I know that in America there are incredibly realistic planetarium shows that are truly owe-inspiring to encourage the younger generation to have an interest in astronomy. Here in the UK I have always loved and visited the London planetarium for its realism, then about 5 years ago it underwent a refit and a new laser projected was installed off center under the theater dome, and the realism faded. Stars in their pin points on the planetarium sky became lines, while the landscape projectors were out of a lineament and images overlapped.

This month the Greenwich Observatory in the UK announced plans for a new planetarium to be built and brought into operation sometime in 2005. I therefore questioned whether this was a backward step which London Planetarium turned out to be, or a dramatic improvement upon what we have already.

Anton Vamplew, Planetarium Programmer at Greenwich (UK) told me:

“As you may know, the London Planetarium is no longer solely a true astronomical planetarium. They have endeavored to cater for a more wide-ranging audience with a change in programming and projection systems. Their old Zeiss projector certainly gave excellent skies. It must be remembered that what you are seeing on the screen has nothing to do with what is actually creating the images. By that I mean by watching a very old television and seeing a bad picture has nothing to do with how the BBC is sending out the signal. By referring the Digistar, you are referring to the BBC element. Madam Tussuad's has chosen a projection system (CRT video projectors or whatever) that does not produce crystal clear skies. If Digistar 3 was connected to a different projection system, the stars would be very different. Unfortunately, good projectors are not available 'yet' and this is our dilemma.

“At Greenwich, our top priority is first-class stars. We are currently reviewing options as to the best creation of the perfect night sky. We may end up using a star ball - at present the only technology capable of projecting stars to our high standards. However, other if a digital solution arrives then we will may well using Digistar 3. We are holding our breath as next year may see a perfect laser created sky. But rest assured that quality is our main priority.

“Please note that until the new planetarium is built we will be using a Digistar 3 system with a centrally mounted digital projector. This will NOT produce the skies we would like, but it is just a temporary measure and is no indication of the 'way we are going'.”

I got to thinking that Universe Today Forum members may have first hand experience of visiting a US planetarium over the last 12 months, and therefore I would like to ask everyone which to you was the best planetarium show in terms of realism that you have personally experienced, and can recommend to others?

Also, what planetarium projector would you reccomend the Royal Greenwich Observatory(UK) to install in 2005.

I think that your valuable feed-back on this question will be very useful to Forum members and visitors, and in valuable as threads attached to this topic.

Many Thanks everyone

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I grew up in Darwin. The most educational place there was a pub.

I now live in Canberra, and have been to the Planetarium here, guess where it is?

It hangs off a pub! that can help make up any short falls in funds. It also has some small telescopes.

Don't get me wrong, it was a nice place to visit, But I think planteriums would be more successful if they where based in schools, universities (they have Pubs too).

Or more entertaining, like that big dome show thing.

My other suggestion would be if they were more like "Stellar Cartography" on Star Trek Voyager.

There is a display and the national museum here in Canberra (one of the few things that don't hang out of pubs ) of Australia. you can project exploration and urban sprawl.

I just don't think Planetariums have the interest that the cinima does, so you have to hand it back to the individual or small group (the normal planetarium audience).

And link it to places like the Minor planets center and Orbit simulator linking to Radar mapped asteroids.

The more history you can store and cross reference and access quickly, the more interest you will get. Linking real images to maps

The more hands on, the better, like Solstation.

Linking virtual observatories to fast processors and great projection technology.

Is that any help?

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Hi Zephyre46,

Yes this sounds a great idea that should boost interest in these astro-centers of entertainment and seems to expand the spectrum of useful facilities. It appears London planetarium has branched off to include physics and science related themes. Your idea heads in the opposite direction to boost knowledge of astronomy & space to a new 21st century audience.

Thank you for your ideas and comments Zephre46.

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The revamped Space Theater/Hayden Planetarium at the Rose Center of the American Museum of Natural History in New York City has a $4 million dollar Zeiss Mark IX star projector. It produces star images that are simply fantastic! A number of deep-sky objects can even be resolved with the naked-eye or binoculars. After a few glorious minutes the projector retracts into the floor. Then the The Digital Dome System digital projector kicks in and it's Hollywood all the way. The flashy digital effects are very good but give me those pinpoint stars any day and night of the week.

http://www.amnh.org/rose/hayden-spacetheater.html

Dave Mitsky

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