Welcome to the East Tennessee State University Planetarium! This facility opened in late 1962. My name is Dr. Bob Gardner. I am co-director of the planetarium. The director of the planetarium is Dr. Gary Henson of the ETSU Department of Physics. I am a member of the ETSU Department of Mathematics and the ETSU Institute of Mathematical and Physical Sciences. I am not an astronomer by training, but I have a deep interest in astronomy and I have been an amateur astronomer for almost 20 years now. I am, therefore, semi-competent in astronomy and I can entertain general questions at the end of the show.
The object you see in the middle of the room is a Spitz A3P projector capable of projecting all stars visible to the naked eye. The A3P produces images of over 6,000 stars. We can project each of the five planets visible to the naked eye, as well as the Sun and moon. We can also simulate a meteor shower and a low Earth orbiting satellite, so keep your eyes open for moving objects in the sky!
You are under a 24 foot diameter dome and we have seating for up to 50 visitors. We have a slide projector installed in the base of the planetarium pedestal and will use it tonight to see pictures of many objects in the night sky which are not visible to the naked eye. The images will appear on the dome ceiling in both the northern and southern hemispheres, so you can see the images from most any seat in the planetarium, although I recommend sitting over here near the console.
We will be turning the lights down shortly. It will be extremely dark and may be a bit scary to small children. If there is any problem during the show, then we can pause briefly and let anyone leave who needs to. I have a flashlight, so we wouldn't have to to turn the lights on. BUT I DON'T THINK THERE'LL BE ANY PROBLEMS! So lets begin...
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