>>Written in the stars

Carnegie, Mar/Apr 2003 by Jackson, M A

Buhl Planetarium sets an International Standard for Planetariums

The more things change, the more they remain the same. Hundreds of years ago, people looked to the stars to guide them. After finding their way, they gathered under the night sky to weave fabulous tales about the stars above them... Cassiopeia, Orion, Pegasus. Today, we hop in our cars, turn on the satellite global positioning device, and drive to planetariums to "explore" distant stars, planets, galaxies, and much more.

But, contradictory as it may seem, staying the same often involves radical change. The Henry Buhl Jr. Planetarium & Observatory is proof positive.

Buhl Planetarium sets an International Standard for Planetariums

In October 1939, Buhl Planetarium and Institute of Popular Science opened on the North Side. It was the fifth major planetarium in the United States-joining those in Chicago, New York, Los Angeles, and Philadelphia. Erected for $1,070,000 by the Buhl Foundation-which was established in the will of North Side businessman Henry Buhl-the planetarium featured a 492-seat "Theater of the Stars" with a 65foot diameter dome. In 1940, approximately 200,000 people were entranced by images of the night skies produced by the Zeiss Model II electro-mechanical projector, which rose out of the floor like a phantom menace. On the planetarium's roof, a siderostat telescope allowed visitors to follow stars and planets across the night sky. It was the first such telescope designed for public use rather than astronomical research.

Warp speed forward to 1991. The Buhl Planetarium and Carnegie Museums of Pittsburgh have merged, and a new planetarium-The Henry Buhl Jr. Planetarium & Observatory-is showcased in the new Carnegie Science Center. The "new Buhl," Underwritten by the Buhl Foundation, is a state-of-the-art facility, which has served as a model for planetariums around the world. In fact, Buhl Planetarium Producer James Hughes has helped set up planetariums in China, Europe, and across the United States.

TAKING THE LEAD WITH TECHNOLOGY

The Henry Buhl Jr. Planetarium & Observatory is one of the only interactive planetariums in existence and the most technically sophisticated. Of the approximately 300 planetariums of similar size around the world, the Buhl Planetarium is a leader thanks to its innovative content (including both astronomy and human body-related productions) and technology (it was the first planetarium to add interactive equipment as well as to blend video and computer graphics).

These innovations were planned

and carefully carried out by the Buhl Planetarium staff and the organizations supporting them-such as Carnegie Mellon University (CMU), the National Science Foundation, and the Buhl Foundation. These partnerships have allowed the Buhl Planetarium to purchase high tech apparatus and produce new shows.

Equipment procured for the Buhl includes a high-tech digital computer graphics projection system, Digistar 11, which accurately depicts day and night skies on the planetarium's 50-foot diameter dome. Sophisticated "flight controllers"-an interactive system mounted in every armrest of the 150-seat theater-allow audiences to focus on a particular area of the screen and manipulate the direction a program will take in real time-panning right or left and speeding up or slowing down the show. A majority vote determines what the audience will see. "It's a democratic system," says Buhl Planetarium Director John Radzilowicz with a laugh. The system means that each time it's viewed the show will be unique and different.

Another newer feature is the yearand-a-half old full dome laser. This state-of-the-art system-currently the only one in use-envelopes the entire dome with images. Used for laser shows and educational programs, such as Circus of the Stars (a constellation tour using the Big Top as a backdrop), the full dome laser works with other equipment to produce dazzling effects. "People come up to us after a show and ask what kind of projector we use," says Radzilowicz, a Manhattan College graduate and author of two astronomy activity books. "But that show could have used 100 pieces of equipment.

We use multiple sources to create seamless effects."

Thanks to its technologically advanced equipment and its creative staff, in the last decade Buhl Planetarium has established itself internationally as a creator of quality programs. The Buhl has distributed nearly 400 shows, which can be seen on five continents and in 18 countries and 14 languages-the most widely distributed planetarium productions on the planet. In fact, Buhl Planetarium productions have become so highly regarded, they've attracted the talents of author Sir Arthur C. Clarke, actor Leonard Nimoy (who narrated the shows New Cosmos and The Search for Life in the Universe respectively), NASA, the Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI, a branch of NASA), The Center for Light Microscope Imaging and Biotechnology, Pittsburgh Tissue Engineering Initiative (PTEI), and Family Communications (producer of Mr. Rogers Neighborhood).