A Dome Full of Stars

Fernbank Planetarium
Fernbank Planetarium, 2007 Aug 16
Light box enlargement

It was a nearly empty house at the Fernbank planetarium last night. Us plus 3 other individuals made 6.

Marty reminded me of a story once told by a friend of ours. When they moved to Atlanta, many years ago, before the Braves became hot, they called to ask when the ballgame started.

“I don’t know. When can you be here?” was the answer.

The computer was down so they couldn’t take our money at the door. Afterwards we dropped the price of admission in the donation box. $11. $4 for each adult and $3 for H.o.p. I just realized today, going through the Fernbank site, that as “Friends of the Museum” events like this are free to us. We’ve been members of the Fernbank Museum of Natural History for a number of years and I’ve been through the website a number of times and we never had any idea that things such as the planetarium show are free to members.

The show was “Oceans in Space”, on the possibility of life elsewhere in the universe, which was thrilling for H.o.p., and taught me a few things about Mars and Europa that I didn’t know. If I’ve one complaint it’s the New Agey synth music used throughout which is about as innocuous as it comes.

I find several websites that give the “Science Education Content” of the show:

The origin and evolution of the solar system; characteristics of Earth; characteristics of Mars, evolution of Mars surface; comparative planetology between Earth, Mars, and Europa; Earth’s oceans, their formation and effect on life, climate, and geological processes; Martian meteorite analyses; characteristics of Europa; the formation of other stars and planetary systems; the detection of planetary systems around other stars; the evolution of primordial life; organisms and their environments on Earth; the searth for similar environments elsewhere; requirements to sustain life; exploring the undersea environment with specialized probes; exploring Mars with telescopes and spacecraft; exploring Europa with spacecraft; exploring space with Hubble Space Telescope; future missions to other planets to search for life.

Source

But what’s nicest, to me, is the part before the show, when the stars are projected on the dome and the astronomer guides one through the constellations in that season’s sky.

Despite H.o.p.’s total involvement, about midway through the show he tugged on my arm and asked where everyone else was. I said maybe there just aren’t that many people who are interested. About thirty seconds later and he was tugging my arm again. “It’s really bothering me,” he said. “Where is everyone? Why aren’t there more people here?”

The Fernbank planetarium is given as one of the largest in the U.S. It’s a peaceful, wonderful place. We’ve been now to several shows, but on off times, not on a Friday or Saturday, and each one only had three or four other people. At least when we’ve been there, it is quieter than a church. There’s a sense of suspense as you enter and people speak with hushed voices, as if out of a natural respect for the circle and in awe of the universe the planetarium represents. Though on the dome will be projected the stars and planets, it always feels to me as though I’m entering the earth, that I’ve walked into a sacred mound.

The population of metropolitan Atlanta is 5,314,283. I honestly don’t know where everyone was.

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3 responses to “A Dome Full of Stars”

  1. Jennifer Avatar

    Wow! You had the place to yourself! That’s amazing. What a treat, but what a mystery as well. I wonder if people just “forget”.

    I was flat on my back the other night, watching the Perseids meteor showers. I was lucky in that I was in an area where it was actually dark enough to see. The “earth grazers” were amazing.

    Back to your planetarium- is it air conditioned? It seems like it would be a wonderful place to escape the heat.

  2. Idyllopus Avatar

    Yes, it’s part of the Fernbank Science Center and is air conditioned.

    For a particularly spectacular meteor shower several years ago we drove nearly to Macon to be able to see it. We were finally out of range of Atlanta lights but Macon’s glow was on one horizon. We were with a number of other people and lay in some field waiting for the showers to do what had been promised. And finally at around 3 AM or so the sky went bananas. Meteors everywhere…

  3. nina Avatar
    nina

    My father started taking us as kids to the planetarium. From the first time I ever went I thought it was a lovely place. The temperature seemed to be perfect. And the chairs were in a naturally slightly reclined position, just so, so that you could lean back and let yourself go. The guy who talked had a quiet soothing voice and there you were lying under this dome of stars. It all seemed to peaceful and relaxing. I loved it. That’s a great description, that you feel as if you’ve walked into a sacred mound.

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