2008 Woodie Awards
New $400,000 projector showcases capabilities at Planetarium event
DISPLAY: Of six in the world, our Chronos projector demonstrates at public debut.
By: James Wallace
Issue date: 3/24/05 Section: News
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Onlookers stare into a void as the lights begin to dim and the illusion of a moon starts to rise. In the blink of an eye, the sky is filled with thousands of stars. The most unbelievable aspect of it all is that they are actually staring at the ceiling of the campus Planetarium.
Friday night, the new Planetarium projector was demonstrated, displaying the new capabilities of one of six such projectors in the world.
In the corner of the room, a Daily Breeze article displays pictures of the last projector, purchased three days after the landing on the moon in 1969, faintly resembling a metal basketball.
"There are still a lot of features that we are just finding out and don't know about," David Vakil, astronomy professor, said.
Out of the six Goto Chronos projectors in the world, the college has the most updated one.
The projector was purchased with funds brought by Measure E, costing about $400,000.
"The classes are awesome, without exception," Bob Hammond, astronomy student, said.
"People pay big bucks at a commercial planetarium to see what we have here; you can really see some great stuff," he said.
Some attributes of the projector include the ability to see 8,500 stars at 6.5 magnitude, making for a very crisp image that fits perfectly to the Planetarium's 30-foot dome ceiling.
The projector utilizes its16 star plates of images, which are then displayed on the dome's surface, and includes 13 colored stars, including the three brightest stars, Sirius, Canopus and Aldeberan (in descending order).
In addition, there are 24 constellation outlines and 26 extended objects, or things that can be seen by the naked eye but are not stars; An example is the nearby Andromeda galaxy.
"We can see the sky from any time, any place, anywhere near the sun," Vakil said.
The last projector has lost some of its effectiveness due to technological-age disadvantages and unavailability of replacement parts.
Friday night, the new Planetarium projector was demonstrated, displaying the new capabilities of one of six such projectors in the world.
In the corner of the room, a Daily Breeze article displays pictures of the last projector, purchased three days after the landing on the moon in 1969, faintly resembling a metal basketball.
"There are still a lot of features that we are just finding out and don't know about," David Vakil, astronomy professor, said.
Out of the six Goto Chronos projectors in the world, the college has the most updated one.
The projector was purchased with funds brought by Measure E, costing about $400,000.
"The classes are awesome, without exception," Bob Hammond, astronomy student, said.
"People pay big bucks at a commercial planetarium to see what we have here; you can really see some great stuff," he said.
Some attributes of the projector include the ability to see 8,500 stars at 6.5 magnitude, making for a very crisp image that fits perfectly to the Planetarium's 30-foot dome ceiling.
The projector utilizes its16 star plates of images, which are then displayed on the dome's surface, and includes 13 colored stars, including the three brightest stars, Sirius, Canopus and Aldeberan (in descending order).
In addition, there are 24 constellation outlines and 26 extended objects, or things that can be seen by the naked eye but are not stars; An example is the nearby Andromeda galaxy.
"We can see the sky from any time, any place, anywhere near the sun," Vakil said.
The last projector has lost some of its effectiveness due to technological-age disadvantages and unavailability of replacement parts.