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UCLA Planetarium |
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The UCLA Planetarium finished construction in 1957 as part of the Mathematical Sciences Building, and is operated by the UCLA Department of Physics and Astronomy. Over it's lifetime, the 24-foot diameter dome has housed three different star projectors (see below). With seating for 51 people, the UCLA Planetarium is a unique and intimate setting for anyone to learn about the universe. The facility offers shows to introductory astronomy classes, the Los Angeles community, and educational groups. Shows are presented primarily by UCLA Astronomy graduate students, postdocs, and faculty. Clicking on any image will bring up a high-resolution version. Beware, some files are nearly 3 MB in size! |
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The star projector is at the heart of any planetarium - it is what recreates the night sky on the inside of the planetarium dome. Traditional star projectors, like UCLA's, use several incandescent light bulbs ranging in brightness from 5 to 500 watts and pinhole screens to produce stars. They also have the usual 'bug-like' appearance, and must be located at the center of the planetarium. UCLA'a original projector was a Spitz Model A, installed in 1957. In 1965, it was upgraded to a Goto Mercury projector, costing about $8,000 at the time. The current projector, a Viewlex Mark IIA (also known as the Goto GX-10), cost about $35,000 and was installed in 1973. State-of-the-art at the time, the Mark IIA has features such as:
In addition, the UCLA planetarium uses an InFocus LP70 Data Projector and 35-mm slide projector to add video, animation, image, and text content to its shows. Both projectors can be used simultaneously, and each generates an image occupying nearly 1/3 of the dome. Audio from any source is routed through the dome's six-speaker audio system. |
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The dark "shadow" in the center of the images is the star projector itself... |
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05/27/2005 - UCLA Daily Bruin - Planetarium Beginning to Show its Age 03/09/2005 - UCLA Daily Bruin - Stars Shine on South Campus 08/30/2004 - UCLA Daily Bruin - Planetarium Stars Astro Students' Work 3/2004 - LA.com - Star light, star bright, first star I see tonight 11/17/2003 - UCLA Daily Bruin - Society of Latino Engineers and Scientists promotes math, engineering fields to underrepresented youth 10/31/2003 - UCLA Daily Bruin - A shot at the stars proves dim 9/23/2003 - UCLA Today - Mars mania brings out planet gazers 5/31/2002 - UCLA Daily Bruin - UCLA planetarium reveals L.A. stars 4/26/2002 - UCLA Daily Bruin - Brightest planets line up in Earthlings' sight 4/2/2002 - UCLA Today - Take a tour among the stars: Discover UCLA's planetarium 4/10/1998 - UCLA Daily Bruin - Planetarium show reveals stars to Bruins 1/10/1997 - UCLA Daily Bruin - Shining on 5/22/1996 - UCLA Daily Bruin - The sky's the limit |
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