what is it all about...?

Hi Stefan, and welcome to OCP.

You have found a place where you no longer need to feel alone. I felt that way for a long time until Ray Worthy in England sent me some back issues of "The Home Planetarium Association" and I no longer feel alone. My story haunts these pages and as you peruse them you will perhaps understand where we all come from. What I find so interesting is how similar we all are.

Why do we do this (why do I do this), I really wish I knew. All I can say is it's kind of a "post hypnotic suggestion" in that I must and need to do it. Perhaps it was something my mother ate in those first nine months of my formation.

I love movies and I love spectacle. Seeing "How The West Was Won" in the original Cinerama set me on the road to my lifelong vocation, making movies. A few decades ago, I even made a three camera/projector (16mm) system for a museum in Phoenix, Arizona. I love big picture and big sound.

Must do something else right now (air conditioner problems), I will finish my thoughts later.

Again welcome.

To continue with my thoughts....... The first part repeated here for continuity.....

Hi Stefan, and welcome to OCP.

You have found a place where you no longer need to feel alone. I felt that way for a long time until Ray Worthy in England sent me some back issues of "The Home Planetarium Association" and I no longer feel alone. My story haunts these pages and as you peruse them you will perhaps understand where we all come from. What I find so interesting is how similar we all are.

Why do we do this (why do I do this), I really wish I knew. All I can say is it's kind of a "post hypnotic suggestion" in that I must and need to do it. Perhaps it was something my mother ate in those first nine months of my formation.

I love movies and I love spectacle. Seeing "How The West Was Won" in the original Cinerama set me on the road to my lifelong vocation, making movies. A few decades ago, I even made a three camera/projector (16mm) system for a museum in Phoenix, Arizona. I love big picture and big sound. Since I am one of the "dream big group" my humble home theater contains a 20 foot screen.

OmniMax from Imax, a process designed to project on a dome is (as most good movie systems) a spectacle for the audience. A great example is "Soring Over California" a great ride at Disney's "California Adventure" theme park. But for me, theater and planetaria are two different entities, and in my opinion (not really worth much) should be presented as such. A movie is an entertainment and the audience expects and treats it as such. A planetarium is an experience (perhaps like seeing the Grand Canyon for the first time) it is mystery and aw.

In these pages I have mentioned that my introduction to astronomy was via my interest in the most imposing mechanical device at the Adler Planetarium way back in the late 1950's. It was the machine that hooked me (great German engineering by the way), a Zeiss II, and it was the machine that got me hooked, not the other way around. The presentation kind of "put me in my place" and I never experienced that anywhere else except under a true dark sky many miles from the city. Blasting off in a rocket ship and zooming around the planets is great entertainment but it is just that entertainment and treated as such by most people. A well reproduced night sky is different for me, and judging from the gasps when a full night sky is projected above, does the same for many.

An old English proverb states, "A joy shared is a joy doubled", and perhaps that is a part of the reason why I do this. I would love for others to experience what I did a half century ago. Another part is actually holding some of this great technology in my hands and being able to play with it. Perhaps there is also the satisfaction of "God like" being able to control the universe with one's fingertips.

I agree with you about the older Zeiss projectors, they tend to look more accurate then the new ones. I for one cannot see individual stars in the Milky Way. It is a band of cloudy light across the sky. The machines that project images that look like time exposures are beautiful but not real. There are those that will say I'm all wet because the fact that a planetarium sky moves much to fast and is thus not real. Fine, I really don't care what anyone thinks. I'm doing what I want, not what the bottom line requires. Even if I'm the only one who ever sits under one of my domes, so be it. I consider that their lost, not mine.

So call me nuts if you will. Since I'm over 60, I've moved from nuts to eccentric and I'll be the first to admit it. Just remember that your not at all alone in this insanity and your English is better then mine. Also we look forward to more posts as there is strength in numbers.

Again welcome.

Posted by: moonmagic Aug 21 2010, 01:24 PM
Why do we do this? What is it all about?

Special things occur at various times throughout our lives that serve to inspire us. Something ignites a spark of curiosity and in some cases we’ve found ourselves literally “awe-struck.” Many of us have carried those magic moment s with us throughout our adult lives. Can we not then be considered the lucky ones?

For some, it was a defining moment in our lives. Perhaps it was a rare opportunity to meet a certain person that inspired us? For others it was hearing a piece of music, seeing some type of art or perhaps being a participant in an event. In all, it was being a part of something bigger than us.

While my quote may be awkward here, I’m trying to remember the line about watching a stage play. [People sit in the dark to watch others perform in the light, in order to learn what is real.] The special experiences teach us what it is to be real, to be human.

Some of us have related a shared similar experience. Perhaps it occurred during the seemingly more innocent days of our childhood? We vividly remember how mesmerized we were as we witnessed our first example of what is coined today as “virtual reality” within the theatre of the stars. To this day, we recall the collective gasps from the audience as the artificial sky was rendered above our heads. We were captivated! For some of us that experience took place beneath a huge dome with the mighty Zeiss instrument at the core. For me, it was something considerably smaller yet none the less on the scale of personal experiences, still quite impressionable to a young mind.

Some were inspired by the instrument itself. For others, it was the artificial beauty of the stars that rapt our attention. The experience was no different for us than for those that were subjected to something else at the same emotional level that set into motion a life-long love and appreciation for something. For many of us what could be more inspiring than a recreation of nature’s splendor? What is closer to both the Earth and Heaven than the stars? According to some scientific theories we are all truly a part of the stars themselves. So what could be more natural than to be stirred by both the real and an artificial sky?

Our hobbies, loves, passions and interests are an integral part of whom and what we are. They are an important part of what makes us tick, of what gives us drive and even pleasure. Clearly, our past experiences help form who we are now.

Perhaps these experiences take us back to a time in our lives when things seemed more simple and innocent and when magic and mystery was still an acceptable part of what drove us. What seems important is that we take these positive experiences from our pasts and move forward with our hobbies in the here and now, as we “dream big” about the future.

Until the last five years I doubt one of us ever really expected to have the opportunity to obtain a “real” planetarium instrument. Likely our minds were preset to never expect the industry to change to the point that so many machines would become surplus to the market. Had not the digital revolution in the science occurred, many of the facilities would have likely held onto their traditional star machines for many more years. Thus in some ways we have become the benefactors of this industry revolution. While we each have our own specific agenda(s) for our collections we all have the wonderful opportunity to share the pleasures and benefits of an association of like-minded individuals. It has been a wonderful association for me, albeit a long-distance one for the most part and one for which I am most grateful. mm

Posted by: mrgare5050 Nov 29 2016, 02:28 AM
The above essay by MM should be preserved - I wonder if he'd let me post it to the HPA blog or something...

What ever happened to Bossard. It would be interesting to get more of his feedback. It is hard to believe that over six years have gone by since this thread has started. I know a lot has happened for me, actually hard to believe how much. So much great stuff is recorded in these pages and should be saved forever.

Posted by: moonmagic Nov 30 2016, 09:34 AM
Hey, what's a decade among friends? Sure does not seem like that much time has passed, huh? mm

Posted by: moonmagic Dec 1 2016, 11:36 AM
Gare- Your previous post "stirred" a thought, but before I start that one, let me acknowledge receipt of your December newsletter. This month, I didn't even have to open the envelope before it provided me some enjoyment....just the return address gave me a chuckle or two.

After reading the entire newsletter (which I always seem to do immediately upon receipt) I then came to the OC site to let you know I got it. Thereupon I discovered a post from you not previously seen which has stirred this thought about "writing ones thoughts."

I wrote frequently in my early teen years, especially while in school when I should have been paying more attention to the teacher. I used to "block print" on lined paper in spiral bound books. I recall doing that mostly around the ages of 12-13. By 14 my interests and thoughts (as do most boy's) moved to other areas. (Perhaps I should have stuck to writing....but I'm NOT bitter)!

That remembrance quickly led me to one of my Grandmother on my Father's side. Perhaps like many of her day, she kept a daily diary. In fact, on one of my "explorations" of my Grandparents house (seemed "magical" then) as they had a two-story house on a big farm along with a storm cellar/basement and a "summer kitchen." As my Grandmother was already in her late 70's when I was just 7 or 8, she only walked up-stairs to clean rooms and change linens when company was coming. Otherwise, the dust bunnies were the only ones on her second floor. During my snooping about one day I came upon dozens of red hard-bound diaries with the years embossed onto their spines. Naturally, I looked through several books and found an entry for almost every day. Some were a sentence or two, others filled whole pages, including newspaper clippings of family birth, death, marriage and engagement announcements out of their local newspaper. Perhaps this was much the same way that many people used their family Bibles.

What hits me more now than it did then, was how important it was for her to preserve that history of their lives. I wish I had those books now. I frequently wish I had done a better job of recording my own personal history through writing things down and with photography. Some people are really good at this, but sadly not me. Not that I have ever done anything noteworthy enough for others to read or see, but I find as I age, that I wish my memories were clearer and perhaps more accurate. When I was younger I could not "see" how important such things might be to me later in life. In my youth, looking a family albums or the like just seemed unimportant and something that only "OLD" people do. Now I guess the appropriate time has arrived. (And they say ones vision diminishes as you age!) This also equates to the expression: "My parents got smarter the older I got."

I have a special box where I have preserved front-page news stories that seemed important to me at the time. As I grew up in a town that was at least large enough to support two daily newspapers, I was even able to go back into their "morgue" and obtain a few copies of papers showing events that happened even before my time. I have hopes that "WHEN MY BUILDING IS DONE" that I will take the time to make a series of history "shadow-boxes" to display and enjoy those collections. (Heck, I even know exactly WHERE that box is located! If you saw the room (think Chinese-puzzle) where it is stored, you would understand the significance of this statement).

Thus ends another "impulse." mm