Vol. 41, No. 3 September 2012

Journal of the International Planetarium Society

IPS 2012 President’s Message, Page 10 www.es.com [email protected] +1-801-588-7500 Articles

September 2012 Vol. 41 No. 3 10 Ruddy Stargazers: Potter, Pop Culture, and the Planetarium Kristine Larsen, Jason T. Archer Executive Editor Sharon Shanks 16 Odyssey Under the Stars: Homer’s inspiration Ward Beecher Planetarium at the UW-Milwaukees Planetarium Youngstown State University Jean Creighton, Robin Mello One University Plaza 18 ESO: Reaching New Heights for 50 Years Youngstown, Ohio 44555 USA Sally Lowenstein, Jorge Rivero González +1 330-941-3619 [email protected] 20 Up on the Roof: Rio Planetarium takes telescopes to the people Paulo Pereira, Alexandre Cherman Advertising Coordinator 22 Easy Pans: Using a slide image to project a panorama Dr. Dale Smith, Interim Coordinator Keith Johnson (See Publications Committee on page 3) 28 Under One Sky: Transit images from around the globe (also see pages 30, 38, 40, 42, 44) Membership 56 American Planetarian in Italy: Sharing Navaho skies Individual: $65 one year; $100 two years Institutional: $250 first year; $125 annual renewal and iClickers Stephen McNeil Library Subscriptions: $45 one year; $80 two years 61 Sig Weiser, 2012 All amounts in US currency 61 H. George Hamilton, 2012 Direct membership requests and changes of address to the Treasurer/Membership Chairman Columns 5 Book Reviews ...... April S. Whitt Back Issues of the Planetarian 62 Calendar of Events ...... Loris Ramponi IPS Back Publications Repository 24 Educational Horizons ...... Jack L. Northrup maintained by the Treasurer/Membership Chair; 4 In Front of the Console ...... Sharon Shanks contact information is on next page 35 IMERSA News ...... Judith Rubin 47 International News ...... Lars Broman Index 64 Last Light ...... April S. Whitt A cumulative index of major articles that have 6 Letters to the Editor ...... appeared in the Planetarian from the first issue 54 Mobile News ...... Susan Reynolds Button through the current issue is available online at 14 Partycles ...... Alex Cherman www.ips-planetarium.org/planetarian/planetarian_ 8 President’s Message ...... Dave Weinrich index.pdf 37 Triad Categories ...... Adam Thanz 61 Waxing New ...... Sharon Shanks Final Deadlines March: January 21 June: April 21 September: July 21 Index of Advertisers December: October 21 Astro-Tec ...... 55 Audio Visual Imagineering ...... 39 California Academy of Sciences ...... 63 Clark Planetarium/Hansen Dome ...... 23 Associate Editors Digitalis Education Solutions, Inc...... 29 Book Reviews Editor-at-Large International Evans & Sutherland ...... 41, inside back cover April S. Whitt Steve Tidey Lars Broman Global Immersion ...... 5 Calendar Education Last Light GOTO INC ...... inside front cover Loris Ramponi Jack Northrup April S. Whitt GLPA: Cosmic Colors ...... 15 Cartoons IMERSANews Mobile News Konica Minolta Planetarium Co. Ltd ...... 27 Alexandre Judith Rubin Susan Button Cherman NSC Creative ...... 43 R.S.A. Cosmos ...... outside back cover Sky-Skan, Inc ...... 31, centerfold, 34 Spitz, Inc...... 9, 17, 26, 45, 46 You Can Do Astronomy ...... 54 Zeiss, Inc ...... 7

On the Cover: International Planetarium Society home page: www.ips-planetarium.org Planetariums throughout history and from around the world formed the theme for the “Welcome to IPS Planetarian home page: 2012” fulldome video produced by Robin Sip of Mi- www.ips-planetarium.org/planetarian rage3D. Image courtesy Mirage3D. Guidelines for Contributors and Advertisers: www.ips-planetarium.org/planetarian/guidelines.html

September 2012 Planetarian 1 Affiliate Representatives

Association of Brazilian British Association Italian Association Russian Planetariums Officers Planetariums of Planetaria of Planetaria Association Alexandre Cherman Jenny Shipway Loris Ramponi Zinaida P. Sitkova President Planetário do Rio de Janeiro Planetarium Manager National Archive of Planetaria Nizhny Novgorod Dave Weinrich R. Vice-Governador INTECH Science Centre & c/o Centro Studi e Ricerche Planetarium Planetarium Rubens Berardo, 100 Planetarium Serafino Zani Revolutsionnja Street 20 Minnesota State Rio de Janeiro RJ Telegraph Way, Morn Hill via Bosca 24, C.P. 104 603002 Nizhny University-Moorhead Brazil 22451-070 Winchester, SO2 11H I 25066 Lumezzane Novgorod, Russia 1104 7th Avenue South +55 (21) 2274-0046 ext. 264 United Kingdom (Brescia) Italy +7 831 246-78-80 Moorhead +55 (21) 2529-2149 fax +44 1 962 891916 +39 30 872 164 +7 831 246-77-89 fax Minnesota 56563 USA alexandre.cherman@ +44 1 962 868524 fax +39 30 872 545 fax [email protected] +1 218-477-2969 planetario.rio.rj.gov.br JennyShipway@ [email protected] www.apr.planetariums.ru +1 218-477-5864 fax planetarios.org.br intech-uk.com [email protected] [email protected] www.rio.rj.gov. www.intech-uk.com www.planetari.org Society of German- br/planetario www.planetarium.org.uk Speaking Planetaria Japan Christian Theis Past-President Association of Canadian Association Planetarium Society Planetarium Mannheim Dr. Tom Mason, Director Dutch-Speaking of Science Centres Kaoru Kimura Wilhelm-Varnholt-Allee 1 Armagh Planetarium Planetariums/PLANed Ian C. McLennan Japan Science Foundation D-68165 Mannheim College Hill Andre Milis #404 - 1275 Haro Street Kitanomaru Park, Chiyoda-ku Germany Armagh BT61 9DB Planetarium Royal Ob- Vancouver, British Columbia Tokyo, 102-0091 Japan +49 621 419 4220 (phone); Northern Ireland servatory of Belgium V6E 1G1 Canada [email protected] +49 621 412 411 (fax); United Kingdom Boechoutlaan 10 +1 604-681-4790 www.shin-pla.info ct@planetarium- +44 (0)2837 524725 1020 Brussels, Belgium phone + fax mannheim.de (email); +44 (0)2837 526187 fax +324747030 [email protected] Middle Atlantic www.gdp-planetarium.org +44 (0)771 0013453 cell +324783026 fax [email protected] Planetarium [email protected] [email protected] www.ianmclennan.com Society Southeastern www.armaghplanet.com Patty Seaton Planetarium Association of French- Chinese Planetarium H.B. Owens Science Center Association President-Elect Speaking Planetariums Society 9601 Greenbelt Road John Hare Thomas W. Kraupe Marc Moutin Jin Zhu Lanham-Seabrook, Ash Enterprises Planetarium Hamburg Cité de l’espace Beijing Planetarium Maryland 20706 USA 3602 23rd Avenue West Hindenburgstraße 1 b Avenue Jean Gonord No. 138 Xizhimenwait Street +1 301-918 8750 Bradenton, Florida D-22303 Hamburg BP 25855 Beijing, 1000044 +1 301-918 8753 fax 34205 USA Deutschland 31506 Toulouse Cedex 5 P.R. China [email protected] +1 941-746-3522 +49 0 (40) 428 86 52-21 +33 (0)5 62 71 56 03 +86 10-5158-3311 [email protected] +49 0 (40) 428 86 52-99 fax +33 (0)5 62 71 56 29 fax +86 10-5158-3312 fax Nordic Planetarium www.sepadomes.org +49 0 (40) 4279 24-850 e-fax [email protected] [email protected] Association +49 0 (40) 172-40 86 133 cell www.cite-espace.com Aase Roland Jacobsen Southwestern thomas.kraupe@ www.aplf-planetariums.org European/ The Steno Museum Association of planetarium-hamburg.de Mediterranean Planetarium Planetariums www.rdp-planetarium.de Association of Mexican Planetarium C.F. Moellers Alle 2 Rachel Thompson Planetariums Association University of Aarhus Noble Planetarium Executive Secretary Ignacio Castro Pinal Manos Kitsonas DK-8000 Aarhus C Fort Worth Museum of Torres de Mixcoac, A6-702 Denmark Lee Ann Hennig Eugenides Planetarium Science and History C.P. 01490, México City +45 89423975 Planetarium, Thomas 387 Syngrou Avenue 1600 Gendy Street D.F. México [email protected] Jefferson High School 17564 P. Faliro Fort Worth, Texas +52 (55) 5500 0562 www.stenomuseet.dk for Science and Technology Athens, Greece 76107 USA +52 (55) 5500 0583 fax 6560 Braddock Road +30 210 946 9674 +1 817-255-9409 [email protected] Pacific Planetarium Alexandria, Virginia 22312 USA +30 210 941 7372 fax +1 817-732-7635 fax cosmos.astro.uson.mx/ Association +1 703-750-8380 [email protected] +1 682-233-0822 cell AMPAC/AMPACintro.htm Gail Chaid +1 703-750-5010 fax [email protected] Great Lakes Planetarium 1320 Glen Dell Drive [email protected] rachelsusanthomp- Association of Spanish Association San Jose, California [email protected] Planetariums Jeanne Bishop 95125 USA southwesternassociationof- Treasurer and Javier Armentia Westlake Schools +1 408-540-8879 cell planetariums.art.office- Membership Chair Planetario de Pamplona Planetarium +1 408-288-8525 live.com/default.htm Shawn Laatsch Sancho Ramirez, 2 Parkside Intermediate School [email protected] E-31008 Pamplona 24525 Hilliard Road sites.csn.edu/ All fiscal matters: Navarra Spain Westlake, Ohio 44145 USA planetarium/PPA P.O. Box 4451 +34 948 260 004 +1 440-899-3075 x2058 Hilo, Hawaii 96720 USA +34 948 260 056 +1 440-835-5572 fax Rocky Mountain +34 948 261 919 fax jeanneebishop@ Planetarium All other correspondence: [email protected] wowway.com Association ‘Imiloa Astronomy gestion@pamplonetario. www.glpaweb.org Mike George Center of Hawai’i infonego-cio.com 600 East Washington Street 600 ‘Imiloa Place Great Plains Planetarium Phoenix, Arizona 85004 USA Hilo, Hawaii 96720 USA Australasian Planetarium Association +1 602-716-2079 Society Jack Dunn +1 602-716-2099 fax +1 808-969-9735 Warik Lawrance Ralph Mueller Planetarium [email protected] +1 808-969-9748 fax Melbourne Planetarium University of Nebraska-Lincoln [email protected] Scienceworks/Mu- 210 Morrill Hall seum Victoria Lincoln, Nebraska 2 Booker Street 68588-0375 USA Spotswood (Mel- +1 402-472-2641 bourne) Victoria +1 402-475-8899 fax 3015 Australia [email protected] +61 3 9392 4503 www.spacelaser.com/gppa +61 3 9391 0100 fax wlawrance@mu- seum.vic.gov.au www.aps-planetarium.org

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

Please notify the Editor of any changes on these two pages. Ad Hoc Committees Contact the Treasurer/Membership Chair for individual member address Armand Spitz Planetar- Outreach Committee Web Committee changes and general circulation and ium Education Fund Jon W. Elvert, Chair Alan Gould, Chair Finance Committee Irene W. Pennington Planetarium Holt Planetarium billing questions. Louisiana Art & Science Museum Lawrence Hall of Science Education Committee 100 South River Road University of California Jack L. Northrup Baton Rouge, Louisi- Berkeley, California Dr. Martin Luther King, ana 70802 USA 94720-5200 USA Jr. Planetarium +1 225-344-5272 +1 510-643-5082 King Science and Technology +1 225-214-4027 fax +1 510-642-1055 fax Magnet Center [email protected] [email protected] 3720 Florence Blvd. Omaha, NE 68110 USA Portable +1 402-557-4494 Planetarium Committee [email protected] Susan Reynolds Button, Chair webmail.ops.org/~jack.northrup Quarks to Clusters 8793 Horseshoe Lane Full-Dome Video Committee Chittenango, NY 13037 Antonio Pedrosa, Chair +1 315-687-5371 Navegar Foundation [email protected] Centro Multimeios Espinho [email protected] Av. 24, nº800, The Planetarian (ISN 0090-3213) is pub- 4500-202 Espinho IPS Professional Portugal Services Committee lished quarterly by the International +351 22 7331190 Shaaron Leverment Planetarium Society. ©2012 Interna- +351 22 7331191 fax Explorer Dome Hands On [email protected] Science Outreach tional Planetarium Society, Inc., all rights Mailbox 42, 179 Whiteladies reserved. Opinions expressed by authors History Committee Road, Bristol BS8 2AG are personal opinions and are not neces- John Hare, IPS Historian +44 117 9141526 Ash Enterprises [email protected] sarily the opinions of the International 3602 23rd Avenue West [email protected] Planetarium Society, its officers, or Bradenton, Florida 34205 USA www.explorerdome.co.uk agents. Acceptance of advertisements, +1 941-746-3522 [email protected] Technology Committee announcements, or other material does Jack Dunn not imply endorsement by the Interna- International Ralph Mueller Planetarium Relations Committee University of Nebraska- Lincoln tional Planetarium Society, its officers Martin George, Chair 210 Morrill Hall or agents. The Editor welcomes Let- Launceston Planetarium Lincoln, Nebraska ters to the Editor and items for consid- Queen Victoria Museum 68588-0375 USA Wellington Street +1 402-472-2641 eration for publication. Please consult Launceston, Tasma- +1 402-475-8899 fax “Guidelines for Contributors” at www. nia 7250 Australia [email protected] ips-planetarium.org/planetarian/guide- +61 3 6323 3777 www.spacelaser.com/gppa +61 3 6323 3776 fax lines.html. The Editor reserves the right [email protected] to edit any manuscript to suit this publi- cation’s needs.

September 2012 Planetarian 3 alha from NASA’s Kepler Mission—were per- fect. In Front of the Console • I would love to see Dr. Batalha become more of a public face for astronomy pop- ularization. She has a charisma and speak- Sharon Shanks ing style that needs to be out there and in Ward Beecher Planetarium front, inspiring everyone—especially young Youngstown State University girls—to know that science is for them. Youngstown, OH 44555 USA • This conference was missing some faces that should have been there. We noticed, [email protected] friends, and we mourned for those of you who have lost your domes. Back to that Awards Banquet. Most of you There are a couple of new things for Plane- and with today’s multi-purpose cell phones already know that I received a Service Award tarian readers in this issue, both experiments. and other electronic gadgets I can get more (along with April Whitt, who was one of those The first are QR Codes that you’ll find at the information or connect to a website while missing faces and who also eminently de- end of several articles. In case you’ve missed I’m reading (and while I’m thinking about it, served it!). I remember making my way to the seeing these strange box things popping up which is more important) by starting my nif- stage and then mumbling something incoher- in ads and on products, QR Codes (Quick Re- ty QR app. ent because I was in such a state of shock. The sponse Code) is a two-dimensional code that So, this is an experiment. If you like the QR surprise was total and authentic. was originally designed for the automotive Codes, let me know and I will continue to in- I also was made a Fellow of IPS, an honor industry that might take over the job of UPC sert them. If you don’t like them, then let me that I was so pleased to receive that the Service (Universal Product Code) barcodes one day. know that, too. You can email me at sharon. Award following on its heels was made all the Another way to think of them is they’re the [email protected]. Here’s the code: more a surprise. links in print media. Many years ago, as a new reporter, my All you need is a QR Code reader (there’s an dreams were of writing that great story and app for that; I have one on my Android-based one day winning a Pulitzer Prize. That dream phone) and you’re taken somewhere for more didn’t last long, especially for a reporter work- information. There’s also a website that will ing at small dailies in a mostly rural county in produce QR Codes for free (www.qrstuff.com). Ohio. Here’s the QR Code for the IPS website: But I have received an even great honor Brain break included in the IPS Service Award because it is from Jack Northrup, in his Educational Horizons a community of people that I have come to column this issue (page 24), suggests that read- love and respect, those people I can’t wait to ers take a “brain break” and move to the gal- see every one or two years and give hugs to. axy hustle. Adam Thanz from Bays Mountain It’s from friends from around the world. Planetarium (Tennessee) came up with a brain So, thank you fellow planetarians, for rec- break for Planetarian readers. He calls it Triad ognizing me and for allowing me to be your I thought I’d see if the codes are really the Categories and we’re hoping it becomes a reg- editor, and for doing a job that I truly enjoy. next best thing in today’s media, like some ular feature. There will be more about the new Fellows in websites are touting them to be, and took a the December Planetarian. I trip to my local Barnes & Noble (always a mis- IPS 2012 thoughts take because I spend too much there) for some This year’s IPS Conference was such a treat research. (well, then there was the Awards Banquet, but I checked the magazine first. I spotted a I’ll get to that in a moment). couple in ads, but none in the text. Not a one Any planetarium conference is like a big in The Android Book or Android App Reviews. family reunion. Conversations continue as if None in Social Media or the iPad App Directory. we had just left the room for a moment, not a None in Discover or Scientific American. year or two years ago. It became the quest for the missing QR I do more hugging at a planetarium confer- Codes, and the more I looked for them, the ence than I do the rest of the year (sorry, Ed). stranger the looks I was getting from other I’ll echo words already said by so many browsers. (There were none in GQ or Men’s others, including Dave Weinrich in his Pres- Journal, GolfTips, O, or Basic Wallpapering. ident’s Message (page 8): the event was beau- Playboy was wrapped.) tifully organized and presented, and Baton I suspect that the non-book print media Rouge should be proud of itself for its hospi- hasn’t adopted them because (1) they’re on the tality and attention to detail. edge of tedious to insert and (2) they ruin the Some thoughts: aesthetics of the page or advertisement. My • Blue shirts were a great idea; seeing that par- solution was to put them in a table at the end ticular shade of blue was a relief because it I was threatened with some vague harm from of the article. meant help was available. a person or persons who will not be named if I did not run a picture, so here it is, on the stage I decided to try the codes, truthfully, be- • The keynote speakers—Dr. Rolf Landua at the IPS 2012 Conference receiving the Ser- cause of the way I like to read. I tend to take from CERN, Dr. Michael Turner from the vice Award from President Dave Weinrich. Pho- my magazines and journals with me to lunch, University of Chicago, and Dr. Natalie Bat- to by Dale Smith.

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Dear Editor: had to learn how to program and maintain all the SciDome show because our live segments Sam Storch’s guest editorial in the March of it. use the Chronos, and being that the Chronos Planetarian about a “Textbook for Planetar- And then, not only was there all the “plan- is a real planetarium projector, it would take ians” was well written, as we would expect etarium” stuff to learn over the years, there a lot more than 15 minutes to train some- from this honored veteran in our field. And was also astronomy stuff to learn. Since in one on that piece of equipment. Plus, Jan was I must agree with his final assessment that the “old days,” many shows were live, or con- not about to grab the microphone and walk it does not bode well for the sales of a “text- tained live parts, we also had to know astron- into the audience for a live star talk. I am the book” for learning how to run a planetarium omy, geology, meteorology, and lots of oth- “ham” in the family; not her! theater. er things to lecture to the public. And we had So I went to my meeting, and came back Now don’t get me wrong here. I think the to keep up with current events in astronomy shortly after the laser show started. All was in idea is a good one, but not in the times that we and space flight because the public had ques- order. She ran the SciDome, turned it off, start- currently live in. Whether you agree or not, tions about it. And let’s not forget, if you did ed up the Sky Lase, and ran that show. Again, the planetarium field has changed a lot since any kind of observing sessions, then you had all with no more than 15 minutes of training. Sam and I started in this business decades ago. to know about telescopes. Quite a difference from decades ago when one In reality, we no longer have a “planetarium Now let’s jump to today. With the advent needed months of training to learn how to field.” We have become a movie industry of fulldome video, all of the processes of learn- run a planetarium projector. that uses domes to show movies, and because ing about show production are gone. No one Remember, that all of the new fulldome of that, we don’t need trained people to run needs to learn about slides, photography, systems are nothing more than computers our facilities. Let’s look at how things have sound recording, building special effects pro- and projectors, and since anyone can run a changed. jectors, etc. All of the shows come pre-pack- computer today, anyone can run a full dome From the time I was 5 years old, I want- aged on nerd sticks (thumb drives) and all the system. Now granted, there are some things to ed a career in planetariums. I was fortunate “technician” has to do is download it into the learn about the systems when technical prob- enough to live in New York, and had the great system. And that takes a whopping five min- lems arise or when programming home made staff of the old Hayden to assist and guide me utes. No more six months of show production. shows. But most folks just run the programs on my way. In the very first issue of the Plan- And how about the live astronomy parts? that you load into it, and many of the tech- etarian, I read about a college that offered I have gone to literally dozens of planetari- nical issues can be solved by shutting down planetarium training. So in 1973 I applied, and um web sites, and I am very disturbed to find the systems and re-booting. And if not, you spent the next four years at Wagner College a good amount of planetariums that don’t can always call the company for phone sup- learning the trade. do any live astronomy programs any more. I port and usually things get running pretty That learning process consisted of writing even found one major facility that does only soon. Of course, technical problems can be di- and producing shows, learning how to op- one astronomy program a month! The rest are agnosed and solved much easier by a person erate and maintain all the equipment in the programs about topics that are not even as- with years of experience in the field, and then planetarium, such as the Spitz A3P, the Kodak tronomy related. that phone support would not be needed. slide projectors, and the special effects projec- So do we really need any kind of handbook This brings to mind another question. Are tors. That was just the start. to become a planetarian? I am doubtful. Case those of us who have actual training in this Over the next several years, in various in point. Last week I had a planetarium pro- field in jeopardy of losing our job to any- planetariums, under the direction of incred- gram and a laser program that was scheduled one who can walk in off the street and run a ibly knowledgeable folks like Sam, Tom Car- at the same time that I had an important meet- computer? Maybe a topic for another discus- ey, John Hare, and Steve Lieb, I learned about ing to go to. Currently being short staffed, I sion. Remember in the old days how angry us sound recording and editing, photography needed someone to run the two shows. How professionals in the field were when a porta- and developing, Kodalith and slide develop- in the world do you get someone on a two ble planetarium company implied that “now ing, and technical stuff like building special day notice to run a Spitz SciDome and a Sky anyone can become a planetarium director”? effects projectors and laser systems. Lase system? Well, it’s easy, sort of. You “draft” Well; if your facility has only a fulldome sys- Each planetarium I worked in took special your wife to do it! tem, that slogan is pretty much true! training. Even in Schenectady where I last Now for those of you who know my wife So in regard to Sam’s question: do we need a worked, when the A3P gave way to an East Jan, she has been hanging around planetari- textbook for becoming a Planetarian? In this Coast Control Systems setup and a GOTO ums with me for 30 years, but she has no “for- day and age where planetariums are becom- Chronos, myself and my assistant planetari- mal” training to run a planetarium. Yes, she ing domed movie theaters, I don’t think so. um manager Megan Dominguez, had to start has helped me with show production in the How unfortunate! from scratch and learn the whole thing all old days, and knows more than most “non- Steven LJ Russo over again. planetarium” folks, but she has never run the Director, East Kentucky Science Center & So there I was, more than 30 years into my SciDome or the Sky Lase system. So now the Planetarium career, and I was still learning how to oper- training session! Big Sandy Community and Technical College ate a planetarium. Programming, mainte- In literally 15 minutes, I showed both her One Bert T. Combs Drive nance, etc., took a good year or so before we and my administrative assistant how to start Prestonsburg, Kentucky 41653 were used to the system. It was after all, an op- up the SciDome, run the program, turn off the [email protected] tical-mechanical star machine, over two doz- SciDome, set up the Sky Lase and run the laser 606-889-4809 en slide projectors, about a dozen special ef- show. Fifteen Minutes! Now the only thing I www.bigsandy.kctcs.edu/eksc fects projectors, and a new sound system. We got rid of that day was the live star talk after

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September 2012 Planetarian 7 the by-laws and standing rules. You can read the details in the Council minutes, but one President’s Message change I would like to note involves the elec- Dave Weinrich tion procedures. In the past, only the names of Planetarium, Minnesota State University-Moorhead the successful candidates were announced af- 1104 7th Avenue South ter elections. No vote counts were published. Moorhead, Minnesota 56563 USA There are good arguments on both sides of the issue of whether or to publish the numer- +1 218-477-2969 ical results. On one hand, a candidate might +1 218-477-5864 fax feel badly if he or she ran for office and only [email protected] received a few votes, and an individual with few votes might be reluctant to run again in the future. On the other hand, it is more open Dear Friends and Fellow Planetarians, and catering staff, the large group of volun- and democratic for the results to be published. Wow! The accolades are still pouring in for teers and to all the people of Baton Rouge The Council discussed the issue and made the the fantastic IPS 2012 conference in Baton who worked together to make this year’s con- decision that vote counts will be published af- Rouge, Louisiana. Conference host Jon Elvert ference so memorable. ter each election. and his marvelous team put on an amazing Every two years we have elections for pres- conference! One hallmark of an expert is to Council meeting decisions ident elect, secretary and treasurer/mem- do something so well that it looks easy. That’s The IPS Council, consisting of 22 region- bership chair. At the conference, each candi- what we observed at this year’s conference. al affiliate representatives and 5 IPS officers, date gives a short presentation. Statements by Planning a large conferences is never easy. along with some IPS committee chairs and all candidates, including the secreatary and An incredible amount of advance planning other special guests, met for two days prior to treasure/membership chair, will be posted and preparation takes place. During the con- the official start of the conference. The busi- on the IPS website. at www.ips-planetarium. ference people were still registering. By the ness of the IPS could not go on without the org/?page=statements. last day, 701 people had registered, but due to work of these dedicated volunteers. Most of you will be able to vote online dur- various factors, 689 people attended one or I must give special kudos to the fine set of ing the election process in October and No- more days of the conference. That is the larg- officers that I am privileged to est number, by far, for an IPS conference. work with. We communicate of- Even though it was our largest conference ten by email, Skype and phone ever, the atmosphere was extremely warm calls. They are an immense help to and friendly. Much of that tone was set by the the president during the Council tradition of “southern hospitality” of the city. meeting, the IPS General Assem- During the opening ceremony, the mayor of bly meeting, and indeed through- Baton Rouge told us that we were now part of out the entire presidential term. the Baton Rouge family and were welcome in It is a great pleasure to work with the city during the conference and any subse- such a dedicated team of officers. quent visits. The minutes from the Council The words “hospitality,” “friendship,” and meeting and the General Assem- “networking” were prominent in the wel- bly meeting will be published in come messages that Jon and I wrote for the a subsequent issue of the Planetar- conference program that was distributed to ian, but here are some highlights. each delegate. It was my desire that the meet- At each IPS conference we must ing be like a big family reunion. With that in start planning the conference mind, I wrote the following paragraph, which that occurs four years in the fu- I believe applies to all of our planetarium ture. The bidders make presenta- Friends from around the world: myself with Jane and Jacob meetings, whether they be IPS or regional af- tions during the Council and Gen- Ashong from Ghana. Jacob presented the paper “Ghana Plan- etarium—Turning Our Dream into Reality” at the IPS Confer- filiate conferences: eral Assembly meetings. For 2016, ence in Baton Rouge. Photo by Adam Thanz the bidders are the TELUS World The need for fellowship of Science in Edmonton, Alber- A very important part of each conference ta, Canada; Citè de l’espace, Tou- is the fellowship and networking that takes louse, France; and Copernicus Science Centre, vember, but paper ballots will be available for place informally. Reach outside of your com- Warsaw, Poland. those who need them. Please vote. Historical- fort zone. Meet new people. For veteran con- Your local affiliate rep will be sharing ad- ly we haven’t had a high percentage of mem- ference goers, remember what it was like at ditional information about each site with bers voting. This is your society. Please help your first conference and make a special effort you; there will be articles about each of the determine where you would like to see it go to meet delegates attending their first confer- three sites published in the March 2013 Plan- in the future. ence. For those of you at your first IPS meet- etarian; and information will be posted on ing, take the plunge. We are a friendly group. the IPS website. The Council will choose the Awards luncheon highlight Please get to know us and make your contri- 2016 conference site at next year’s IPS Coun- So much else goes on during our confer- bution. cil meeting. Please consider the merits of the ences, but I would be remiss to not mention On behalf of our society, I want to convey sites and inform your affiliate rep of your pref- the awards luncheon. Many volunteers have a heartfelt “thank you” to all of the confer- erence. served our profession and our society over a ence team, keynote speakers, delegates, hotel The Council voted on some changes to (Continues on Page 21)

8 Planetarian September 2012 FULLDOME www.spitzinc.com/fulldome_shows

September 2012 Planetarian SHOW DISTRIBUTION9 © 2011 Zula® USA, LLC. All Rights Reserved. Contact: Mike Bruno [email protected] T: 610.459.5200

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Potter, Pop Culture, and the Planetarium

Kristine Larsen Copernican Observatory and Planetarium Central Connecticut State University New Britain, Connecticut 06050 and Jason T. Archer New England Air Museum Submitted July 19, 2012 Windsor Locks, Connecticut 06096 Accepted July 30, 2012

10 Planetarian September 2012 Abstract: Planetariums have embraced a number of popular culture icons in order to excite audiences and bring them to our facilities. A recent example is the Harry Potter series of books and films. Staff from various planetariums responded to an informal survey asking Kristine Larsen for information about such shows, giving us insight into how we might successfully exploit the next “big thing” in popular culture.

Jason Archer

As readers of this journal are well aware, that we have integrated into our planetari- the program a second time three weeks later, planetarium professionals are a highly cre- um shows on more than one occasion. Giv- “Lessons from the Great Hall of Hogwarts” at- ative bunch. In our dual mission to educate ing them a twist of Potter turns them from tracted nearly 90 attendees. and entertain, straight laced decorum is fre- ordinary (or muggle-worthy, in the series ver- Patty admits to ad-libbing the show—a se- quently tossed out the window and popular nacular) to fresh and relevant in the eyes of a ries of astronomy lessons—playing the role of culture is often embraced in its stead. young (and even not-so-young) audience. Hogwarts astronomy teacher Aurora Sinistra, In our effort to share the excitement of as- More than one planetarium performer with other staff members portraying other tronomy with the general public, we dress have used their technology to demonstrate Hogwarts faculty (such as Hagrid and Dumb- up, act out, and even occasionally sing and how Rowling got it wrong in Harry Potter and ledore). The building was decorated in a Hog- dance. We connect the night sky to hobbits, the Order of the Phoenix when she had the Hog- warts theme, and the girls’ bathroom featured time lords, and wizards alongside referenc- warts students observing Orion around mid- a “Moaning Myrtle,” complete with sound ef- es to NASA, Hubble, and Kepler. As we seam- night near the summer solstice, and that it is fects. lessly integrate the audiovisual arts with sci- surprisingly possible (under certain condi- The program was expanded when it was of- ence, history, philosophy, and even literature, tions) to see Venus from England at this same fered again in February 2005 to include more we highlight one of our profession’s greatest date and time.3 characters (Seaton playing both Sinistra and strengths, namely its interdisciplinary nature. Trelawney) and featuring a debunking of as- Unless one has spent the past decade un- Creating the Potterverse trology. Again, the program was ad-libbed, der a rock, the unprecedented success of J.K. But a number of adventurous individu- with the staff member portraying Snape occa- Rowling’s Harry Potter series of books and als and institutions have taken it a bold step sionally jeering Seaton. films needs no introduction. What might be forward, creating entire planetarium shows In October 2005 the “Hogwarts Triwizard less well known is that Rowling embedded far around the so-called “Potterverse,” and we re- Championship Sky Competition” was held at more astronomy into her works than just the count here the details of several of these ex- the planetarium. Four of the nearly 50 attend- character names Draco Malfoy, Sirius Black, amples, as well as other examples of the use of ees were selected to compete after the plane- and Bellatrix LeStrange. Many other charac- popular culture under the dome.4 tarium show, with the staff member portray- ters have celestial monikers, including Luna Patty Seaton, planetarium director at the ing Snape acting as examiner. Lovegood, Aurora Sinistra, and Merope Gaunt H.B. Owens Science Center (Prince George’s The final Hogwarts-based show, “The Stars (Lord Voldemort’s mother).1 County Public Schools, Maryland) recounts Over Hogwarts,” played in November 2007. In addition, Harry and his pals study lunar that she only had a dozen attendees for her Nearly 75 attendees enjoyed the ad-libbed phases, planetary alignments, constellations, first Harry Potter-themed planetarium event give and take between Sinistra and Snape and and even the Galilean moons of Jupiter as part on Halloween 2003. However, when they ran learned astronomy along the way. of the O.W.L.—Ordinary Wizardry Levels— In describing her shows, Seaton stressed curriculum.2 Certainly these are all concepts astronomy.html). that the entire package—ad-libbed dialogue, 3 Astronomer Kevin Krisciunas discusses this surpris- costumed characters, and decorated facili- ing result in a letter to the editors of Sky & Telescope 1 For more information on astronomical names in the 106 no.6 (2003): 12. ties—were integral to making the events en- series, see C. Renee James, “The Real Stars of Harry 4 Unless otherwise noted, the details related here joyable, both for the audience and the staff. Potter,” Mercury 36 no. 4 (2007): 19-27. are taken from a series of personal emails exchanged Some of Seaton’s ideas were integrated by 2 Mike Weinstein gives numerous examples of astro- between the authors and the planetarium staff cited Amie Gallagher and the other staff at the plan- nomical references (both correct and incorrect) in in the article. The authors thank these individuals for the Potter series in his essay “Astronomy in the Harry their detailed responses to the questions we posed etarium at Raritan Valley Community College Potter Series” (www.hp-lexicon.org/essays/essay- to various planetarium email lists. (New Jersey Astronomy Center for Education September 2012 Planetarian 11 in Somerville, New Jersey) into their show Orion cannot be seen at midnight in late June, Ernie Hemphill presented a talk on potions at “The Skies Over Hogwarts.” As in Seaton’s pro- and used references to Centaurs and the gal- the museum’s apothecary shop. grams, attendees were divided into four Hog- axy to explore Sagittarius and the structure of The show put the attendees into the role of warts Houses and staff dressed in appropriate the Milky Way. Hogwarts students and highlighted some of costumes (black graduation robes). As with similar programs already discussed, the astronomy taught at Hogwarts. The sky as The show was a combination of live in- much of the show focused on the astronom- seen from England on Harry’s birthdate was character performances (such as Trelawney ical names in the series by identifying stars projected, and his horoscope was discussed, al- making predictions with tea leaves) and a re- and constellations tied to various characters. though it was stressed that “astrology is make corded tour of the sky over the course of the Both the hands-on activities and the planetar- believe.” year, highlighting the stars and constellations ium show (as well as Potter-based observing The mother later wrote to Angell thank- related to Harry Potter characters. New Pot- sessions of Venus and Jupiter) were offered for ing him and Hemphill for “the special time ter-based constellations were invented, such free to the general public a number of times you put into the research and preparation for as turning Orion into Hagrid the giant (in Gal- during the 2009 International Year of Astron- this,” noting that “having an opportunity to lagher’s words, “which makes sense since he omy, especially in October-November in con- visit the planetarium and apothecary was a re- teaches Care of Magical Animals and there’s a cert with the campus library’s hosting of the markable experience for these children. They unicorn next to him [Monoceros]”). The show U.S. National Library of Medicine’s “Medicine will carry this memory with them forever.” concluded with a Harry Potter trivia contest. and Magic in Harry Potter” traveling exhibit.6 After the initial presentation, the planetar- The planetarium show has evolved over ium show was put into rotation as one of the Riding the movie coattails time, and most recently featured the author available presentations for groups, and a spe- The show repeated about 20 times over sev- dressing up as Hogwarts astronomy professor cial October 2011 public viewing to coincide eral years to nearly sell-out audiences (in a the- Aurora Sinistra and performing in character with the initial viewing of Harry Potter and ater that holds 100). Gallagher explained that for the first half of the show. As a group of nor- the Deathly Hallows Part 2 in the museum’s the show was initially created “because mally jad- IMAX theater. several of us on staff were quite ed high The use of horoscopes in Harry Potter (and fond of the books and movies” school clarifying the differences between astrolo- and, like Seaton, noted that the gy and astronomy) also played an important planetarium show itself was role in Potter-based shows offered at the plan- just part of the overall experi- etarium at Brigham Young University in Pro- ence. vo, Utah. Jeannette Lawler explained that she The presentations ended developed the show because she “liked the when one of the staff members books, noticed the use of star names and con- graduated college and moved stellations to provide ‘hints’ to kids, and want- on. According to Gallagher, ed to take full advantage of this to get kids in- “around that time, the movies terested in science.” were coming to a close. We liked Lawler noted that it has been one of the riding the Warner Brothers ad- more popular shows at her facility. The BYU vertising coattails.” Astronomical Society has also offered star par- In 2008, one of the authors of ties in conjunction with some of the show- this paper also developed a se- ings.7 ries of hands-on Potter-based as- Despite the success of these events, we all tronomy activities and a live Pot- ter-based planetarium show, “The Stars of Hogwarts,” as part of an on- going series of Saturday morning “I’m so glad this had a Harry Potter theme. science enrichment programs for This made it so much cooler.” 7th graders at Central Connecticut State University’s Copernican Plane- tarium (New Britain, Connecticut).5 The show surveyed astronomical ex- students was leaving the show, one are painfully aware that the attention of the amples from the series, including the dread- young lady was overheard telling her teach- public is fleeting at best, and what is hot one ed essay on the Galilean moons of Jupiter as- er “I’m so glad this had a Harry Potter theme. season is passé the next. Eventually Harry signed to Harry and his pals, and the fact that That made it so much cooler.” The show per- Potter will become “something my parents former found it pretty cool as well. read,” and already planetarium staff (the au- 5 For examples of hands-on activities featuring Har- ry Potter and other fantasy series, see Kristine Larsen thors included) report that fewer attendees and Marsha Bednarski, “Muggles, Meteoritic Armor, Making a birthday impression are responding positively when asked if there and Menelmacar: Using Fantasy Series in Astron- In 2009, The Museum of Science and Tech- are any Harry Potter fans in the house. This omy Education and Outreach,” in Preparing for the nology (MOST) in Syracuse, New York, host- is why the take-home lesson from this essay 2009 International Year of Astronomy, eds. M.G. Gibbs, ed a Harry Potter-based 9th birthday party at should not be specifically how to create Har- J. Barnes, J.G. Manning, and B. Partridge (San Francis- co: Astronomical Society of the Pacific, 2008), 82- the museum. Since the party was to include a ry Potter-based planetarium shows, but rather 90, and Kristine Larsen, “Stargazing Centaurs: The planetarium show, staff member Dustin An- how to incorporate popular culture in general Astronomy of Harry Potter,” Astronomy Beat no. 66 gell developed a Potter-based planetarium into our performances. (2011): 1-4. Examples of how the Potter series can be show called “Astronomy 101 ¾” and volunteer An example of waxing and waning trends integrated into public observing sessions are given in Kristine Larsen, “Harry Potter and the Upcoming Ve- nus-Jupiter Conjunction: a Unique Outreach Oppor- 6 See www.nlm.nih.gov/exhibition/harrypotter- 7 See nightsky.jpl.nasa.gov/event-view.cfm?Event_ tunity,” CAP Journal no. 4 (2008): 16-7. sworld for information on the NLM exhibit. ID=5303

12 Planetarian September 2012 “Having an opportunity to visit the planetarium and apothecary was a remarkable experience for these children. They will carry this memory with them forever.”

istockphoto.com

in popular culture is J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Lord from the franchise referenced. It was a simple Reaching back in time, one author, like of the Rings. While the books were a mainstay show, presented live (in costume, of course) many planetarians, ran Star Trek-themed in the reading libraries of persons of a certain and in all pirate-speak (a difficult task). The shows. Of course, timing is everything when generation (elder author enthusiastically rais- show took audiences on a celestial treasure using popular culture to bring visitors to our es hand), the popularity of the series waned hunt for some southerly constellations such domes. Star Trek Voyager was continuing the somewhat until the release of Peter Jackson’s Argo and other gems like the Large and Small popularity of the franchise, and Len Specht, trilogy of films in the early 2000s. Magellanic Clouds. then director of the Gengras Planetarium Responding to the renewed popularity of The audience was enlisted as part of the (West Hartford, Connecticut) knew how to Tolkien’s works, one of the authors created planetarium “ship” helping to navigate via capitalize on this, bringing in Loch Ness Pro- a planetarium show titled “The Astronomy the stars. To move the sky in latitude and azi- duction’s The Voyager Encounters narrated by of Middle-Earth” that highlighted the myri- muth, audience members acted as the “crew” Patrick Stewart. Len states, “We ran TV com- ad astronomical references in all of Tolkien’s and were directed to “row” as if aboard ship. If mercials during Voyager, and we had a special works.8 The show will be revised for the up- the need was to move south, both the left and premier night at the planetarium where the coming release of Peter Jackson’s two-part right sides of planetarium audience would first episode was projected on the dome for a film treatment of The Hobbit (in December mock rowing. However, if the need was to private audience. We partnered with the local 2012 and 2013). turn the ship left or right then only one side UPN station and combined it with a local ra- Jeannette Lawler of the Brigham Young of the planetarium would row. dio giveaway to win tickets to the exclusive University planetarium reported doing past screening at the Gengras Planetarium. Our shows centered on Star Wars and Doctor Who, “Percy” brings myths to life timing was impeccable; we promoted Voyager while a number of planetariums have done Of course if we listen, our audiences can let Encounters as it coincided with the launch of shows based on the recent 2012 apocalypse us know what is relevant. During a recent Star- Star Trek Voyager on UPN.” It resulted in lines hysteria. lab class one of the authors was thrilled, but out the door of the planetarium, re-introduc- Disney cannot be overlooked in our discus- not surprised, to hear students mention Percy ing the facility to the community. Timing is sion of popular culture and planetariums. For Jackson, while telling the Greek story of Per- everything. one author, the adventures of Captain Jack seus. Finally, we should not forget laser shows. Sparrow and resultant pirate craze led to the Perseus “Percy” Jackson is the main charac- Many of us have run our fair share of laser creation of a short planetarium show aptly ter in the Rick Riordain series Percy Jackson & rock and matinee shows. For example, the named “Pirates of the Night Sky.” The Olympians. The books and soon-to-be-re- younger author ran (and unabashedly even No media of any kind from the Disney fran- leased second movie are based on Greek my- enjoyed performing) a show called Kid Power chise was used in the show, nor was anything thology but set in the United States. Turning (and even Kid Power II) featuring the pop mu- an ancient Greek warrior into an American sic icons Britney Spears, In Sync and the like.

8 For more information on the astronomical refer- teenager with ADHD and dyslexia makes the While far from educational (or even astro- ences in Tolkien’s works, see www.physics.ccsu.edu/ subject of Greek mythology relevant and ap- nomical), this show brought a whole new au- larsen/astronomy_of_middle.htm proachable. Is this perhaps the next big thing? dience to the planetarium due to its pop cul-

September 2012 Planetarian 13 ture hook. Perhaps some stayed or returned permission for the use of copyrighted mate- another day to see an actual planetarium rial. The planetarium at Raritan Valley Com- show. munity College prominently displayed a dis- But the joy of Harry Potter (and similar claimer on both their website and in press popular culture icons) is that it is not an all- releases noting that while Warner Brothers or-nothing proposition. Bits and pieces can be and J.K. Rowling were not responsible for the threaded throughout a show as the planetar- show, they had given permission for the use ium staff feel is appropriate, such as making of the Harry Potter trademark and content. reference to Draco Malfoy, Sirius Black, and Patty Seaton of the H.B. Owen Science Cen- Bellatrix LeStrange while pointing out con- ter decided that their Potter-based program- stellations, or calling various groups of stars ming would deal with the books alone (in by their Middle-earth names (such as Menel- order to tie it in with literacy) and received macar for Orion, Wilwarin for Cassiopeia, and permission from both the publisher and her the Valacirca for the Big Dipper). school system to run the shows. Amy Sayle of the Morehead Planetarium re- In addition, Seaton was not only given per- ported weaving references to star and constel- mission to use the images and text from the lation names in Harry Potter and Dan Brown’s children’s book Fancy Nancy Sees Stars, but blatant astronomical blunders in The Da Vinci the publisher suggested another book in the Code into regular planetarium shows, as well series, Fancy Nancy, Stellar Astronomer, would as integrating astronomical errors in the Twi- be a better fit. The sole stipulation was that light series.9 the text had to be read live and not recorded. Dustin Angell of MOST noted that since Seaton reported that the show “received www.hp-lexicon.org/essays/essay-as- all their presentations are live, popular cul- such wide acclaim from the reading depart- tronomy.html) ture references are often interjected into their ment in the county that we decided to run shows. For example, he likes to connect the the program twice” and arranged for a third www.nlm.nih.gov/exhibition/harry- Mars rovers to the film WALL-E and has used showing. pottersworld The Fantastic Four as a hook when discussing On the other hand, Seaton reported that cosmic rays. One could also use The Hulk in she was denied permission to do a Stargate connection to discussing gamma rays.10 SG-1 themed show, as well as denied to do pro- nightsky.jpl.nasa.gov/event-view. gramming based on the Chronicles of Narnia. cfm?Event_ID=5303 Embracing cultural refrences In Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, ex- While The Lord of the Rings Trilogy is, to asperated Hogwarts instructor Hagrid noted www.physics.ccsu.edu/larsen/astrono- date, the highest grossing motion picture tril- that one should never “try an’ get a straight my_of_middle.htm ogy worldwide of all time, the real lord of answer out of a centaur. Ruddy stargazers. Not the rings is Saturn. One author finds it hard interested in anythin’ closer’n the moon.”11 moreheadplanetarium.org/ to discuss the dwarf planet Pluto without re- While planetarium professionals certain- blog/?p=1387 ferring to Mickey Mouse’s dog and now that ly do appreciate the moon, we also look be- Pluto has been reassigned to dwarf planet sta- yond, to the planets, stars, and galaxies. Part of tus, there is always some mention of the Seven the reason why we love our jobs so much is moreheadplanetarium.org/ blog/?author=31 Dwarfs. Yes, the audience always groans. that we get to share our passion for astrono- Of course, it doesn’t stop there. When point- my with the general public in creative ways, ing out the Milky Way Galaxy, it is suggested and popular culture is one of the most power- moreheadplanetarium.org/blog/?p=682 that our great galaxy of 100 billion stars was ful “hooks” at our disposal. named after the candy bar (insert more groans While the popularity of the boy wizard from the audience). The reader can certainly may have begun to wane, we should always www.wral.com/weather/blog- add his or her ideas about Mars and a candy keep our eyes open for the next big thing that post/6466578 bar of the same name. Most of us have con- we can translate from page or film to our re- nected the Pleiades to the symbol for the au- spective domes. I physicsofsuperheroes.com tomotive brand Subaru. Car manufactures 11 Rowling, J.K. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone have provided much to reference, such as the (New York: Scholastic Press), 254. Chevy Nova and Vega, Mitsubishi Eclipse, and the now defunct Saturn line. And who doesn’t refer to the Great Square of Pegasus as a base- ball diamond during baseball season? PARTYcles Alex Cherman We would be remiss if we did not discuss the elephant in the room, namely securing I must remain Hey! Have calm! I’m baaaaack! any of you 9 Amy Sayle has a number of blog posts on astro- seen my nomical errors in popular culture, including Harry electron?!? He’ll be back! Potter (moreheadplanetarium.org/blog/?p=1387), The Da Vinci Code (moreheadplanetarium.org/ blog/?author=31), and the Twilight series (morehead- planetarium.org/blog/?p=682 and www.wral.com/ I’m nothing by myself! He’ll be back! See how it weather/blogpost/6466578). I mean... I’m a proton, pays to be positive? 10 For more on the physics of superheroes, see phys- alright. But I’m not an atom! He’ll be back! icsofsuperheroes.com.

14 Planetarian September 2012 Cosmic Colors: An Adventure Along the Spectrum is a dynamic new planetarium show from the Great Lakes Planetarium Association (GLPA). It premiered on October 20, 2011 at the GLPA Conference in Champaign, Illinois.

Cosmic Colors will take you on a wondrous journey across the entire electromagnetic spectrum. Discover the many reasons for color — like why the sky is blue and why Mars is red. Take a tour within a plant leaf and journey inside the human eye. Investigate x-rays by voyaging to a monstrous black hole and then back at your doctor’s office. You will even see the actual color of a dinosaur, based on recent evidence. Get ready for an amazing adventure under a rainbow of cosmic light! 31 minutes in length.

Target audience: 5th grade and up

Ordering information:

FULLDOME VERSION: $330 for a full dome masters at 4K x 4K (need 1 TB hard drive) $275 for full dome masters at 2K x 2K (need 500 GB hard drive) $220 for full dome masters at 1K x 1K (need 100 GB hard drive)

GLPA member prices are $300, $250 and $200, respectively. All prices include shipping within the United States. The cost of shipping to customers outside the U.S. will be added to the order. For FullDome versions, each planetarium must ship an appropriate hard drive to GLPA. Show encoding is the responsibility of each planetarium.

TRADITIONAL VERSION: $110 for traditional version with two discs -- a playable Cosmic Colors show DVD and a DVD data disc containing all-sky images, digital JPEG images, audio tracks, flattened video scenes, teacher guides, and documentation.

GLPA member price is $100. All prices include shipping within the United States. The cost of shipping to customers outside the U.S. will be added to the order.

For more information on Cosmic Colors, please contact Dave DeRemer at [email protected] or Bob Bonadurer at [email protected]. To order Cosmic Colors, contact Dave Leake at [email protected].

Credit card purchases should go through the GLPA Online Store at www.glpaweb.org/online-store. September 2012 Planetarian 15 ODYSSEY UNDER THE STARS (A portion of the script by Dr. Jean Creighton & Dr. Robin Mello) First Performance: January 2011 at UWM Manfred Olson Planetarium

OdysseySCENE # BEGIN END underSCENE DESCRIPTION theDURATION StarsNARRATION H:MM:SS H:MM:SS H:MM:SS Homer’s1 0:00:00 inspiration0: 01:00 Actress at playing the the character ATHENA is 0:01:00 Τι ωραία που είναι η αγάπη μου singing. The dome grows dark and the Η χαιδεμένη από τη μάνα της. stars come into view. Any music would Και τ’ αδερφού της τα φιλιά. UW-Milwaukees Planetariumwork for the transition to a country sky. Μην είδατε την αγάπη μου, The sky is set for 38o N on day of Μην είδατε την αγάπη μου, performance to match the sky over the Μην είδατε την αγάπη μου Aegean. 2 0:01:00 0:01:30 The dome darkens completely. We 0:00:30 HOMER: “Bring Odysseus home to low-lying adjust to the darkness as the cardinal Ithaca, farthest out to sea, towards the sunset, points appear at the rim of the dome. and the other islands are apart, towards dusk Actress playing NURSE/HOMER speaks. and the sinking sun. Ithaca, It is rough, but it raises good men.” 3 0:01:30 0:3:00 The audience is getting dark-adapted. 0:01:30 ATHENA: Look! Here is the night sky as it is tonight Actress playing ATHENA walks in front over the Aegean. Behold, the stars—planets— of console. Actress playing the cosmos. NURSE/HOMER stands under “W” at NURSE: Where? I can’t see? Where? My door. They speak to each other. eyes see nothing but darkness.

ATHENA: (a bit frustrated) Ah yes! I forget that mortal’s eyes take time to adjust to the night’s darkn Dr. Jean Creighton, Director ess! Manfred Olson Planetarium NURSE: (laughing a bit at her own weakness) and And mine are not as young as they once were. Dr. Robin Mello Associate Professor, Theatre Education ATHENA: Have patience you will soon be able University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee to see the stars Milwaukee, Wisconsin 53201-0413 NURSE: The stars that Odysseus sees?

ATHENA: Just as Odysseus sees them. Let me help you—look and find my red arrow among the stars. 4 00:03:00 00:04:00 ATHENA uses laser pointer and moves 00:01:00 NURSE: Athena’s red arrow! (She points it, pointing out the directions as she overhead) describes them. Top: Robin Mello (left) NURSE/HOMER follows with her hand. ATHENA: Point north! and Jean Creighton. Below: She encourages the audience to do so Jean visiting her home- as well. Audience members see the NURSE: We will. Everyone, point North town Athens. Images pro- arrow move across the dome and are (pointing) toward Macedonia, vided by authors. oriented toward the planetarium’s position. ATHENA: South

NURSE: toward Egypt,

ATHENA: East…

Homer’s Odyssey inspired both of us ty of the language. Jean could flesh out the NURSE: home of the Turks for different reasons: Robin is an associate astronomical connections and could sug- professor in the Department of Theatre at gest Greek myths that would complement ATHENA: West toward Rome. Behold the night sky. the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee the constellations that were mentioned in (UWM) and a professional storyteller. Jean the Odyssey. The program was so exciting NURSE: (wondering) These are the stars that is the director of the UWM Manfred Ol- and successful that we produced the show Wandering Odysseus sees tonight, in the sky, son Planetarium and an astronomer who in the winter of both 2011 and 2012. over Greece! grew up in Greece. Both of us were eager We are happy to share the script with ATHENA: Of course. But he can’t enjoy the beauty o to bring the Homeric epic in the planetar- others for them to produce no matter the night sky because he knows that Poseidon ium. what planetarium they have. Our A3P carries hatred, in his heart, for the unfortunate When we reread this epic, we realized Spitz provided the stars, and we project- Odysseus. 5 00:04:00 00:04:30 ATHENA puts down the laser pointer and 00:00:30 NURSE: Poseidon is god of the Ocean. Some that there were several astronomical refturns- oned both images LCD projectors, with simple which LCD are projectors to call him Neptune. (Pause) Tell me, why does erences that could be incorporated intopositioned set on the North Greek and ambience South points and on to help visu- Poseidon have so much hatred for a man that a script that might engage audiences inrim of dome.alize the various characters in the story. the rest of the gods love? both the classic story and the factual as- If you are interested in using the script, --PROJECTION OF PHOTO OF ARIES ATHENA: Perhaps this will wake your tronomical information. THE RAMplease-- contact us at [email protected] or memory? Here is the Ram. Robin could ensure that the script cap- [email protected]. We will provide the tured the drama of the story and the beau- script for free. I

16 Planetarian September 2012 September 2012 Planetarian 17 ESO: Reaching New Heights for 50 Years

Sunset over Paranal ESO/F. Kamphues

ish). Located at an altitude of 2400m, La Silla Today, ESO includes 15 member states and Sally Lowenstein, Intern, Science was dry, flat and far away from artificial light carries out an ambitious program focused sources, perfect conditions for astronomical on the design, construction and operation of Communication observations. powerful ground-based observing facilities, Jorge Rivero González, ESO, After purchasing the land from the Chil- which enable astronomers to continue mak- Education and Public Outreach ean government in 1963, construction on ing important scientific discoveries. Department ESO’s first telescopes began. However, it was In order to celebrate 50 years of coordinat- Garching, Germany the completion of the ESO 3.6-m telescope in ing and promoting astronomical research, [email protected] 1976, one of the largest of its day, that finally ESO will be running a number of exciting realised the dream of the founding astrono- public outreach events. The year 2012 marks the 50th anniversary mers. Today, the iconic 3.6-m telescope hous- of the founding of the European Southern Ob- es HARPS, the High Accuracy Radial veloci- ESO Events for 2012 servatory (ESO), a milestone that began as just ty Planet Searcher, one of the most successful The anniversary date itself—Friday 5 Octo- a dream for European astronomers to build an planet finders to date. ber 2012—will be marked by public events at observatory allowing access to the magnifi- In 1987, ESO’s Very Large Telescope (VLT) venues in many of ESO’s member states and cent wonders of the southern sky. was approved. Cerro Paranal, an isolated beyond, with a live connection to the VLT at In order to celebrate 50 years of achieve- 2600m mountain in the Atacama Desert, was ESO’s Paranal Observatory. A never-before- ments, ESO is running a number of excit- selected as its home. This telescope was de- seen stunning astronomical image from ESO ing public outreach events, and also is look- signed to be the world’s most advanced opti- will also be unveiled, and visitors will hear ing ahead to the next 50 years with the help cal and infrared telescope. It took ESO almost from an ESO representative about the state-of- of next generation telescopes such as The Ata- 10 years to construct the VLT, which saw its the-art observatories and the latest scientific cama Large Millimeter/submillimeter array first light in May 1998. Nowadays, the VLT, and technological results. (ALMA) and The European Extremely Large composed of four 8.2-m telescopes, has revo- Please visit the ESO website at www.eso.org Telescope (E-ELT) that could revolutionise lutionised modern astronomy. for information regarding your nearest venue. our perception of the Universe as much as Awesome Universe Galileo’s telescope did 400 years ago. Awesome Universe is a It’s hard to believe that the European public exhibition of imag- Southern Observatory (ESO), now the most es that celebrate 50 years of advanced ground-based optical observatory Europe’s quest to explore in the world, began as just a dream for Europe- the southern sky. Visitors an astronomers 50 years ago. will discover 50 visually This dream became a reality when leading stunning images, showcas- astronomers from Belgium, France, Germa- ing celestial objects such as ny, the Netherlands and Sweden decided to galaxies, nebulae, and star join forces to build an observatory that would clusters as seen by ESO’s ob- give them access to the magnificent and rich servatories as well as beauti- southern sky. On the 5th of October 1962, rep- ful images of the observato- resentatives from these five European coun- ries themselves, which are tries signed the ESO convention, marking the located in some of the most official birth of ESO. unusual places on Earth. The chosen site for this observatory was a A shared European Observatory is discussed for the first time by a The exhibition will be on mountainous region in the Chilean Ataca- group of astronomers at Leiden, the Netherlands in 1953. From left to display at selected locations right: V. Kourganoff, J.H. Oort and H. Spencer. ESO/A.Blaauw ma Desert called La Silla (the saddle in Span- in the member states.

18 Planetarian September 2012 Above: The ESO 3.6-metre telescope at the La Silla Observatory in Chile. ESO/José Francisco Salgado (josefrancisco.org) At right, top: Nineteen ALMA antennas on the Chajnantor Plateau, Chile. ALMA (ESO/NAOJ/NRAO)/W. Garnier (ALMA) and bottom, Artist’s im- pression of the European Extremely Large Telescope. ESO/L. Calça- da

Europe to the Stars: ESO’s First 50 Years of the headquarters in Garching bei München, about the universe over the coming decades. Exploring the Southern Sky Germany. ESO is the European partner in the Atac- A documentary movie, together with a Your ESO Pictures Flickr Group ama Large Millimeter/submillimeter array book illustrating ESO’s first 50 years of explor- For those who have witnessed ESO’s histori- (ALMA), a partnership of Europe, North Amer- ing the southern sky, are available for pur- cal journey from the inside and have captured ica and East Asia in cooperation with the Re- chase via the website. The movie is also avail- those moments, there is the possibility to con- public of Chile. ALMA is under construction able to watch on ESO’s popular ESOcast video tribute to ESO’s memories by uploading these and is already operating on the Chajnantor podcast series. historical images into Your ESO Pictures Flickr plateau, at 5000m above sea level, high in the A second book, The Jewel on the Moun- Group at www.flickr.com/groups/youresopic- Chilean Andes. taintop: The European Southern Observatory tures. In 2013, all of ALMA’s 66 high-precision an- through Fifty Years, written by Claus Madsen, You can also send anniversary messages to tennas will be completed and operational. At gives a detailed and engaging account of the ESO on ESO’s Facebook Page or on Twitter @ the moment, over half of the antennas are al- first 50 years of ESO’s history. ESO using the hashtag#ESO50 years. ready installed, allowing scientists to make ESO@50—the first 50 years of ESO observations during a period known as early In recognition of ESO’s 50th anniversary, a The next 50 years science. Using ALMA to reveal the finest de- special science workshop will be held at ESO By far one of the most productive ground- tails of the cold and distant universe, astron- Headquarters in Garching bei München, Ger- based astronomical observatories, ESO has omers will be able to spot the birth of the ear- many. The workshop will focus on scientific helped astronomers unveil the mysteries of liest galaxies, peek inside the cold and dusty topics in which ESO has made important con- the universe. By using ESO’s telescopes, most clouds where new stars are born, and directly tributions over the last 50 years, from solar notably the VLT, astronomers have achieved image the formation of planets. system astronomy to fundamental physics. many breakthrough results, such as the first While ALMA is nearly completed and al- Then and Now Pictures direct observation of an exoplanet and the ready producing results, ESO’s next jewel is Visit the ESO website, where, once a month most detailed view ever of the surroundings still a few years away. The European Extreme- during 2012, a special “then and now” com- of the monster lurking at the heart of our gal- ly Large Telescope (E-ELT) will be the world’s parison picture of the peek shows how dra- axy—a supermassive black hole. biggest eye on the sky when it starts operation matically things have changed over the de- However, astronomers are also now look- early in the next decade. Cerro Armazones, a cades at the La Silla and Paranal Observatory ing to the next generation of advanced tele- mountain near Cerro Paranal with an altitude sites, the ESO offices in Santiago de Chile, and scopes, which will help us learn even more (Continues on Page 25)

September 2012 Planetarian 19 Up on the Roof Rio Planetarium takes telescopes to the people

Paulo Pereira and est and busiest planetarium in South Ameri- a turn to the best some 20 years ago. Alexandre Cherman ca and possibly in the Southern Hemisphere. It started with the understanding that Planetário do Rio de Janeiro Very recently (July 2012), parts of Rio have most people living in these areas were not Rio de Janeiro, Brazil been named a World Heritage Site, as grant- into crime themselves. They lived in a crime- ed by UNESCO in the category Cultural Land- dominated area and, like everybody else, they scape. Officially, it is called “Rio de Janeiro: Ca- wanted an end to it. Different segments of so- From Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia (ac- rioca Landscapes between the Mountain and ciety started what we now call a “social inva- cessed in July 3, 2012): “commonly referred the Sea.” This very same mountain, which is sion,” bringing basic services (health and edu- to simply as Rio, (Rio de Janeiro) is the capital actually a group of hills, played a key role in cation, mostly) to these areas. But it would all city of the State of Rio de Janeiro, the second the history of the city. be irrelevant if crime lords continued to rule. largest city of Brazil, and the third largest met- In the early 20th Century, a city ordinance In 2008, the State Government started a ropolitan area and agglomeration in South was passed to forbid constructions on the hills process dubbed “pacification,” in order to re- America, boasting approximately 6.3 mil- in order to preserve their environment. Due gain these areas and incorporate them back to lion people within the city proper, making to social and economical difficulties, a signif- the city. The UPPs (Portuguese abbreviation it the 6th largest in the Americas, and 26th in icant part of the population did not respect for “Pacifying Police Unit”) were created to the world… The city was the capital of Brazil the law. These illegal residences accumulated promote a new kind of relationship between for nearly two centuries (and is the) home of as time passed and eventually became what is the police and the citizens of the Favelas. many universities and institutes, (being) the now known worldwide as the “Favelas.” Their trust had to be won so they could help second largest center of research and develop- Born in illegality, the “Favelas” would later the police against the crime lords. ment in Brazil, accounting for 17% of national become the perfect place for organized crime Before this process started, the police were scientific production.” and drug cartels to set their bases, bringing to seen as another kind of enemy, just as bad as Rio is also the home of the Rio de Janeiro the city a great level of distress. Like the rest of the crime lords, because they would promote Planetarium Foundation, commonly referred the city, people living in the Favelas became violence that deeply affected the civil popula- to simply as the Rio Planetarium. With its hostages of this situation, victims of a violent tion while trying to fight crime. three domes (two fully digital), it is the larg- cycle they could no longer control. It all took The Santa Marta Favela was the first one to

20 Planetarian September 2012 All photos by Rio Planetarium. A very important aspect of this project is that, through the part- nerships established locally, we em- host a UPP. Since 2008, another 19 UPPs have power the residents and support been created. In some of these areas, basic ser- some already ongoing projects of so- vices have already been reestablished (or, in cial inclusion. Astronomy is used as some cases, established for the first time ever!) a bridge as we invite our local part- and the Rio Planetarium saw this as a perfect ners to share their knowledge and opportunity to bring science to a very un- expertise. We end up with a unique derprivileged population. There are around situation in every different location 280,000 people living in these reclaimed areas we visit, giving the project a local and nearly none of them have been to a muse- flavor and making it “their own,” um, a theater or a planetarium. for every single community. On March 31, 2012, we started our “Luneta As a side effect to this project, na Laje” project, roughly translated to “Tele- we have been experiencing some scope on the Roof,” at the Santa Marta Favela. very rewarding effects in our at- This project consists of taking some of our ob- tendance at the planetarium. Peo- serving equipment to a pacified areas on a Sat- ple from the visited areas are show- urday with a crescent moon. ing up at our main facilities, looking A group of two or three astronomers from for our dome shows and our interac- the planetarium’s permanent staff were there tive museum. This new demograph- to work as mediators. Adding to the sky- ics is not statistically relevant yet, watching activities, we took some short vid- but it does give us the feeling that eos and our own Solar System Game with its we were able to directly affect some 3m by 5m board. lives with this project. Such an event would not have been possi- And to think: just four years ago ble without proper planning and local assis- these families were outcasts, strand- tance. Roughly two weeks before the event, ed within their own city! a team from the planetarium (including one ed that these areas were not legally built on, So far, the “Luneta na Laje” project has pro- astronomer and one promoter, at least) got in so the streets (if any) are narrow, crooked and moted four nights of skywatching, in three touch with the local players and made a vis- confusing. One of the greatest challenges of different favelas: Santa Marta, Vidigal and it to the area, in order to decide on the best the project is finding these spots where we Alemão. We had more than 500 people com- spot to install the telescope (usually on some- can safely get the telescope to, where the local ing to our telescopes or, as we like to think, body’s roof, hence the name of the project). population will have easy access, and where 500 lives we touched, 500 new perspectives to This process of choosing the observation spot we will be able to watch the sky. mainly the the world. I might sound simple, but one must be remind- crescent moon.

(President’s Message, continued from Page 8) long period of time. We have no paid posi- ly lectures. Next came the era of prerecorded was marvelous to wake up in the middle of tions. Every two years, we recognize people multimedia programs, followed by fulldome the night and find dozens of messages from who have served and made exceptional con- video. This evolution has occurred as our au- my Facebook friends commenting on the suc- tributions. diences, our technology and we ourselves cessful landing with not a single post any oth- This year we presented a number of Fellow have changed. Therefore, it is only natural er subject for the past 4 hours! awards and two IPS Service Awards. Awards that our programming has evolved as well. As I was driving down to LIPS, a reporter chairperson Lars Broman will report more ful- Last year a group of vendors and planetari- from my local newspaper called to ask what ly on the awards, but I want to name the two ans decided to organize a conference devoted I thought about the landing. I answered that recipients of the Service Award, the highest entirely to interactive programs. They want- my hope is that it will excite our audienc- award that IPS gives. This year we presented it ed to explore methods that can be used to en- es as people of my generation were moved to Sharon Shanks and April Whitt. Congratu- gage audiences so they are not just passively by the Apollo missions to the moon, that lations to both! watching a presentation. Various planetari- young people will be motivated to study sci- New Fellows of IPS are: Bart Benjamin, Gail ums have been using this approach for years, ence and technology and to pursue careers in Chaid, Alexandre Cherman, Alex Delivorias, but there is still more that can be learned. those areas, and that somewhere there were Björn Hedén, Tom Mason, Christopher S. LIPS is a way of sharing what has worked in large numbers of young girls and boys look- Reed, John Schroer, Sharon Shanks, and David participants’ planetariums and learning from ing at that “red dot” in the sky, marveling at Weinrich. each other. This year there were presentations the fact that humanity had landed anoth- on keeping audiences engaged, astronomi- er rover on Mars and knowing that they, too, Learning at LIPS cal misconceptions, using LED cove lights to could share in humanity’s ongoing quest to I am finishing this column during the Live teach lessons on color, encouraging repeat at- answer fundamental questions about our ex- Interactive Planetarium Symposium (LIPS) at tendance at planetariums, cosmology, guest istence and explore the wonderful universe in the University of Notre Dame in South Bend, speakers and funding. which we live. I Indiana. Over the years our planetarium pre- There has been lots of excitement over the sentations have changed. When planetariums recent landing of the Curiosity rover on Mars. www.ips-planetarium.org/ ?page=statements first started, most of the shows were main- I was not able to watch the event live, but it

September 2012 Planetarian 21 How we do it Tips and tricks to share

1

Easy Pans: 2 Using a slide image to project a panorama

Keith Johnson, Director The New Way Edelman Planetarium 1. Create your pan as a normal, wide strip Rowan University (see image 1). Many traditional format shows Glassboro, New Jersey have such images available. If your pan comes [email protected] in 6 or 12 separate images, assemble them properly in Photoshop. Use the full resolution that the original comes in, as you’ll be process- Editor’s Note: Keith Johnson shared this meth- ing it quite a bit; I often wind up working with od of making panoramas through the Spitz a master 4096 pixels or more wide. SciDome discussion group, and I’ve been using Do all your serious image production and it ever since, not only for SciDome but also for editing now, at highest resolution, before you transforming some of my legacy programs into start resizing and warping the image. If you fulldome videos. Although written for SciDome want a transparency mask, do it now (see dis- 3 users, the Photoshop steps and result can be used cussion below; I generally add this). in a variety of applications . Keith kindly agreed 2. Here’s the strange bit. In Photoshop, go to share it with everyone. to Image > Image Size, uncheck the “Con- strain Proportions” box, change the units on The old way “Height” to “percent,” enter “314” (guess where The usual way of adding a horizon pan- that comes from!), and click “OK.” The result orama to a show is by installing it in Starry looks weird, but bear with me. Night™ directly. That way, it’s always avail- 3. An optional step follows. Add a row of able for any show, and you know it’s going to black pixels along the bottom. Do this by go- work properly. ing to “Canvas Size,” increasing the “Height” But Starry Night (SN)pans do have some dis- by one pixel, clicking on the top central direc- advantages. tion box, then clicking “OK.” You’ll see why • Producing and installing the images can be in a moment. laborious. 4. Add enough black to the top edge to • There’s some trial-and-error involved, and make the image square, using “Canvas Size” as each trial needs a reboot of SN. In particu- above (click the bottom center direction box 4 lar, getting the correct relative height of the for this, so the expansion will be upwards) pan is difficult (or maybe I just haven’t fig- Your picture will look like image 2. ured out how to do it right). 5. Here’s the magic. Go to Filter > Distort > • When SN projects a pan, it does so in sec- Polar Coordinates. Make sure the “Rectangu- tions, and has to warp each section slightly lar…” option is selected. Click “OK.” Admire to fit it all together. The result is a pan that the result, as in image 3. may have many small irregularities in it. The factor “314%” comes from wrapping a • Fading from one pan to another requires linear image around a circle (I think). The top that you match the skies between the two of the slide will be in the back (if you have a favorites involved. (Compare favorites to “back” on your dome), though you can adjust small images saved to call up as needed lat- this orientation. er.) If you don’t add the row of black pixels in There is an alternative: create your pan (Continues on Page 25) image as a slide, then project it in full-screen mode to fill the dome. Warning: there are Top: Traditional panorama of Bunce Hall on the campus of Rowan University. I constructed this from a some tricky bits to this, and Photoshop is nec- number of shots I took about a year ago, and assembled in Photoshop, but there are applications that essary. can do the stitching for you. Above, Top: The image has been stretched vertically 314%. The canvas was Here’s how it works for me. Suggestions and then expanded to make a square. Center: The Photoshop “Polar Coordinates” filter made this into the required circular format. Bottom: what happens when you don’t add the row of black pixels. All pho- corrections are welcome! tos by the author.

22 Planetarian September 2012 Join a family of aliens searching for the perfect vacation spot in the solar system. Available February 20. Contact Mike Murray at [email protected] 385-468-1237 • clarkplanetarium.org/distribution September 2012 Planetarian 23

5032-3_Clark_PerfectLittlePlanet_8.5x11.indd 1 1/20/12 2:26 PM tention span is, on average, their age +3 min- Educational Horizons utes up to 24 minutes (so that is were the “half- hour” television shows get their length?). A Jack L. Northrup brain break is change of stimulation to allow Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Planetarium the audience/student time to process infor- King Science and Technology Magnet Center mation and refocus attention. 3720 Florence Blvd., Omaha, Nebraska 68110 USA During a normal planetarium show we are +1 402-557-4494 using spatial, auditory, and visual methods of [email protected] instruction, so during a brain break focus on intrapersonal (personal reflection on what they learned), interpersonal (tell your neigh- The start of school year, fresh whoever draws my name just has to teach my bor what you learned or a question you have), start and new ideas… classes. artistic (draw a picture/diagram to explain a Summer production time, IPS conference, The last few years I have been art instructor, concept) and kinesthetic (provide a physical teacher workshops, and start of school ran seventh grade social studies, and eighth grade action associated with the topic they have back to back for me this year. It has meant reading and must say that going to teach in learned about). that I could carry the energy from IPS2012 rooms other than the planetarium has given During the Education Panel at IPS, I demon- right into my start of school year meetings. me a new perspective on classroom manage- strated the “Moon Phase Hustle” that I teach The first meeting of the full staff at King was ment, instructional style, and student inde- to my students as a brain break after we learn opened with this statement: pendence. the definitions of the moon phases. It is a kin- “We aren’t going to fill the shoes of the old I suggest that if your planetarium has a staff esthetic activity that attaches a physical ac- guard, we will be making new shoes togeth- that could use a little perspective, give a try to tion to remember the moon phases. er.” – Stephen Eubanks, Principal of King Sci- an April Fools swap. So, as a brain break for those of you reading ence Center this article, get up and use just your body to To a person who has become so comfort- Changing what can be changed model irregular, elliptical, spiral, and barred able with what they do that any possible Are you still feeling the energy of collabo- spiral galaxies. An ideal brain break is about change is met with hostility, this statement is ration? This year I was given the opportunity 4-5 minutes long before transitioning back terrifying. Because most of the staff is certified to work on a summer writing project where into your topic. in multiple disciplines, this year 85% of the we focused on creating/modifying lessons to staff is teaching either new courses or grade use gradual release of instruction. My group Energy’s needed all year levels and this has caused a change of the en- was eight people from several different grade Holding on to the energy of the conference ergy of the building. A little more stress, a lit- levels and disciplines and we would write the is one thing, but one of the big ideas that we tle more anxiety, and sometimes a little more lesson individually and then peer review. Af- need to understand from it is that there are drama. ter reading the lesson we had to answer three opportunities throughout the year to re-en- An advantage of the shake up is there are questions. No, they were not “Who are you? ergize ourselves. Ask yourself, “When have now fresh ideas in all grades and departments. What do you want? and Why are you here?” I talked to my neighboring planetarian?” Changes like this are not always bad; they pro- al la Babylon51. Have you gone to a regional meeting lately? vides people insight into their coworkers’ po- We used “What did you like? What was Can you visit with or participate in any user sitions. a problem? and What would you change?” groups, like DUG, MUG, or FUG? The last few years we have done an activ- This focused the review on items that could Don’t let yourself become so insolated ity on April Fools Day where we swap cours- be changed and prevented the conversation within your bubble that you loose your ob- es. Secondary teachers have their names put from deteriorating into attacks on each other. jectivity, drive and energy. I admit that I live in a hat and elementary another. Each teach- How often do you send an activity or presen- in the land of middle school, and tell my stu- er draws a name and for that one school day, tation to another planetarium (or even across dents to change lunch tables and mix up their you are that teacher whose name you drew. the hall) for review? Attach those questions to study buddies because each connection pro- The teacher leaves lesson plans and seating it and see the responses you get. vides the opportunity for you to seek deeper charts for the day to assist the guest teacher. It understanding. gives a feeling of “walking a mile in my shoes” Give them a brain break to all the teachers involved. Brain Break! Remember your audience’s at- Lesson: understanding ellipses I know that some of you are asking, “Jack, Ellipses are difficult for students to compre- what about your shows or groups?” I avoid 1 American science fiction television series from hend because often the definitions provided 1994-99. Check en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Babylon_5 for scheduling groups on April Fools Day so that by the textbook are difficult to understand. details enough for any rabid B5 fan.

The galaxy brain break: barred spiral, elliptical, irregular and spiral. Try doing it to Mony Python’s Galaxy Song. One version: www.youtube.com/ watch?v=buqtdpuZxvk

24 Planetarian September 2012 Images modeled from an activity at www.asc-csa.gc.ca. Lots of good ideas there; check it out.

• An ellipse is an imperfect circle. pin, put a pin in the center dot and tie a piece of the two additional spots you made earlier). • Ellipses are defined by two foci. of yarn or string about 30 cm long to it. Make Take the crayon out of the loop on the free • Eccentricity is the measurement of how el- a loop on the free end and have the students end and use this loop on a second pushpin; liptical the orbit is. put a crayon (or colored pencil; markers did push it into the other focus. I have a quick activity that is useful for not work as well because the yarn picked up Use the yarn as the guide to draw the ellipse. showing that ellipses are not shaped like eggs some of the pigment) in the loop. Have the You can add additional foci on the vertical or tears. By folding a paper diagonally twice, students trace the shape. or horizontal axis to draw additional ellipses. I find the center and mark with a dot. Then, us- We now have a circle with a radius of near- have the students use different colors for each ing a ruler, measure and mark dots 3 cm on the ly 15 cm. successive pair so they can see the major/mi- left and the right. Leaving the yarn attached to the push pin, nor axis relationship. I Using a surface that allows you to use push- move it either to the left or right focus (one

(How we do it, continued from Page 22) step 3, you’ll get something that looks like im- warped anything yet. However, when you do unchanged. You want to warp this. Click on age 4 (don’t ask me why…) the magic warping in step 5, the mask will not this channel to select it! This will still work fine—you won’t see all be warped along with the image—but you can Do the warping the same way as you did for the junk in the corners on the dome—but do it separately, as follows. the image, by distorting using the Polar Co- it sure looks ugly when it’s on your desktop 1. Create the transparency mask as a chan- ordinates filter. The mask now fits the image screen! The extra black pixel or two at the bot- properly. Continue on with step 6. When you tom of the projected image won’t make a no- nel in Photoshop as part of step 1 above. Sup- save the slide, be sure the “Alpha Channels” ticeable difference on the dome, of course, pose you label the channel “x.” box is checked on. and it eliminates the stretching. 2. After doing the warping in step 5, go to There may be a way to do the warping on 6. Resize the slide (Image > Image Size…) to the Channels palette. Check the “x” channel the image and mask simultaneously, but I conform to your projection size. Use at least on, and the RGB channel(s) off. You’ll see the haven’t figured that out yet. I 1024x1024 pixels for 1K SciDomes, 2048x2048 white pan mask, straight across the bottom, for HDs. This is where you’ll probably discov- er that you’ve forgotten to re- check the “Con- (ESO, continued from Page 19) strain Proportions” box, as I usually do. Be sure that box is checked before you “OK” the oper- of 3060m in the central part of Chile’s Atac- ESO is looking ahead with excitement ation! Save as a TIFF, although PSDs will prob- ama Desert, has been chosen to house the E- to the next 50 years! I ably work, too. ELT. 7. Display on the dome in ATM-4 in “full- Sporting a mirror almost 40m across, the E- screen” mode. Viola! And sax! ELT will dwarf every optical telescope that has ESO Website: www.eso.org/public You can rotate the pan to any orientation preceded it. The E-ELT’s dome will be about you want, independent of your star field. You the size of a football stadium, with a diameter of over 100m and a height of over 80m. can quickly adjust the coloring to some ex- Facebook:www.facebook.com/ESOAs- tent by playing with the color controls in Instead of using a single mirror, the E-ELT’s tronomy your “slide” cue. You can let the pan slow- will be composed of approximately 800 hex- ly fade, and turn redder as the sun sets, under agonal segments, about 1.4m wide and just 5 your control. cm thick. This is to prevent the mirror twist- YouTube: www.youtube.com/ESOOb- servatory You can have a second Starry Night pan ing or breaking under its own weight as well hidden behind the slide pan, ready to spring as making it significantly easier to transport. into existence as the slide pan fades (yes, I’ve The E-ELT will assist with the search for Vimeo: vimeo.com/esoastronomy used that to good effect). life in the universe by looking for biosigna- It’s possible to create a transparency mask tures on the atmospheres of Earth-like plan- ets. Working like a time machine, it will also for your pan, if you’re into that habit. That Flickr: www.flickr.com/photos/esoas- way, you can control where things will rise be able to see some of the very first stars and tronomy and set behind the hills, and peek between the galaxies. The E-ELT will address many of the branches of trees, etc. most pressing unsolved questions in astron- omy, and may, eventually, revolutionise our Your ESO Pictures flickr group: Create the mask in the first step, where www.flickr.com/groups/youresopic- you’re working at full resolution and haven’t perception of the universe. tures

September 2012 Planetarian 25 8.5X11_AD.pdf 1 11/9/2011 12:17:42 PM

NARRATED BY LIAM NEESON

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Exploring Earth’s Climate Engine

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26 Planetarian September 2012 8.5X11_AD.pdf 1 11/9/2011 12:17:42 PM

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Exploring Earth’s Climate Engine

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September 2012 Planetarian 27 Instead of focusing on one planetarium and one dome, this issue celebrates the Transit of Venus on June 5/6, 2012 from the aspect of many domes. Planetarians around the world drew crowds and wows, and coped with lines, clouds and disappointments. The pictures that follow throughout this issue show how we shared astronomy under one sky.

From Adam Thanz; viewing was held at East Tennessee State University with about 2,000 in attendance.

From Chuck Bueter; major events in the Michiana region of Michigan and In- From Dave Maness (photo by Roy Foppiano); patient lines diana. Chuck, who has devoted much of his time promoting the 2004 and from the Pink Palace Museum in Memphis, Tennessee. 2012 transits, was deservedly blessed with clear skies. The panorama at the topic of the page is also from one of the Michiana events. Well done, Chuck. Well done.

28 Planetarian September 2012 September 2012 Planetarian 29 From Stephan Fichtner, Planetarium Hamburg, Germany; an image (above) from their pub- lic observation by Christian Lübbe and (left) a 3D image from astrophotographer Stefan Seip, shot from Hawaii. Seip suggests checking out www.stereoeye.jp/howto/cross_e.html for in- formation on the cross eye stereo image.

Suhas Naik-satam, Nehru Planetarium, Mumbai, India, reports that more than 600 people waiting at his planetarium were thwarted by clouds but that other sites in the country were more fortunate and observed the sunrise transit. In India, transit workshops were organized on a na- tional level at nine sites to prepare. Above right illustrates the keen interest at one of the workshops.

Left: Steve Rus- so from East- ern Kentucky Science Cen- ter and Plane- tarium, Preston- burg, streamed video into his dome because of clouds, but ran outside the few times they parted.

Right: Marty Si- sam, senior an- imator with Evans & Suther- land, was transit observing with former IPS Pres- ident and now E&S colleague Terence Mur- tagh through the clouds. These are their best shots.

30 Planetarian September 2012 September 2012 Planetarian 31 What is a Definiti Theater? giant dome screen

ultra high-res visualizations

variable tilt seating

stage area Morehead State University Star Theater

What’s it really like to oat in space like an astronaut? What would it be like to y inside of a protein molecule? Deeniti theaters put you inside the visuals like no other experience can.

Is a Deeniti theater right for you?

32 ContactPlanetarian us to discover more: www.SkySkan.comSeptember 2012 What is a Definiti Theater? What Can You Do With a Definiti Theater? giant dome screen

Explore In Real Time ultra high-res visualizations

variable tilt seating

Customize Interact Discover stage area Morehead State University Star Theater

What’s it really like to oat in space like Immersive Instruction an astronaut? What would it be like to y inside of a protein molecule? Deeniti theaters put you inside the visuals like no other experience can. Produce Your Own Shows Connect Labs and Campuses Is a Deeniti theater right for you? Is a Deeniti theater right for you?

Contact us to discover more: www.SkySkan.com September 2012 ContactPlanetarian us to discover more: www.SkySkan.com33 34 Planetarian September 2012 camera movement. “At this stage it’s visual eye candy, emotion, and feeling. Music starts IMERSA News to come in there, too.” The story grows while the backgrounds are being created. “Right now I have anima- Judith Rubin tors making trees full-time for Dinosaurs at Communications Director, IMERSA.org Dusk. I didn’t know anything about trees be- [email protected] fore.” The incubation period is part of the cre- ative process. “I start to see a thread. There’s a lot of intuition in it. I love to take 3 years; to keep researching, being exposed to music and reference material. I’m really happy when it IPS 2012 vignettes not true what people said to me—that a show clicks.” Spotlighting some people, companies and about evolution won’t sell in the U.S.” Sip originally trained as an electrical engi- institutions taking creative risks and succeed- He’s recently embarked on a new venture neer, then became an animator. He has no for- ing in the fulldome business, encountered at to expand the distribution of Mirage3D con- mal art background. “When I started working IPS 2012. tent by reformatting it for the giant screen in a planetarium, I knew my future was there. cinema exhibition platform: Natural Selec- I like to push the limits of technology. I don’t Lean, mean and greenscreen: Robin Sip’s tion will show in flatscreen 2D and 3D, at DCI- feel like an engineer; I am a director, but only Mirage3D is a successful business model compliant2 24 frames per second, at the next of fulldome shows. I for the industry Founded by Robin Sip in 1999, Mirage3D, based in the Hague, Netherlands, stands to- day as an example of how a small, indepen- Robin Sip in the dent business can achieve success in the full- greenscreen dome field. studio (left) and in London (be- The company now has 8 employees, a cus- low). tom-built fulldome production studio that Photos courtesy includes the 100-square-meter Chromakey Robin Sip greenscreen studio, and 15ft testing dome. At IPS 2012, Mark “State of the Dome” Petersen of Loch Ness Productions noted that Mirage3D was the second most popular fulldome dis- tributor despite the fact that it offered only three of its own titles.1 Sip entered the field in 1988, gaining expe- rience in the Omniversum Space Theatre in the Hague, at Evans & Sutherland, and at the London Planetarium. He’s made 13 fulldome shows over the past decade, three of them self-financed Mirage3D titles and the others for third parties. The titles including a num- Giant Screen Cinema Association conference. ber of popular favorites and financial success- Mirage3D is following up Natural Selec- es, including Two Small Pieces of Glass, Dawn tion with Dinosaurs at Dusk, which is receiv- of the Space Age, Origins of Life, Natural Selec- ing some funding from GOTO and will be tion, Power of the Telescope, and Supervolcanoes. released in about 6 months. His signature ap- The recent title Cleopatra’s Universe, produced proach, both economical and effective, com- for the Daniel M. Soref Planetarium at the Mil- posites live-action filmed characters into waukee Public Museum to accompany the computer-generated environments. eponymous traveling exhibit, earned back its Everything except the sound is done in- investment in three months, according to Sip. house. While Sip can and often does turn out a Sip is as creative as he is a business leader: show in 3-6 months, for in-house productions just try to recreate reality in as much detail as a pioneer in the application of 3D production he often takes 18 months to 3 years because “I possible, and to convey emotion in graphics.” processes for the dome as well as a risk-taker like to give them time to evolve.” Sip plans to create future Mirage3D shows when it comes to subject matter. He starts with storyboards rather than a to maximize the cross-platform distribution He reports that Natural Selection is now in script. “I choose subjects that fascinate me potential. “We’re going to 24/48 frames per 50 theaters worldwide since its release two and that I feel confident about from my back- second instead of 30/60 fps in order to be DCI years ago. And, contrary to expectations, it is ground with planetariums. I don’t shoehorn compliant. It was time consuming to make a doing very well in the southern U.S., with dis- in astronomy if it isn’t a real fit with the sto- good (flatscreen) conversion of Natural Selec- tribution in Texas, Tennessee, Kentucky, Ar- ry.” tion. We ran into artifacts and had to make kansas and Florida. “It’s almost doing better in He gathers imagery and then creates a sim- a new, shot-by-shot edit. At the lower frame the South than in the North,” says Sip. “So it’s ple 3D storyboard, which becomes the basis of an animatic that helps determine speed and rate, we can skip that step next time.” 1 See the full 2011 State of the Dome report at www. Because of its size and amount of informa- lochnessproductions.com/reference/2011state/2011 2 DCI is Digital Cinema Initiatives. See more at dci- tion, the fulldome frame is an ideal master stateofthedome.html movies.com.

September 2012 Planetarian 35 lina’s Morehead Planetarium’s 2011 short sub- ject, Jeepers Creepers. It is distributed by Sky- Skan. Jeepers Creepers also had an enthusiastic re- ception when screened at the 2012 IMERSA Summit in Denver. The animated, 2.5-minute show lightheartedly depicts what we all hope not to see when in the kitchen in the middle of the night: an ever-more-numerous assort- ment of insects and spiders, silhouetted on a light globe. Jim Kachelries (digital artist, Morehead), who has a degree in media arts and animation and has been with Morehead about four years, confirmed that the lumpy critter is a caterpil- lar. “There’s a single fly, cockroaches, spiders, caterpillars and pillbugs. They were all ren- dered in 3D except the fly, which is 2D.” He animated the cage and its texture along with Mark Slater (right) with orchestra pre- the lights, the fly and the spiders (all the same paring to record for fulldome (above). spider) and their movement cycles. Photos courtesy Mark Slater Research included consulting an entomol- ogist about leg movements. There was also close observation. “We videotaped bugs on a translucent surface,” says Heinz. Kachelries described how Peter Althoff (dig- for extraction to other formats, he points out. degree from the London College of Music and ital artist for Morehead) animated the pill- “Everyone should start there.” a background as a cathedral chorister at Ox- bugs using crowd simulation. “They start at ford. He no longer sings, but plays piano and the ground, migrate toward the center, and Music as a learning tool: Mark Slater cello. He is fond of many styles of music, in- climb on top of one another.” At one point With 20-40 minute run-times and an edu- cluding rock, jazz and opera. “Wagner cational mandate, it isn’t surprising that full- and his peers would be writing mu- dome shows are sometimes considered a bit sic for film today,” says Slater, who “talky.” Composer Mark Slater suggests that named Hans Zimmer, John Williams, more music and less narration could achieve and Ennio Morricone as some of his the goal more powerfully. favorite film composers. The classically-trained Slater, a native of the Currently, Slater is working with UK now based in Los Angeles, writes scores for E&S on the music for some visitor movies and documentaries as well as back- attractions in China, and with Mi- ground music for visitor attractions. He has rage3D on the music for Dinosaurs at scored several fulldome shows, including Dusk. “A dome, like a cathedral, is a Two Small Pieces of Glass, Solar System Odys- very special space, a place to feel con- sey, Natural Selection and Planet Earth-Expedi- nected, to sense the wonder of the tion Green. natural world.” He wants fulldome producers to see music He feels that museums and insti- as more of a learning tool. “It engages the mind tutions can harness music for good on different levels. It can improve memory of results in more ways than they cur- the material and focus the attention. Music rently do. It can help drive repeat vis- can be used to change the pace of the narra- itation, making people want to see tive, clarify and intensify the significance of a show more than once: “The emo- visuals and words, and provide a link between tional resonance of music creates a screen and audience, reaching out and envel- positive association.” It can create a oping all into one single experience.” sense of arrival in the facility: “Start The Creepers Crew, from left, Jim Kachelries, Slater wants more producers to trust the the experience sooner in museums Jay Heinz, Peter Althoff power of music. “Music helps you say what and planetariums, and make it more immer- can’t be said in words. What scientists work to sive. Help visitors feel they are on an adven- convey, music can telegraph,” he says. “Music ture. That creates active engagement and ex- accomplishes the scientific goal—it doesn’t get citement.” they were progressing too quickly. “We sent in the way of it.” The right music, that is. them along an invisible 3D plane to give them He adds, “It is a challenge to find the appro- Turning on the kitchen light at night: The something to do.” priate music for a show - something that suits creatives behind Jeepers Creepers Heinz (digital production manager at More- the voice over and provides the right transi- DomeFest 2012, held immediately follow- head) and Kachelries report that Jeepers Creep- tions without calling attention to itself.” ing IPS 2012, bestowed the Domie Award for ers is a popular show at film festivals, although Slater’s musical pedigree includes a father Design on Jay Heinz, Peter Althoff, and Jim ironically hasn’t been shown many times at who is a professor of music and conductor, a Kachelries for the University of North Caro- Morehead. According to Heinz, the idea for

36 Planetarian September 2012 the show originates with Morehead Fulldome Centre and Planetarium); Dynamic Earth: Ex- supporting artists and researchers working Theater Director Richard McColman. As ploring Earth’s Climate Engine (Spitz Creative within fulldome immersive environments. Heinz related, McColman told a story about Media, the Advanced Visualization Lab at the www.fulldome.org.uk a past IPS meeting where someone turned a National Center for Supercomputing Appli- • SIGGRAPH Asia 2012, 28 November-1 De- glass bowl upside down on a table over some cations (University of Illinois), NASA’s Scien- cember in Singapore. Theme: Embracing cockroaches, shone a bright light through it tific Visualization Studio, Thomas Lucas Pro- the Digital Convergence. Karlheinz Bran- and projected it onto the dome. ductions and Denver Museum of Nature & denburg, director, Fraunhofer Institute for The output of Morehead’s creative produc- Science); and Undiscovered Worlds: The Search Digital Media Technology IDMT, is a fea- tion trio includes Earth, Moon & Sun (2009), Beyond our Sun (Charles Hayden Planetarium tured speaker. www.siggraph.org/asia2012 Magic Tree House Space Mission (2010), and So- at the Museum of Science, Boston). Congratu- • ‘Imiloa Fulldome Film Festival, 7-9 February lar System Odyssey (2011). The goal, says Heinz lations to all finalists! To learn the winning ti- 2013, ‘Imiloa Astronomy Center, Hilo, Ha- —who has been with Morehead five years, and tle, visit www.jhfestival.org/jhsymposium/in- waii. An international line up of 25 new dig- whose background includes a master’s in doc- dex.htm. ital planetarium films will be showcased. umentary journalism and work at Lucasfilm All entries to the festival will be new plan- and the Washington Post—is to “keep pushing Upcoming events etarium fulldome content since October of boundaries and making shows, each one dif- • ISEA2012: Machine Wilderness Conference 2012. www.imiloahawaii.org/168/IFFF2013 ferent from the last one.” 19-24 September 2012. This 18th Interna- • IMERSA Fulldome Summit & Workshops, Currently in production are a giant pup- tional Symposium on Electronic Art con- 13-17 February 2013 at the Denver Museum pet show for the winter holidays, and a special ference, exhibition and public program se- of Nature & Science. (See detailed descrip- “grossology” show supported by a grant from ries explores the intersection of art, science tion above) the National Institute of Health. and technology. Several fulldome works • Immersive Film Festival, IFF ‘13, 3-5 May and exhibitions will be featured, includ- 2013 at Centro Multimeios Espinho, Por- Call for participation ing There Was No End by Cree Métis artist tugal. Navegar Foundation invites produc- The Denver Museum of Nature & Science Jason Baerg, Fulldome Projects by Hue Walk- ers, animators, filmmakers, artists, students, will again be the main venue for the IMER- er, CARBON by Charles Lindsay in collabo- teachers and planetarium professionals to SA Summit and Fulldome workshops in Feb- ration with xRez Studio’s Eric Hansen, and participate. The competitive section will ruary 2013. The event will include three days Cosmix Dome presentations by Claudia award the best in fulldome productions by of professional development workshops for Cumbie-Jones and Lance Ford Jones. www. juried selection. iff.multimeios.pt I producers (all levels of experience), 13-15 Feb- isea2012.org ruary (Wednesday-Friday), which will transi- • STATE OF THE ARTS 2012: tion to the 3-day Summit, 15-17 February (Fri- AMPLIFY! 22 September in day-Sunday). Los Angeles. Symposium The Summit promises to be a valuable con- and dialog taking place in Use each three letter group once per blank to spell ference, continuing the conversation be- The Vortex Dome at LA the name of a category and some of itsit!s members.members. tween converging business sectors and taking Center Studios. Exploring the temperature of the industry with full- human creativity and dig- Triad Categories 1 dome film showcases, technology sessions, ital innovation, with a fo- the next phase of fulldome standards, abun- cus on education and the dant opportunities for networking and much convergence of tradition- more. Some student scholarships will be avail- al entertainment with BOS CHA DEI DEM DES DUS able. immersive content and EBE EID ELA ENC EUR HYS As the event takes place not long after the formats. Will include a full- ‘Imiloa Fulldome Film Festival (7-9 February dome showcase sponsored IET JUL MES MOO MOS NER 2013) and its content will complement the by IMERSA and c3: Cre- NNA OBE ONA OPA PHO PHO ‘Imiloa gathering, we encourage you to plan ateLAB. www.c3so.com to attend both. (There’s just enough time in • Dome Festa, 22-26 Septem- RON RON TET TON TRI between to make a quick visit to California or ber at Sofia Sakai in Osaka. Las Vegas.) Part of the 3rd Internation- Please watch IMERSA.org for details on reg- al Festival of Scientific Vi- Category: ______istration, schedule and program. If you would sualization. image.sci-fest. like to be a sponsor, suggest a session or oth- net/en/index.html er program component, volunteer to assist • ASTC 2012: Association of ______with organizing or implementing the event Science-Technology Cen- ______or share other suggestions or inquiries, please ters annual conference email [email protected]. 13-16 October, Columbus, ______Ohio. Includes fulldome- Science media awards finalists related exhibitors, screen- ______Jackson Hole Symposium 2012, 5-7 Sep- ings and events. http:// ______tember at the Denver Museum of Nature & www.astc.org Science, includes the first Jackson Hole Sci- • FULLDOME UK 2012, 16- ______ence Media Awards. The three finalists in the 17 November at the Na- “Best Immersive Cinema-Fulldome” catego- tional Space Centre, Leices- by Adam Thanz ry (sponsored by Global Immersion) are Cell! ter UK. FULLDOME UK is a Cell! Cell! (NSC Creative and INTECH Science not-for-profit association (Answers on page 61.)

September 2012 Planetarian 37 Kris McCall and crew from the Sudekum Planetarium, Nash- ville, Tennessee, submitted so many great pictures that it was hard to select just a few. At left, read the lips for the “wows” after the clouds parted. Above and below left: kids enjoying astronomy; below right, making a human sundial. At bottom: an example of safe observing; this photo is by Frederick C. Mertz, who holds the copyright.

Left, Top: Dean Regas from the Cincinna- ti Observatory (Ohio) captured this quintessen- tial shot from Clarksdale, Ar- izona. Bottom: an indirect im- age from Su- san Button, who was observ- ing in Fayette- ville, New York.

Greg Andrews, planetarium manager at SciPort: Louisiana’s Science Center, shared two images he received: the first is the transit captured via iPhone by David Wilson; the second is an acrylic painting by Jody Raney inspired by the photo.

38 Planetarian September 2012 September 2012 Planetarian 39 Tanya Hill, curator of astronomy at the Science- works’ Melbourne Planetarium, Australia, with sons Dylan and Nathan.

Shefali Mehta from The Children’s Museum, West Hartford, Connecticut, managed to see the transit through clouds and capture this eerie picture.

Charles St. Lucas from Hooper Planetrium, Roper Mountain Science Center, Greenville, South Car- olina, sent along this intriguing “happy accident” image taken by someone who didn’t know how to take pictures of the sun. Clear skies and many participants enjoyed the transit event arranged by the St. Louis (Missouri) Science Center’s McDonnell Planetarium. Image submit- ted by Michael Malolepszy.

Jillian Bornak from New Mexico State University in Las Cru- ces shares a prettily- framed transit and a time lapse image. Kyle Doane from the Museum of Nature and Science, Dallas, Texas, shared this picture of Beau Hartweg (in blue shirt) and his funnel viewer from the Museum’s event.

Nearly “all of the above” transit photos from Nick Strobel from Bakersfield (California) College Planetarium, who observed from Hawaii on a tour arranged by Sky & Tel.

40 Planetarian September 2012 Discover the Legend Written in the Stars...

Narrated by Terry O’Quinn

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

September 2012 Planetarian www.es.comDigital Theater41 [email protected] From Ron Kaitchuck, Ball State Universi- Jim Hendrickson from Newfangled Web Developers, Providence, Rhode Island, took ty, Muncie, Indiana this beautiful image at the Mount Wilson Observatory near Pasadena, California. Jim traveled with Francine Jackson from the University of Rhode Island Planetarium and the Antique Telescope Society.

Clear skies (above) in the North Georgia mountains, en- Although the Ward Beecher Planetarium’s (Youngstown, Ohio) joyed by participants at the viewing event arranged by transit event was clouded out, people were able to see glimpses Rollins Planetarium at Young Harris College. Below, a clear through the clouds in other areas. This image is from Nick Leon, shot with a sun funnel. Sent by Steve Morgan, planetari- a planetarium friend, projecting the sun through his binoculars um director. onto a pizza box held by his son, Marcel. Nick also passed along a tidbit that I thought was worth sharing: “I forgot to mention that while we were in the parking lot a wom- an driving by saw us and pulled in to see if we needed to share the pair of eclipse shades she got at one of your shows. She was ex- cited to have them and the chance to use them. It's always nice to see someone who is clearly not your average science geek re- ally excited about both the planetarium and events like this.” — Sharon Shanks

The transit from Marietta, Georgia, submitted by Bob Gardner It was cloudy in Macon, George, for Phil Groce (Helping Planetariums Succeed), but at sunset the clouds parted and he managed some beautiful images, one of which was used on the Weather Channel the next morning.

42 Planetarian September 2012 L!! LLL ! CECE LL! CELL LL!! CE CECELL

September 2012 Planetarian 43 Filters and projec- tion methods re- sult in the transit of many colors. Images by (clockwise, start- ing with upper left: Blue: Jon Slaton, from Sirius Observatory, Springfield, Missouri; Pink: Isaac and Hei- di Kikawada, Moun- tain View, Califor- nia, viewing from Hawaii; Pale Yellow: John French, Abrams Planetarium, Michi- gan State Universi- ty, East Lansing; Blue: Astronaut Don Pettit onboard the Interna- tional Space Station, through Rob Lan- dis; Cloudy Yellow: Bill Huston, Lafayette Jerrson High School, Indiana; Light Laven- der: Tom Campbell, Allen Community College, Iola, Kan- sas; Orange/Red: Dan Neafus, Gates Plane- tarium at the Denver Museum of Nature & Science, Colora- do; and Purple/Pink, Noreen Grice, Dan- bury, Connecticut;

44 Planetarian September 2012 September 2012 Planetarian 45 BlackHoles_FullPageAd_04-25-2012.pdf 1 4/25/2012 3:12:36 PM

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46 Planetarian September 2012 ence in Louisiana. International News On 22-23 June, the Strasbourg planetarium celebrated its 30th anniversary. Since 1980, the Lars Broman Spitz 512 projector is still working accurately! Teknoland and Strömstad Academy About 5000 visitors were happy to discover Stångtjärnsv 132 planetarium animations from 1980 (with Plu- SE 791 74 Falun, Sweden to as a planet) and 2012, exhibition panels, sun +46 2310 177 observations with a corona, and flower-like [email protected], [email protected] stars in the Observatory Garden. www.teknoland.se, www.stromstadakademi.se The Association Peiresc, founded by Philippe Malburet, president, is developing the great project of a planetarium in Aix-en- Unfortunately, this time I didn’t manage to Fernando Vieira was the president of ABP Provence. The building is ready, and the Plan- observe the June 6 early morning Venus tran- for the 2005-2006 period and now is the as- etarium Peiresc is hoped to be the second hy- sit. When the sun was about to climb over the tronomy director at the biggest planetarium brid system in France. trees around 4 in the morning, clouds came. in Brazil and a great inspiration for planetar- The show Water, A Cosmic Adventure will be Luckily, I have the 2004 successful transit in ians all over the country. In grateful appreci- distributed in August 2012 to be presented in fresh and good memory! ation of his hard work and dedication in the the planetarium domes on 5 October, the date The International News column is built on planetarium field, ABP Members congratulate of the 50th anniversary of ESO. In July the contributions from IPS Affiliate Associations. him for this great professional achievement. camera team and astrophysicist Evelyne Ale- If you have news that you want colleagues cian, playing the role of Eva Luna, were shoot- worldwide to read, please send it to your IPS Association of French-Speaking ing the ESO observatories on the Paranal. representative (see p. 3). Their deadlines are 1 Planetariums IPS members are invited to a subscription: October 2012 for Planetarian 4/2012 and 1 Jan- About 90 planetarium directors and me- 27 €/seat for the 4K digital show, 18 €/seat for uary 2013 for 1/2013, so they need your news diators participate at the 28th APLF Confer- the opto-mecanical kit, and 370 € for the 1K ahead of those dates. You who want to con- ence organized at the Bretagne Planetarium portable device. Contact aplf-planetariums@ tribute news from parts of the world where in Pleumeur-Bodou 17-20 May. The local team orange.fr. IPS has no Affiliate Association are welcome with Vincent Dani- to send it to Martin George, martingeorge3@ ou and Maxime Piquel hotmail.com. prepared a superb pro- For contributions to this International gram, under the won- News column, I sincerely thank Agnès Acker, derful digital starry sky Vadim Belov, Bart Benjamin, Ignacio Castro, installed in 2011. There Gail Chaid, Alex Delivorias, Sandro Gomes, were vendor demon- John Hare, Loris Ramponi, Aase Roland Jacob- strations (Sky-Skan, sen, Alexander Serber, Christian Theis, and RSAcosmos, Zeiss, Quim Michele Wistisen. I wish you and other repre- Guixa, Digistar4, Sky- sentatives back with news for upcoming Plan- point), films projec- etarian issues. tions, and tasty evening dinners along the sea, Association of Brazilian sponsored by the ven- Planetariums dors. This year, the XVII Meeting of the ABP will Jerome Galard, Ob- be conducted at the Polo Astronômico Casi- servatory of Laval, in miro Montenegro Filho Planetarium, in Foz collaboration with Lo- do Iguaçu, from 20 to 24 November. More in- ris Ramponi, presented formation is available at www.planetarios.org. the use of Skype as tool br or by email from [email protected]. for interactions and col- br. laborations between In September, the Rio de Janeiro Planetari- planetariums, and stu- um is hosting its second edition of the Work- dents of different ages, shop of Fulldome Production. The first edi- from French and Italian tion, which happened in November 2011, was schools. These activities a huge success and had Shawn Laatsch and started just last year, and Antonio Pedrosa as guest speakers. This year, other planetariums are Robin Sip and Steve Savage will go to Rio to also invited to join the share their expertise with colleagues from var- experience. ious Brazilian planetariums. An interview of a The Brazilian Planetarium community lady from Baton Rouge, is proud to announce that Fernando Vieira, speaking French, has from Rio de Janeiro’s Planetarium, is complet- been recorded and will AFP: (Top) The 28th APLF Conference in the Bretagne Planetarium, ing 30 years of outstanding contributions and be presented on www. Pleumeur-Bodou. Courtesy of CAMARA LANNION. (Below) Philippe Mal- buret, President of the Association PEIRESC, happy inside the new plan- unending dedication in spread astronomy to aplf-planetariums.org etarium of Aix-en-Provence, in construction. Courtesy of Serge Merci- kids and adults. before the IPS Confer- er/ La Provence.

September 2012 Planetarian 47 AFP: Working on the show Water, A Cosmic Adventure, infografists surround Didier GrosJean, director of the delegate production, MasterFilms (second from the left). Courtesy of Maxime Rey. Tournage for the APLF/ESO Show on the Paranal in Chile, with the Camera RED-EPIC 3D-360°. Courtesy of Didier GrosJean.

Association of Mexican in the English language. The Rijeka Planetari- ued working on its latest production with the Planetariums um’s program also included a presentation on provisional title Sky of the Ancients, which is June was a busy month for planetarium ac- the landing on the Moon, which was shown scheduled to premiere on 30 October. tivities, thanks to the more than publicized between 17 and 21 July. Before that, however, the planetarium has Venus Transit, which drew the attention of Due to its excellent location on an elevat- scheduled the premiere of its newest IMAX the general public and participant planetari- ed part of Rijeka, the planetarium’s guests had film Space Junk and its Autumnal Equinox ums in Mexico. This was the case of the Torre- the opportunity to enjoy during the summer Special Show of Music Under the Stars, while on Planetarium, which offered lectures and months an extraordinary sight over the Bay on 1 October, the younger visitors of the Plan- live telescope observation via web transmis- of Kvarner, the live presentation of the Perse- etarium are scheduled to enjoy Kagaya’s show sion of the astronomical event. The local TV id Meteor Shower, known as Tears of St. Law- Starry Tale. station broadcasted live Venus-sun images in rence, which could be observed through mo- Finally, it is worth mentioning that the its reports. bile telescopes. Eugenides Planetarium is currently prepar- The Cajeme Planetarium in the State of So- In August, the special event “Opera Among ing to participate in the worldwide festivi- nora also offered telescope observation to the Stars” was performed on the premises of ties to commemorate the 50th anniversary of many school groups under clear skies, this not the Astronomical Centre by the vocal group the European Southern Observatory, by host- being the case of the southern-located Plane- Diamante Classics from Rijeka, during which ing part of the Awesome Universe exhibition, tariums. Nevertheless, the Luis E. Erro Plane- great arias, mostly written by Italian compos- which will premiere on 15 October. More de- tarium also offered live telescope observation ers, were performed outdoors under the real tails about this exciting event, which will also and celebrated its 45th anniversary with the stars and indoors under the planetarium sky. include a public lecture by an ESO astrono- opening of a hands-on astronomy exhibit hall September brought along new activities mer, will follow on the next issue of Planetar- dealing with achievements in reaching space due to the start of the new school year. The ian. and the moon and, through scale models, regular program for September once again in- with the construction of the space station; the cluded Kaluoka’hina, which received support Great Lakes Planetarium importance of the Space Shuttle missions; and from the Croatian Ministry of Science, Educa- Association replicas of the National Astronomical Obser- tion and Sports in 2012. A new live presenta- Illinois. The William M. Staerkel Planetar- vatory and the Great Millimetre Radio Tele- tion for schools and kindergartens was intro- ium at Parkland College in Champaign took scope in México. duced and featured every Saturday morning, three weeks off from public programming in explaining the importance of energy from June to upgrade their heating and cooling sys- European/Mediterranean the sun to life on Earth, and at the end of the tem. When they reopened, they premiered Planetarium Association month, visitors had the opportunity to ob- Cosmic Colors and their own Summer Prairie In July and August the digital planetar- serve the night sky above Rijeka during the Skies. ium of the Astronomical Centre Rijeka in live presentation “A Guide to the Night Sky,” On 16 July, the planetarium at Lakeview Croatia complemented its regular program, as summer slowly drifted toward autumn. Museum of Arts and Sciences closed to begin which included Kaluoka’hina: The Enchant- The Eugenides Planetarium in Athens, the relocation of its Zeiss Powerdome Plane- ed Reef, Touching the Edge of the Universe, and Greece, celebrated the Summer Solstice and tarium System to the new Peoria Riverfront Planets in Sight, with additional events, such the European Music Day with three live per- Museum. They expect to have the planetari- as the live presentation A Guide to the Dark formances under the dome of the planetar- um operational by the end of August and con- Sky-Summer. Rijeka is a famous tourist desti- ium, headed by famous Greek composer duct their public grand opening on 20 Octo- nation, which is why Touching the Edge of the and pianist Mimis Plessas. During the sum- ber 2012. Universe is featured every for foreign visitors mer months the planetarium’s staff contin- The staff of the Cernan Earth & Space Cen-

48 Planetarian September 2012 ter at Triton College hosted a very successful Transit of Venus observing session. Attendees were able to observe the event in the full range of tele- scoping offerings. Video from one telescope was displayed on a TV mon- itor and video clips were recorded onto a laptop computer. Indiana. At the Koch Planetarium of the Evansville Museum, Ann Kaiser Wallis has recently joined three other members of the museum’s Docent Association. Ann and her colleagues present the planetarium’s school programs. Deb Teuscher, planetarium director at Pike High School in Indianap- olis, presented a paper “K-8 Standards-based Astronomy Lessons” during an April meeting at Carmel High School. Dayle Brown from Pegasus Productions organized a TROVE Art Exhib- it at The Livery in Benton Harbor, Michigan. The Livery created the Ve- nusian Beer that was on tap during the celebration there after sunset on 5 June. The Edwin Clark Schouweiler Memorial Planetarium at the Universi- ty of Saint Francis in Fort Wayne joined with the Fort Wayne Astronom- ECSITE links communicators ical Society to offer public viewing of the 5 June Transit of Venus at two Ecsite is the European Network of Science Centres and Mu- public observing sites. Public internet viewing sites were also provided, seums, linking science communication professionals in more which remained open until the transit ended after midnight. than 400 institutions in 50 countries (www.ecsite.eu). On Transit Day at the Digital Visualization Theater at the University Founded 20 years ago, Ecsite connects member institutions of Notre Dame, volunteers from the Department of Physics were at Jor- through projects and activities and facilitates the exchange of dan Hall of Science with telescopes available for viewing. In the week ideas and best practice on current issues. leading up to the event, the DVT offered planetarium shows that ex- Members include science centres and museums (and, there- plained the transit. In May, the DVT brought Axiom Brass back to the fore, planetariums), science festivals, natural history museums, Notre Dame for an encore performance. Axiom Brass is a brass quintet zoos, aquariums, universities, research organizations and com- based in Chicago dedicated to enhancing the musical life of communi- panies communicating and engaging the public in science ties and educating the next generation of musicians. through accessible, interactive exhibits and programmes. Michigan. This summer, the Kalamazoo Valley Museum Planetari- Ecsite takes part in a number of collaborative projects, in- um presented Ice Worlds, which explores the role of ice in the universe, cluding many projects funded by the European Commission. Dawn of the Space Age, which traces the origins of space exploration start- It has created thematic groups (or “T groups), which are ing with the launch of Sputnik, Treasures of the Great Lakes, which de- learning communities made up of experts from Ecsite institu- scribes how navigators on the lakes used the night sky and a network of tions, driven by their will to share experience and knowledge. lighthouses to guide them to their destinations, and Seasonal Stargazing. Ecsite publishes a quarterly printed newsletter that reaches The University of Michigan’s Museum of Natural History Planetarium all its members, with each issue addressing a specific theme re- recently introduced WorldViewer, a software program from The Elume- lated to the field, and also distributes a monthly e-newsletter. nati that creates a virtual “Science on a Sphere” in the dome. The initial Every year, the Ecsite Annual Conference is the most prom- use of the WorldViewer will be for geological and climatological pro- inent meeting of science communication professionals in Eu- gramming. rope, bringing together 1000 professionals in the field. At the end of June, Dan Tell left the Roger B. Chaffee Planetarium in Grand Rapids after almost nine years to join the staff of the Morrison Ecsite 2012 conference in Toulouse Planetarium at the California Academy of Sciences in San Francisco. This year la Cité de l’espace hosted in Toulouse the ECSITE Ohio. Gene Zajac has been doing outreach with star parties and pre- conference on the theme “Space and Time Unlimited.” sentations on the Lake Erie Islands and at the Perry’s Monument Visi- Some 995 attendees enjoyed two days of preconference, tor Center at Put-In-Bay. During April, there were four evenings of pub- three days of conference, 75 sessions involving 330 speakers, lic shows about spacemen, real and fictional, centering on the 24 Ohio two keynote lectures, one astronaut, 117 helpers, and 56 exhibi- astronauts. tors at the business bistro and a dense social program. Back at the Shaker Heights High School Planetarium, Bryan Child pre- Planetarian culture had to be represented especially this sented programs for elementary classes, and Bryan and Gene Zajac per- year, since la Cité de l’espace has two planetariums and is ac- formed evening programs for elementary schools and scouts. Bryan and tive in the planetarium society. Joe Marencik will be using the space bus and the planetarium for a week A dedicated session, therefore, was organized on “Plane- of space camp in August. tariums, Theatre of Space and Time” convened by Milene The Ward Beecher Planetarium at Youngstown State University pre- Wendling, head of the Planetarium at the University of Stras- miered their new show, Cosmic Castaways, in May. The YSU crew will bourg, and with speakers from Cosmocaixa (Barcelona, Spain), be making some minor changes over the summer and hope to have a 1K National Space Centre (Leicester, United Kingdom), Citta della and a flat screen version available free to planetariums sometime in ear- Scienza (Napoli, Italy). ly 2013. During the preconference, a workshop was organized on Fran Ratka is the new planetarian at the Lake Erie Nature and Science “Communicating European Achievement in Space,” focusing Center’s Schuele Planetarium, replacing Wayne Kriynovich, who has on future collaborations between the European Space Agency moved to Geauga Park District’s Observatory Park. Katy Accetta, a recent and museums and science centers across Europe. graduate of Youngstown State University (and the Ward Beecher Plane- As a consequence of the strong interest it generated, an tarium) was recently hired as a planetarium specialist. Ecsite T group on space is being created. I The Cleveland Regional Association of Planetariums met jointly with the Cleveland Astronomical Society on 5 April as the CAS celebrated its

September 2012 Planetarian 49 90th anniversary. Featured speaker Trudy Bell tive and willing to in- described the life and work of CAS founder J. teract; however, the J. Nassau. coherent, logical format Wisconsin/Minnesota. GLPA’s own Cos- of the project was not mic Colors filled the 22-m (73-ft) dome at the put aside. Daniel M. Soref Planetarium in Milwaukee. The five children who Their staff is working on a show about gravity made up the second and Newton’s Laws of Motion, which should group participated in a be completed by the end of 2012. shorter project of about Due to falling field trip numbers, Todd 30 minutes focused on DeZeeuw’s planetarium position at the Gary how the sky changes Sampson Planetarium in Wauwatosa has been color during the day and reduced from 40% to 20% of his teaching load on myths connected next year. In exchange, he will be teaching with the zodiacal con- an aerospace engineering class at Wauwatosa stellation figures. At the East High School. end of each projection During the month of June, the Charles Hor- we spent a little time witz Planetarium in Waukesha presented getting the children to Space Dreams for the general public and Nine recall what they had Planets and Counting for their children’s pub- seen and each of them lic program. In September, they will present talked about what had Pacific Planetarium Association 3-2-1 Blastoff for their Apple Harvest Festival. impressed them most. In June, the UW-LaCrosse Planetarium pre- Of course, on 6 June John Young from Reuben H. Fleet Science Museum and Planetarium in sented a hands-on workshop as part of a Sci- the Ignazio Danti Plan- San Diego, California, had his picture taken at the San Diego County Fair by the Fleet Team. Young and the Fleet Team built this exhibit for the ence Exploration Camp. Topics included etarium organized an County Fair, called Explore the Solar System. The exhibit reached thou- Night and Day, Seasons, Moon Phases, and event to follow the tran- sands of people, who set record-breaking attendance at the annual fair. Time. The planetarium will also be hosting sit of Venus. They saw Image courtesy Reuben H. Fleet Planetarium groups from the YMCA, local parks, and day the beginning by web- care camps. cast, activated by the This summer, the UW-Milwaukee Planetar- Surveying and Spatial ium hosted two special events: the Transit of Sciences industry in collaboration with the As- available only for PlanIt members up to April Venus in early June and the landing of the Cu- tronomical Association of Queensland (AAQ). 2015. After this date the winner’s product will riosity Rover on Mars in early August. Direc- Then they saw the end at a suitable place near be made available by PlanIt to everyone. tor Jean Creighton got to show off her knowl- Perugia. Their instruments were simple, but During the last conference of PlanIt, in edge of Greek myths in a Friday Night series the effect was anyhow stupendous. Brembate di Sopra (Bergamo), the new com- titled Summer Stars and Their Myth. The Italian Association of Planetaria (Pla- mittee that will manage PlanIt for the next nIt) organized the first issue of the prize devot- three years was established. Members of the ed to a video, PowerPoint projection or some- new committee are the following: Gianluca thing else devoted to an astronomical and/or Ranzini (Milano, president), Vittorio Mascel- astrophysical subject. The target of this audio- lani (Modena, vice-president), Loris Ramponi visual product will be students ages 11-13. The (Brescia, secretary), Walter Riva (Genova, trea- author of the most interesting product, select- surer), Gian Nicola Cabizza (Cagliari, mem- ed by a special commission, will win a prize ber), Simonetta Ercoli (Perugia, member), and of 500 €. Gabriele Umbriaco (Crespano del Grappa, The audiovisual product will be available member and webmaster). Italian Association of Planetaria free for PlanIt members. People interested in A decision to be made by the new commit- In May the Ignazio Danti Planetarium or- participating in the prize need to send their tee will be to select a new PlanIt logo among ganized a special projection in collaboration proposals, in digital format, to PlanIt, planit- a list a different suggestions. For information, with the Autism Center of Perugia for chil- [email protected], before the end of 2012. Each www.astrofilibresciani.it/Planetari/AAP_big. dren who seemed interested in a “close-up” of audiovisual product presented to the contest jpg/ the sky. needs to contain the following: The old logo of Italian Planetaria Friends First of all, staff from the center came to the “Associazione dei Planetari Italiani (Pla- Association has been used in activities of Ital- planetarium before the visit to take some pho- nIt),” name of the author; title of the product, ian planetaria between 1986 to 2008. tos of the place and the people who the chil- and “Premio PlanIt anno 2012.” The name of The most important upcoming dates for dren would meet. In this preliminary meeting the winner will be presented next March. The IAP will be 13 October 2012, national day they also decided upon the most suitable con- awarding of the prize will be given in Cagliari, against light pollution, and 17 March 2013, In- tent and the approach to be used. on 13-14 April 2013, during the XXVIII Nation- ternational day of Planetaria. After an introductory lesson at the center, al Conference of Italian Planetaria. During 13 October, a common project will the children came to the planetarium in two During the conference, with the permis- be to present a collection of images of the small groups. The project for the first group, sion of the authors, all the products present- planetariums engaged in this special day, made up of nine children, lasted 45 minutes. ed to the contest will be projected. The win- made to promote the dark of the night, the After a short guided introduction, the session ner product will be used by PlanIt members “star parks” and the waste of energy used to continued in the form of answers to the chil- for projections in every site or for exhibitions. diffuse light towards the sky. dren’s questions, as they seemed to be recep- Duplicates of the winner’s product will be

50 Planetarian September 2012 Nordic Planetarium Association ium went dig- The year 2011 was a success for Heureka, ital. the Finnish Science Center. Their attendance After a sin- clearly exceeded expectations. Many factors gle 3D Studio attributed to the increase in attendance. The Max class from main factors were the attractive exhibitions, the Ogden-We- high-quality and versatile planetarium pro- ber Applied grams and efficient marketing. Technical Col- Heureka is run by an independent foun- lege, Ron start- dation, the Finnish Science Centre Founda- ed making tion, which receives half of its funding from planetarium the City of Helsinki and the Ministry of Ed- shows. While ucation and Culture. The other half they are he wasn’t al- obliged to acquire themselves through in- ways thrilled come from sponsors, entrance tickets and with the ear- corporate customers. Heureka is a non-profit ly results, his making institution. work received They are so far this year unable to exploit enough praise the success they had in 2011.Naturally, they to keep him NPA: The Planetarium at Heureka, the Finnish Science Center. Courtesy of Kai San- tavouri. hope that visitors continue to show inter- motivated. est in the new exhibitions and planetarium A feisty red- shows. headed pre- The planetarium’s attendance increased by med student was hired at the planetarium imate and produce their own featurettes, the approximately 15% from the previous year, around that time and she and Ron soon took a planetarium would be promoting creativity, whereas the overall number of visitors at Heu- liking to each other. One of Proctor’s next full- self-motivation, and providing an opportuni- reka increased by 37%. dome shorts turned out to be a planetarium- ty to boost the students’ résumés with projects The planetarium’s most popular shows dur- based marriage proposal to AmyJo. that show off their skills. ing the day being usually sold out has become In 2006, the Ott got exciting news: the plan- Astro Otters and Astro Otters Jr., a K-8 as- a problem. This means that they can only in- etarium was to receive a NASA earmark to tronomy module-based education program, crease the planetarium’s attendance by try- the tune of one million dollars to buy a siz- was one of the first opportunities for students ing to attract customers to shows taking place able computer lab and a render server. This, to be part of a show’s production. However, as between in the afternoon and early evening. however, raised an important question: how the Proctors’ visual style evolved and devel- That again is difficult due to Heureka’s slight- would the planetarium maintain commercial oped, they were concerned that the students ly remote location. Heureka is located at software installations for production on this could not produce polished, professional-lev- about a 15-minute train ride from the center great new equipment? A license fee charged el work without constant supervision and of Helsinki, whereas the same journey by car for each CPU-core could be a major financial coaching. can easily take 30 minutes. challenge. The solution came in 2011, as the baseball In January 2012, they replaced the 16 plane- Enter Blender, a free open source 3D soft- season came to a close: the Ott Planetarium tarium computers with new SuperMicro com- ware. Ron Proctor spent months learning his would divide production into two leagues. puters, serviced the Sony 4K projectors and in- way around the alien landscapes of Blender The students who were seasoned produc- stalled a new operating system. As a result, the and OS X. Finally, he got the hang of it and ers and animators would work in the major picture quality improved and the equipment developed a fisheye rendering solution. Now league, known as Feature Productions; while became easier to use. They also began making with several years of experience using Blend- greener students would work in the minor two self-produced shows: Cosmic Windows, a er for production, Ron and AmyJo Proctor of- league, known as Student Productions. planetarium show aimed at schoolchildren, fer workshops in 3D modeling and animation The goal of Feature Productions would be and another show about the northern lights, with Blender. And this summer, they began to deliver high quality research-driven sci- or aurora borealis. something new: the intro workshop is offered ence education products. The primary goal of Heureka’s Planetarium program 2011 in- online and the advanced workshop is planned the student productions would be to develop cluded Black Holes: Journey into the Unknown, to focus on a different skill set each year. production and storytelling skills in the stu- Journey to the Stars, The Zula Patrol: Under the Since the Ott planetarium is part of a col- dents, while providing scientifically accurate Weather, Kaluoka’hina: The Enchanted Reef, lege, Proctors wanted students to have the op- content. In this way, they would be able to fo- Two Small Pieces of Glass: The Amazing Tele- portunity to have a part in planetarium pro- cus on major and minor productions at the scope, and Heureka’s Science Lecture. ductions. Most of their student employees same time. come from the College of Science, with a ma- Productions from both “leagues” would be Rocky Mountain Planetarium jority of those coming from the Department made available for licensing, with the pro- Association of Physics. ceeds allowing the planetarium to continue Ron Proctor began working at the Ott Plan- While a small percentage of the students hiring (and paying) students for their work. etarium in Ogden, Utah as a student-employ- might continue in planetarium work, it is ex- Over the years Ron and AmyJo Proctor have ee in the summer of 2003. He was the last hire pected that most of them will go on to what- produced several full dome programs which under Dr. John Sohl and aside from the cur- ever jobs fit the degrees they are seeking. The include: Cosmic Journey, The Nature of Science, rent director, Dr. Stacy Palen, was the last re- main objectives for these students are to learn Expanded View, and This is Our Sky. For infor- maining staff member with experience on the the importance of communicating science to mation about an Ott planetarium production 1969 Spitz A4. With the installation of a Medi- the public and become skilled in doing so. By or Blender workshops, visit the Ott planetari- aglobe-I in December 2004, the Ott Planetar- asking each student to write, record, edit, an- um web site at ottplanetarium.org.

September 2012 Planetarian 51 Russian Planetarium Association Weather conditions favored observing the Venus transit over the solar disk at about half of Russian planetariums. The international conference Planetarium of the 21st Century was held 6-7 April at the Tereshkova Center for Culture and Education in Yaroslavl. The conference was dedicated to the first year of operation of the center, which includes a planetarium, museum, and obser- vatory. More than 100 conference attendees rep- resented planetarians from Russia, Ukraine, Kazakhstan, and Germany, as well as hon- ored guests such as Academician Anatoly M. Cherepashchuk, director of the Sternberg As- tronomical Institute of the Moscow State Uni- versity and RPA president; Sigmund Jahn, Ger- man pilot-cosmonaut; Thomas Kraupe, IPS president-elect; and Wilfried Lang, vice presi- dent of Carl Zeiss. The major part of the conference schedule was devoted to the concept of the modern planetarium, including overviews of Russian and worldwide activities and the architecture and technological features of planetarium de- sign and construction. Zeiss demonstrated the capabilities of modern projection equipment RPA: Russian President Vladimir Putin (center) took part in a guided tour of the Big Moscow Planetarium and some fulldome media. with (from left) Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin, Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin, head of the The conference adopted a resolution on the Russian Federal Space Agency Vladimir Popovkin and Andrew Bordun, general director of JSC “MC” De- development of the planetarium network in velopment, the managing entity of the planetarium. Photo courtesy Moscow Planetarium. Russia in order to support educating a new in- tellectual generation capable of promoting rine School in St. Petersburg. Now the tech- The guests participated in the jury of a blitz progress of the country and mankind. niques for efficient use of the new capabilities quiz delivered in the Big Dome and partici- President Vladimir Putin visited the Big will be developed. pate by teams from Nizny Novgorod lyceum Moscow Planetarium on 12 April, the Day of The final run of Znatoki competition was No. 87 and school No. 70, Nizhny Novgorod Cosmonautics, together with Sergey Sobya- held at Nizhny Novgorod Planetarium 3-4 Medical College, School No. 8 of Bor town, nin, Mayor of Moscow; Dmitry Rogozin, the April. Winners among the best fifth- and and retired people from the Friendship Club. deputy prime minister of the Russian Feder- ninth/tenth-form schoolchildren teams from Team members were to quickly answer quite ation; and Vladimir Popovkin, the head of regional and city districts were determined. In difficult questions having only 1 minute to ROSKOSMOS. They saw showpieces of the ex- total, over 124 such teams (over 1200 children find each answer. As a result, the Friendship hibition and the show Under the Planetarium and 167 teachers) from Nizhny Novgorod Club team proved to be the best. Stellar Heaven. and nearby towns Bor, Dzerzhinsk, and Ksto- A conference devoted to the Internation- President Putin presented awards to a few vo have participated in different stages of the al Day of Human Space Flight was held at the veteran cosmonauts. D. Rogozin emphasized contest since November, 2011. Novokuznetsk Planetarium on 12 April. A the construction of planetariums in other Knowledge of natural sciences such as phys- contest for secondary school children was or- large Russian cities. For details, visit mosplan- ics, astronomy, chemistry, and biology dem- ganized within the framework of the confer- etarium.livejournal.com/192312.html#cutid1. onstrated by team members was monitored ence. The new digital fulldome equipment of the and evaluated by a strict and competent The Pyatigorsk Planetarium at this North- Planetarium of Cultural Center of the Russian jury comprising of school teachers in phys- ern Caucasus city has been closed for 22 years. Army was presented to public on 9 June be- ics and supervisors from local-district admin- Mrs. Anna Platonova, a venturer, purchased fore the official opening (20 June) of the Year istrations for education, and educators from the building for a café and decided to reopen of Germany in Russia 2012/2013, held under the Chair for Natural Sciences of the Nizhny the planetarium. She has got a 5-projector full- the motto “Germany and Russia: Building the Novgorod Institute For the Development of dome facility by the Planeta company in St. Future Together.” Hence, Carl Zeiss, in coop- Education. Petersburg as well as a few fulldome shows. eration with Svensons-Design Company in An extended program was offered to the You are welcome to the new RPA website, Moscow, made the technological upgrade of public at Nizhny Novgorod Planetarium on www.apr.planetariums.ru. this planetarium, where annual schools of 12 April, the International Day of Human planetarium lecturers are traditionally orga- Space Flight. Victor D. Blagov, head of Flight Society of the German-Speaking nized. Control Department of the S.P. Korolev Rock- Planetariums The presentation was attended by a num- et and Space Corporation Energia in Moscow, The recently founded Society of Ger- ber of Moscow scientists participating in the delivered a talk on the current status of the man Speaking planetariums (“Gesellschaft traditional Science Tribune lecture cycle, reg- field and prospects of space exploration for Deutschsprachiger Planetarien,” or GDP) held ular visitors, and pupils of the Nakhimov Ma- veterans of the Baikonur launch site. its first meeting 5-7 May in Wolfsburg. More

52 Planetarian September 2012 RPA: Left: One of teams in the blitz-quis in Nizhny Novgorod. Photo by Vadim V. Belov. Right: The Planetarium of the 21st century Conference in Yaroslavl. Pho- to by Alexandr A.Popov.

than 130 participants discussed planetarium diendom Kiel. up will be available beginning on Sunday or affairs under the slogan “Sehen, Staunen, Le- Immediately after the GDP meeting in Monday, 23 or 24 June. rnen in 360 Grad” (View, Wonder, Learn in Wolfsburg, the 6th FullDome Festival 2012 The conference hotel is the Crowne Plaza 360 degrees). Many vendors used the occasion started in Jena. Details can be found in the ar- within a short walk of the museum and plan- to present their newest products or to contact ticle by Volkmar Schorcht, Planetarian 41 No. etarium. All conference activities, as well as a the German planetarium community. In a se- 2 (June 2012), p. 20. variety of downtown restaurants, parks, and ries of invited and contributed talks actual de- shopping, are within walking distance or a velopments have been presented. Southeastern Planetarium short ferry ride from the hotel. Shuttle service To mention just some of the highlights: Association from Jacksonville International airport (JAX) Markus Pössel explained the goals of the re- Plans are well underway for the 2013 SEPA will be furnished, so forget about an expen- cently-opened House of Astronomy in Hei- conference. The dates are 25-29 June at the sive rental car. delberg, which works at the interface between Bryan-Goodling Planetarium at the Museum More details will be furnished in a future science and the public, with a special focus on of Science and History in Jacksonville, Florida. edition of Planetarian. Further information re- kindergarten and schools. The conference will include a side trip to the garding SEPA is available at sepadomes.org. I The two honorary members of the GDP, Space Center at Cape Canaveral. Vendor set- Prof. Dieter B. Herrmann and Prof. Hans-Ulrich Keller, gave their honorary lectures on Galileo Galilei and on Dark Energy, respectively. Prof. Matthias Steinmetz (AIP Potsdam) explained recent results of Milky Way research. This was Planetariums in the headlines an ideal prelude for a planned new coopera- tive project between European planetariums PANAJI, India: The National Council of Sci- $1.5 million fundraising campaign to upgrade and the European Space Agency, ESA, high- ence Museums plans to set up three planetar- the Taylor Planetarium. Work is set to begin lighting the upcoming GAIA mission. iums in the North East region, including Na- in September and the facility is set to reopen Prof. Agnès Acker (APLF) presented a show galand, Manipur and at Jorhat in Assam. The in the spring of 2013. The renovation will in- on water and its cosmic origin. This show is three will joint the six facilities already in the clude a state-of-the-art digital star-show sys- developed in collaboration with the Euro- country and are expected to be completed tem, new seats and new planetarium shows. pean Southern Observatory, ESO, initiated next year. on the occasion of ESO’s 50th anniversary in LAFAYETTE, Louisiana: The stars shine a bit 2012. KELSEYVILLE, California: The Lake Coun- brighter at the Lafayette Science Museum’s Additionally, many projects ranging from ty Office of Education has received a $10,000 Planetarium thanks to recent renovations in- new shows to new educational and public re- grant to install solar panels at the Taylor Ob- cluding new $500,000 digital technology. The lations ideas were presented. Thus, the whole servatory-Norton Planetarium in an effort to renovated planetarium reopened to visitors in community looks forward to the next annu- turn the facility into a science center for stu- May. al meeting of GDP, to be held in spring 2013 in dents across the county. The observatory and One change replaced the planetarium’s Klagenfurt, Austria. planetarium recently got a new $25,000 state- 42-year-old equipment, including the “star From a formal point of view, the “Council of-the-art projector, with the Friends of the machine” that projected constellations onto of German Planetariums” (RDP), which was Taylor Observatory paying for the project’s the overhead viewing dome. Gone, too, previously the official affiliate of the German software. are the 35 to 60 projectors that created the speaking planetariums within IPS, decided to night sky and other celestial programs. They become a working group of GDP. The speaker BOZEMAN, Montana: The Museum of the have been replaced with a six-projector Sky- of this working group is Eduard Thomas, Me- Rockies has launched a “Building Better Skies” Skan system. I

September 2012 Planetarian 53 instruments or drawings devoted to the con- Mobile News tents of the workshop. “We imagine that we can also organize sim- ilar experiences in schools of different coun- tries and share these audio files between stu- Susan Reynolds Button dents that learn a foreign language. Quarks to Clusters “We also use these audio files in our web 8793 Horseshoe Lane pages. Students and parents are invited to vis- Chittenango, New York 13037 USA it our web pages and to listen or copy the file; go to www.astrofilibresciani.it/Attivita/Bam- +1 315-687-5371 bini_raccontano.htm.” [email protected], [email protected] Contact Information: Loris Ramponi (me- [email protected] or [email protected]). News from India: ([email protected]) I recently wrote to Arvind Paranjpye to An American Planetarium gather some information about the use of mo- Audio files as science experiences Operator in Italy, 2012 bile planetariums in India, and he gave me an Loris Ramponi, from the city of Brescia in This year’s winner of the contest for a trip interesting glimpse into his life experiences Italy, reports that he has a way of collecting to Italy was Stephen R. McNeil from Brigham and the early use of STARLAB in India. student responses in a more effective way. Young University in Idaho. His final report He shared, “I started as an amateur astrono- Many times when teachers are asked to have certainly makes it clear that he had a excel- mer and joined the Indian Institute of Astro- students write their impressions of experienc- lent experience (see following article). physics in Bangalore, India and worked in the es they are too busy to make sure it happens. If you would like to have an Italian experi- photographic laboratory (from 1981). Loris explained, “To record student voices is ence of your own, start planning now and pay “I also worked on a site survey for a high al- very easy and fast. Using a digital microphone, attention to the yearly deadlines. This oppor- titude observatory in Himalayas, and later on it is possible to record student impressions at tunity has been offered since 1995 and we are searching for minor bodies in the solar system. the end of a projection or a workshop or other grateful to all the planetarians in Italy who en- “In 1991 I joined Inter-University Centre for experiences with schools. able us to continue to provide such a life alter- Astronomy and Astrophysics, (IUCAA) Pune, “Usually we ask to the students to prepare a ing experience to some very gifted educators. where I initially worked on developing low- final report or a drawing about the experience cost instruments (astronomical photometers). under the planetarium dome or at the end of Deadlines In 2001 I was full time officer for the Outreach a workshop, but only in a few cases we receive 31 August. Deadline for the applicants of Programme of IUCAA. these materials. Therefore we started another “An Experience in Italy for a French-Speaking “When I was in Bangalore, Alan Friedman way to collect the final impressions of the stu- Planetarium Operator,” in collaboration with had brought a portable planetarium to In- dents. APLF. dia (in 1980), which was then duplicated here “We invite students to write at the end of 15 September. Deadline for the applicants of (with permission from Learning Technolo- the projection, or during a workshop, a sen- “An Experience in Italy for an American Plan- gies, Inc.). We, as student volunteers, used it tence that describes one of the topics of the etarium Operator,” in collaboration with IPS extensively. projection or one of the activities of the work- Portable Planetarium Committee. “After I took charge of the Public Outreach shop. When students are ready we check the 30 September. Deadline for the applicants Programme, we purchased one portable plan- texts with the collaborations of their teachers. of “An Experience in Italy for a British Plane- etarium. I was the lone user of the planetari- “Then students form a line and each one, at tarium Operator,” in collaboration with BAP. um and this is where we devised a novel use. his turn, reads the sentence. All the sentenc- Planetarians are encouraged to apply many “We trained a group of amateur astrono- es are recorded using the digital microphone. times…if at first you don’t succeed, try, and try mers, NGOs and school teachers to use the That activity requires just few minutes and again! You can always ask for comments from planetarium and allowed them to use it on we obtain an audio file usually in 3-5 minutes. us about how to make your application stron- their own. This saw immediate success as the This is a perfect way to collect the first impres- ger. planetarium was in regular use. One NGO sions of the students! Send your application to: Loris Ramponi, even took the planetarium to different cities. “It is very fast to share this file and to send Osservatorio Serafino Zani, Via Bosca 24, “Not only we did not charge for the us- it by mail to the teacher. Then the teacher can 25066 Lumezzane, Italy; info@serafinozani. age, but also carried out repair work for free. I send the file to parents or the students. Some- it or [email protected]. I think this has been a very successful venture. times we propose the “The committee that oversees the out- listening of these files reach allowed me to buy one more and it was during activities for “A must-­read for anyone agreed to overlook the normal wear and tear families in the science involved in astronomy as long as the planetarium was being used. museum; they like to Subsequently, we bought two more inflatable follow a public initia- outreach...” -­Glenn Chaple, domes. The projectors are working fine. tive where the experi- Astronomy Magazine “And in December 2011, I moved to Mum- ence in the classroom bai to take charge of the Nehru Planetarium. will be described. Everyone’s Universe As I am rather new to the planetarium I decid- “In this case the (Second Edition) ed not to attend IPS Conference. This is a short public can listen to story of my association with the planetarium. the sound (student by Noreen Grice With regards, Arvind” voices) and see an ex- Contact information: Arvind Paranjpye hibition of photos, www.youcandoastronomy.comwww.YouCanDoAstronomy.com

54 Planetarian September 2012 September 2012 Planetarian 55 American Planetarian in Italy: Sharing Navaho skies and iClickers Stephen R. McNeil Planetarium Director Brigham Young University-Idaho Rexburg, Idaho 83460

Anticipation and Preparation When selected as the American Planetarium Operator in Italy for 2012, I was both immediately excited and slightly overwhelmed with the prospects of getting ready for this wonderful opportunity. Susan Button was the first to call me and congratulate me. Susan suggested I The author at Torre De Sole in Brembate, Italy. Photo courtesy of Rose- contact Loris Ramponi, Simonetta Ercoli, and Luciano Bittesini for in- mary McNeil structions and itineraries, and also contact the previous winners, Mi- chele Wistisen and Joseph Ciotti, to get details on what to expect on a strong majority did not get the question correct, I would have them this journey. Both Michelle and Joseph expressed what a great expe- engage in peer-to-peer instruction to help teach one another the cor- rience they had and assured me I would be well taken care of in Italy, rect response. and they were right! Most of the teachers became very interested in how this type of I soon started to buy Italian language software and looked at Google technology works and were very happy see their students using peer- Earth to see exactly where I would be going. I knew what four cities my to-peer instruction. wife, Rosemary, and I would be traveling to: Perugia, Brembate, Bres- After the activity, we would go inside the planetarium and look at cia, and Gorizia. This allowed us to plan our arrival and departure cit- the Navajo constellations and their Greek counterparts. As we moved ies. For us it was better to arrive in Rome and leave from Venice, a to- from a winter sky to a summer sky, I would also point out some of the tal of 16 days of travel. zodiac constellations. I found this took almost an hour, so there was no Although I knew my hosts could speak English and all my les- time to do any kinesthetic astronomy, which was a backup activity I sons would be in English, it is a good idea to learn “travel” language had prepared. since there are times when riding trains, shopping, or just trying to get around, it is nice to know enough to at least attempt some local com- Learning the country munication. We found that with enough hand gestures and pointing Given the itinerary, we had some flexibility and arrived early to do to tickets, maps, or money that we could get our point across. a little afternoon site-seeing in Rome before leaving the next day to Pe- rugia. We met Simonetta at the train station in Perugia and our real Lesson Design journey began. Simonetta, who is very energetically involved with the I had learned from my hosts that the lessons would be an hour long, Ignazio Danti Planetarium, introduced us to some of her planetarium with a short introductory PowerPoint presentation on myself, and team at a local restaurant that evening; Luca di Bitonto, Abdelhalim then the main lesson with an activity. I chose to teach about the Nava- jo’s view of the universe and their main constellations. My lesson drew mostly from the book Sharing the Skies, Navajo Astronomy by Nancy C. Maryboy and David Begay. I created a presentation that first introduced the Navajo nation, his- tory, and cultural information. I then went into more detail about the Navajo vision of our universe, the story of the coyote and the stars, their eight main constellations, and how they used the constellations as a calendar. We also compared the Navajo constellations to their Greek mythological counterparts. After the lesson, I introduced the students to “iClickers” as my ac- tivity. Most had not seen this type of classroom response system, and I found the students to be very excited to use the clickers once they un- derstood the idea. As with many students, I initially found that if I vocally asked them if there were any questions, they would stare at me and maybe one brave person would ask a simple question. So, I was hoping with click- ers I could get the students more engaged with not just me but with each other, and it worked! I asked about six questions, using PowerPoint, and explained how I use clickers in the classroom, why I like to use them, and why they Some of the Ignazio Danti Planetarium Team: From left to right, Abdelhalim can be such a great assessment tool. The students became very engaged El Hilali, Stephen McNeil, Luca di Bitonto, Silvia Mazzoni, Simonetta Ercoli, with the activity and each other, with lots of talking and laughing. If Marco Bagaglia, and Heather Smith. Photo by Rosemary McNeil

56 Planetarian September 2012 El Hilali, Silvia Mazzoni, and Walter Risolo. mezzane. It is a wonderful observa- The next morning another team mem- tory which hosts public events and ber, Heather Smith, picked us up early in is graciously supported by the Zani the morning to go to the planetarium, family. Afterwards we traveled to which is part of the Alessandro Volta Tech- the castle of Brescia, Piazza della Log- nical School. It is important to arrive early gia, and Duomo Nuovo for the rest the first day to address any technical issues. of the day. In this case, the projector connection did The next morning Loris took the not work, but Marco Bagaglia got us up and inflatable STARLAB dome and me running in no time. to Liceo Scientifico Annibale Calini The students were very patient and cour- High School, and we set up for three teous, and were very attentive as I talk- lessons that day. Loris recorded the ed about Navajo astronomy. They became student impressions about the les- very excited and involved when using the sons, and strongly encouraged the clickers, which was a nice preparatory ac- students to get involved in astron- tivity before starting the planetarium por- omy. Loris is a highly motivat- tion of the lesson. With Simonetta control- ed person and is strongly involved ling the Gambato projector, I went over the in collaboration efforts with other constellations covered in my lesson. planetariums. After my three lessons and lunch at the After the lessons, Andrea Soffi- school, Simonetta drove us to Assisi, where antini drove my wife and me to we visited the Basilica of San Francesco Lumezzane to met with the vice d’Assisi. We returned later that evening mayor, Facchinetti Lucio, and the to the planetarium for a small conference director of the Zani Observatory, on the supernova discovered by an Ital- Tarcisio Zani, as part of a press con- ian team a few months earlier at Porziano ference. There we exchanged gifts d’Assisi, located on a nearby mountain. with the vice mayor. I gave a book The next day went very smoothly, and on the history of Rexburg and BYU- after the three lessons we started a walking Idaho chocolate and in return I re- tour of Perugia with Giuseppe Bambini, a ceived a book on the history of Lu- local guide who spent a lot of time explain- mezzane and a lovely hand-crafted ing the Etruscan, Roman, Medieval, and Re- magnifying glass. naissance history of Perugia. Perugia is a fas- The vice mayor gave a speech, I cinating city with ancient aqueducts, the then gave a short presentation, and Fontana Maggiore, Etruscan Arches, Rocca afterwards I was asked questions Paolina, Cathedral of San Lorenzo, and the about my visit by both the local Basilica of San Domenico. We even stopped newspaper and TV station. The next by a chocolate shop to buy the famous Baci morning provided the opportunity of Perugia. That night we had a marvelous to teach four lessons and then an af- dinner at Silvia’s house, where her husband ternoon trip to Milan to see the awe- and family treated us to a traditional Italian inspiring Milan Cathedral with its dinner. Gothic façade at the Piazza del Duo- We left early Saturday morning for a mo. After four more lessons the next long drive to Brembate di Sopra, Bergamo, day, we purchased our tickets for with Simonetta and Walter. We were trav- Gorizia and started on the last leg of eling to the annual meeting of the Associ- our journey. ation of Italian Planetaria (Associazione dei Top: Explaining how clickers work and the idea of peer-to- Planetari Italiani). peer instruction to the United World College of the Adriatic. Exploring Gorizia Photo by Rosemary McNeil. Center: Portable dome inside the The meeting was held at La Torre del After a scenic four-hour train school library in Brescia. Photo courtesy of Loris Ramponi. Bot- Sole, which has a nice solar telescope locat- tom: Students from the Liceo Scientifico Annibale Calini High ride, we arrived in Gorizia with Lu- ed at the top of a high tower. In the evening School, Brescia, using clickers for the first time. Photo courte- ciano waiting patiently for us. He we were treated to several shows as part of sy of Stephen McNeil warmly greeted us and then drove their fulldome festival, and in the morning us with his wife, Emanuela, to stay I gave a lesson on the use of clickers in the classroom and peer-to-peer at his mother’s house, who had recently passed away. In the morning instruction. Luciano gave us a tour of his wonderful facilities, the Circolo Cultura- Simonetta gave a presentation on her project, PlanItalia, an idea to le Astronomico di Farra d’Isonzo (CCAF), which houses some nice tele- connect Italian planetarium in a giant geographic model of the solar scopes, a meeting room and control room, and a planetarium next to system, and Loris talked on using Skype as a way to connect planetar- the main complex. iums world-wide. After a wonderful lunch provided by Glenn Smith Luciano and his team are involved in scientific research, including of Sky-Skan, we left Simonetta and Walter, and traveled with Loris to astrometry of minor planets, along with running the planetarium. Af- Brescia and started our next adventure. ter a morning lesson to a high school class of future boat captains, we drove to the country of Slovenia and climbed a lookout tower, which Lessons move to Brescia gave a stunning view of the countryside. We stopped by a Franciscan The next day in Brescia, Loris drove us to the Serafino Zani Astro- Monastery in Nova Gorica, which is the final resting place of the last nomical Observatory located on a picturesque mountainside near Lu- members of the Bourbons, the French royal family. At night I taught

September 2012 Planetarian 57 Left: CCAF Planetarium and members Franco Bressan, Luca Degano, and Luciano Bittesini with a class of visiting students from Liceo Scientifico Michelangelo Buonarroti High School. Photo courtesy of Enrico Pettarin. Rosemary McNeil, Andrea Soffiantini, Stephen McNeil, and the vice-mayor of Lumezzane, Facchinetti Lucio. Photo courtesy of Wladimiro Marinello a lesson to students from the United World trip to Venice for a morning flight back home. and friendly people and in this case, they def- College with students from all over the world. Reflections on an experience initely went out of their way to make our The day was highlighted by wonderful meals I can only say what a fantastic experience it short stay a very memorable one. cooked by Emanuela at her house. was to be able to travel around Italy and met My wife and I are now motivated to The next day was Saturday, so we spent so many great people. I felt renewed, not only learn the lovely Italian language and re- the whole day traveling to interesting sites. from teaching some great students in Italy, turn to Italy once again to visit our new Our tour guide was a good friend of Luciano but also being able to sit down and talk and friends. I strongly encourage anyone inter- named Franco Bressan. The first place he took eat with our caring hosts and their friends. ested in this program to apply and be a part us was to Aiello del Friuli, or the City of Sun- Italians are a lot like Brazilians (I lived in Bra- of this opportunity for international col- dials. zil for two years), in that they are a very warm laboration. I He mentioned that he and a friend start- ed the sundials many years ago when some- one asked him to build a nice sundial. Many Reaching for the stars in Afghanistan homes have the sundials on the side of their house and are artistically decorated. There is Astronomers Without Borders, working even a museum that has models on how sun- with the Astronomical Association of Afghan- dials work, including the relationship be- istant, has launched “Reach for the Stars,” an tween the sun, latitude, and inclination of the educational, humanitarian project that will sundial. establish Afghanistan’s first astronomy curric- Our next stop was the renaissance for- ulum for young children set in the context of tress city of Palmanova, whose high walls are Afghan culture, Islamic astronomical heritage shaped like a nine-pointed star. It is a beautiful and modern science. city with the streets radiating outward from The project is being managed by Christo- the central Piazza Grande. Then onto Grado, a pher Phillips, with additional education ad- Schoolgirls using eclipse shades. Image courtesy As- charming city by the sea, which has delicious vice and documentary support from Im- tronomers Without Borders seafood cafes, and lastly Aquileia, the ancient perative Space in the UK. Reach for the Roman port city. After a nice tour of the Aq- Stars–Afghanistan’s team includes science Cultural Exchange Program: uileia museum, we climbed to the top of the communicators, planetarium professionals, Kite flying is an important part of Afghan tower next to the Basilica Di Aquileia, which humanitarian activists, Afghan government culture and was also one of the first things overlooks the whole city. officials, Afghan nationals and international banned by the Taliban when they came to The next day was more relaxed, in which we media professionals. power. Kite flying is also an important part of traveled for a leisurely walk through the city Once established in Kabul, the program will native Hawaiian culture. Reach for the Stars– of Trieste and saw the Piazza Unità d’Italia, a expand to the rest of the country, and then be- Afghanistan will deliver hand made kites con- Roman amphitheatre, and some World War II yond across Asia, the Middle East and Africa. structed by Hawaiian schoolchildren on the gun placements carved into the side of a cliff. A documentary film will be produced to tell Big Island of Hawai’i to their counterparts in On Monday, after a little shopping and a the story of this project to a broader audience.. schools in Kabul and beyond. The shared cul- late afternoon lesson, we visited the World Reach for the Stars-Afghanistan has sever- tural values and ideals will connect the chil- War I battlefield and bunkers at Monte San al components, including the free distribu- dren of these two very different cultures, Michele, where thousands of soldiers per- tion of the Pashto language Little Book of Stars, creating a sense of freedom for the Afghan ished. We finished off the day having din- the distribution of basic educational supplies children in their otherwise isolated environ- ner with the staff of the observatory at a local (pencils, pens, paper and astronomy educa- ment. pizzeria. After two morning lessons and a last tional material), and the development of a ba- For more information, go to www.astron- lunch with Luciano and Emanuela, we said sic astronomy curriculum within the cultural omerswithoutborders.org/projects/reach-for- our goodbyes and headed on a two-hour train context of Islam. the-stars-afghanistan.html. I

58 Planetarian September 2012 ject, Jones provides a background perspective Book Reviews about the solar system as well as the discov- ery of the modern planets—Uranus, Neptune and Pluto—spread over two entire chapters. Even though you may already know enough about both of these areas, these chapters are April S. Whitt still worth reading as there are little “nuggets” Fernbank Science Center scattered throughout. Particularly nice was 156 Heaton Park Drive NE the section on how the physical properties of the planets, such as density, are determined, as Atlanta, Georgia 30307 USA well as their size and composition. [email protected] Following the discovery of Neptune in 1846 and after its orbit had been worked out, it was Cosmic Numbers: The Numbers date when each web link was accessed is great. noted that the planet didn’t exactly move as Perhaps, if there is a second edition of Cosmic predicted. There was a search on for yet an- That Define Our Universe Numbers, even those with a 137 tee shirt can other undiscovered planet—or planets!—and James D. Stein, Basic Books, New York; 2011, learn what 42 really means. Jones covers these searches by a variety of in- available in hardback and e-book ternational astronomers as well. Reviewed by Bruce L. Dietrich, Wyomiss- Pluto: Sentinel of the Another chapter is devoted to trans-Neptu- ing, Pennsylvania, USA nian objects other than Pluto, and Jones pre- Outer Solar System fers to refer to the belt where they are found Successful academics cultivate an author- Barrie W. Jones, Cambridge University Press, by the less popular Edgeworth-Kuiper Belt, itative yet conversational voice that bridges New York, 2010 (reprinted 2011) since the Anglo-Irish polymath, Kenneth the gap between themselves and their readers. Reviewed by Tom Callen, eyemmersive ab, Edgeworth, had also suggested that there were That task is difficult when the subject matter Vaxholm, Sweden many small bodies beyond Neptune that had is mathematics. For the aware, numbers are not formed into planets and may be a source as utilitarian as they are ubiquitous. We love Provided that nothing tremendously radi- of comets. One of my college professors was a them all, despite that many are negative and cal is discovered about Pluto prior to the New student of Gerard P. Kuiper’s, so I have always others certifiably irrational. While the notion Horizons spacecraft arriving there on 14 July favored his pronunciation—“coy-PURR” not that numbers define our universe is not nov- 2015, this book should cover just about all “KAI-per”—since he personally knew the man. el, it is indeed grand. This little tome one needs to know con- Other chapters include what we currently provides the history of some very cerning this diminutive know about the physical attributes of Pluto useful numbers and their derivations. dwarf of the sun’s fam- and its three moons, Charon, Nix and Hydra. Dr. James D. Stein received his BA ily. My personal inter- While still at the then Albert Einstein Spacear- from Yale University and PhD from est in reading this was ium (later Sky Theater then Planetarium) at the University of California at Berke- the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space ley. He is a professor of mathematics Museum I produced a show about our then at California State University at Long understanding of the post-Voyager solar Beach. He has chosen 13 numbers of system, which included a scene with Plu- cosmic utility; some obvious choices to and its then only known moon, Charon. and others not so. The late Bob Harrington of the U.S. Na- The Gravitational Constant, the val Observatory, the person who had Speed of Light, the Plank Constant, worked out Charon’s orbit after it was dis- the Chandrasekhar Limit, Absolute covered by fellow U.S.N.O. astronomer Zero, the Schwarzschild Radius and James Christy, provided me with some in- the Hubble Constant are in the first formation about the planet and its satellite group. The remaining half dozen so that I could accurately create the scene may be of greater interest to closet chemists, as a sort of “post- in the show. philosophers and meta-physicians. However, planet/dwarf Astronomy artist Ron Miller, formerly all are important, have interesting histories, planet hubbub” of the Spacearium staff, provided the 360° and their discoveries have had profound in- overview of ev- panorama of Pluto’s surface and a view fluence on our scientific understanding. erything Pluto in of Charon with a thin crescent to hang After all, Pythagoras coined the word kos- anticipation of against the starfield. A bright GOW (i.e. mos to encapsulate everything in the uni- the results we expect to get in less than three grain-of-wheat) light bulb provided the sun, verse and to denote order and beauty of the years. with Charon positioned so that its phase was whole. Author Barrie W. Jones’ chatty and per- correct. Wisps of Pluto’s tenuous perihelion There is a profound sense of humor and sonable—even breezy—writing style reflects atmosphere were provided by several baby humility throughout the 13 individual es- his background as a highly regarded univer- food jar projectors. sity lecturer as well as astronomy populariz- says which also extends through the 11 pag- The night that Probe: The Planetary Odyssey es of end notes. Dr. Stein’s autobiographical er in the United Kingdom. Quite thorough premiered, I was sitting two rows behind Bob. warp supports his historical weft; although, in his coverage, there were more than a few When the Pluto scene faded up I saw him raise every mathematician should recognize that times when I found myself wondering, “What up one closed fist as he eyeballed the angular the word “data” is plural. For those of us about…,” only to have it turn up in an almost size of Charon. whose careers spanned the days of the Hub- prescient fashion. During the reception afterward I had the ble “variable,” the knowledge of the URL and Rather than dive directly into the sub-

September 2012 Planetarian 59 chance to ask him what he thought about of all things astronomical. again and again. the scene he had helped with. “Yeah, it looked The Power of Stars is a textbook. This is not A Question and Answer Guide to pretty good,” he replied in his Virginia drawl, a book for those without pre-existing interest which to me was as good a validation as I in astronomy. It does not, however, require Astronomy Pierre-Yves Bely, Carol Christian and Jean- could hope for. extensive pre-existing astronomical knowl- Rene Roy, Cambridge University Press, 2010 As one might expect, a whole chapter is de- edge. This is not light beach reading. I think Reviewed by Warren Hart, Mayborn Plan- voted to the question of whether or not Plu- of this book as being much like a pickle. Those etarium & Space Theater, Central Texas Col- to is a full-fledged planet or a dwarf and it is who love astronomy will be quite enthusias- lege, Killeen, Texas, USA couched as an example of changing classifi- tic about it, while those who do not will find cation schemes in science as we better under- it repugnant and boring. It was a pleasant serendipitous moment stand things. The book is well laid-out and can be easi- when this book came to our planetarium of- Info boxes on the pages provide additional ly referenced, a fact that makes it perfect re- fice for a Planetarian book review. The staff at material and the author cues the reader at the search material when writing a script. Not our planetarium is on a constant lookout for start of each as to whether they are relevant surprisingly for a textbook, I found the book resources that will provide answers to ques- and who might be interested in reading them. best read in small pieces, and I skipped around tions our patrons ask during our presenta- They range from “optional” to “suggested for while reading it, choosing to peruse its chap- tions. everyone” to “those who have a deeper inter- ters in order non-sequential. We also look for those fun, but est” to “those who are more comfortable with Penprase covers much factual, “wow” and “gee whiz” math,” such as algebra. ground. General sky trivia facts and statements. Let me The book includes a 5-page glossary specif- knowledge, planets, con- be clear before we get into more ic to the book so that it is nicely focused, rath- stellations, creation sto- detail in this review: if you are er than including topics that are too far off the ries and cosmologies, cal- looking for a handy resource book subject. endars, and much more that will answer the overwhelm- If you are looking to follow up your reading appear between the cover. ing majority of your patrons’ on Pluto, there is an extensive bibliography Where the book shines is in questions and if you want lots and broken up into “Key Papers in the Scientific how it presents everything lots and lots more so-called ‘triv- Literature,” “Books,” “Magazines,” and “Inter- with a global perspective, ia stuff,’ then this is one book you net Links.” The key papers section is partic- want at hand. ularly interesting as it that includes histor- Now let me back up my effusive ical references of primary source material; assertion. for example, “Account of a Comet,” By Mr. The book is organized into 10 Herschel, FRS; Communicated by Dr. Wat- sections that include a total of 250 son, Jun. of Bath, FRS (1781) W Herschel, Phil- questions and answers. It’s all here: osophical Transactions of the Royal Society casting off the stars, solar system, the Earth and moon, ce- of London 71 492–501,” which is, of course, Western blinders lestial phenomena, everything from “Life in the account of the discovery of Uranus. worn by many the Universe” to “History of Astronomy” and Herschel initially thought that he had dis- prior works. This “Telescopes.” covered a comet, but his subsequent obser- is a refreshing and The last section is followed by a helpful vations proved it to be otherwise and over- agreeable trend page titled “Unit conversion and basic physi- night the physical dimensions of the solar found in many cal and astronomical measurements” that lists system doubled. works these days, unit conversions, physical constants and as- If you are looking for a good general refer- as is the growing tronomical parameters. A reference list and ence about Pluto, as either a personal refer- prolificacy of the bibliography that includes books and Inter- ence or to keep handy for answering public term humankind. net web sites follow, as does the index. queries about this denizen of the outer solar Here, you will discover knowledge from In the preface, the authors state their intent system, you can’t go wrong with this book Hellas and Rome alongside that of Norse, Chi- and planned design for the book. Let me close (and I’m hoping that there will be a post-New nese, African, Mayan, Incan, and American In- with this quote: “Our intent in writing this Horizon follow-up). dian peoples. As a script writer, I was continu- book has been to offer to the general reader a ally excited by each section of the book, and summary of current astronomical knowledge, ideas popped relentlessly into my mind while The Power of Stars: How generously illustrated and provided with rig- reading it. orous but simple explanations, while avoid- Celestial Observations Have The book is relatively short (for a textbook) ing mystifying professional jargon. Shaped Civilization at less than 350 pages, but it is nonetheless a “The 250 ‘windows’ on astronomy in this Bryan E. Penprase, Springer Science+Business weighty tome, as its pages contain vast knowl- book do not exhaust the topic, but we hope Media, New York, 2011 edge densely packed. It is one of those books that they will pique the curiosity of our read- Reviewed by Woodrow W. Grizzle III, Eliza- that every planetarian should have because it ers and stimulate them to explore further, by beth City State University Planetarium, Eliza- references so much information in a well-or- navigating on the World Wide Web or by beth City, North Carolina, USA. ganized and easily accessible fashion. consulting some of the many fine publica- The book’s one shortcoming in its current tions on astronomy, such as those suggested The Power of Stars is an enjoyable, if not per- form is that it should have been more careful- at the end of this book. Most important of all, fectly smooth, jaunt through humankind’s ly edited. Typos are rife. Hopefully that will we hope that they will find renewed wonder history and its relationship to the heavens. be rectified in a future edition. Still, The Power in the night sky!” Penprase leaves few stones unturned as he ex- of Stars is more than worthy of a place in my This book is well worth having in your amines the progression of our understanding library, and I know I will be going back to it planetarium and/or personal library. I

60 Planetarian September 2012 Sig Wieser, early IPS President Waxing New Sig Wieser of Calgary, Alberta, Canada, president of the International Planetarium Society from 1973-74, passed away at home recently after suf- fering several illnesses. He was 79 years old. Taking off on a journey Sig became president of the still fledgling IPS Filled with 600 images and analysis of the latest discover- when he was director of the Calgary Centenni- ies in space science is A Journey: Science Essays on the Leading al Planetarium (later rebranded as the Alberta Sci- Edge of Discovery, written ence Centre). by Linda Morabito Mey- Born in Linz, Austria, Sig studied electrical engi- er, David Meyer, and Lyn- neering there before emigrating to Canada in the da Viken. late 1950s, where he picked up studies and graduat- The book, available ed from the University of Calgary. among other places at He joined the City of Calgary as a senior man- Amazon.com, has already ager and, in 1966, was appointed the cultural ex- ecutive in charge of the new planetarium project. been reviewed favorably by Neil deGrasse Tyson Sig Wieser early in IPS career During his 25-year tenure as the project director, he attended many planetarium and science centre and Bill Hartmann. conferences throughout North America and over- Linda Morabito Meyer seas. In 1986, he was elected a Fellow of the IPS, and is the astronomer who dis- was granted the title of executive director emeri- covered the active volca- tus of the Alberta Science Centre. nism on Jupiter’s moon Io Sig had a lifelong interest in the performing arts on March 9, 1979 at NASA’s (both managing and performing!) and was found- Jet Propulsion Laboratory, ing director of a major theatre company. He served while working as a senior on the boards of a wide variety of artistic and cul- tural agencies. engineer on the Voyager mission to Jupiter. His other lifelong passion was aviation (he David Meyer, after a 21-year career in the US Air Force, runs founded the Aerospace Museum of Calgary) and the Luz Observatory in Apple Valley, California, as well as the Sig Wieser, recent photo the following partial list of affiliations will give planetarium at Victor Valley College, where he is an associate some idea of the breadth and depth of his interests: professor of astronomy. Calgary Flying Club, Calgary Philharmonic Society Chorus, Calgary Re- gion Arts Foundation, Calgary Zoological Society, Canadian Museums As- Hight-flying planetarian sociation, International Brotherhood of Magicians, International Congress Dan Ruby of Fleischmann Planetarium and Science Cen- of Major Planetarium Executives, International Planetarium Society, Linzer ter in Reno, Nevada, was mong 26 educators from the Unit- ed States selected for research flights aboard SOFIA, NASA’s Schwimm Club, Modell Eisenbahn Club, Royal Canadian Life Saving Soci- Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy. ety and the Southern Alberta Opera Association. As participants in the Airborne Astronomy Ambas- Sig leaves his wife Joan Xauen Quick and two sons. A celebration of his sadors program, the educators partner with profession- life and work will be held at a future date. al astronomers using SOFIA for scien- - Contributed by Ian C. McLennan tific observations in 2012 and 2013. Answer to Triad SOFIA is a modified Boeing 747SP jetliner Categories 1 equipped with a 100-inch (2.5-meter) telescope. George Hamilton, former Fels director H. George Hamilton, former director of the Fels New Dark Sky Reserves The International Dark-Sky Association MOON Planetariums at the Franklin Institute in Philadel- NAMES phia, Pennsylvania, passed away on July 11, 2012 has announced the designation of two new at the age of 87. Dark Sky Reserves. They are: George graduated from Bordentown High Namibia's NamibRand Nature Reserve, CHARON School in 1943 and Trenton State College in 1948. one of Africa's largest private nature reserves, He proudly served in the Merchant Marines dur- has expanded its conservation role to include DEIMOS ing World Ward II. preserving the star-filled nighttime skies that DESDEMONA He was director of the Fels Planetarium from shine above its dunes and mountains. 1970-90, writing and producing 40 planetarium The Aoraki Mackenzie International Dark ENCELADUS shows. He also served as vice president and was in- Sky Reserve is comprised of the Aoraki/Mt. H. George Hamilton strumental in bringing an OMNIMAX theater to Cook National Park and the Mackenzie Ba- EUROPA sin, is the fourth such dark sky reserve in Philadelphia. He retired in 1990 as director emeritus. He was also a teach- JULIET er for 34 years, including at the William MacFarland High School in Bor- the world. Its more than 1,600 square miles dentown, Cherry Hill High School, Trenton State College, and Community makes it the largest in the world. NEREID College of Philadelphia, teaching astronomy and physics. While at Tren- The International Dark-Sky Association’s OBERON ton State College, he installed and operated the college’s first planetarium. night sky conservation efforts include work- He was active in and received Fellow honors from both the Middle Atlantic ing with groups to form International Dark PHOBOS Planetarium Society and the International Planetarium Society. Sky Reserves (IDSR) and other dark sky places. PHOEBE Beloved husband for 38 years of Carleen and predeceased by his first wife, Other Dark Sky Reserves are Exmoor Na- Marie, he also is survived by six children, 12 grandchildren, and three great- tional Park in Devon and Somerset Counties, TETHYS grandchildren. England, and The Reserve at Mont-Mégan- tic, Quebec, Canada. I TRITON

September 2012 Planetarian 61 Planetarians’ Calendar of Events

2012 Multimeios, Espinho, Portugal. Navegar Foundation. iff.mul- 12-15 September. Digistar Users Group Conference, Evans & timeios.pt Sutherland, Salt Lake City, Utah, USA. www.digistardomes. 9-12 May. Association of French Speaking Planetariums (APLF), org/2012_Conference.html Yearly Meeting, St. Michel l’Observatoire, France. www.aplf- 13-16 September. Mae Jemison, astronaut, invites everyone to at- planetariums.org tend the 100 Year Starship 2012 Public Symposium, Houston, 25-29 June. Southeastern Planetarium Association (SEPA), Annu- Texas, USA. 100yss.org al conference, Jacksonville, Florida, USA. www.sepadomes.org 15 September. Deadline for the applicants of “A Week in Italy for 17-20 July. Middle Atlantic Planetarium Society an American Planetarium Operator”, in collaboration with (MAPS), Annual Conference. Ausherman Planetar- IPS Portable Planetarium Committee. http://www.astrofili- ium, Earth and Space Science Laboratory, Freder- bresciani.it/Planetari/Week_in_Italy/Week_Italy.htm ick County Public Schools in Frederick, Maryland, 18-20 September. Giant Screen Cinema Associa- USA. tion (GSCA), International Conference and Trade 6-8 September. Nordic Planetarium Association Bien- Show, Esquire IMAX Theatre, Sacramento, Califor- nial Conference, AHHAA Science Center, Tartu, Es- nia, USA. September 21. Dome Day, The Tech Mu- tonia. Conference language English. Contact: Mar- seum, San Jose, California, USA. www.giantscreen- gus Aru, [email protected] cinema.com 16-19 October. Great Lakes Planetarium Association 21 September. Dome Day, The Tech Museum, San Jose, Califor- (GLPA), Annual conference, Peoria Riverfront nia, USA. www.giantscreencinema.com Museum, Peoria, Illinois, USA. Contact: sschafer@ 2-5 October. Workshop in Immersive Cinema (WIC), Espinho, lakeview-museum.org www.glpaweb.org Portugal. Organization Navegar Foundation. Contact: Lina 19-22 October. Association of Science-Technology Canas, [email protected] Centers (ASTC) Annual Conference, Explora, NM 5-7 October. Immersive Film Festival (IFF), Espinho, Portugal. Or- Museum of Natural History & Science, Nation- ganization Navegar Foundation. Contact: Lina Canas, lina@ al Museum of Nuclear Science & History, Albuquerque, New multimeios.pt Mexico, USA. www.astc.org 3-16 October. Association of Science-Technology Centers (ASTC) Annual Conference, COSI (Center of Science and In- 2014 dustry), Columbus, Ohio. www.astc.org 16-20 March. Science Center World Summit, Technopolis, 24-27 October. Great Lakes Planetarium Association (GLPA), an- Mechelen and Brussels, Belgium. Partners: Technopolis, Flem- nual conference, North Hills High School Planetarium, Pitts- ish science center, Mechelen, Royal Belgian Institute of Natu- burgh, Pennsylvania, USA. Contact: Susan Batson. www.gl- ral Sciences, Brussels. www.technopolis.be paweb.org 31 March. Deadline for application for scholarship funds (IPS 16-17 November. FULLDOME UK, The National support, Beijing Conference attendance by individuals). Space Centre, Leicester, United Kingdom. Contact: www.ips-planetarium.org [email protected], www.fulldome.org.uk 1st - 5 May. Three languages-the same sky, Symposium of Plane- tariums 2014 Lucerne, Switzerland (in planning). 2013 June. International Planetarium Society Council Meeting, Bei- 7-9 February. Imiloa Fulldome Film Festival (IFFF2013), jing, China. Imiloa Astronomy Center, Hilo, Hawaii, USA. The 23-27 June. 22nd International Planetarium Society Con- festival will feature 25-30 full-length fulldome pro- ference, Beijing Planetarium, China. www.ips2014.org, grams in 2D and stereoscopic 3D. www.imiloahawaii. contact Dr. Zhu Jin, [email protected] org/168/IFFF2013 18-21 October. Association of Science-Technology Centers 13-17 February. IMERSA Summit 2013. Denver Muse- (ASTC) Annual Conference, North Carolina Museum of Natu- um of Nature & Science, Colorado, USA. www.imersa.org ral Sciences, Raleigh, North Carolina, USA. www.astc.org 17 March. International Day of Planetaria. www.dayofplanetar- ia.org For corrections and new information for the Calendar of 13-14 April. Italian Association of Planetaria (PLANIT), XXVIII Events, please send a message to Loris Ramponi at osservatorio@ National Conference, Italy, and 3rd FullDome Italian Festival. serafinozani.it. During the conference Skype session for planetarians from More details about several of these upcoming events are in- other countries. www.planetaritaliani.it. Contact: osservato- cluded in the International News column and elsewhere in the [email protected] Planetarian. May. Council of German Planetariums 2013, Annual meeting of The most up-to-date information also is available online at the German speaking planetaria. International Planetarian’s Calendar of Events at www.ips-plane- 3-5 May. IFF’13, Immersive Film Festival, Third edition, Centro tarium.org/events/conferences.html I

62 Planetarian September 2012 How did life on Earth begin? This tantalizing question forms the basis of the Morrison Planetarium’s most recent production, Life: A Cosmic Story. Narrated by Academy Award winner Jodie Foster, the show launches the audience on a journey through time, witnessing key events since the Big Bang that set the stage for life. Visualizations drive the narrative—from turbulent, star- and planet-forming giant molecular clouds to the microscopic activity of photosynthesis—in what the New York Times calls “a visually spectacular demonstration.” Named the 2011 Jackson Hole Wildlife Film Festival’s Best Fulldome Program.

IMMERSE + ENGAGE Fulldome science storytelling from the  ­€‚ƒ„ €  †‡ˆ‰ ƒ‚ Š€‡ ‡Š

FRAGILE PLANET ’“”•–’— ˜™“š› œž •–› Ÿžœ¡›”—›

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

For more information contact: Maral Papakhian £¤¥ ¦§¨ ¥¤©§ [email protected]

For full-length previews of both shows visit: www.calacademy.org/domeshows username “d0mesh0ws”* September 2012 Planetarianpassword “m0rris0n”* 63 *use number "0" instead of letter "O." claimed, “Oh! Just in time!” to which some Last Light called out, “Read fast!” John Scala gave an excellent talk about as- tronomy in graphic novels, with examples from the 1940s. The Tintin books were popu- April S. Whitt lar, and the character of Captain Haddock was Fernbank Science Center depicted attempting to pour some “medicinal 156 Heaton Park Drive NE beverage” while in zero-gee. “Which just goes to show,” Scala pointed Atlanta, Georgia 30307 USA out,” that long before MAPS, alcohol and as- [email protected] tronomy seemed to be connected to each oth- er!”

It seems that the American television com- claimed that all the quandaries of quantum Dating by DNA edy program The Big Bang Theory is quite pop- mechanics would shrivel up when 137 was ful- At that same meeting, Pete Connors de- ular in the U.S. and something of a cult phe- ly explained. I tell my undergraduate students scribed his adventures in retirement. Spend- nomenon among planetarians. that if they are ever in trouble in a major city ing part of the winter season in Florida, he was Among his other statements, award-win- anywhere in the world they should write “137” asked to teach an astronomy class for Jon Bell ning actor Jim Parson’s character Dr. Sheldon on a sign and hold it up at a busy street corner. at Indian River Community College. Cooper proclaims that, “The best number is Eventually a physicist will see that they’re dis- He was assured it would not be difficult. 73. Why? Seventy-three is the 21st prime num- tressed and come to their assistance. (No one “Here, I have the book, the PowerPoints, the ber. Its mirror (37) is the 12th and its mirror (21) to my knowledge has every tried this, but it class list—all I need you to do is teach the is the product of multiplying 7 and 3. In bina- should work.) course.” There was the formality of universi- ry, 73 is a palindrome, 1001001, which back- ty paperwork, of course. wards is 1001001.” MAPS nuggets And the college told Pete he could not teach Alert reader Bruce Dietrich found another At the May 2012 annual meeting of the the astronomy course because he didn’t have “best number” and shared a section of Leon Middle Atlantic Planetarium Society, the door enough credits in astronomy on his transcript. Lederman’s 1993 book The God Particle, in prizes were abundant. Tom Hamilton had do- This to a man who has been teaching in plane- which the author says that nated two copies of his recent books: Useful tariums since the last millennium. It was Richard Feynman, in fact, who sug- Star Names and Our Neighbor Stars. Before a When he asked what they thought he was gested that all physicists put sign up in their name could be pulled from the hat, confer- qualified to teach, he was told, “biology.” Bi- offices or homes to remind them of how much ence participants had some possible winners: ology? No, it has been a long time since he’d we don’t know. The sign could say simply this: “Is Carl Sagan in the room?” taken a graduate level biology course, he said. 137. One hundred thirty-seven is the inverse of “Von del Chamberlain!” “Biology,” said the college. something called the fine-structure constant. “Don Hall!” “No,” Pete told them. “You don’t under- This number is related to the probability that “Sam Storch!” stand. The last time I took a graduate biology an electron will emit or absorb a photon. The full-color poster of George Reed’s “Cos- course, Watson and Crick had just discovered The fine-structure constant also answers mic Artoons” was awarded to Bill Luzader, the double-helix structure of DNA.” to the name alpha, and it can be arrived at by who was described as “a constellation cartoon The college found the required astronomy taking the square of the charge of the electron in his own right.” courses under the “physics” part of his resume. divided by the speed of light times Planck’s The Transit of Venus book winner ex- Bazinga! I constant. What all that verbiage means is that this one number, 137, contains the crux of electromagnetism (the electron), relativi- ty (the speed of light) and quantum theory (Planck’s constant). It would be less unsettling if the relationship between all these impor- tant concepts turned out to be one or three or maybe a multiple of pi. But 137? The most remarkable thing about this re- markable number is that it is dimension-free. The speed of light is about 300,000 kilome- ters per second. Abraham Lincoln was 6 feet 6 inches tall. Most numbers come with dimen- sions. But it turns out that when you com- bine the quantities that make up alpha, all the units cancel! One hundred thirty-seven comes by itself; it shows up naked all over the place. This means that scientists on Mars, or on the fourteenth planet of the star Sirius, us- ing whatever god-awful units they have for charge, speed and their version of Planck’s con- stant, will also get 137. It is a pure number. Physicists have agonized over 137 for the Multiple “images” of the June 5 transit of Venus, also known as cupcakes for our loyal volunteers at the Fernbank Science Center. Photo and baking by April Whitt past fifty years. Werner Heisenberg once pro-

64 Planetarian September 2012 www.es.com [email protected] +1-801-588-7500