IF YOU'VE EVER enjoyed the beauty of the night sky but found the multitude of stars too chaotic to understand, a visit to a local planetarium can help you make sense of it all. The first requirement for being an astronomer, it turns out, is a love of looking up at night.
"Astronomy is the oldest science and one of the few sciences that welcomes amateurs. Everyone who looks up at the stars with wonder is an astronomer," writes Harold Williams on the Montgomery College Planetarium Web site. During his presentations, Williams, an adjunct professor at Montgomery College and the director of its planetarium, emphasizes the simplicity of basic skills that inform a do-it-yourself approach: "Once you understand the principles," he says, "you can figure things out for yourself -- which is always better."
Rock Creek Park Ranger and Planetarium Director Ron Harvey agrees. The weekend matinees he produces are geared to kids and emphasize the basic astronomy tool everyone has access to: "I want to encourage people to get out there and look up," Harvey says. "Hopefully, one day we'll say we don't need the planetarium anymore. We can just go outside and look up. I want to give [visitors] a key to understanding what's up there. Nothing beats the real thing."
At a recent 4 p.m. showing of "Exploring the Universe," a group of 7-year-old boys enthusiastically celebrated a friend's birthday in Rock Creek's planetarium, oohing and ahhing as the 32-year-old Spitz projector rotated the stars on the dome above their heads. Many of the boys seemed familiar with the Big Dipper as Harvey demonstrated techniques for using this basic stellar formation (or asterism) to identify the constellation to which it belongs, Ursa Major, or the Great Bear. Using two stars in the Big Dipper's bowl as a baseline, Harvey mapped out the North Star, the Summer Triangle and the Northern Cross, which forms part of the constellation Cygnus, the Swan. He also talked about the planets, comets, meteors and the Milky Way as part of a grand tour that unfolded overhead in slides and moving images overlaid on the basic star projection.
Williams's universe tour is more in-depth. While Harvey mentions the plane of the ecliptic, the circle the sun and planets make as they appear to orbit the Earth through the signs of the zodiac, Williams uses his newer Spitz model to project grids of the ecliptic and the meridian lines. After a viewing of the constellations and other celestial phenomena, Williams turns to a discussion of a specific topic. In September, he showed numerous slides of meteor collisions with the Earth, focusing on the impact that created the Chesapeake Bay. On Oct. 22, he'll discuss the design and use of the astrolabe, an ancient tool for studying and navigating by the stars.
As the crowd of visitors left the Montgomery College Planetarium after a recent show, we found that the moon and Mars had risen over the trees directly in front of us. Suddenly, the sky seemed so simple. The ability of the planetarium to create a map of the sky using overlaid graphs and diagrams, and to show stellar formations and movements over time really makes the placement of celestial objects seem logical for once.
After his shows, Williams sets up a telescope in the planetarium parking lot to give visitors a closer look at these objects. Rock Creek Nature Center also offers monthly telescope viewings in a program called "Exploring the Sky"; on Saturday, the focus will be on the Andromeda galaxy. Most planetariums follow their multimedia shows with hands-on telescope viewings, when weather permits.
Clouds and rainy weather aren't the only obstacles to clear viewing; the glare of light pollution is a more serious problem. Every planetarium laments the detrimental effect of city lights on our ability to enjoy and study the full star field. Ironically, the lights we use to get around in the darkness obscure a natural resource that our ancestors depended on as a navigational tool. As an astronomer at the only National Park with a planetarium, Harvey notes that the starry night sky "is a resource that's not just in the park. That's one of the things we [rangers] have to take care of. That's why we have legislation against light pollution."
Despite the lower visibility in our urban environment, Candice Wilson, coordinator of the Arlington Planetarium, is encouraging: "You can see the major asterisms through light pollution, things like the Big Dipper, the Summer Triangle, Orion and Cassiopeia. We're so far removed from the dark skies that we wouldn't be able to identify everything [anyway]. We'd be overwhelmed."
While planetariums pack enough educational fun for the H. B. Owens Science Center Web site to call them the "theme parks of the universe," Wilson considers the planetarium a guide to the more spiritual benefits of astronomy available to everyone, as well. "If people weren't so intimidated by the stars, they'd find comfort in them," she says. "The stars give people a bigger perspective. They instill wonder in people's psyches; they can lead people to diversion and comfort and peace."
PLANETARIUMS
ALBERT EINSTEIN PLANETARIUM -- National Air and Space Museum, Sixth Street and Independence Avenue SW (Metro: L'Enfant Plaza). Open daily 10 to 5:30. 202/357-1686 or 202/357-2700. "The Stars Tonight," a 30-minute lecture on the current night sky, is presented daily at 1 and 2:20 p.m. "Sky Quest," a 30-minute children's program, is repeated several times daily. "And a Star to Steer Her By," a 40-minute multimedia feature presentation on the history of navigation and navigational tools, is repeated throughout the day, beginning at 11:40 a.m. Cost for these presentations is $4 per person; a theater-planetarium combo ticket is $9 for adults and $8 for children and seniors. There are two free monthly lecture series: "What's New?" features curators or researchers speaking on current developments in astronomy or related fields, and the "Monthly Star Lecture." Web site: www.nasm.edu/nasm/planetarium/ Einstein.html.
ARLINGTON PLANETARIUM -- 1426 N. Quincy St., Arlington. 703/228-6070. Shows weekly Fridays and Saturdays at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday matinees at 1:30 and 3 p.m. "Great Space Treasure Hunt" is geared to first-graders. " 'Tis the Season," relating religious and cultural celebrations that take place around the winter solstice, will run Nov. 24 through December. "The Stars Tonight," a lecture on the current night sky, runs the first Monday of each month at 7:30 p.m; next program is Nov. 5. Admission is $2.50 for adults, $1.50 for children and seniors.
DAVIS PLANETARIUM -- Maryland Science Center, 601 Light St. (next to the Inner Harbor), Baltimore. Open 10 to 5 Monday through Friday; 10 to 6 Saturday and Sunday. 410/685-5225. Multimedia presentation "Looking for Life" uses latest NASA photos and simulations to explore the possibilities of life on other planets. "Live From the Sun," a live broadcast from the Crosby Ramsey Memorial Observatory every Sunday at 12:15 and 2:30, provides a safe way to examine the sun and its features, such as sunspots and prominences. Every Thursday from 5:30 to 10 p.m. the observatory is open free of charge for stargazing through the historic refracting telescope. Cost for Science Center admission includes planetarium shows: $14 for adults, $10 for children 12 and under and $11.50 for seniors. Web site: www.mdsci.org/davis.html
HOWARD B. OWENS SCIENCE CENTER -- 9601 Greenbelt Rd., Lanham. 301/918-8750. Planetarium shows every other Friday at 7:30 p.m., starting Friday with the program "Current Night Sky and Saving the Night," which reviews the bright stars, constellations and planets and discusses the problem of light pollution and how to stop it. Cost is $4 for adults, $2 for students, kids under 12 and seniors. On Nov. 2, the science center holds a free open house from 6-8 p.m.; the planetarium will run a series of short shows. Web site: www.pgcps. org/ ~ hbowens/planetarium.html
MONTGOMERY COLLEGE PLANETARIUM -- Takoma Avenue and Fenton Street, Takoma Park. 301/650-1463 Monthly public planetarium programs at 7 p.m. Next one is Oct. 20 on astrolabes. Free. Web site: www.mc.cc.md.us/Departments/planet/
ROCK CREEK NATURE CENTER -- 5200 Glover Rd. NW. 202/426-6829. Planetarium shows are offered Saturdays and Sundays: "The Night Sky," at 1 p.m., focuses on the current star map and concentrates on the identification of major constellations and the movement of the heavenly bodies through the night sky. (Children under 4 are not admitted.) Advanced planetarium shows at 4 p.m. feature more complex topics and change weekly; call or check Web site for schedule. (Children under 7 are not admitted.) The majority of these programs show the night sky as it appears in the Washington area for the specific date and time of the program. Free tickets can be picked up at the information desk in the Nature Center. Web site: www.nps.gov/rocr/planetarium/
WILLIAM M. BRISH PLANETARIUM -- 820 Commonwealth Ave., Hagerstown, Md., 301/766-2898. Public program runs every Tuesday through Nov. 13, "Navigating With Lewis and Clark," which shows how Lewis and Clark used the stars to guide their exploration of the Louisiana Purchase. Shows at 7 p.m. $2 for adults, $1 for students and children under 12. Web site: www.wcboe. k12.md.us/mainfold/curric/planetarium/ index.html
