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Inside the World's Most Advanced Planetarium
notthatwillsmith writes "Earlier this month, the most technologically-advanced digital planetarium in the world opened in San Francisco's California Academy of Sciences. The new Morrison Planetarium's 75-foot screen replaces the traditional Zeiss projector with an array of 6 high-resolution DLP projectors arrayed around the edge of the theater, which are powered by three very different, but interesting computing clusters. The three clusters allow for projection of traditional planetarium shows, playback of ultra-high resolution movies, and display of anything from current atmospheric conditions on Earth to a (greatly accelerated) trip to the farthest reaches of the universe, all rendered in real-time on an 8800 sq. ft. dome. Maximum PC went on a behind the scenes tour with the engineers who built the systems that do everything from run the planetarium lights to the sound systems to the tech behind the screen to show you how it works and what it's like to drive, well ... the universe."
...said every generation ever.
My grandmother used anecdotal evidence all the time, and she lived to be 120 years old.
Not very interesting to today's kids unless there be lazer flashes and starships goin' round.
And Pink Floyd.
This thing sounds expensive. I wonder if this ended up costing more than the $3,000,000 that the Alder Planetarium payed for it's high-tech projection system.
When, in a recent debate, McCain was reaching for an example of ridiculous pork that he demonstrates spending that's run out of control, he mentioned this as a paradigmatic waste of money: "Three million dollars for a (heh heh) projector." See the story here.
Be glad he doesn't read Slashdot!
I can think of a couple of options for you here.
First, don't worry too much about the flat. That can be fixed in software (as is already done for key-stoning). Although if you can't code your own display software you may indeed be in trouble here.
Secondly for a bedroom at night, you won't really need that bright a bulb. And since the reason for the high cost is for the number of lumens, you might actually be able to cheaper. I know my phone on 'white' will light up bits of the room bright enough to be stars, so maybe some sort of kit starting with a neo and an appropriate lens?
The planetarium that I work at is also considering using the Uniview system. We currently use the Konica Minolta's single-projector MediaGlobe I/II system. It provides wonderful visuals and interactivity in our galaxy, but sadly, its intergalactic abilities aren't nearly up to what the Uniview can do. For those wishing to dabble a bit in the technology behind Uniview, though, check out the free Digital Universe.
I came, I saw, She conquered.
It might be cheaper to just get a glass ceiling.
I love the Academy of Sciences and the old planetarium. Been going there since the 80's. Needless to say I was thrilled to be there when the new facility opened.
It is not a planetarium. It is an IMAX movie. You sit, watch a film, and leave. There is no talk about constellations, or where in the sky you should look to see features. The movie has a lot of narration about saving the environment, man-made waste products, deforestation, and other topics completely unrelated to the solar system. In fact a large chunk of it is devoted to discussing extra-terrestrial life and the size of solar system as far as man has explored it.
This falls in line with the new Academy of Sciences which is no longer about science, it's a marketing experience. There are a zillion gift shops with toys but NO BOOKS. I was amazed about how much historical and scientific material is completely missing from the new building.
They are selling a fun experience for kids that is short on science, short on education and high on "fun". It's something a Great America or Disneyland designer would come up with. I'm sad to see the old one go and disappointed the new one took the easy way out.
The old Academy of Sciences made science FUN. This one is entirely forgettable and you won't leave it knowing any more than you did coming in. It's a perfect trip for the family, but do yourself a favor and check out the Exploratorium if you to do right for your kids.
Found a video describing the planetarium tech:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rJewbEIzesE
I use Stellarium (stellarium.org) on Linux on a large (47") TV. It is as cool as a planetarium, with more bells and whistles than you'd need. It works fine on a 32" too.
If what Stellarium ain't enough and I need Imperial cruisers and a Death star here and there, I use Celestia (http://www.shatters.net/celestia/) with some custom add-ons. Extra benefits if you let kids design their own universes.
The third piece is cartes du ciel, but I mostly use that to plan my observations.
i know you were joking, but we actually had that when i was a kid.
back when i was in 1st~3nd grade my parents and i lived in a rural part of Taipei (Taiwan) in my Grandma's house along with my uncles and their families. it was a traditional clan home, so my parents and i shared a single large bedroom, as did each of my uncles' families. each bedroom was sorta like a single-room apartment, so most of my uncles had TVs in their rooms, and one of them even had a home theater setup complete with a professional grade sound system.
we'd just moved back to Taiwan so aside from the bed, all we had was an old 386 (ok, it wasn't really "old" at the time) running DOS. consequently, our bedroom was pretty spartan (read: ghetto) compared to the rest of the house. and since our bedroom was in the interior of the house, we didn't have any outside windows for direct sunlight. so my dad decided to have a "sunroof" installed right above our bed, which provided natural lighting during the day, and so that at night we could look up and see the stars.
my cousins and i stayed up many nights sitting under that sunroof with a bunch of snacks bought from the local 7-11 just enjoying the night sky.