COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Teaching modern astronomy with planetarium equipment that was built before astronauts landed on the moon is a tricky venture.
And it’s a task that has troubled Ohio State University graduate astronomy students for decades as they’ve had to base their lectures on a cumbersome projector installed in Smith Hall in 1967.
The control panel is huge — as wide as three people — and resembles an old cockpit, complete with an assortment of complicated buttons and knobs.
Then there is the fifth-floor room itself. It’s not exactly inviting. The room is cold, uncarpeted and plagued by water damage. And about 15 of the 81 seats are cracked and stained by water that leaks through the ceiling.
“Someone had water dripping on their head during one of the shows, and suddenly the problems became more ‘in your face,'” said Kate Grier, a graduate student who coordinates the planetarium’s programs.
“One of the professors got an email from someone who said the program was great … but they couldn’t believe we let the planetarium get into that state.”
Not anymore.
Grier said that by fall, patrons won’t recognize the place.
The planetarium closed last month for an extensive renovation. The overhaul will strip the room to its concrete foundation and start fresh — a new dome, carpeting, seats, lights, air conditioning and digital surround-sound audio. When it reopens, the planetarium will paint a picture of outer space with one of the world’s most advanced digital projectors: the SciDome XD, manufactured by Spitz, a Pennsylvania company that has made planetarium projectors since 1946.
The immersive technology, which packs more than twice the pixel power of an average HD television, allows viewers to soar through the solar system, land on planets, explore galaxies and study the sun and other stars in real time.
There are SciDome XD projectors installed at the University of Toledo and the Kansas City school district in Missouri. The University of Virginia, Columbia Basin College in Washington, D.C., and the State Museum of Pennsylvania have purchased the projectors.
“What we have now was built back before computers, before the cellphone had more power than the Apollo spacecraft,” said Jennifer Johnson, who is coordinating the renovation effort. “Improvements in technology and knowledge of outer space were screaming for us to update our facilities. It needed to happen.”
The renovation will cost about $600,000, and about half of that will pay for the new projector, said project manager Rebecca Fields. The project will be funded through the astronomy department, the College of Arts and Sciences and with private donations.
Ohio State will replace Smith Lab’s leaky roof this summer as part of a separate renovation project to prevent water damage in the new facility.
The University of Toledo installed the world’s first XD last year after undertaking a renovation project at its Ritter Planetarium. Alex Mak, the planetarium’s associate director, said the upgrades have nearly doubled Ritter’s attendance figures, attracting about 6,000 visitors since its debut.
“Everything is moving to digital, and we needed to upgrade to keep up with expectations,” Mak said. “Half of our audience is K-12 students, and they expect more graphics. A static slide of Jupiter doesn’t cut it anymore.”
Ohio State’s planetarium hosts about 2,000 to 3,000 visitors annually, from both Ohio State and the surrounding community. Grier said the department seldom advertised the planetarium shows, something she hopes to change.
“With the new projector, we can do different types of shows, which is invaluable as an educational tool,” she said. “We’ll be able to find something that corresponds with material from any class and teach concepts that are difficult to grasp, like the tilt of Earth.”
The new projector also allows for collaboration among departments across campus, said Rick Pogge, an astronomy professor.
It can project interactive images of Earth’s layers, for example, or tour the inside of the human heart. With the right training, graphic art students could produce its software, he said.
“We know the science, they know how to get pixels up on a screen, and we’ll have one of the best projectors in central Ohio and the world for doing just that,” Pogge said. “The new projector opens up exciting possibilities.” Where is the old star ball projector going? To the Perkins Observatory in Delaware, where director Tom Burns hopes to give it new life. He plans to build a planetarium to house the star ball at Perkins when he collects enough money.
“What I have, some people would consider an old warhorse,” Burns said.
“The digital ones are pretty impressive, but the analog planetarium will never go out of style and will always project a beautiful view of the sky.”
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Online:
http://planetarium.osu.edu/
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Information from: The Columbus Dispatch, http://www.dispatch.com
