, administration. While the proposal itself whether we experience more episodes like * * * has many fine concepts, it will go nowhere those of September 11, and whether other Oh, are we done? Good, there’s a baloney without adequate funding. Because of the countries are able and willing to join us in in the kitchen and it’s calling my name! large deficit, adequate funding will not be space. Come to Daddy! available in the foreseeable future. The only But should we? What could be the draw- Steve wants the next Forum topic to be: way NASA will be able to make any progress back of our sending humans to the Moon how can we persuade Jim Manning to come towards the goals outlined will be to gut and Mars? I know you all can think of some. back and write more What’s New? columns. other programs within the agency. This is a) The opportunity cost. The economic Hey, does that mean you guys need a new one of the underlying factors in the deci- cost. What won’t we do if we go to the sub-editor? Is there room in your journal for sion to abandon the Hubble Space Telescope. Moon and Mars? We won’t spend that a food critic? But I threatened Steve with Other science projects will be delayed or money, effort and commitment on having to baby sit Bart for a day unless he eliminated. other science — the next generation of asked you to reply to this: Bush is trying to sound presidential (in the space telescopes, the next generation of style of JFK), but is unwilling to follow probes to the outer Solar System, medi- We don’t always like to admit it, but through with the resources necessary to cal research, agricultural research, etc. some planetarium shows are consider- accomplish the goal. It is more important to Not to mention feeding hungry chil- him to appear to be a visionary than to ably better than others. So, in your eyes, dren. and without mentioning specific shows actually be a visionary. Bush’s image is more b) The danger to the astronauts. If they die adversely, what elements set the really that of Richard Nixon, who directed NASA or end up stranded on Mars or in space, good shows apart from the run of the to develop the Space Shuttle (with an un- we’ll all feel rotten. realistic set of conflicting requirements) at c) The environmental issue. We humans mill? the expense of many other endeavors NASA wreck every place we go. We’re a pretty was prepared to embark on. This is why we destructive lot. There may or may not Hey, whatever you do, don’t send your have not been back to the Moon in nearly be microbes on Mars, but we’re sure to contributions to me; I don’t know how to 35 years and why it will take another bang around in our usual sloppy way. turn my computer on. I always have to get decade to get there, if then. Hopefully, the And if there are microbes there, I worry Lisa to do it for me. Send them to Steve new Administrator of NASA will be able to for them. either by slug mail or over the Internet to his form a coherent and achievable set of goals The reasons to do it are easy: email address by July 9. Ooh, July 9, that’s under the dire funding constraints forced on a) Science will be immeasurably advanced. five days after Independence Day. I wonder the country by Bush’s excessive borrow-and- b) Technological spin-offs will abound. if the rockets we set off last year have got to C spend philosophy. c) The thought of our fellow humans the Moon yet …

June 2005 Planetarian 37 38 Planetarian June 2005 “off-the-shelf” IRD can tune a “free to air” NASA Space Science News digital TV channel, provided you have a C- Band satellite-receiving dish.) Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics (“Addressable” is a type of IRD that can Laboratory. Prior to that, he was President not only receive “free to air” digital TV sig- and Chief Operating Officer of In-Q-Tel, Inc. nals but also can receive and store specially- He also served in several positions within encrypted programming for rebroadcast. For Orbital Sciences Corporation, including technical specifications go to http://www Chief Executive Officer of Magellan Systems, .nasadigitaltv.com. Inc. Earlier in his career, Griffin served as Once the digital channels go “live” in early chief engineer and associate administrator May, NASA plans to continue providing the for exploration at NASA Headquarters and existing analog NTSC NASA TV channel in also worked at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Lab- parallel with the new digital channels for at oratory. He also served as Deputy for Tech- least 60 days to provide time for users to con- nology at the Strategic Defense Initiative vert and confirm they are receiving digital Organization. NASA TV. The new digital channels will be In his confirmation hearing testimony to on the same satellite as the analog channel the U.S. Senate Commerce Committee, he (AMC 6), but on a different transponder (17). affirmed that his priorities as Administrator, For more about the new NASA TV Digital Anita M. Sohus consistent with the President’s Vision for Channels, including the latest satellite infor- Space Exploration, will be: mation, conversion schedule updates and NASA/Jet Propulsion glossary of terms, log on http://www.nasa Laboratory, California C Flying the Shuttle as safely as possible .gov/ntv. NASA’s websites are also changing. I Institute of Technology until its retirement, no later than 2010; C Bringing a new Crew Exploration Vehicle encourage you to browse the NASA Educa- 4800 Oak Grove Drive into service as soon as possible after tion site http://education.nasa.gov as there is Pasadena, California 91109 Shuttle retirement; lots of buried treasure there. In particular, C Developing a balanced, overall program of those of you interested in funding opportu- USA science, exploration, and aeronautics at nities should look at http://education (1) 818-354-6613 NASA, consistent with the redirection of .nasa.gov/divisions/eleandsec/grants. You the human spaceflight program to focus can also subscribe to receive e-mail notifica- (1) 818-354-7586 fax on exploration; tion of funding opportunities. [email protected] C Completing the International Space We are also pleased that two of our web- Station in a manner consistent with our sites, the NASA Solar System site (http:// May you live in interesting times! I think international partner commitments and solarsystem.nasa.gov) and the Cassini web- we would all agree that we certainly do, the needs of human exploration; site (http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov) have been made more so perhaps by the almost instan- C Encouraging the pursuit of appropriate nominated for Webbys this year in the taneous global transmission of news – good, partnerships with the emerging commer- Science category. The awards will be made in bad, or inane. Make that not just global news cial space sector; early June. As the inaugural curator of the but Universal news. Thanks to NASA Public C Establishing a lunar return program hav- Solar System site, I’m especially proud, as the Affairs, all interested folks can now subscribe ing the maximum possible utility for later site still adheres to the pillars I established: to receive NASA News Releases electronical- missions to Mars and other destinations. accurate, timely, and easy to navigate. The ly. This should be a huge benefit to those of site was originally commissioned by NASA you who are on the front lines with live NASA TV is also undergoing changes. Solar System Exploration Director Dr. Juer- audiences nearly every day, as you can now Transition of NASA TV from a single analog gen Rahe in 1997; unfortunately Dr. Rahe get news from NASA directly, at the same channel to multiple digital channels is near- died before the site went live. But I think he time as the news media, before a reporter ing reality. A vendor for the primary compo- would be pleased. rewrites it as a sound bite or shortens it to fill nents of the system was recently selected. For By the time most of you read this, NASA’s 5 seconds before the weather spot. And you information, go to http://www.nasadig Deep Impact spacecraft will be nearing its won’t get caught flatfooted by your audi- italtv.com. Installation and checkout of quarry, Comet Tempel-1. I’ll be waiting with ence members who ask you about some- equipment at the NASA Centers and NASA scores of others to learn the effect of the thing they heard on the radio or TV before HQs is underway. impact on the comet. While preliminary coming to your program, or worse yet, by The NASA Public Service Channel will be results will be released in the hours and days your own local media looking for com- encoded using the DVB standard. Any DVB immediately following the impact, more in- ments, because you’ll already know! Sub- compliant Integrated Receiver Decoder (IRD) depth analyses will be forthcoming at sci- scribe to NASA News Releases at http:// will be able to receive and decode the new ence meetings this fall. One of these, the www.nasa.gov/news/newsroom/NF_SN_ NASA Public Service Channel. (The three American Astronomical Society’s Division Subscribe.html. other NASA Digital Channels will be Edu- for Planetary Sciences annual conference, If you already subscribe to NASA News cation Services (“Free to Air”/”Addressable”), will be in Cambridge, England, Sept 4-9 this Releases, then you were aware almost as soon Media Services (“Addressable”) and Mission year, so look for press releases in that time as NASA employees that Dr. Michael Griffin Operations (Internal).) frame. was confirmed as NASA’s 11th Administrator (“Free to Air” is a TV channel that local The next step in Mars Exploration is slated on April 13. Prior to his appointment, Griffin cable and satellite service providers are “free to launch in August, as the Mars Recon- was serving as Space Department Head at to air” at no cost. Your basic, commercial naissance Orbiter blasts towards Mars on a massive Atlas V rocket. MRO will character-

June 2005 Planetarian 39 of Mars, and will Observer and Mars Climate Orbiter. If at first identify potential you don’t succeed …. Both of these instru- landing sites for ments are designed to probe and monitor future missions. Dur- the Martian atmosphere. A shallow sounding ing its two-year pri- radar will probe beneath the Martian surface mary science mis- to see if water ice is present at depths greater sion, MRO will con- than one meter, and a spectrometer will be duct eight different able to spot football-field-sized areas of min- science investiga- erals that may have formed in the presence tions at Mars. The of standing water. MRO will also carry the investigations are most powerful planetary imager yet, as its functionally divided HiRISE camera will be able to resolve objects into three purposes: 4 to 8 meters across. A Context camera will global mapping, re- provide context for images from HiRISE and gional surveying, the spectrometer. In addition, MRO will and high-resolution investigate the Martian gravity field and targeting of specific atmospheric structure. Although the trip to spots on the surface. Mars will take only seven months, MRO will This will be the sec- aerobrake for eight months, “walking” its ini- ond and third at- tial elliptical orbit in closer to the planet, tempts to deliver until it reaches a 255 x 320 kilometer (160 some of these instru- mile x 200 mile) near-polar orbit for science Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter will arrive at Mars in March ments to Mars: a operations. Science observations are sched- 2006, aerobrake to a lower, near-polar orbit until November 2006, and carry out its science observations for at least two Mars Color Imager uled from November 2006 to November years. It will also become part of the martian telecommuni- was aboard the ill- 2008. After completing its primary science cations network. fated Mars Climate mission, MRO will provide data relay for Orbiter, and a Mars landed missions on Mars. ize the surface, subsurface, and atmosphere Climate Sounder was aboard both Mars Interesting times, indeed! C

40 Planetarian June 2005 astronomical and planetarium experience. President’s Message These days, I find myself travelling to Melbourne quite frequently, as a member of many fine sights of the south – especially the the LOC, to keep involved in the planning. wonderful collection of objects in the region Enough of being so southern-hemisphere of the Southern Cross. oriented for now! As I write, my thoughts And, gazing skywards toward the constel- increasingly turn toward Beijing, where the lations, I was watching Orion on summer IPS will hold its next Council Meeting on evenings, and Scorpius – in all its glory and September 24-25. I’m thrilled that we are nearly overhead – was a sight reserved for able to do this, and with the fine support we evening observation wrapped up in warm have to hold the meeting at the Beijing clothing. Planetarium. There will be plenty to talk What does this have to do with the IPS? about, especially with our continuing discus- It’s because I often reflect on the fact that sions about the future of the IPS – but more our Society is becoming increasingly inter- about that shortly. national. I have already written in my previ- If you are a member of an affiliate group, ous Message about this topic, including my do speak with your representative in ad- desire to increase IPS presence in parts of the vance of the Council Meeting about any IPS world that are currently low on member- issues that you would like discussed. ships, and my admiration for our Star Through your representative, you too will Partners programme. be present there, and one of the things that is very important to you all is the location of Martin George, Curator But my feelings go still more deeply than that, to think about the wonderful friend- IPS 2008. We have four bids for that confer- Launceston Planetarium ship we extend to each other around the ence: The Scottish Power Space Theatre in Queen Victoria Museum globe. It would be hard to imagine a profes- Glasgow (Scotland); The Morelia Planetar- sion in which people from different coun- ium (Mexico), Chabot Space and Science Wellington Street tries would be so openly warm to one anoth- Centre (Oakland) and Adler Planetarium Launceston, Tasmania er! Right from the beginning of my profes- (Chicago). I am hoping that all of the bidders sional life as a planetarian, I found that one will make a final presentation in Beijing; in Australia of the greatest pleasures when travelling the the meantime, however, do consider these +61 (3) 63233777 world was to visit other planetaria. Natural- carefully, and pass on your thoughts to your ly, learning what other places had to offer representative. Especially, make use of any +61 (3) 63233776 fax their audiences was important and fascinat- affiliate meetings or gatherings that you [email protected] ing, but the warm receptions, also, were a big may have between now and September to part of those visits. discuss this and other issues! In addition, of course, I am looking for- I was reflecting recently on the noticeable The enormous friendship between plane- ward immensely to greeting affiliate repre- changes in the temperature, and the fact that tarians extends to those times when we are sentatives themselves in Beijing. China has a the depths of winter will soon be upon us – away from our domes. Late last fall – yes, the fascinating history and that, of course, in- well, upon some of us. Of course, if you live northern hemisphere fall – I was out observ- cludes astronomy. Not far from our meeting in the northern hemisphere, you are much ing one night with our Treasurer and Mem- venue – the Beijing Planetarium – is the old better off temperature-wise for a while! bership Chairman, Shawn Laatsch. We took Beijing Observatory, which dates back a long It’s this kind of thing that makes me think a telescope out to a dark-sky site in North way and contains some fine examples of back to the early days of my interest in Carolina and had a great evening gazing at Chinese astronomical instruments. A coun- astronomy, when I would collect a textbook some northern sky gems. It was cold. Quite try with such a past deserves to have plenty from a local library here in Australia and cold, in fact, but there we were, two planetar- of planetaria to spread the word, and indeed open it up to read that Orion is a winter con- ians under the largest dome of all. It was a lot it does. I am sure that our Council Members stellation, and that Scorpius is to be admired of fun. will return home feeling enriched by their in the summer, even though it is low in the This brings me to mention how excited I experiences, and willing to share them with sky. am that we are now only just a year away you all. Of course, I soon became aware that the from the first southern-hemisphere IPS con- The timing of this issue is a good opportu- vast majority of books on our special subject ference – IPS 2006! The conference is planned nity to remind all of you who are part of an are printed in the northern hemisphere. In so as to be centred on new Moon (which affiliate group that your representative will the late 1960s, I acquired my first copy of occurs on the Tuesday of the conference be in Beijing to speak on your behalf. True, Norton’s Star Atlas, with its wonderful charts week), so that planetarians making a holiday we are currently discussing the governance that actually showed stars to magnitude 6 out of the trip will have an optimal view of of the IPS and whether the present structure and provided me with lists of things to see the southern skies, whether extending their is the most appropriate way to continue, but with my telescope. It was a wonderful period trip a little before or after the conference. it is and always will be important that IPS in my life, during which I learned to read Planning for IPS 2006 is going very well. members have a voice in our activities. This upside-down when scanning the sky, so as to Melbourne Planetarium astronomer Tanya is, of course, one of the reasons why I want match what I was seeing with the unaided Hill, APS President Martin Bush and the to encourage the formation of more affili- eye and binoculars with the objects on the other members of the Local Organising ates. chart. And the maps of the southern sky Committee in Melbourne are an enthusiastic With regard to the future of the IPS, mem- were just as good as those of the northern, so crowd, as is the separate Steering Committee bers around the globe will have been aware I was blissfully happy investigating the drawn from a variety of people with both for some time that the IPS Council is deliber-

June 2005 Planetarian 41 ating over the Strategic Plan- clearly impressed with, and ning Report commissioned by grateful for, the materials that IPS and presented to us in they have been sent. I have little 2004. It raises a number of doubt that by the time this issue questions and presents various is mailed out, there will have options. For example, as men- been more replies. tioned above, governance – I would like to personally that is, the way we run our thank all of our members who Society – has arisen as a central contribute to this fund. It’s all a issue for us to consider. Per- part of the friendship enjoyed by haps you have some views or planetarians around the world, comments on this. about which I have already writ- Again, working through ten. your Council representative is As I finish writing this Mes- important: Council members sage, I’ve just run a Saturday are continuing to work on afternoon show. A little girl these issues. Regional meet- excitedly asked her dad if they ings, of course, are the ideal could go out stargazing tonight. Visitors to Australia for IPS 2006 will be able to see many forum for this discussion, but I famous astronomical attractions – either on their own or dur- Dad has promised to get the hope that all members of affili- ing a post-conference tour. This is one of the most well-known binoculars out when they get of all: the 64-metre radio telescope near Parkes in NSW, well ates make use of their own known from the movie The Dish. Photo courtesy Martin home. It’s currently cloudy and local communication chan- George. raining outside, but I’m sure he’ll nels so that everyone, through take her out at the first opportu- their representative, can have a say. Don’t new details! nity – because I sense that he wants to go out forget that a list of affiliate representatives Speaking of inserts, in this mailing of the and take a look himself, too. It feels great for appears in every edition of the Planetarian. Planetarian. you should find a CD of the pro- me to know that we planetarians around the It’s time now for a reminder of upcoming ceedings of IPS 2004 in Valencia. Many world are all doing the same thing: adding to events in the planetarian’s calendar. Here, I thanks to Jose Carlos and the team in Valen- everyone’s enjoyment of the night sky. have noted only meetings and conferences cia for their work in its preparation and to We’re a great worldwide team! C that are very specifically, or primarily, plane- Dale Smith for ensuring that it has gone out tarium-related meetings. Do remember that a with this issue. I, for full list is posted on the IPS website! An excit- one, greatly appreciate ing inclusion this year is the Australasian having the proceed- Planetarium Society meeting, which will be ings on CD, and I am held in New Zealand for the first time. aware that quite a June 14-18: South Eastern Planetarium Associ- number of our mem- ation (SEPA) conference hosted by Fernbank bers prefer it that way, Science Center in Atlanta, GA. too! July 12-14: Japan Planetarium Society (JPS) You will recall in Conference, Osaka Science Museum, Japan. my most recent Presi- August 13-14: Australasian Planetarium dent’s Message that Society meeting, Stardome Observatory and Dale Smith and Shawn Planetarium, Auckland, New Zealand. Laatsch have been September 7-9: Western Alliance Conference working hard on our of Planetariums (RMPA, PPA, GPPA, SWAP) Star Partners Scheme. in Colorado at the Denver Museum of The Star Partners Fund Nature & Science. is maintained through September 16-18: Nordic Planetarium Associ- voluntary contribu- ation Conference, Orion Planetarium, Jels, tions by our members, Denmark. and is used to aid plan- September 24-25: IPS Council Meeting in Bei- etaria in certain coun- jing, China, at the Beijing Planetarium. tries whose circum- Again, make sure you check the website stances are such that for the latest list of upcoming planetarium- they cannot easily related events: there are far more there than I become IPS members. have mentioned here. I am delighted to Our website is continuing to operate well announce that the lat- and once again I thank Alan Gould for his est Star Partners Initi- continuing work. If you have been having ative has resulted in any trouble accessing the members-only sec- several responses tion, do remember that the username and thanking us, one of password have been changed. Please check which is from a poten- back to the March 2005 issue of the Plane- tial new member. All tarian, which contained an insert with the who have replied are

42 Planetarian June 2005

munication among the fulldome communi- Digital Frontiers ty, and in guiding the application of these systems into the planetarium environment. I Museum of Nature and Science, Spitz, Inc., applaud the IPS leadership for their vision Thomas Lucas Productions, Inc., and IPS. and thank them for their support in creating Thank you to all who attended and partici- this new ad hoc committee. pated! The official Fulldome Video Committee Two recommendations that arose in the description appears below. It is intended to Summit’s roundtable forum were to perform be quite general, covering activities such as a survey of fulldome theaters, and to form an technical paper sessions at conferences, stan- IPS ad hoc committee dedicated to the full- dards and guideline formation, adoption of dome community. I am happy to report that common nomenclature, operation of an offi- both of these goals have finally been accom- cial website and more. We are also using the plished. The Fulldome Theater Compen- term “planetarium” in the most general dium ONLINE! was created by Loch Ness sense, including portables, classrooms, and Productions with support from the sponsors large public theaters. Once all the founding of the Fulldome Standards Summit as part of committee members are selected we will the final documentation phase of the pro- vote to keep or change this description. ject. The ongoing registry of fulldome theaters can be found on the web at www Full-Dome Video Committee .lochness.com. There is no charge to view the Function: To facilitate communication Ed Lantz Fulldome Theater Compendium ONLINE! between the programmers, manufactur- listings, which contain detailed information ers, owners and operators of full-dome Visual Bandwidth, Inc. on over 125 institutional and portable the- video graphics systems in planetariums, 1290 Baltimore Pike, aters. We also encourage all operators of full- and to provide structure and guidance for the application of these advanced tech- Suite 111 dome theaters to take a few minutes to update your facility’s data by completing an nologies within the planetarium environ- Chadds Ford, Pennsylvania update form. Current, accurate and detailed ment. 19317 USA information (added in the text box) regarding your particular fulldome system will As Chair of the new committee, it is my [email protected] benefit everyone, including institutions and job to select an initial group of committee producers seeking grants, vendors embarking members. Clearly this can be a difficult process. On the one hand, there are dozens of I am honored to present this first install- on product development projects and IPS in hard working professionals in the fulldome ment of a new column entitled Digital Fron- furthering its organizational goals. community who would all qualify to serve. tiers. My goal with this column is to bring to Prior to the end of his term last December, On the other hand, too many cooks could light some of the most interesting and useful in response to my request, IPS President Jon spoil the pot and make it difficult to deliber- news to planetarians regarding develop- Elvert officially formed an Ad Hoc commit- ate in a timely fashion. In addition, I have ments in the digital planetarium and “full- tee on Full-Dome Video. Fulldome (as we been asked by the IPS leadership to take spe- dome” video theater field. As part of this new affectionately refer to it) video graphics has cial care to be impartial in the representation focus, I will be collecting a series of articles captured the imaginations of the planetari- of vendors on the committee. Also, IPS is an on the promise and impact of fulldome tech- um community with its ability to deliver international organization, so the selection nologies for publication in future issues of immersive visualizations of virtually any process should be without regional bias (I the Planetarian. If you wish to submit an phenomena in the known universe, from apologize for the language bias). article, please email me an abstract. quantum physics to the large-scale structure The Fulldome Video Committee has Now for the news. of the universe. Fulldome systems are not yet issued a “call for members” in an effort to As part of IPS 2004 in Valencia, Ryan able to reproduce the stunning resolution attract an initial membership that spans the Wyatt of the American Museum of Natural and contrast of a high-end opto-mechanical entire fulldome community, including insti- History and I founded and co-chaired the night sky or, in some cases, even a 35mm tutions, vendors, users and programmers. If Fulldome Standards Summit. The Summit slide projector. However, the flexibility of you are able to volunteer substantial time to was conceived to be the first in a series of these systems (all digital - no film to develop, the fulldome committee over the next year, Fulldome Summits designed to bring togeth- random real-time access to astronomical have a passion for helping to advance the er industry leaders - from institutional to data), and their compatibility with modern fulldome medium, and are willing to main- corporate, technical to artistic - to advance 2D and 3D astronomical and astrophysical tain a professional, unbiased attitude, I the state-of-the art in fulldome video data and simulations is considered by some encourage you to apply. My goal is to accept through technical exchange and the forma- institutions to be equally important to, or in all interested parties, but obviously if the tion of industry standards and recommend- some cases, to overshadow the need for a response is too great some selection process ed “best practices.” Proceedings of the near-perfect starry night simulation. will have to be adopted. To apply please send Fulldome Video Summit are now available Whatever your inclinations or institution- me an email including your position, institu- at the fulldome.org website and include 13 al imperatives, I think you’ll agree that full- tion or employer, contact info including excellent papers forming a technical and dome video is an important development in phone, snail mail and email address, number philosophical foundation for the develop- the planetarium profession and its use as a of years experience in the planetarium field, ment of future fulldome standards and tool will grow with time. In this spirit, the guidelines. The event was co-sponsored by IPS leadership decided that it was time to the National Science Foundation, Denver take a more active role in facilitating com- (Please see Digital on page 62.)

44 Planetarian June 2005

Prior to attending the meeting we were Mobile News asked, by e-mail, to fill out a questionnaire that related to our professional experience, previous collaborations between NASA and planetariums, and our views of future opportunities for collaboration. This was an effective way to gather information that was then used to formulate some initial points of discussion. The two-day focus group was a giant brainstorming session. It was exciting and exhausting! Everyone felt that this get- together was one of the most productive meetings that we have ever attended. We were able to develop several concrete strategies that, if adopted, will help NASA and Jim Sweitzer helped us organize our thoughts. Photo by Susan Button. planetariums work together more efficiently and help each of us to more easily accomplish our educational goals. We are certain 3. Develop an On-Line Communications that our two-day session will positively help Plan with NASA to serve Planetariums, to shape a more collaborative relationship 3 Create an Internship and exchange pro- Susan Reynolds Button between NASA and planetariums. gram to support needs of Planetariums. Quarks to Clusters The focus group was comprised of 24 plan- Our focus group’s results were presented at etarians from planetariums from across the the collective Explorer’s Institute meeting, in 8793 Horseshoe Lane nation and 12 educators, scientists and relat- New York, on March 14-17. Liz Monroe-Cook Chittenango, New York ed staff from various divisions of NASA. and Jim Sweitzer did such a great job leading Chuck Bueter ([email protected]) and Bob our focus group in Cleveland that they were 13037 USA Bonadurer ([email protected]) were chosen to lead the NYC’s meeting. (1) 315-687-5371 the focus group organizers and reporters. Jim The final report and composite evalua- Sweitzer ([email protected]) and tions are posted on the following website: (1) 315-432-4523 (fax) Liz Monroe-Cook (monroecook@comcast Planetariums as Conduits to NASA’s Target [email protected] .net), led the focus group process with assis- Audiences (http://www.transitofvenus.org/ tance from Joel Halvorson (halvor@smm focus.htm). .org). Rob LaSalvia (Robert.F.Lasalvia@nasa NASA/GLPA Focus Group .gov), with the education program at Glenn, Opportunity for Training: A NASA and Great Lakes Planetarium was our site host. Summer Institute Association (GLPA) Focus Group convened Our final report was sent to Debbie Gallo- 24 July to 6 August 2005: The College of on 27-28 January 2005 at NASA’s Glenn way and Jason Freeman at NASA’s Informal the Atlantic in Bar Harbor, Maine (USA), is Research Center in Cleveland. This was one Education Office. The results of the seven offering a two-week, four-credit residential of 11 Explorer’s Institutes funded by NASA’s strategies we voted on fell into three cate- summer institute for teachers that includes a Informal Education Division. gories with an overall favorite being the course on instruction in using a portable The Focus Group was officially titled: item listed with the number 1 below. planetarium and information about grant Planetariums as Conduits to NASA’s Target The results are rated 1-3 according to our writing for participants to acquire a portable Audiences: A Two Day Focus Group on How votes: planetarium. Website - http://www.coa.edu/ Best To Deliver NASA’s Science & Technol- 1. Jointly draft a Roadmap to plan joint summer/sumworkshops/index.html ogy Explorations To Small & Mid-Sized programs 5 to 10 years out. For more information contact: Jean Planetariums 2. Establish a liaison or single point of con- Boddy, 1 (800) 597-9500. tact method for Digital Institute 2005 NASA/Planetarium Spitz Inc, located in Chadds Ford, Pennsyl- collaboration. vania (USA), will hold its first annual Digital 2. Project PLANET: Institute this July 18-21. During the four-day Combines features Institute, participants will explore astrono- of Explorers Schools my education techniques using digital tech- and Solar System nology and tools. Courses will cover a broad Ambassador Pro- range of digital planetarium topics from grams basic techniques and terminology, to 2. Engage Formal advanced lessons creation with 3D simula- Educators for the tion software. For more information go to: development and http://www.spitzinc.com/digital_institute/ implementation of index.html. pre & post planetarium visits, Starlab/Portable Planetarium 3. Offer Training Plan- email list: Colleagues continue to discuss exciting ideas during “sev- etariums to use This January Gavin Hoffman (gavinhoff- enth inning stretch!” Photo by Susan Button. NASA Materials, [email protected]) emailed to say,

46 Planetarian June 2005 “Hi Susan, Jeanne Bishop gave me your necessary funds to be able to purchase the ([email protected]) explained that the projec- name as someone to contact. I recently pur- necessary equipment (I will submit a propos- tion system he used was a JVC video projec- chased a used Starlab for my startup plane- al soon to the National Science Foundation tor that was retrofitted with a fisheye lens. tarium business here in South Carolina. I but I would also like to know if there are His particular system is called the elumenati understand that you have a topic-specific list other sources of funding for a such equip- (http://www.elumenati.com/products.htm). that I might sign up for, and I’d love to do ment). Any advice will be welcome with It is also called a HAL Fisheye Projection that, whether that means you putting me in gratitude, this project being very dear to our System with projection angles ranging from manually, or me sending email/visiting a heart. Staying at your disposal for any addi- 135° to 220°. The image was very clear from web page to sign up. If there’s anything else I tional information you might need and top to bottom. need to do, please feel free to let me know. thanking you very much in advance for The object of this show was to “introduce I’m eager to have contact with fellow small- your help.” students in grades K-3 (5- to 9-year-olds) to domers who (I’m sure) have wonderful ideas My Reply: simple material science concepts, including for a traveling program.” “The National Science Foundation is a the states of matter — solids, liquids, and My Reply: good source. As another option, you can go gases …” (http://www.molecularium.com) “Hi Gavin, Welcome to the fold. Basically to the Learning Technologies, Inc. website at I found the characters charming and the you should get in touch with Learning http://www.starlab.com/order.html. There action entertaining but too fast to accom- Technologies to make sure you get their you can order “Funding information for plish the stated educational goals. The story- newsletter. I will send a list to you of people STARLAB” (includes three booklets on gener- line seemed unclear and disjointed at times doing business with a portable and a survey al and corporate funding).” The next best with some of the characters behaving in to fill out and for you to use as a guide to ask thing might be to contact your local region- ways inconsistent with the science. I believe questions of other business owners. I hope al STARLAB representative to see what fund- the concepts would be more appropriate for you will share information with me about ing strategies have worked for their clients in grades 3-4 (8- to 11-year-olds). The show goes what you are doing and I can publish that the past. These representatives are listed on into beta testing now and I am sure some info in the International Planetarium another LTI website page: http://www.star good changes will be made based on feed- Society’s journal.” lab.com/sldeal.html.” back from teachers and students. I look for- You might also look into other portable ward to seeing the final product. Starlab Business: planetarium manufacturers, your regional http://www.rpi.edu/homepage/molecu Again in February I received mail from planetarium association, and/or the NASA larium.html. Anthony D. Masuku (tonymasuku@yahoo Space Science Education and Public Out- .com) stating, “I am planning to start a star- reach (E/PO) Program. (You can go through lab business. I just want to know what chal- your NASA regional center http://www.nasa lenges you came across. I am located in .gov/about/sites/index.html or to get started London, UK, and I am so motivated to get- you can go to http://education.nasa.gov/ ting this business started ASAP. I saw your home/index.html)”. name from the Starlab educators list.” Are there any other options you, my col- My Reply: leagues, think I could have mentioned? I also sent Tony a list of people doing business with a portable and a survey to fill out Portable Planetarium Rental: and for him to use as a guide to ask questions Later in February Joy Matsumoto (joymats of other business owners. I requested that he @sbcglobal.net and [email protected]) too share info with me about how/what he wrote to inquire about how to rent a is doing. portable planetarium. She explained, “Hi, I have volunteered to research how to rent a Funding Sources: portable planetarium for my daughter’s In February, Alain Carriere (President of school. Old Orchard School is a small private The Sanctuary of the Stars, 602 W. Riley, P.O. K – 8 school located just south of San Jose, Box 1425, Freer, Texas 78357 USA; cell phone: California. Can you provide me with any (361) 227-1084; email: SanctuaryofStars@ information that could help us locate an aol.com) wrote to ask about funding sources. institution that could rent us a portable He wrote, planetarium and the canisters to present a “Good afternoon Mrs. Reynolds Button. I variety of material for this age group.” Students at The Junior Museum plan- am the founder, with my spouse, of a non- etarium prepare to enjoy the show! My Reply: The elumenati projector is mounted profit organization called The Sanctuary of I told Joy that she could probably get bet- in the tall box to the right. Photo by the Stars that is dedicated to informal sci- ter information from the California STAR- Susan Button. ence education in astronomy and astro- LAB portable planetarium representative biology. We have, as a first step in a more and gave his contact information. The micro world has hit the plan- ambitious project, planned to purchase a Does anyone out there know if other etarium field – again! mobile planetarium and put it in service in portable manufacturers have information Christine Shupla (Manager of Theaters, Texas (for the moment) … Our purpose is not about rental equipment? Arizona Science Center, 600 East Washing- only to conduct presentations but to allow, ton St, Phoenix, AZ 85004 USA; phone: 1 too, the public to have a direct contact with Molecularium: (602) 716-2078; Email: [email protected]; the sky via the organization of star parties. I previewed this show in February at The Website: www.azscience.org) recently wrote Having a long experience of a such activity Junior Museum (250 Jordan Road, Rensselaer to Dome-L, “Greetings, all! The planetarium when I lived in France …, we would like, Technology Park, Troy, New York USA). staff at the Arizona Science Center is pleased however, to know how exactly to get the Planetarium director, Derek Sweeney Kesler to announce that we are distributing our

June 2005 Planetarian 47 http://www.fourmilab This site provides astronomy information .ch/cgi-bin/uncgi/Earth/ and activities for kids. One interesting fea- action?opt=p. ture is the ability to display a night sky in NASA for Kids real time. It is too difficult for 1st grader navi- This site is geared toward gation, but could be a useful resource. older students, but has some http://www.kidsastronomy.com excellent resources for teachers, as well as many useful Star Count – A Collaboration visual aids. The following four programs will be col- http://www.nasa.gov/ laborating soon to empower students to audience/forkids/home make an accurate global star count. While Astronomy for Kids attending the National Science Teachers’ This site provides read- Association annual conference in Dallas last aloud information and pic- week, I was able to speak with the folks from tures defining and explain- the GLOBE project and they informed me Kathy Michaels enjoyed previewing the show and ing various aspects of that they would soon be working with meeting “Oxy” and some other animated molecules. astronomy. NOAO and IDA to design and initiate star Photo by Susan Button. count protocols for students around the first show kit, ‘The Smallest Stuff in the http://www.frontiernet.net/~kidpower/ world. Loris Ramponi (Italian Planetaria’s Universe,’ about atoms, nanotechnology, astronomy.html Friends Association) has been interested in and how it all relates to astronomy.” Star Child: A Learning Center for Young this idea for quite some time. He agrees that When questioned, Christine commented Astronomers this international star count is something further, “I read about the Molecularium This NASA site is very kid-friendly. Al- that we planetarians can certainly help to show someplace and was surprised at the though it is too advanced for first-graders to facilitate (especially on the International similarities! I believe that one is a full-length explore independently, it would be an excel- Day of Planetaria). show, rather than a mini-show, and there lent resource for an enrichment lesson on I have been assured that an announce- may be some other differences. (Our science the topic of astronomy, and would lend ment will be forthcoming to further inform center received a grant, in conjunction with itself well to computer LCD projection for us of the details of this project. ASU, to do some outreach on nanotechnolo- whole-class viewing. GLOBE gy a while back, and we eventually decided http://starchild.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/Star “GLOBE is a worldwide hands-on, primary that a planetarium show might be more Child/StarChild.html and secondary school-based education and effective at reaching a broader audience than Sky Paths: Studying the Movement of science program. For students, GLOBE pro- the nano demo they had put together.) The Celestial Objects vides the opportunity to learn by: vocabulary is roughly 3-4th grade and up; we This link provides extensive plans and • Taking scientifically valid measurements keep it all very simple.” If asked, Christine resources for studying the movement of in the fields of atmosphere, hydrology, soils, may send you a copy of the production celestial objects. and land cover/phenology – depending notes (which includes the script) and the http://btc.montana.edu/ceres/html/Sky upon their local curricula visuals list as pdf files” Paths/orbits1.html • Reporting their data through the inter- Christine is correct that this show differs Astronomy for Kids net from Molecularium; it is not entertainment This site provides an excellent resource for • Creating maps and graphs on the free trying to educate. It appears, from the script teacher background. Its content is too diffi- interactive web site to analyze data sets and visuals list, that this show is designed as cult for first graders, but can be a helpful • Collaborating with scientists and other a lesson/lecture that is made entertaining by resource for when you’re asked those diffi- GLOBE students around the world”. the visuals. The content sounds a bit heavy cult questions! http://www.globe.gov. for the targeted age groups; perhaps the visu- http://www.dustbunny.com/afk NOAO als assist with that. I hope to see this interest- The Space Place “The National Optical Astronomy Obser- ing new show in the near future. This NASA site for kids offers a variety of vatory was formed in 1982 to consolidate all It would be enlightening to compare each information, pictures, and games for kids. It AURA-managed ground-based astronomical of these show’s effectiveness as determined is generally too advanced for first graders, observatories (Kitt Peak National Observa- by audience testing! but you may find some pieces you can use. tory, Cerro Tololo Inter-American Obser- vatory, and the National Solar Observatory Web Links for Earth and Celestial http://spaceplace.nasa.gov/en/kids with facilities at Sacramento Peak, New Objects for Teachers of Grade 1 Space and Astronomy for Kids Mexico and Kitt Peak, Arizona) under a sin- (6-7 year-olds) This site offers a multitude of links and resources on the topic of space. Once again, it gle Director. Today, the National Solar As we all know, it is extremely important is aimed at an older crowd, but could be use- Observatory has its own director. NOAO also to use age-appropriate materials and activi- ful to teachers of first graders! represents the US astronomical community ties when working with our clients. Sources http://space.about.com in the International Gemini Project through for Primary Level students are sometimes dif- SolarViews.com its new NOAO Gemini Science Center. ficult to find. After doing a little research I This site provides a resource for pictures of NOAO’s purpose is to provide the best found several sites of interest. The following planets and other celestial objects. ground-based astronomical telescopes to the list of websites may be of use in your work: http://www.solarviews.com/ss.html nation’s astronomers, to promote public Day and Night in Real Time (English, Spanish, Portuguese, French and understanding and support of science, and to This link provides you with a visual image German) help advance all aspects of US astronomy. As of the earth. This satellite image shows the KidsAstronomy.com a national facility, NOAO telescopes are progression of day and night in real time. open to all astronomers regardless of institu-

48 Planetarian June 2005 tional affiliation.” involving the international community in a Future PIPS Meetings: http://www.noao.edu collaboration that aims to promote knowl- The next two Powerful Interactive Plane- IDA edge of planetariums to the public. The next tarium Systems (PIPS) meetings will be held The International Dark-Sky Association, a “Day of Planetaria” will be held on March 19, in August 2005. The August 4-5, 2005 meet- tax-exempt non-profit membership-based 2006. To learn how to join in the activities of ing will be held in Grand Rapids, Michigan, organization established in 1988, strives to be this special day go to http://www.bresci USA, and the August 22 meeting will be held effective in halting the adverse environmen- ascienza.it/cityline/cult/Grup_sci/planeta in Schenectady, New York, USA. tal impact of light pollution on dark skies by .html. PIPS meetings are for those primarily building awareness and by educating the Practice interested in using a portable or small sta- public about the value and effectiveness of You can get the idea and practice making tionary planetarium to present participatory quality nighttime lighting. IDA is also active star counts, until we get the official GLOBE lessons to school children and their teachers. in building awareness of the adverse prob- protocol, by using the information on one of Typically, teacher planetarians who are lems affecting astronomy from radio fre- the following sites: working full or part time in a small or port- quency interference (RFI), space debris, and Make a Star Count – “Seeing Stars” (http:// able planetarium attend PIPS meetings but any other environmental impacts that have www.musc.edu/cando/auast/makeasta.html) they are open to all educators interested in the potential to destroy mankind’s view of This activity encourages students to astronomy and space science. the universe. observe the quality of the night sky and to All past participants in PIPS get-togethers http://www.darksky.org. determine the number of stars that can be have said meeting with colleagues in this Italian Planetaria’s Friends Association seen from their local area. way gave them a needed “shot in the arm” to Thanks to the creative initiative of Loris Instructions for Star Count Observation their efforts in teaching astronomy and sci- Ramponi (IPS Affiliate Representative of the http://astro.wsu.edu/worthey/astro/html/ ence in general. If you plan to be in either Italian Planetaria’s Friends Association) an starcount.html area this August and would like to join us, International “Day of Planetaria” has been Star Count Instruction and Data SHEET please email me and I will send the meeting held in several countries yearly since 1995. http://www.guam.net/planet/STRCNT details to you. C This day is an important opportunity for DATASHT.htm

June 2005 Planetarian 49

will follow. International News News in short: The next meeting of the German Planetaria will be held in Genk at Association of Dutch-Speaking the Europlanetarium on 10-12 April. The Planetariums Europlanetarium is hosting the European symposium on light pollution at the end of Report of the ADSP meeting of 17 Novem- April. The Artis Planetarium is looking to ber 2004, Planetarium Brussels: Before the install an All-Sky video system. In April 2005 meeting there was a workshop From stitch- there will be a new digital all-sky system ing digital images to AllSkys in Digidome. installed in the Planetarium Ridderkerk, a During this workshop Johan Gijsenbergs system with two fish-eye projectors in coop- from Sky-Skan wanted to give the attendees eration with Sky-Skan. Cappelle-la-Grande is hands-on experience in producing AllSkys working on two new shows. They are also for our planetarium. He started with explain- looking for two optical zoom projectors. The ing the hardware/software. Outside the plan- Europlanetarium has bought 14 new slide etarium in Brussels they took a 360° image to projectors and the Windows-based Spice sys- work with. Back inside they loaded the tem. The next ADSP meeting will be at the images into Panorama Tools for stitching end of April 2005; the place and date will be them into one image. Some work in Pano- decided upon by Chris Janssen, christ.janssen rama tools and then Photoshop gave an @telenet.be. image ready for Digidome. In these 2 hours and 30 minutes Gijsenbergs made everybody Association of French-Speaking Lars Broman enthusiastic in producing their own AllSkys. Planetariums It does not look very hard but they will see Dalarna University The first colloquium organised by APLF how to manage without his helping hand. was hosted by the prestigious building of the After the workshop, Chris Janssen opened SE 791 88 Falun, Sweden European Council in Strasbourg on 7 May the meeting of the ADSP. The report of the +46 2310 177 1984. 150 people came from a dozen coun- last meeting was agreed upon and no new tries, including Russia. Four other European [email protected] points were added to the agenda. A financial colloquia were organised later by APLF: Cité overview was given by Johan Gijsenbergs www.sciencecommunication.se des Sciences de La Villette, Paris 1986; ESO, (treasurer). A report on the IPS 2004 was Garching, Germany, 1992; Strasbourg (Con- given and some issues came forward. It was seil de l’Europe) 1999; Bruxelles and Genk, decided that one person will attend the IPS The editing of this column is being final- Belgium, Villeneuve d’Ascq 2002. In 1999, Council meeting in Beijing in September. ized while I’m in Falun hospital, a laptop on the IPS Portable Planetariums joined APLF. The Europlanetarium will become one of my lap and a tube connected to a blood ves- This happy event will be reproduced in the gateways to the new National Park Hoge sel in my left hand, feeding some blood thin- 2005; our IPS President Martin George, Kempen, so starting from 2006 they will be ning liquid from a bag hanging in a large President-elect Susan Reynolds, and Council constructing a new building that will help in rack on wheels. I plan to be out from here member Lars Broman will be present in receiving more people. More information soon and participate both in the IPS mobile Nantes 5-8 May. planetarium meeting in Nantes, New planetarium and ongoing France, in May and the ECSITE projects: Rennes and Dijon are in a conference in Helsinki, Finland, in decisive step for a new planetarium. June. Nantes will renovate the equipment The International News col- for a numerical system. umn is dependent on contribu- The Planetarium in La Cité de tions from IPS Affiliate Associ- l’Espace in Toulouse, will be born ations all over the world. Many again, under the supervision of Marc thanks to Agnès Acker, Bart Ben- Moutin, APLF Vice-President. Astralia jamin, Tony Butterfield, Ignacio is a new complex, including an IMAX Castro, Gail Chaid, Kevin Conod, (300 seats) installation with a 376 m2 Teresa Grafton, Andreas Hänel, screen with a classical 35-mm projec- John Hare, Chris Janssen, Erik tor and a video projector “cinéma Koelemeyer, Uwe Lemmer, Loris numérique”, two conference rooms Ramponi, and Zinaida Sitkova for (130 and 50 places) with all audiovisu- your contributions. Special thanks al facilities, a preshowroom with a 14- are due to Loris Ramponi for col- m screen, an entrance hall with 11 lecting the data for the Calendar large screens informing the visitors in of events. You are welcome back real time on the whole program (ani- with new reports, and I look for- mations, description on the shows, ward to contributions from other restaurant menu, the bargain of the associations as well. Upcoming day in the shop, etc., and, first of all, deadlines are 1 July 2005 for the new planetarium, with a Digi- Planetarian 3/5 and 1 October for star3 projector, a 20-m dome and 274 4/5. 360° image used in the workshop From stitching digital images to AllSkys in Digidome. Courtesy of Johan seats. Monday 9 May this wonderful Gijsenbergs. place will be opened.

52 Planetarian June 2005 Mexican plane- er in this issue. It is unlikely that he would tarians wish it have recognized the place in which he will be selected as worked for so many years. Today the Plane- the official 2008 tarium (now referred to as the auditorium) IPS site. functions as part of Madame Tussauds and its technology is being used accordingly. British Asso- However, a full programme of curriculum- ciations of based school shows continues to do business, Planetariums and earlier this year an evening event – The BAP is girding Future of the Cosmos – drew a capacity audi- its collective ence to hear Professors Michio Kaku of City loins for the an- University New York and John Barrow of the nual meeting in University of Cambridge debate some of the May – an occa- most exciting ideas around – parallel worlds, sion shared with alternative universes, notions of infinity and the AAE (Associ- the future of humanity – and to ask them ation for Astron- questions. The Astralia complex, Cite de l’Espace, Toulouse. Courtesy of omy Education). Marc Moutin. This year we are Canadian Association of Science going to meet in Centres Association of Mexican Planetar- Manchester at the Museum of Science and In February Discovery Dome theatre in iums Industry – but more of that next time, when Calgary opened Gravity Rules! as its main A series of astronomical activities took there should be plenty to report. Increasing- multi-media show for the public. They place during the celebration of the 15th ly our meetings are taking on some of the adapted the show for the theatre by adding anniversary of the astronomical observatory aspects of an IPS conference, albeit on a very Digistar components and localizing it for of the Sonora Ecology Center. Participating small scale! They now take place over a Calgary and Canada. The show has been was the Carl Sagan Sonora Astronomical weekend, as opposed to being a one-day playing to excellent houses through the late Society, offering lectures and observation event, and are seen as an opportunity to winter and spring. It serves the prime audi- sessions, as well as shows in the mobile plan- showcase some of the technical develop- ence of families with kids ages 6 through 12. etarium Ludocosmos. The purpose of joining ments revolutionising this business. This is, While science shows incorporating live efforts towards an astronomy education is to of course, in addition to the main focus, actors were what the Discovery Dome was have a greater impact on the community, which remains as always to meet each other designed around, during the last few years individuals, and interested groups. Coordi- and share ideas and experiences. production staff concentrated on major nated astronomy activities have been carried The National Space Centre in Leicester is “canned” public programs such as The Quest out at various Sonora State sites, which will in the process of building a new, highly for Origins and their new seasonal favorite become part of the Sonora Astronomical interactive gallery devoted to human space The Halloween Show. In addition they com- Net, making it an interesting model to flight. Visitors will be able to explore a Moon pleted a full roster of curriculum-oriented regionalize astronomical diffusion, which base set 20 years in the future. In addition school shows with unique science topics could be copied by other communities the NSC’s Space Theatre is about to go full (not always astronomy) at each grade level worldwide. dome with the installation of a DigiStar3 sys- from K to 6. The school schedule includes Life in other worlds - Are we alone? is the tem as part of a Spitz upgrade. Work on a dome shows on topics such as Seasonal new show being presented at Papalote’s new space theatre show for 2006 is already Changes, Small Animals and Insects, Sound, Digital Dome, depicting life in the ocean underway. In addition, a new education Light and Shadows, Weather, as well as the depths and seeking it beyond the solar sys- block is being constructed at the base of the more traditional planetarium school fare of tem, with fly-bys of Mars and Jupiter’s moon Centre’s iconic rocket tower. Sky Science. Contact is: Alan Dyer, alan.dyer Europa, telling us about how researchers are Thinktank, Birmingham Science Museum, @calgaryscience.ca. looking for life, alternating with last year’s is installing a new full-dome theatre in its Currently the H.R. MacMillan Space Cen- Passport to the Universe show. An astrono- Futures gallery. Through exploration and tre in Vancouver produces a new School/ my course, A Vision of Cosmos, is being interactive learning, the museum demon- Public Planetarium show on the subject of offered to complement public interest. The strates the effect of science and technology extreme environments. The show will iden- Poveda Planetarium from the Culiacán on our lives, The Futures gallery will offer a tify three extreme environments on earth Science Center in the State of Sinaloa lists a glimpse of how we might be living tomor- and relate them to extremes that exist in the series of interesting astronomical topics in row by offering a constantly changing event solar system. The challenges of the extreme Spanish through their web page http://www schedule. This will consist of a combination pressure experienced by explorations of the .ccs.net.mx/planetario. In its bulletin section of automated and presenter-led shows, pro- deep sea are likened to the extremes in pres- (Boletin astronómico), various news, month- viding a spectacular venue to explore a wide sure that confront attempts to explore the ly articles, and useful and interesting links range of science and technology topics. surface of the planet Venus. A project to drill can be accessed. Shows planned for the digital theatre will into Lake Vostok in Antarctica and search And finally, most of you must have include space, bio-medical, and themed art for microorganisms is compared to a future already received promotional e-mails from presentations. mission to Europa, where plans call for the the Lic. Felipe Rivera Planetarium in Morelia, Moving from the new kids on the block to exploration of a liquid ocean under the depicting nice designs and photos with the a real old timer, the London Planetarium’s moon’s thick frozen crust. The show will be slogan “We’ll see you in 2008” as the pro- director from 1968 to 1989, John Ebdon, died produced in a “game show” format. In each posed site for the 2008 IPS Conference. in March. Undine Concannon, his successor, extreme terrestrial environment, a research [email protected] is its e-mail. has written more fully about his career earli- scientist working in the field will describe

June 2005 Planetarian 53 the nature of the extreme and the results it awards. Contact is Scott Young scyoung@ program will be distributed among the would have on an unprotected human. The manitobamuseum.ca. German planetarium community as an ini- audience is then asked to identify a similar Victoria at Vancouver Island acquires a tiative of the Council of German Planetar- extreme environment elsewhere in the solar planetarium with the purchase of a Starlab iums. More than a dozen planetariums system, and the prize is a simulated trip to at the Centre of the Universe, the interpre- intend to participate in presenting this show, that moon or planet. Going to Extremes tive centre for the Dominion Astrophysical and others will make use of the animations opens at the H.R. MacMillan Space Centre in Observatory’s Plaskett Telescope which, at that were exclusively produced for this pro- Vancouver, on 1 July 2005. For information its opening in 1918, was the biggest in the gram. CGP is optimistic about receiving a contact Erik Koelemeyer at ekoelemeyer@ world. The Observatory itself has been a grant from the national Einstein Bureau, hrmacmillanspacecentre.com. local landmark for almost 90 years now, but which is the governmental organization for Since mid-May, the Montréal Planetarium the interpretive centre is a recent addition, the coordination of the Einstein Year, so that is presenting the show It’s All Relative, Mr. celebrating its fourth anniversary in June the show can be produced on a cost-to- Einstein! This show exploring the theories of 2005. Last November, the Centre acquired a design level. relativity is our contribution to the 2005 Starlab Portable Planetarium in order to Some other local initiatives will result in Year of Physics and to the centennial of the reach not only outlying schools, but also to Einstein programs within the year, such as a publication of the Special Theory of Rela- set up at community events, such as this new show Einstein’s Universe produced by tivity. This multimedia show, created by summer’s Saanich Fair and the Tall Ships Alexander Colsmann for the planetarium in Planetarium Astronomer Marc Jobin, lasts Festival. Since the planetarium on site at the the Deutsches Museum (not to be confused for 35 minutes and is immediately followed Centre is also a Starlab, they have the advan- with the other Munich planetarium in the by a presentation of the current night sky. tage of having interchangeable cylinders Forum close by; see report below). It will The show Astro-Quiz, for students aged 10 to and shows that can be produced for both have its premiere on 5 May on the occasion 12 years old, has begun recently as well. This planetariums. of the opening of an extensive exposition on interactive show mimics television game The hard work of the staff at the Centre Einstein and his work in the Deutsches shows as it teaches about the Moon and the has fostered a wonderful relationship with Museum in Munich. This planetarium show planets. This summer, the planetarium will local schools over the past few years. This will also be available for distribution among prepare a new evening show to be offered in relationship will continue to grow as they planetaria through www.chimpanzee.de. the fall. This show, untitled as this is written, hope to see their area of coverage expand to Unfortunately, Munich is also the voice of will explain the life and death cycle of stars. the whole of Vancouver Island. Contact is sad news coming from Germany because Contact is Pierre Chastenay chastenay@ Steve [email protected]. one of the largest and most modern planetar- astro.umontreal.ca. iums had to be shut down for financial rea- The planetarium at The Manitoba Council of German Planetariums sons. The planetarium in the Forum am Museum in Winnipeg is presenting a special In 2004 more than 1.8 million people visit- Deutschen Museum ceased operation in series of evening shows unlike any of our ed German planetariums, with the new plan- early February after a years-long battle previous programs. Planetarium @ Night is a etarium in Hamburg as the main attraction against financial problems. The planetarium live, “talk show”-style program about cut- and highest attendance (some 382,000). For with a Zeiss Model VII under a 20-meter (67 ting edge science that features a live musical the Einstein Year 2005, the Zeiss Planetarium ft) diameter dome is located in a building guest - about what you’d get if you put Carl in Bochum with its new director, Dr. close to the Deutsches Museum. It was Sagan, Jay Leno, and Laser Floyd in a blender. Susanne Hüttemeister, will produce the plan- opened in 1993 as a privately funded enter- The show begins with an opening mono- etarium show Einstein and Black Holes. This prise together with an IMAX and two small logue which includes some current sky in- cinemas in separate parts of the Forum. formation (constellations, planets, and There might be a small hope for a revival of upcoming events) and a short “rant” on the the facility, because the whole equipment topic of the day - designed more to confront was bought by the owner of the building or provoke than to educate in the traditional who remained silent about his plans for the sense. Then, while the audience mulls over future of the Forum. the topic, the band comes out and plays a During the conference at the Europlane- short (15-minute) musical set with accompa- tarium in Genk, Belgium, the new chairman nying visuals. This is followed by a second of the Council of German language planetar- monologue, revisiting the topic of the day iums (RDP) was elected. He is Eduard Thomas with more explanation and interactive ques- from the Mediendom in Kiel, eduard.thomas tions from the audience. The band then @fh-kiel.de. Andreas Hänel will serve as vice- comes back for a second set to take the show chairman. Thomas Kraupe was elected as out. Topics have ranged from the X-Prize CGP representative at the IPS council meet- race to Light Pollution to the Moon “Hoax”. ing in Beijing. The show is making a big impact, attract- ing a new audience to the planetarium - the Great Lakes Planetarium Associ- treasured “youthful cynics” aged 20-35 who ation th haven’t been at the facility since their grade GLPA will host its 40 Anniversary Con- 6 field trip. It’s also making a splash in the ference in Grand Rapids, Michigan (the site musical world: managers and promoters are of its very first conference in 1965) on 19-22 calling, and the bands are donating their October 2005. time to benefit the planetarium. The Illinois. The Lakeview Museum Planetar- Canadian music awards, the Junos, are in ium in Peoria held its 7th Annual Inter- Winnipeg in 2005 and the planetarium will Poster for the planetarium show planetary 5K Race/Walk in April. This annu- Einstein and Black Holes. Courtesy of have special shows in conjunction with the Zeiss Planetarium Bochum. al event is part of the Illinois Valley Striders

54 Planetarian June 2005 Grand Prix running circuit. For fourteen school attendance tripling in the first three school year. In Columbus, the COSI Plane- weeks, the planetarium conducted its Basic months they’ve been open. The staff also tarium remains closed, but Director Mike Astronomy Series, featuring a different plans to team up with the local astronomy Stanley has successfully embarked on a new hands-on lesson each week. The Cernan club for International Astronomy Day. The career as a musician, providing a happy note Earth and Space Center of Triton College Robert T. Longway Planetarium in Flint to local nursing homes, senior citizens’ resi- welcomed Dr. Paul Sereno to its annual Big recently hosted a series of public star parties. dences, and pre-schools amidst a sad closure. Event for members in April. Dr. Sereno has Their ever-popular Telescope Users Work- At the BGSU Planetarium, their in-house pro- gained international notoriety in the pursuit shop was held in early April. Show bookings gram Secret of the Star lit up December skies of new dinosaurs. The Center will soon get a are on the rise at the Ensign Planetarium in for the fifteenth year. The “stargaze crew” new tube for its laser projector, providing Dearborn Heights as teachers are planning who run observing sessions for the introduc- brighter and more colorful images. The their spring schedules. The planetarium is tory astronomy courses is now up to a staff William M. Staerkel Planetarium at Parkland now sporting a new Wall of Constellations, of ten. College in Champaign is pleased to open a thanks to an incredibly talented sophomore, Wisconsin/Minnesota. Todd DeZeeuw at new original program in March called Stellar who has painted some beautiful renditions the Gary Sampson Planetarium in Wauwau- Extremes, starring University of Illinois of their favorite star pictures on the back tosa has finished a major upgrade with new astronomer Dr. You-Hua Chu. The planetari- wall of the planetarium. projectors and automation from Ash Enter- um recently hosted Girl Scout and Boy Scout The Abrams Planetarium recently brought prises and ECCS. Nearby, Dave DeRemer is astronomy merit badge workshops. back the classic program The Universe of Dr. showing Dark Matter before the old Horwitz Indiana. In November, the Ball State Einstein. The program was presented in Planetarium goes completely dark to make University Planetarium presented their first honor of the World Year of Physics, so desig- way for a brand new Horwitz Planetarium, program that used three video screens in nated because 2005 marks the centennial of which will open in June. Bob Allen in place of the traditional slide projector Albert Einstein’s “miraculous year” of 1905. LaCrosse is also running Dark Matter and screens. The effect was dramatic and well re- The Kalamazoo Valley Museum Planetarium continues his popular Album Encounters for ceived by audiences. The PHM Planetarium recently ran an enhanced version of the university students. & Air/Space Museum in Mishawaka held a McDonnell Planetarium’s The Little Star laser show festival in March. In December That Could that features in-house produced Italian Planetaria’s Friends Asso- 2004, then-U.S. Secretary of Education Rod 3D animations of Little Star and the other ciation Paige acknowledged the PHM School stars he meets. In May, their local communi- A national selection of scripts for planetar- Corporation for its role in creating and pro- ty college hosted the Kalamazoo Animation ium shows will be organized by Italian moting transit of Venus education programs. Festival International, which featured a Planetaria’s Friends Association to improve The E. C. Schouweiler Planetarium in Fort Digistar graphics competition. the diffusion of the Eugenides contest, also Wayne featured Cassini/Huygens as a special The Cranbrook Institute of Science Plan- in Italy. 31 August will be the final date to multimedia segment that immediately fol- etarium in Bloomfield Hills ran a very suc- participate in the national selection. The best lowed their traditional Star of Bethlehem cessful Telescope Users Workshop in January work, selected by an Italian committee, will show. The Schouweiler recently initiated for more than 50 new telescope owners. In receive as a prize the English translation of public shows one weekend a month. February, they welcomed JPL’s Nagin Cox, the text, necessary to participate to the The Northrop High School Planetarium in former engineer for the Mars Exploration International IPS Competition. The winner Fort Wayne has acquired a new video data Rovers and now with the Kepler Mission, for will also receive a yearly subscription to IPS, projector, so all their video sources are now their new Science Series. At the Delta College paid by IPFA. Other non-English countries projected widescreen. Their 5-meter radio Planetarium, February marked the eighth might use this idea as a way to facilitate the telescope continues to take shape, but a anniversary of the planetarium. The show diffusion of the Eugenides contest. number of additional steps and tweaks must titled BIG from The National Space Centre in During this year’s Day of Planetaria a be undertaken before the scope becomes England opened to help celebrate this mile- national astronomical drawing contest for operational. At the Muncie Community stone. The planetarium staff has produced a children was organized. The winners will Schools Planetarium, students are learning mini-show called Celebrating Bay City that receive telescopes as a prize. During the Day, about Chinese astronomy and have pen pals will run before all public shows for the next in some planetaria, like the Crotone Plane- in China. A “Name the Warrior” contest is year. tarium in the south of Italy, many children also under way, and a Han terra cotta five Ohio. Gene Zajac (Shaker Heights High participated in astronomical projects under star general warrior from Xi’an, China also School Planetarium) and Joe Marencik will the dome. The next “Day of Planetaria” will visited the planetarium. once again offer their space bus summer be held on 19 March 2006. Michigan. At the Dassault Systemes Plan- camp this year. The space bus will partici- Milan Planetarium Ulrico Hoepli celebrat- etarium in Detroit, Todd Slisher was recently pate in a one-week summer science camp at ed on 24 March the Jules Verne anniversary, promoted to the position of Director of the Cuyahoga Valley Environmental Center. and on 20 May the 75th anniversary of the Science Programs, while Jenny Pon was pro- Zajec has also been helping Girl Scout troops foundation of the 20-meter dome. During moted to the position of Planetarium to achieve their merit badges. The Ritter this occasion, Fabio Peri, coordinator of the Manager. Work was completed on the Blown Planetarium-Brooks Observatory remains planetarium, presented the last news of the Away: The Wild World of Weather show kit. open and continues to offer programs. In biggest Italian planetaria. Special events included Marsapalooza, a 2003, they took a budget cut of $115,000 and 30 June will be the final date to participate workshop featuring researchers from the had to become self-supporting. Despite that, in the IX issue of the International competi- Mars Exploration Rover team, which drew they’re still presenting about 100 public pro- tion Shadows of Time for sundial makers, planetarians from Indiana, Michigan, and grams, 40 scout shows, and 250 school pro- promoted also by Lumezzane Planetarium Ohio. grams per year. and Observatory in Brescia. More informa- The Shiras Planetarium in Marquette is Also in Toledo, Richard Shea is once again tion, also in English, is available at www enjoying their new MediaGlobe-Lite projec- working in teacher mentoring and evalua- .ombredeltempo.it. The first Astronomical tion system. With it, they’ve witnessed their tion and plans to retire at the end of this Festival will be held In the Brescia area in

June 2005 Planetarian 55 June; for information check www.fest Center since last May. The next show, open- Pacific Planetarium Association ivaldellastronomia.it. ing in May, is Universe, produced by Evans PPA president, Alan Gould writes that he & Sutherland. has proposed to IPS to have a joint PPA/IPS Middle Atlantic Planetarium Tom Callen of Cosmonova Planetarium, membership at a discount. He continues, Society Stockholm, Sweden, reports that the Swedish “Other regionals could have this option Election results for the MAPS Board have pseudoscience book (to which he has con- also.” The advantage would be that PPA been announced: Lee Ann Hennig, Alan tributed fake UFO photos) now is published; members could receive the benefits of IPS Davenport, and Kevin Conod were re-elected for more information see www.leopoldfor membership including the Planetarian jour- for a two-year term. lag.se. The NPA conference 2005 takes place nal as well as access to the “members-only” The members of MAPS recently enjoyed a 16-18 September at the Orion Planetarium in area of the IPS website which includes the fruitful joint conference with SEPA at the Jels, Denmark, the southernmost planetari- IPS Directory of Planetarians all over the Science Museum of Virginia in Richmond, um in the Nordic region. The hosts encour- world plus the Resource Directory. Hope- Virginia. The 2005 MAPS gathering will be age all NPA members and others with inter- fully, IPS will allow this option in the com- 25-28 May 2005 at the historic Fels Plan- ests in the planetarium business in the ing year. etarium at the Franklin Institute in Phila- Nordic and Baltic countries to join in for a 7-9 September 2005 is the next Western delphia, Pennsylvania. Conference details good time. The conference will offer plenty Alliance Conference of Planetarians in are available on the MAPS web site at of opportunities for talks, discussions, plane- Colorado at the Denver Museum www.maps-planetarium.org. of Nature and Science. Dan The Fels was recently renovated Neafus at the Denver Planetarium and its new design optimizes the is coordinator of the event. Par- viewing experience. The recent ticipants will be able to experi- renovations included replacement ence the state-of-the-art all dome of the original 18,000 kilogram- video system and a behind-the- plus, perforated stainless steel scenes look at the system. The dome, built in 1933. The new Spitz Alliance Journal/Newsletter is on premium seamless dome is lighter the web at http://rmpadomes.org and is 18-meter (60 feet) in diame- /newsletter.html. Advertisements, ter. Other enhancements include articles and newsbriefs are wel- upgraded video projection and come to [email protected], super-fidelity systems, theater Orion Planetarium in Jels, Denmark, where this year’s NPA web http://lhs.berkeley.edu/sii. controls, lighting system, carpet- Conference will take place in September. Photo: Lars Petersen. Andy Newton, director of the ing and theater seating, and ADA recently renovated J. Frederic accessibility. tarium shows, a planned trip to Mediendom, Ching Planetarium at Harnell College in Kiel, Germany, to experience their new facil- Salinas, California, reports that public show Nordic Planetarium Association ity and the Digistar 3 equipment, and a spe- attendance has increased since the reopen- The planetarium in the AHHAA science cial cultural surprise under the dome at ing of the planetarium. A new Konica Minol- center in Tartu, Estonia, is working again in Saturday night. The registration fee is 120¤ ta Mediaglobe was installed. Newton says the old Observatory, and AHHAA’s StarLab (90¤ for students). More information on the the Mediaglobe is so versatile and the public planetarium has been booked a number of conference program and a registration form has been responding with sell-out evening times. In March they had a science day in the can be found at www.orionplanetarium.dk, public programs. In addition, astronomy and local gymnasium (senior high school). The or contact Lars Petersen at [email protected] for physics curriculum has increased in the students were so interested in planetarium further information. NASA-CIPA (Curriculum Improvement Part- shows that this turned out to be the only sci- nership Award) grant program. For ence show that lasted for two more information contact Andy days – in all there were 16 shows! Newton at [email protected]. Also they are busy organizing the In San Jose, California, the Inde- new exhibition. This spring they pendence Planetarium was the site are having many different work- for public talk by Leonard Tramiel. shops and science theatre shows, People were thrilled to be able to including planetarium shows. have the time to talk with the Therefore they have named it an astronomers present. The next activity-exhibition called “Spring public event will be on 25 April in Observatory”. Hopefully it will when the planetarium will be cele- be a great success among visitors. brating the 15th anniversary of the This year the Tampereen Plan- Hubble Space Telescope. There will etarium in Finland had 93,000 be an all day open house with visitors, which is a very good planetarium programs, demonstra- number for a 13-meter dome tions, solar viewing, activities for with 139 seats. Their three-chan- families, students, and teachers. nel partial dome video system Information is available from Gail designed in co-operation with Chaid, [email protected]. Barco has been in operation The Independence Planetarium since 2002, and it is working per- Dinner with astronomers and public at the Independence was again being threatened with fectly. They have been showing Planetarium public event. Photo: Barbara Anderson of closure. It happened in 1994 when Mars produced by National Space EditOne.

56 Planetarian June 2005 the district budget was a problem. Again, this pilot of USSR, Hero of the Soviet Union V.M. Rings, The cosmic records, Saturn in the cen- year, because of a shortfall with the school Afanas’ev, and poetess T. Artamonova were ter of attention!, The Earth’s landing on the district budget, the Board of Trustees put the guests of the planetarium. Mars, and The Universe, Life, Intellect. planetarium on the list for closure. The 200 The science-artistic program The pages of Building of the new planetarium in million dollar district budget has to be cut the cosmic century was devoted to A. Leo- Tomsk goes on, and in Nizhny Novgorod by approximately 10 million dollars so nov’s space walk. Space pilot V. M. Afanas’ev construction starts this year. The next new many items, including libraries, counselors, took part in this program. The visitors of the building of planetariums will be in Yaroslavl. and advisors were all on the chopping block. planetarium had the unique opportunity to In 2004, the planetariums in Arzamas In 1994 many members of IPS wrote to sup- talk with the famous man who came from (Nizhny Novgorod region) and Uhta (Komi) port keeping the planetarium open. Then it the same city, and to get autographs and sou- were closed. made a difference. Director, Gail Chaid with venirs. The holiday ended with the show 34 years of teaching experience, received a about Saturn and Titan. Unfortunately the Southeastern Planetarium Asso- pink-slip along with 935 other teachers out evening sky was clouded, so visitors could ciation of 1200 total teachers in the district. Just see the ringed planet and Jupiter only on the The Sharpe Planetarium in Memphis re- before the Planetarian printing time, Chaid starry dome of the planetarium. But anyway cently announced their closure due to bud- received a rescinding notice and it looks as if it was nice! get cuts from the City of Memphis. The plan- the district will continue supporting the In Nizhny Novgorod The International etarium had hosted the 1981 SEPA Con- Independence Planetarium. It always helps Day of the Planetariums traditionally is the ference and had been a leading institution in to have IPS and regional support in our plan- day of the new shows festival. This year the the planetarium community for several etarian community to keep planetariums visitors cold see several beautiful new pro- decades. The future of the planetarium is un- open. Chaid thanks for your support in the grams: Starry ABC for Neznaika (Neznaika is known. On a more positive note, Braden- past and for your continued encouragement a very popular hero of children’s animated ton’s Bishop Planetarium is scheduled to for the future. For more information contact films), Neznaika’s journey to the Lord of reopen sometime in the summer of 2005. her or visit the planetarium The planetarium has been closed website http://planet.org. since a devastating fire destroyed the facility in the summer of Russian Planetarium 2001. Former Fernbank Planetari- Association um staffer John Burgess recently One of the most important came out of retirement to act as themes of RPA educational interim director of the plane- work this year is the 50th anni- tarium in Young Harris, Georgia. versary of the Baikonur Cos- Burgess was with the Fernbank modrome. Colleagues of Nizh- for many years and was instru- ny Novgorod planetarium and mental in helping organize sever- schoolchildren from the Nizh- al SEPA conferences back in the ny Novgorod region have visit- 1970s as well as hosting the 1974 ed the largest Russian Space Atlanta ISPE conference. Center named in the honor of The 2005 SEPA Conference Hrunichev. This is one of the takes place at Fernbank Science oldest Moscow enterprises, Center 14-18 June 2005. The which always worked with the theme is Astronomy Education, high technologies and which, and the mode is “very casual”. since 1960, carried out projects Nizhny Novgorod schoolchildren, teachers, and employees of They are planning paper sessions and the building of large space- the planetarium before departure from the Hrunichev and workshops for planetarians, Cosmic Center. Photo: V. Zharinov. ships. The Proton rockets, the and a special break-out session space station Salut, and the on Thursday morning 16 June orbital complex Mir were all for planetarium artists. The built here. Colleagues walked exhibit staff at Fernbank will along the Mir station, saw the host that session, which is limit- new rockets Angara and Baikal, ed to 10-15 people. The con- and the many-goals laboratory ference hotel is the Holiday Inn module of the International in Decatur. At 6:30, buses take Space Station (ISS) which will conferees to Fernbank Science be launched in 2007. Center for an opening reception, Planetariums of RPA cele- Sky Tellers planetarium program brated with interesting events written and produced in-house the International Day of the by Ed Albin, and planetarium Planetariums on 20 March open house. Weather permitting, 2005. In the Bryansk planetari- the observatory will be open as um the Day this year was well. devoted to the 40-year celebra- Conference attendees are for- tion of the first space walk by A. tunate to have three Zeiss plane- Leonov. The mayor of the city tariums in proximity and will be The accelerator “Baikal” in the assembling workshop of The of Bryansk, I.N. Tarusov, a citi- Cosmic Center named in the honour of Hrunichev, Moscow. spending a day at each one. zen of honour of Bryansk space Photo: V. Zharinov. Wednesday they will go to

June 2005 Planetarian 57 Emory University for morning paper ses- semester to study for their Super Quiz on 12-14 July. Japan Planetarium Society Confer- sions, afternoon workshops/paper sessions, Astronomy. Astronomy workshops at the ence, Osaka Science Museum, Japan. and a speaker from Georgia’s astronomy Visitor’s Center with Education Coordinator 15-17 July. DomeFest2005. http://www.dome community. At 7 p.m., Jon Bell will host the Marc Wetzel and lecture with research fest.com/2005.html. Constellation Shoot-out. Delegates can tour astronomer Dr. Stephen Odewahn, plus tours 18-21 July. Spitz Digital Institute, Chadds the observatory and dome-crawl as well. of the 76-cm, 91-cm, 208-cm and 277-cm tele- Ford, Pennsylvania (USA). The Institute Thursday will be spent at Fernbank, starting scopes and behind the scene time at the will focus on using software to enhance with the family planetarium program Hobby Eberly Telescope and including night education in both the classroom and the Cosmic Game Show, written and produced Star Parties and Twilight Programs on the planetarium. http://www.spitzinc.com/ in-house by Dave Dundee, followed by mountain gave the students background digital_institute/index.html. Space is lim- workshops and paper sessions. information and hands-on astronomy to ited. Friday will be spent at beautiful Agnes blast the competition at the U. I. L. District 24 July to 6 August. The College of the Scott College, starting with the SEPA busi- Academic Decathlon Contest. Atlantic in Bar Harbor, Maine (USA), offers ness meeting followed by lunch and a speak- The Highland Park High School AcDec a two-week, four-credit residential sum- er. StarLab and other workshops will be in students won all three places in all levels at mer institute for teachers that includes a the afternoon. Saturday are the last paper ses- competition coming home with 39 medals! course on instruction using a portable sions and door prizes. There will be a pre- Pierce was in tears when they presented her planetarium and information about grant conference trip to Young Harris College in with one of their medals. Making certain the writing for participants to acquire a port- the lovely (and cool) North Georgia moun- students were up before sunrise to see all the able planetarium. contact person: Jean tains. Ken Miller is hosting a trip up to see visible planets on the horizon each morning, Boddy, (800) 597-9500. http://www.coa the GOTO Chronos projector and theater. she did give them a break taking a trail ride .edu/summer/sumworkshops/index.html. There is also a post-conference trip - anyone at Prude Ranch after lunch one day. Pierce 31 August. Deadline for the applicants of A is welcome to drive down to Macon to visit admits she probably astronomied them out - week in Italy for a French Planetarium Toby Click’s planetarium at the Arts and but what a time with all three nights of clear Operator. http://www.colibrionline.it/ Science Museum. skies! MG/international_collaboration.htm The Astronaut Memorial Planetarium in On 16 April the newest planetarium in 7-9 September. Western Alliance Conference Cocoa, Florida will host the 2006 SEPA Con- Texas will open in Laredo. The new Digistar of Planetariums (RMPA, PPA, GPPA, ference. Director Mark Howard and staff are 3 theater will open with two shows from the SWAP), Denver Museum of Nature & already working on conference details and Clarke Planetarium for public and school Science, Gates Planetarium & Space will have information available later in the groups. Their Mission: outreach to public Odyssey exhibition, Colorado, USA. von year. Further information regarding SEPA is schools, education of the community, and [email protected] available at the website sepadomes.org. entertainment. 14-16 September. Building Community: The The multi-year Immersive Earth grant is Emerging Educational and Public Out- Southwestern Association of now moving into its next stage of research. reach (EPO) Profession, as part of ASP’s Planetariums Rice University and the Houston Museum of 117th Annual Meeting in Tucson, Arizona, John Peterson and Corey Stone have suc- Natural Science have spent the past year USA. http://astrosociety.org/events/meet ceeded in making El Paso the first city in developing a low cost portable planetarium ing.html Texas to pass a city zoning ordinance to con- to improve educational outreach in under- 16-18 September. Nordic Planetarium Associ- trol light pollution! After ten years of speak- served areas. A training session at the Hous- ation Conference (NPA), Orion Planetari- ing at city hall, giving presentations to ton Museum of Natural Science in January um, Jels, Denmark. www.orionplanetar neighborhood associations, various commu- will now allow for the other grant partners ium.dk nity groups, and eventually a room full of to start offering outreach fieldtrips in four 24-25 September. International Planetarium assistant police chiefs, their message finally more locations: Portland, Albuquerque, Society Council Meeting, Beijing Planetari- made it through. This ordinance, inspired by Baton Rouge, Pittsburgh, and the Houston um, Beijing, China. Martin.George@qvmag a visit from John Dobson back in 1994, was area. The first of three shows funded by the .tas.gov.au finally passed on 8 February 2005, and will grant opened in March, titled Earth’s Wild 30 September. Deadline for the applicants of go into effect on 7 May. The planetarium is a Ride. A week in Italy for a Spanish Planetarium way to create the nighttime sky, but nothing Operator. http://www.colibrionline.it/ beats the real thing. Unfortunately, in many Calendar of events MG/international_collaboration.htm places across the country, trying to see more 2005 9 October. XX National Meeting of Italian than just a few constellations will pose quite 10-12 June. European collaborative for sci- Planetaria, Brescia, Italy. http://www.coli a challenge. Light pollution has been a topic ence, industry and technology exhibitions brionline.it/MG/planetari_news.htm of concern for many years. Tony Butterfield (ECSITE) Annual Conference, Heureka, 15-18 October. Association of Science-Tech- has given several presentations to Houston Vantaa (Helsinki), Finland. http://www nology Centers (ASTC) Annual Confer- city council members detailing all of the .ecsite.net ence and Expo, Science Museum of Virgin- economic benefits and safety advantages to 14-17 June. Communicating Astronomy with ia, Richmond, USA. http://www.astc.org proper lighting, but not yet succeeded. the Public, ESO/ESA/IAU Conference, ESO 17-23 October. A week in Italy for an Ameri- After returning from Christmas Holidays HQ, Garching, Munich, Germany. Closing can Planetarium Operator (each year since Donna Pierce, Director of the Highland Park date for registration March 2005. http:// 1995). http://www.bresciascienza.it/city Planetarium in Dallas, took the Academic www.communicatingastronomy.org/ line/cult/photog.htm Decathlon students and their sponsors for index.html 19-22 October. Great Lakes Planetarium three days of astronomy at the McDonald 14-18 June. South Eastern Planetarium Associ- Association Annual Conference, Public Observatory on Mount Locke in Fort Davis. ation Conference, Fernbank Science Cen- Museum of Grand Rapids, Grand Rapids, The students had been coming to the plane- ter, Atlanta, Georgia, USA. See http://www Michigan, USA. Contact: David DeBruyn tarium for one period a week the first .sepadomes.org/conference/

58 Planetarian June 2005 www.grmuseum.org/chaffeeplanetarium/chaffee.shtml www/ glpaweb.org/conference.htm 31 December. Deadline of Eugenides Foundation Scriptwriting Contest (contestants can submit scripts from 1 July 2005). For more information: [email protected].

2006 19 March. International Day of Planetaria. www.planetaritaliani 8-10 June. European collaborative for science, industry and technology exhibitions (ECSITE) Annual Conference, Technopolis, Mechelen, Belgium. http://www.ecsite.net 24-27 July. Under the Southern Skies, 18th International Plane- tarium Society Conference, Crown Promenade, Melbourne, Australia. www.ips2006.com. 25-28 October. Great Lakes PlanetariummAssociation Annual Conference, Merrillville Community Planetarium, Merrillville, Indiana, USA. [email protected], www.ncpstars.org, www.glpaweb.org/conference.htm. 28-31 October. Association of Science-Technology Centers Annual Conference and Expo, Louisville Science Center, Louisville, Kentucky, USA. http://www.astc.org.

2007 10-14 October. Triple Conjunction Planetarium Conference with the Mid-Atlantic Planetarium Society, South Eastern Plane- tarium Association and Great Lakes Planetarium Association. Host: Benedum Planetarium, Benedum Natural Science Center, Oglebay Resort,Wheeling, West Virginia, USA. smitch@oglebay- resort.com, www.oglebay-resort.com/goodzoo/planetar ium.htm, www.glpaweb.org/conference.htm. C

June 2005 Planetarian 59 Gibbous Gazette

an observatory and I can remember a council meeting there some years ago. Vatican astronomers also observe under the clear skies of Arizona. Enjoyment of the sky and the search to understand its mysteries are universal quests for human beings. The debate in the press and on Dome-L about religion vs. science has to be one of the most heated discussions of the year. We regularly discuss other cultures and beliefs in our shows so it seems like a planetarium is a nat- When planetarians get together, ural place for these discussions to occur. beautiful things happen. Mary Camp- bell Schran, the newest “Star” in the Regardless of what you believe in, please planetarian family! Photo courtesy take a moment to join me in sending … of John and Prue Schran.

Our condolences … the Humphrey IMAX Dome Theater and … to the friends and family John Ebdon, Daniel M. Soref Planetarium. Set to open Jan- James P. Hughes former planetarium director of the London uary 2006, the planetarium, featuring a 22.5- Planetarium and broadcaster whose leg- m (74-ft) dome, will be the largest in Wiscon- Planetarium Producer endary voice and wit made him a treasure to sin. The Museum has selected Evans & Henry Buhl, Jr. Planetarium millions of viewers and listeners. He passed Sutherland’s Digistar 3 Laser for their $2.6 away on March 19, 2005, at the age of 81. His million renovation. & Observatory 21-year association with the London Plane- … to the team of the Hubble Space Tele- th Carnegie Science Center tarium began in 1968. scope on their 15 Anniversary! … on the occasion of the 75th anniversary One Allegheny Avenue And our congratulations … of the Adler Planetarium in Chicago, Illinois. Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania … to Planetarium Director Jeannette The planetarium begins a yearlong celebra- Lawler on the installation of a new Zeiss Sky- tion beginning May 12, 2005! Astronaut 15212 USA master ZKP3/B inside the newly renovated James Lovell recently donated many of his (1) 412-237-3348 Brigham Young University Planetarium in personal space mementos as a gift in honor Provo, Utah! Reopened this past March, the of the anniversary. He credits visits to the (1) 412-237-3395 fax 119-seat theater replaces a smaller 43-seat fa- Adler in his teens as the inspiration for his [email protected] cility built in the same location back in 1958. aeronautical achievements. Working from a … to Holden Thorp, former Morehead public mandate for more inspirational pro- What did we do before the Internet? With Planetarium director, on his promotion to gramming, the first US planetarium plans to just a few key strokes and quick connection the position of Chairman of the Department include a bronze statue of Lovell as a part of to the Internet I can visit planetaria far and of Chemistry at the University of North the anniversary upgrades. Exhibitions of wide. Just the other day I paid a visit to Plan- Carolina. During his time as director he space-flown hardware and dramatic new etario de Bogotá, Colombia, www.planetari- strengthened the role of the planetarium shows featuring moon-landing simulations odebogota.gov.co. I do like to stay in touch and adjacent science center in the communi- will also be featured this year. Earlier in the with all of you reading this column and I’ve ty, resulting in a 40% increase in visitors. year, Adler announced a major award of had many opportunities to stay in your Thorp will begin his new role in July. The NASA support for the outreach efforts on the lives, even if only from afar - I find comfort search for a replacement for Thorp is ongo- IBEX Mission educational initiatives. For in staying connected. I’ve always enjoyed ing. more info go to www.adlerplanetarium.org/ reading the news of other planetarians in … to El Camino College in Torrance, Cali- pressroom/archive.shtml. this journal over the years. I’ve had the fornia, on the unveiling of a new, state-of- … to the launch of the planetarium project opportunity to join a number of the various the-art projector for the astronomy depart- at Metropole Rennes in Rennes, France! The regional planetarium associations and I have ment’s planetarium. Taking center stage will recently announced project will utilize a always found it a treat to find their newslet- be a GOTO Chronos Projector paid for with DigitalSky full dome video system, digital ters in my mailbox. I even try to follow the funds from the Measure E facilities bond. sound, theater lighting, and pre-show area various threads on Dome-L. Lately it seems … to long time planetarians John and Prue systems, all controlled by a single integrated that the topic of belief has found it’s way Schran who announce the birth of their SPICE system from Sky-Skan, Inc. into more than a few of the online discus- daughter Mary Campbell Schran, born … to Yves Camard, Directeur du Planetar- nd sions. With the passing of Pope John Paul II, March 22 in West Chester, Pennsylvania. ium at Cite des Sciences et de l’Industrie in the public display of devotion to one person All are doing well! John is with SPITZ, Inc. in Paris, France, on the occasion of his retire- is testimony that many people want a spiri- Chadds Ford, Pennsylvania, and Prue is from ment. tual leader. Reports in the media relate that West Chester University Planetarium in … to Shigeru (Shu) Tanaka, the new Direc- people who went to see the Pope felt a con- West Chester. tor of Konica Minolta Planetarium Co. Ltd. nection to him – they felt that even in a … to Jeff Bass (Vice President of Education, in Mahwah, and Ramsay, New Jersey! Mr. crowd of a million pilgrims – that he was Public Programs and Imax) and the Milwau- Tanaka has provided 33 years of service to speaking directly to them. The Vatican has kee Public Museum on their renovation Konica Minolta, first in its Camera Division plans for their IMAX dome, soon to become and for the past 12 years with the Plane-

60 Planetarian June 2005 “Carbón”, who travel in a marvelous space- ship (also named Molecularium) guided by “Mel”(an advanced computer system). The journey takes them to visit clouds, raindrops, the ocean, and space. They find a snowflake – and take an exciting ride into its structure. Explore this micromarvelous universe at www.molecularium.rpi.edu. … that you can now talk to aliens? Accord- ing to a group calling them selves the avion- ics members of the Civilian Space eXplora- tion Team (CSXT), you can. A visit to their website www.TalkToAliens.com provides all

An artist’s rendering of the new planetarium project for the Metropole Rennes in the details. Phone and email messages are Rennes, France. Photo provided by Metropole Rennes via Sky-Skan, Inc. sent through “The World’s First Intergalactic Communication System.” Could this be the Other participants in the program include next “Buy a Star” thread on Dome-L? The both the Carnegie Museum of Natural His- CSXT is also the same team who launched tory and Carnegie Mellon University in Pitts- the world’s first private / amateur rocket burgh, the Lodestar Planetarium in Albu- into space last spring. For those details, visit: querque, the Oregon Museum of Science and www.civilianspace.com. Soon you’ll be able Industry in Portland, the Louisiana Arts and to IM ET a CU from your MiniDV! Science Center in Baton Rouge, and the … that with the 2006 conference just a lit- Smithsonian Museum of Natural History in tle more than one year away, Melbourne Washington, D.C., Sky-Skan Inc., Homerun Planetarium at the Scienceworks Museum in Pictures Inc. and iMove Inc. Recently, Space Melbourne, Australia, is busy at work remod- Update Inc. and Elumenati joined the list of eling their 6-year-old facility? In mid-2005, participants to the project. For more infor- the Planetarium will replace its existing star mation or to schedule a performance of this projector with DigitalSky from Sky-Skan, Inc. technology visit http://www.e-planetarium The Melbourne Planetarium has a strong his- .com. See the front cover for a graphic from tory of producing high-quality shows in- On his way to the USA, Mr Shigeru the program. house so we’re sure to be in for some fun and (Shu) Tanaka is the new Director of the Konica Minolta Planetarium Co., surprises when we all convene in Spotswood! Ltd. Photo courtesy of Mr. Tanaka. Did you know … New show production on the new system is … that the Palouse Discovery Science already underway. Not only are the visual tarium Division. Be sure to say hello to Shu Center in Pullman, Washington, recently cel- systems being redone, but the staff of the 16- when you see him at an upcoming confer- ebrated the grand opening of its new plane- m (52-ft) dome will now have “no worries” ence. You may reach him via email at stana- tarium? Through the efforts of Paul Allan about replacing pesky light bulbs in the cove [email protected] or by phone at 201- (former president of the Board of Directors) due to the new LED cove lighting system. 574-4192. Mr. Tanaka will take over for Mr. and funded by grants from the Bill and With a rated life of 100,000 hours and the Shigeki (Shiga) Ogawa who has taken on a Melinda Gates Foundation and Foundation ability to provide over 16 million color com- new assignment for Konica Minolta Plane- Northwest, the center now utilizes a Digitalis binations, LED cove lighting is another wel- tarium in Japan. Good Luck to you both! Digitarium Alpha from Digitalis Education come change, allowing the staff to focus on Solutions, Inc. of Bermerton, Washington In the year 2081 … what they do best – entertaining astronomy (http://digitaliseducation.com). education. Researchers from the Rice Space Institute, … that the Fels Planetarium was recently … that Bishop Planetarium at the South in partnership the Houston Museum of the subject of a Discover Magazine article Florida Museum (Bradenton, Florida) is on Natural Science, are leading a NASA-funded (May 2005) that is also available for viewing the mend after a devastating fire closed the project to develop portable technology that online http://www.discover.com/issues/ facility three and a half years ago? Astrono- will allow exciting new “fully immersive” may-05/departments/reviews. my buff and consultant Pete Hill was recent- planetarium programs to be shown across … that The Molecularium show, Riding ly named Planetarium Manager. The facility the country inside inflatable, classroom- Snowflakes, is designed to bring to life atoms will reopen later this year with a real-time sized domes. Immersive Earth is a five-year, and molecules as characters that can bond digital planetarium and 3D graphics system $3.1 million project that brings together six together in order to make all the materials in from Sky-Skan, Inc. of Nashua, New Hamp- museums, two universities, and three com- the universe? Funded by the National shire. panies to create and distribute full-dome dig- Science Foundation and created by the Rens- … that Chabot Space and Science Center ital planetarium shows nationwide. Immer- selaer Polytechnic Institute’s Nanoscale has a traditional show with slides and video sive Earth aims for a wider audience through Science and Engineering Center for Directed called Dragon Skies: Astronomy of Imperial the development of a small, fully portable Assembly of Nanostructures, the show is pre- China? It was produced last year to accompa- system that uses an inflatable dome and sin- sented in the new digital dome theater at the ny their traveling exhibit of the same name gle-projector display. The Immersive Earth Children’s Museum of Science and Tech- (www.dragonskies.org) The program is also grant will also pay for the creation of three nology in Troy, New York. During the pro- available on its own without the exhibit. new programs: “Earth’s Wild Ride, which gram, the audience is introduced to oxygen, The story involves the boy emperor who is takes place in the year 2081, is now available; hydrogen, and carbon through the engaging reluctantly learning astronomy, and the Earth in the Balance; and Earth in Peril. characters “Oxy”, “Hydro”, “Hydra”, and Azure Dragon, who is a beautifully animated

June 2005 Planetarian 61 video piece. If anyone wants more informa- to Jim Hooks (former IPS president from Bar-B-Cue at the IPS conference at Snowbird tion, send at note to rdiduck@chabotspace 1979 to 1980 and one of the founders of in Salt Lake City in 1992! .org. Chabot also plans to add a DigitalSky SEPA). Here is a note from Jim posted on from Sky-Skan, Inc., to their 240-seat, 21.3-m Dome-L. “Where Have I been? January 29, And finally, (70-ft) theater experience later this year. 2005 - It was an honor for me to be with the We all share our beliefs with others every … that due to city budget cuts, the Sharpe St. Phillips Episcopal Church of Charleston, time we do a show. We are storytellers and Planetarium in Memphis, Tennessee, was set South Carolina, and be a contributor and educators and inside our “cathedrals to the to close in March of this year? You can send helper for a Medical Mission Trip to Hondu- stars” we artfully and scientifically get to dis- a letter of support via the local newspaper on ras, Central America. The outside tempera- play the wonders of nature. We often use their website at http://web.commercialap ture was 28 degrees F. and winds blowing words to describe the awe and beauty of the peal.com/newgo/forms/letters.htm. For up- from the north at 15 miles per hour. It was Universe – words like glory and majesty – dates on the status of the Sharpe visit www bitter cold. There was new construction at words that evoke rulers and kings, lords and .memphismuseums.org. the airport. As I drove away my son-in law, leaders. We are entrusted with a powerful … that Los Angeles Valley College in Van Jon Halford ran after me yelling for me to tool. With that power comes responsibilities. Nuys, California, replaced its original Spitz stop. Yet the heater in auto was at full, and Let’s make sure we make the best use of these A3P optical projection instrument, installed the windows up and I did not notice him. I planetaria everyday. To quote Max Adler, in 1966? The intimate 7.3-m (24-ft) dome, 50- did not notice a shuttle bus stop. It did not benefactor of the Adler Planetarium, “The seat theater acts as both planetarium and seem to be far from the main terminal build- planetarium was built to emphasize that all astronomy classroom for the college. LA ing. Yet, as I locked the auto and started to mankind – rich and poor, powerful and weak Valley College installed a Macintosh-based leave I noticed that I had left an important – as well as all nations, constitute part of one SciDome system as required by the college’s large bag with glasses, medical supplies, and universe.’’ Let’s give people a reason to specification to provide a common platform clothes. It was heavy. It must be said here believe, in science and in each other and in for content creation by other campus disci- that I was not prepared for the weather, this great common connection that is our plines. Funding was provided by a NASA because I had checked the Honduran weath- Universe, however it all began. Anyone who Curriculum Improvement Partnership er and it was 82 degrees F. and low of 65 and attended the side trip to the Kansas Cosmo- Award Grant. therefore I did not wear a heavy coat. I start- sphere and Space Center during the 2002 IPS … that West Nyack, New York, has a new ed to walk and I noticed that the walkway conference is aware of the power to make digital planetarium? The new Clarkstown was leading to the left and was going around something great out in the middle of where High School Planetarium installed a 9.1-m a large work area, it was not level and was you would least expect it. The recent contro- (30-ft) Spitz dome, a System A5 instrument, plywood in places. I was getting colder and versy at that museum is a matter near and and an ATM-4 automation system last year. my lungs were beginning to hurt from the dear to the hearts of all who read this jour- Assistant Principal Paul Guglielmo and his cold air. I thought that I must get to the ter- nal. Rather than reporting on the matter I’ll staff require compelling, pre-recorded plane- minal building quickly my body was freez- let the Internet lead you to the full text of tarium shows to enhance their regular opto- ing. The distance was 3/4 mile and it was the indictment at the US Department of Jus- mechanical presentations. SciDome was almost overwhelming. I finally came to the tice website at http://www.usdoj.gov/usao/ks added at the end of 2004 to play fulldome building and looked for my daughter /press/apr2005/april7b.pdf. You can form shows and provide multimedia capability Heather. She thought that I had taken the your own beliefs about what’s transpired. In- with digital slides and movies. shuttle back and I was almost exhausted and quiries regarding the details of this case … that Harrisburg, the Pennsylvania state bitter cold; after talking with her my heart should be directed to Jim Cross at the United capitol and home of the State Museum of went into ventricular tachycardia, and that States Attorney’s Office, Wichita. Mr. Cross Pennsylvania is home to a 9-m (30-ft), 90 seat lead into atrial fibrillation, and then cardiac can be reached at 316-269-6481. Contribu- planetarium first opened in 1965? The Spitz arrest. I passed out, and fell back to the con- tions to future editions of the Gibbous Ga- A3P instrument was replaced in February by crete floor. I was a lucky man. Heather start- zette can be directed to me at the address at a digital SciDome system with Starry Night ed CPR ambitiously and was followed by Jon the beginning of this column. Thank you! C Dome software and Nomad controller. Halford and two other doctors. The airport had an “ACD” (automatic cardiac defibrilla- Stay connected … tor) Dr. Halford applied it and my heart was (Digital, continued from page 44) to the ITALIAN PLANETARIA’S FRIENDS started again. As I came back to life, I felt that ASSOCIATION, online at http://www.colibri it was a bad dream. I hope and pray that I did nature of your fulldome experience, and online.it/MG/international_collaboration not receive any brain damage! Based on the related areas of interest. Please also indicate .htm. CT scan my skull was not damaged. I did any ideas/preferences you have for the forth to India’s 18 -century observatories on damage my equilibrium and am now on the mation of subcommittees. Possible sub- the web at http://www.jantarmantar.org. mend for that – I hope. My hospital stay - Jan. committees include portable planetarium, This is a multimedia project about the astro- 29 - Feb. 4, 2005 results: (A) no heart attack, standards and guidelines, show production nomical observatories built in India in the (B) heart rhythm is back to somewhat nor- and distribution, website and communica- early 1700s by Jai Singh, Maharajah of Jaipur. mal, and (C) the echocardiogram indicated tions and awards subcommittee. Commonly know as “Jantar Mantar,” the good flow. Looking back – it is to late to con- Also if you are in an IPS committee that observatory sites (four of the original five sider all the mistakes that I made! What can overlaps ours a bit (media distribution, port- observatories still exist) feature large-scale happen will happen. An Angel was looking able planetarium, planetarium development, architectural structures that function as over me! God must have something for me etc.) and are interested in acting as a liaison sight-observation instruments. The project is to do!” Send Jim Get Well Wishes via email to the fulldome committee, we would appre- a creation of Cornell University Professor of at [email protected]. ciate hearing from you. Art, Barry Perlus. He would love to get your Not to lessen the severity of Jim’s ordeal, I appreciate this opportunity to serve the input and feedback on the website. Contact but I had a very similar experience when planetarium community and look forward him at [email protected]. they made us walk down from the Alpine to receiving your feedback! C

62 Planetarian June 2005

rails) is 4 feet, 8.5 inches. launch pad, there are two big booster rockets Last Light That’s an exceedingly odd number. Why attached to the sides of the main fuel tank. was that gauge used? These are solid rocket boosters, or SRBs. Because that’s the way they built them in The SRBs are made by Thiokol at their fac- England. tory in Utah. The engineers who designed Why did the English build them like that? the SRBs would have preferred to make them Because the first rail lines were built by a bit fatter, but the SRBs had to be shipped the same people who built the pre-railroad by train from the factory to the launch site. tramways, and that’s the gauge they used. The railroad line from the factory happens Why did “they” use that gauge then? to run through a tunnel in the mountains. Because the people who built the tram- The SRBs had to fit through that tunnel. The ways used the same jigs and tools that they tunnel is slightly wider than the railroad used for building wagons, which used that track, and the railroad track, as you now wheel spacing. know, is about as wide as two horses’ Okay! Why did the wagons have that par- behinds. ticular odd wheel spacing? So, a major Space Shuttle design feature of Well, if they tried to use any other spac- what is arguably the world’s most advanced ing, the wagon wheels would break on some transportation system was determined over of the old, long distance roads in England, two thousand years ago by the width of a April S. Whitt because that’s the spacing of the wheel ruts. horse’s back end. So who built those old rutted roads? * * * Fernbank Science Center Imperial Rome built the first long distance A haiku from a computer screen: 156 Heaton Park Drive NE roads in Europe (and England) for their legions. The roads have been used ever since. Atlanta, Georgia 30307 USA Out of memory. And the ruts in the roads? We wish to hold the whole sky, [email protected] Roman war chariots formed the initial But we never will. ruts, which everyone else had to match for * * * Greetings of the solstice, dear friends. This fear of destroying their wagon wheels. Since And in honor of this hundredth anniver- quarter’s column includes submissions from the chariots were made for Imperial Rome, sary of Einstein’s Theory of Relativity, a few planetarium stars, and continues the celebra- they were all alike in the matter of wheel more of my favorite quotes of his: tion of the Einstein Centennial. spacing. The United States standard railroad gauge of 4 feet, 8.5 inches is derived from the The most incomprehensible thing about the world is that it is comprehensible. One of our favourite Brits, Steve Tidey, original specifications for an Imperial The important thing is not to stop ques- shares more of his “Planetarium Show Titles Roman war chariot. tioning. Curiosity has its own reason for That Never Made It”: So the next time you are handed a specifi- existing. 1. The Space Race: And The Soviet Union cation and wonder what horse’s a** came up If A is a success in life, then A equals x plus Have Got Off To An Explosive Start, Leaving with it, you may be exactly right, because y plus z. Work is x; y is play; and z is keeping The USA On The Blocks, Oh, Drama, The the Imperial Roman army chariots were your mouth shut. Soviets Have Pulled A Hamstring. Here Come made just wide enough to accommodate the Two things are infinite: the universe and The Americans Zooming Past On The Inside, back ends of two war horses. human stupidity; and I’m not sure about the And They Reach The Moon First. (Allegedly). Now the twist to the story universe. 2. Einstein Simplified In When you see a Space Shuttle sitting on its The most beautiful thing we Twenty Easy Equations. can experience is the mysterious. 3. Saturn: Counting All The It is the source of all true art and Particles In The Rings. all science. He to whom this emo- 4. Asteroids: Aaaargh! Run For tion is a stranger, who can no Your Lives! longer pause to wonder and 5. Star Naming: Don’t Come stand rapt in awe, is as good as Here Expecting Us To Do It For dead: his eyes are closed. You. You see, wire telegraph is a 6. Pluto: Yes, It’s A Planet. Next kind of a very, very long cat. You Question? pull his tail in New York and his * * * head is meowing in Los Angeles. Hopefully by the time you Do you understand this? And read this, the Space Shuttle will radio operates exactly the same be flying safely again. I had heard way: you send signals here, they about railroads and wagons built receive them there. The only dif- on ancient specifications, but ference is that there is no cat. hadn’t realized that the U.S. space Aboard the International Space Station, Expedition 10 Com- mander Leroy Chiao used a digital camera April 6 to photo- Not everything that counts program is influenced by history graph the rollout of the Space Shuttle Discovery at NASA’s can be counted, and not every- as well. Thanks to Jane Hastings Kennedy Space Center from an altitude of 355 kilometers. thing that can be counted for sending this. Chiao captured the rollout at 4:35 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time, 6 April 2005, as the Station flew directly over the counts. The US standard railroad launch site. Visible in the image are the Shuttle’s two gauge (distance between the launch pads at Launch Complex 39. Discovery’s launch pad, 39-B, is on the left. Photo credit - NASA

64 Planetarian June 2005