By Nick Nelson
Yesterday as opaque gray clouds drizzled rain over Provo, a crowd of stargazers gathered on the fourth floor of the Eyering Science Center to look at the stars.
At five o?clock, a group of more than 100 people of all ages file through the doors to the newly rebuilt Sarah B. Summerhays Planetarium, picking yellow plastic binoculars from boxes in the planetarium?s foyer.
?This is the very first public demonstration of the planetarium,? says Tabitha Bush, astronomy student, president of BYU?s Astronomy Club and guide for the evening.
As the last gazers took their seats, she says, ?You guys are making history.?
After lengthy and costly renovation, the old planetarium, which seated about 50, has been replaced by a 39-foot dome that rests on a theater-style room that seats 124.
At the center of the planetarium, on a six-foot platform, sits an object that resembles a giant shish kebab of skewered bowling balls and spare camera and computer parts.
The object is a Zeiss Skymaster ZKP3 3/8: a star projector.
BYU ordered the $345,000 projector from the Carl Zeiss company in August of 2002 to replace a projector used since 1972. Laura Misajet, Sales Manager for Seiler Instruments, worked closely with planetarium director Janette Lawler to find the right fit for the new building.
Misajet said the projector?s lenses were custom made in to align with the dimensions of the planetarium?s dome.
The Skymaster projects stars with such precision, Misajet says, the naked eye alone will miss half the show. ?Even though the objects look like fuzzy blobs when you see them in the planetarium, if you use binoculars you can see the details.?
In the planetarium, more than 100 pairs of binoculars turn upward as Bush finishes her introduction, taps a few times on what looks like a glowing palm pilot and causes the sun to set at the west side of the room, revealing thousands of stars.
The binoculars move in unison as Bush?s laser pointer begins at the familiar Orion ? ?These are his shoulders,? she explains ? then moves to his right knee. What appears to be a star with the unaided eye is revealed by the 4X binoculars to be a nebula ? a colorful gaseous mass of interstellar dust.
Bush moves on to Taurus and the Seven Sisters, then to Canis Major and Canis Minor, Orion?s pair of hunting dogs.
A large rectangle of light appears on the west wall and then becomes a slideshow of close-ups of the characters Bush has introduced so far.
She then taps another button and the whole sky lurches into springtime.
Here she indicates the familiar dippers, the constellation Virgo and others.
She taps the screen again and the firmament reels into summer. To help the gazers better observe the stars, she presses some buttons and banishes the Milky Way Galaxy.
Somewhere in the crowd is hear a child?s gasp: ?Wow, is that real??
The Department of Physics and Astronomy has worked hard to achieve this effect. From the unique, porous surface of the dome that absorbs sound waves to the special feature on the star projector that allows for planetary time travel, the department has spared few expenses. The improvements were paid for by donors to BYU.
J. Mooday, a professor of physics and astronomy who has worked extensively on the planetarium, said his recent guest, astronomer and Science Editor for Parade Magazine David Levy, said the planetarium was ?the finest one he?d ever seen on a college campus.?
?We anticipate there will be a real blossoming in the astronomy department, both in the learning and the teaching,? Mooday said in an interview Tuesday.
Mooday said the planetarium will offer weekly demonstrations at 7 and 8 p.m. on Friday and Saturday nights for $2, paid at the door. This week?s demonstrations are free, but by Tuesday morning, all tickets had been reserved.
The free demonstrations have attracted many families with youngsters, including Daniel Vasquez and his three children. The family looks on as Bush sends the heavens spinning into autumn. Here, Vasquez and his family witness a domestic dispute between Princess Andromeda and her parents, Cassiopeia and Poseidon, and a dramatic rescue by Perseus.
The people in the room crane their necks to the east as the demonstration concludes with a dramatic sunrise. Blinking in the new light, the group applauds.
?It was a great show,? Daniel Vasquez said as he left the planetarium. ?It opens your eyes to the constellations and what?s up there. Sometimes we take for granted everything that we see.?
He and the rest of the group make their way down two flights of stairs to ground level where they exit the building. Many, especially the children, look heavenward.