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FROM TOP: ADLER PLANETARIUM AND ASTRONOMY MUSEUM; MICHAL RONNEN SAFDIE PHOTO, COURTESY EXPLORATION PLACE;

MIKE REYNOLDS, CHABOT OBSERVATORY AND SCIENCE CENTER; AMERICAN MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY

The Changing Face of Americas


Planetariums
The largest and most-visited planetariums in the United States are out to
change their offerings from simple constellation tours to immersive, interactive
experiences.
Chicagos Adler Planetarium and Astronomy Museum has been undergoing a
$40 million fix-up since early last year,
and will reopen in January. According to
Sky Show production manager Larry
Ciupik, armrest controls in Adlers new
200-seat Star Rider Theater will allow
viewers to interact with the show in real
time. A computer will average the viewers choices and send signals to six projectors. Adler will be the first planetarium in
the world to use this new technology,
originally developed for flight simulators.
The theater is housed in a new 60,000square-foot building, along with new exhibits and Adlers astronomy museum.
The city of Oakland, California, and
its public schools have been planning to
rebuild an expanded Chabot Observatory on a new site for decades. Since 1977
schoolchildren have been unable to visit
Chabot because it sits on an earthquake
fault line. The new Chabot Observatory
and Science Center, scheduled to open
next fall, will include a 270-seat planetarium, exhibits, and a Teacher Research
Center, among other resources. Chabot
has raised $47 million of the $69 million
price tag and is seeking donors for the
remainder.
Rather than renovate its Hayden Planetarium, the American Museum of Natural History in New York City decided to
demolish and rebuild its north side. The
new Hayden will contain a 440-seat Sky
Theater and a Big Bang venue, says director Neil de Grasse Tyson. The latter is
currently in the design phase and, when
complete, should depict the events of the
universes infancy in three dimensions.
Opening in 2000, the Hayden will be at
the heart of the new $150-million Rose
Center for Earth and Space.
Tentative architectural plans for Los
Angeless city-owned Griffith Observatory include a new 20,000-square-foot un-

derground facility and a refurbished


planetarium theater, says director E. C.
Krupp. In separate city and county elections voters have approved bonds totaling $28 million for the upgrade. Griffith
is seeking an additional $10 million in
private funds. The renovations are provisionally slated to begin in 2000.
Finally, a notable new facility will open
to the public in the Midwest. In Kansas,
Wichitas Exploration Place science museum calls its planned Star Rider Theater
the Cyberdome. According to director
Martin Ratcliffe, Cyberdome productions
will transport audiences through outer
space, inside the human body, and into
other diverse realms. Ratcliffe says the
$62-million complex will be operational
in February 2000.

Top: The new, glass-encased, semicircular


wing of Chicagos Adler Planetarium wraps
around the original building. Second from
top: A model of the new Exploration Place
taking shape in Wichita, Kansas. Above: In addition to its planetarium, the domes of Oaklands rebuilt Chabot Observatory and Science Center will house several telescopes.
Chabots new 36-inch reflector will be one of
the largest public telescopes in the U.S. Right:
This cutaway view of New York Citys rebuilt
Hayden Planetarium at the American Museum of Natural History shows the Sky Theater
at top and the Big Bang venue below.

1998 Sky Publishing Corp. All rights reserved.

Sky & Telescope October 1998

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