(-12-) P L A N E T A R I U M N E W S
This column will discuss the latest and greatest news for all the
planetarium mavens out there. If you have any, please send it to
vanhoose@lalaland.cl.msu.edu.
As with some many of you out there I would guess, I am a Star Trek fan,
so I was waiting with baited breath for the first episode of Voyager,
Paramount's debut show on their debut network. But if you're curious
what's keeping some of the old Enterprise crew members busy these days
(besides the movie deals), you may want to visit your local planetarium.
Gates McFadden is narrating a new planetarium show, "Through the Eyes of
Hubble." The show opens March 17th at Carnegie's Pittsburgh Science
Center.
Planetarium visitors around the world will have an opportunity to
explore black holes, embryonic solar systems, primeval galaxies and
other wonders of the universe as revealed by NASA's Hubble Space
Telescope in the new planetarium program.
The 40-minute multimedia show is a joint production of the Space
Telescope Science Institute, Baltimore, MD, and Henry Buhl, Jr.
Planetarium and Observatory, Pittsburgh, PA. Following its March 17,
1995 debut at the Carnegie Science Center in Pittsburgh, the show will
be sold, internationally, to other planetariums.
Through computer graphics, multi-screened video projections, and dozens
of special effect projectors the program presents a celestial array of
spectacular Hubble results including observations of Comet
Shoemaker-Levy 9's crash into Jupiter, protoplanetary systems in the
Orion Nebula, monstrous black holes, infant galaxies, and other
observations that may shed light on the fate of the cosmos itself.
"Hubble's results are revolutionizing astronomy, and we are eager to
share the intrigue and excitement of these discoveries with planetarium
visitors worldwide," says Dr. Robert Williams, Director of the Space
Telescope Science Institute. "Our mission to educate the public about
astronomical discovery is no less important than our operating the
Hubble Space Telescope."
"This joint project between the professional astronomers and The
Carnegie Science Center's planetarium staff will take the public out to
the edge of our knowledge about the universe," says Seddon Bennington,
director of The Carnegie Science Center. "It's a wonderful
collaboration that provides the broadest public audience an opportunity
to see through a window to what's out there."
Actress Gates McFadden, who played Dr. Beverly Crusher in the
television series "Star Trek The Next Generation" narrates the show.
"For the last seven years I've had the opportunity to bring fictional
space exploration into many lives in my role on Star Trek," she says.
"Now, this is a wonderful opportunity to share in the real exploration
of space. Though we can't yet travel to the stars, Hubble is boldly
looking where no one has looked before."
The producers estimate that millions of planetarium visitors around the
world will have an opportunity to see "Through the Eyes of Hubble" over
the next year.
The Space Telescope Science Institute is operated by the Association of
Universities for Research in Astronomy, Inc. (AURA) for NASA, under
contract with the Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD. The
Hubble Space Telescope is a project of international cooperation
between NASA and the European Space Agency (ESA).
Star Trek fans may also want to look for shows narrated by Leonard Nimoy,
William Shatner, Patrick Stewart and Jonathan Frakes.
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- T o d d E. V a n H o o s e a r -
``'''vanhoose@lalaland.cl.msu.edu - vanhoose@msu.edu - vanhoose@lalaland.cl.msu.edu
(._.) Michigan State University - East Lansing, MI USA
(_) Computer Laboratory - Department of Communication
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"Grad school: it's not just a job, it's an indenture."
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