The UW Milwaukee Manfred Olson Planetarium celebrates the 100th anniversary of the first planetarium. Last week we spoke about the eclipse… that we didn’t get to see… thanks to Mother Nature… but this week, there’s another event that doesn’t rely on weather… and that’s by design.
Did you know there’s an official designation for areas without light pollution? It’s called Dark Skies and the closest truly official dark sky is at the Agawa Bay Scenic Lookout. It’s in Ontario, Canada. Otherwise, you’ll need to go out to the middle of northern Lake Michigan for a view of the stars without light pollution.
There is a way to get a good look at the night sky, all warm, sitting comfy in a chair, no mosquitoes, with some education to go with it. The UWM Planetarium is celebrating the 100th anniversary of the very first planetarium projector ever built in the world, with none of that pesky light pollution.
Director of the UWM Manfred Olson Planetarium, Dr. Jean Creighton says, “We are celebrating the 100th anniversary of the very first planetarium projector ever built in the world. That was in 1923 in October 21st in Germany. This is a worldwide celebration. In addition, there are about 4,000 planetariums around the world and about 200 in the Great Lakes region.”
So what’s a planetarium anyway?
Dr. Creighton explains, “Not much has changed since the first one. In principle, the machine is the same. We build machines like this still, right? They’re more sophisticated. But the idea is that you take a round ball, we call that the star ball. You put a really bright lamp in the middle and you put itty bitty little holes so that light can escape through the hole and project on the dome.”
Along with that machine, planetariums can put together all sorts of beautiful, educational programs that show the wonders of the night sky.
This special 100th celebration is happening right downtown at UWM this Saturday from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. Visit here for more information.
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