By Emily Levesque, University of Washington
Communicating the discoveries, importance, and wonder of astronomy to the rest of the world is a crucial job for many. For nearly a century, planetariums and the museums that host them have been invaluable tools for science communication and sharing the riches of the night sky with everyone. There are more than 1,000 planetariums in the United States, hosting more than 20 million annual visitors.
Why Study Astronomy?
It’s quite common for people to be asked why they study astronomy, why their research on the universe is important, or, more pragmatically, why it’s worth paying for? Depending on who one asks, answers can range from the importance of scientific education and literacy, to the inspirational power of space, or even the unexpected practical applications that might one day grow out of pure research.
Selling space can sometimes seem like an easy task: simply showing people the wonders of the universe can be enough to ignite their interest. While some may be lucky enough to live under dark skies and be introduced to astronomy through backyard stargazing, others may need a different view in order to see the stars.
The sight of the night sky is also only the first step—questions ranging from ‘What star is that?’ to ‘How do the stars actually work?’ mean that a new astronomy enthusiast will want to hear from an expert.
This article comes directly from content in the video series Great Heroes and Discoveries of Astronomy. Watch it now, on Wondrium.
Museums and Planetariums
The first venues for sharing expert knowledge of astronomy were museums and, in particular, planetariums. Depictions of the night sky date back to indigenous art, but the first record of a moving depiction of the night sky comes from the year 1229, when Holy Roman Emperor Frederick the Second stole a tent built by Arab craftsmen during the Crusades. The tent could be spun and tiny holes poked in its canopy would simulate the night sky to a viewer sitting inside during the day, producing what may have been the first planetarium show.
Intricate mechanical models of the constellations and solar system would continue to be built for hundreds of years, with steadily improving accuracy. The first planetarium, as we know them today, was built in the early 1900s as part of the Deutsches Museum in Munich. The museum was imagined as a celebration of science and engineering, and today it’s still one of the largest science and technology museums in the world.
The First Planetarium
The Deutsches Museum’s founder, Oskar von Miller, wanted to feature astronomy in the museum but struggled to figure out how to simulate a night sky for the public.
He eventually contacted the Carl Zeiss optical company to get their help in constructing a public-friendly astronomy show. Their engineers began by imagining a ceiling poked full of holes, just like the Arab planetarium tent from hundreds of years earlier, but the lighting involved for a large viewing area seemed impossible. Eventually, they shifted to the idea of using tiny light bulbs inside a large ball-shaped room, but powering hundreds of bulbs and turning the ball and modeling both slow-moving stars and faster-moving planets began to become unmanageable.
It was Walther Bauersfeld, a Zeiss engineer who would later become one of the company’s directors, who got the idea to use the dome not as a lightbulb housing, but as a screen, projecting images of stars and planets onto it from a central mechanism that would be much smaller and easier to control. The calculations and construction took years, and was slowed by World War I, but in 1923 the spectacular new Zeiss planetarium technology had its first debut at the company’s factory in Jena to great acclaim. Professional astronomers were among its first admirers: Elis Strömgren, the director of the Royal Copenhagen Observatory, described it as a “school, theater, and cinema in one”.
Growth of Planetariums
The success of the Deutsches Museum planetarium sparked a resurgence of interest in astronomy and a flurry of building projects as new planetariums sprouted up all over the world. The Adler Planetarium in Chicago opened in 1930, followed by the Griffith Observatory planetarium in Los Angles and the Hayden Planetarium in New York City in 1935, all using Zeiss projector technology. By the late 1940s, there were more than 200 planetariums in the United States alone and other companies were getting into the business of building star projectors.
Today, some of the best and largest planetariums are shifting to digital projection and full-dome video capabilities. Some of these projections can now be directly paired with enormous astronomical datasets—things like the Sloan Digital Sky Survey, or multi-wavelength data from telescopes like Hubble and Chandra. Video domes can show specially produced shows with cutting-edge special effects that can transport visitors to the surface of the sun, the edge of the universe, or the inside of a black hole. Many others still rely on the classic projection style first pioneered by Walther Bauersfeld, pairing indoor views of the night sky with live narration provided by enthusiastic planetarium employees or volunteers.
Common Questions about the Importance of Planetariums
The first record of a moving depiction of the night sky comes from the year 1229, when Holy Roman Emperor Frederick the Second stole a tent built by Arab craftsmen during the Crusades. The tent could be spun and tiny holes poked in its canopy would simulate the night sky to a viewer sitting inside during the day, producing what may have been the first planetarium show.
The first planetarium, as we know them today, was built in the early 1900s as part of the Deutsches Museum in Munich.
Today, some of the best and largest planetariums are shifting to digital projection and full-dome video capabilities. Some of these projections can now be directly paired with enormous astronomical datasets—things like the Sloan Digital Sky Survey, or multi-wavelength data from telescopes like Hubble and Chandra. Video domes can show specially produced shows with cutting-edge special effects that can transport visitors to the surface of the sun, the edge of the universe, or the inside of a black hole.
