planetarium or spectacles
From: Mrityunjay Bose
CELESTIAL OBJECTS ON YOUR SPECTACLES!
Renowned American journalist Thomas Friedman in his bestseller 'The World is Flat: A Brief History of the Globalised World Twenty-first Century' dwells on the fast changing global scenario and how the world has become "flat" with newer technologies and convergence. And, indeed, it applies to all sectors – and of course to astronomy in general and planetarium in particular.
Planetarium (plural: planetaria or planetariums) too is not away from these changes. The biggest question now is: how the future planetaria would look like? Though the new ideas of future planetaria may be at nascent stage, but five to six years down the line – there is going to be a big debate on the future of the existing planetaria – at a time when property prices across the globe are soaring high and electronic gadgets are becoming smaller and smaller. With personal computers (PCs) revolutionizing the world, time has come when planetaria – an audio-visual wonder - across the world are using more and more computing technologies in this arena of science.
More than 30 experts, professionals and chiefs of planetaria across India assembled in Mumbai, India's commercial capital on March 19-20 to deliberate on 'Planetarium Through Ages: Vision 2027' – a brainstorming session on what future holds for these giant structures.
What future looks like?
Piyush Pandey, the Director of Nehru Planetarium, who was the host of the conference, comes out with a unique idea – a call to the information technology and scientific community – to make it possible within a few years time. "Days are not very far when planetaria will be hand held, portable and much cheaper from what it is today," says Pandey, while pointing out that if one decides to set up a planetarium, it would cost several crores – but he wants it to be made available in few thousands rupees.
"A possibility, that would mean death of public planetarium, may come from virtual reality area. All a smart manufacturer would have to do is pack in a small PC-based platform, the 3-D planetarium software that would eventually be displayed on a device looking like large pair of spectacles," said Pandey.
But how would it look like? "The ultimate planetarium equipment will resemble a pilot-training headgear - flight-simulator, that would cover the eyes and would be connected to a PC, laptop or palmtop," he points out. As one turn his/her neck up, down or sideways, the view would change automatically. The specialised planetarium software can give real time sky image, ability to display sky images in real time and also animate time changes backwards and forwards.
Price of such a "spectacles-planetarium" would come down to a few thousand rupees within a few years of its launch and would be within the reach of common people. Interestingly, his idea was accepted by most of those who attended the two-day conference and presented papers on various subjects. However, experts were of the opinion that the existing planetaria need to be preserved – because of its heritage value.
Prof R Subramanian, Director General of Kolkata-based M P Birla Institute of Fundamental Research, points out that over the last eight decades – when the special-effect projection systems – developed, the educational value has increased. "The last two decades also saw the development of laser-based projection planetarium as well as the concept of huge screens of IMAX projects which had been modified to fit into large-sized tilted domes of planetarium," he says.
He said that it is his dream that a suitable planetarium instrument should be designed within a budget of around Rs one lakh so that all schools in the country can have one such instrument for the benefit of their students in acquiring knowledge about astronomical science.
Joy of show making
Size may reduce, but the concepts must be the same. This is what V S Venkatavaradan, Professor-Emeritus of Sona College of Technology, Salem, articulates. A noted physicist and astronomer himself, Prof Venkatavaradan, who had been Director of Mumbai's Nehru Planetarium, for nearly 18 years, said: "A good planetarium show can become an excellent one with lucid commentary, breathtaking visuals, blending music, and subtle humour, a bit of poetry, theatrical effects and presenting something pleasantly unexpected. Planetarium shows will continue to enhance the ever-increasing awe and wonder, increasing the joy of planetarium scientists as well as the audience!
Commenting on the present status of planetaria in the country, B G Sidharth, Director of Hyderabad-based B M Birla Science Centre, points out that from the view of "accessibility and presentation" there has been a sea change that has taken place over the decades. Nevertheless, there is a new challenge. "The post-1990 generation is a cable-TV and video games generation, wherein astronomy is a receding frontier. It is for the planetarium professionals to bring the excitement of outer space and astronomy back to them." He is quite clear in this.
Planetarium-on-Wheels
At a time when there is a receding interest in astronomy or science and technology, mobile planetarium or planetarium-on-wheels, can revive the interest of people in planetarium. "It is a highly successful project," says Suhas Naik-Satam, a senior official at Nehru Planetarium, Mumbai. "In the eighties and nineties, it was a successful programme," he said and pointed out that in rural areas such initiatives needs to be replicated. Besides the mini planetarium, the van in which the planetarium is carried, they also take exhibits, telescope, films, and material for slide shows.
"Our programmes are tailor made," he said. The mini planetarium is an umbrella-shaped four-metre diameter dome that can be suspended from the ceiling of any room, within half-an-hour. The room must be darkened for better viewing – and about 40 people can watch the programme at a time. "About 1,000 stars can be projected in correct positions and with relative brightness," he said. Auxiliary projector attached to the main projector are used to show the Milky Way, the Sun, Moon and five planets that can be seen through naked eye – Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn. "We have conducted more than 200 such shows across Maharashtra," he says proudly.
The Indian story
The year 1923 was a milestone in that a demonstration of the first equipment for a projection planetarium took place in Carl Zeiss, Jena. Some kind of planetarium existed even 357 years back from now. The Gottorp Globe was the predecessor of the modern planetarium. It dates back to 1650, as a reminder of the fun side of science. It had a 3-metre-diameter hollow globe decorated with mythological pictures of the constellations on it inside and a map of the world on the outside. It was turned by water power. People sat inside in candlelight. Czar Peter the Great of Russia received it in 1713 as a present from the Duke of Holstein-Gottorp, whose ancestors had built it in a palace garden to amuse and amaze visitors.
Before 1962, the idea of a planetarium must have been alien to most of our fellow citizens. That year the Birla Planetarium (now known as the M P Birla Planetarium) was set up in Calcutta (now Kolkata). About 15 years later, another planetarium started functioning in Bombay (now Mumbai). In between, Baroda (now Vadodara) too had its own planetarium in July 1976. With the initial lull, 1980 onwards we saw a speedy growth of the numbers. Planetariums were set up in almost all the parts of the country. Today there are two states that have three public planetaria each; they are West Bengal and Uttar Pradesh. The second position is probably enjoyed by Maharashtra for the moment but it may change very soon as many states have plans to set up planetaria and this tally which remained steady for one and a half decade after the first planetarium may now change every year. "In the next few five years the current number 30 may easily swell to 50," asserts Pandey.
All the three major suppliers of opto-mechanical type of planetarium equipment, Zeiss, Goto and Spitz are represented in India in that numerical order, the last one had only one installation but with the Kurukshetra planetarium coming up its tally goes to two. The new entrant was the Evans & Sutherland of USA that installed its first Digistar 3 in Asia in 2003 here in this planetarium. Even that status of Mumbai was short lived. Two years later Gorakhpur acquired a planetarium of the same kind and we hear that installation of a Digistar3 is going on in Nasik. The Digital Planetarium that came to India in 2003 had been there for many years in other parts of the world.
The first prototype digital planetarium was produced in April 1983 by Evans & Sutherland and was installed at the Science Museum of Virginia in Richmond (USA). Then in 1985 it we upgraded it to the final version that was christened Digistar I. It was followed by Digistar II a few years later. This introduced the planetarium world to the digital technology. For the first time, audiences were able not only to see the stars, but also to fly through the stars in three dimensions. This technology gives you the power to make your presentations soar to new heights in imagery and realism. All that you wish to show on your dome is generated on a computer system and displayed with the help of video projectors. For smaller domes just one projector at the centre fitted with a fisheye lens would suffice but for larger domes more projectors, usually six, project side by side to cover the dome with adequate brightness. The automation is superb so much so that the operator need not sit at the console; she may as well sit among the audience and use a small palm held device to start the pre-rendered planetarium presentation.
Digistar 3: The Latest
The Digistar 3 (manufactured by Evans & Sutherland, USA) product line uses powerful graphics hardware and software to generate immersive full-dome images on the interior surface of a dome, integrating all-dome video, real time 3D computer graphics, and a complete digital astronomy package. Designed as a state-of-the-art 21st Century digital planetarium instrument, Digistar 3 is a fully integrated system that replaces the need for traditional planetarium equipment such as slide projectors, special effects projectors, slewable video projectors and so on.
Digistar 3 provides all the features you'd expect with all the benefits of digital technology, all from one easy-to-use computer console. Digistar 3 even has a pocket-PC wireless remote control! The Digistar 3 product line uses powerful graphics hardware and software to generate immersive full-dome images on the interior surface of a dome, integrating full-dome video, real-time 3D computer graphics, and a complete digital astronomy package. With a variety of projection options and program content creation tools, there is a Digistar 3 system that is perfect for your theater.
Planetaria and Astronomy
Many young students have an intrinsically keen interest in astronomy and sky observations. They naturally gravitate towards the nearest planetarium to quench their thrust for guidance in this area. Points out N Rathnasree, Director of Nehru Planetarium, New Delhi, in a paper presented at the conference: "This gives the planetaria a unique opportunity for nurturing intrinsic interests of students in astronomy and allowing them to explore the skies a little quantitatively with very simple equipment."
Adds P Iyamperumal, Executive Director, Tamil Nadu Science and Technology Centre, Chennai, on the importance of planetarium: "Several new discoveries are being made everyday in astronomy and astrophysics, Mainly through astronomical studies, physical sciences get enriched. For the fields of physics and chemistry, the contributions by astronomical studies are enormous."
Possible Technologies
What has the future in store for us in terms of technology? Two technologies have already proven themselves in commercial advertising display segment. The first one is the high intensity LED matrix. Its display is so bright that it stands out in full clarity even during daylight. In the coming years we can hope much higher pixel intensity (though we do not really need it in the domed environment) and pixel density. Already some manufacturers have brought out densities of the order of 10.000 pixel/m² generated by virtual controlling. "In my vision 2027, when Mumbai's planetarium would be 50 I visualise a dome full of LEDs, no projectors, very simple interfaces, very little power consumption and negligible maintenance," said Pandey.
Another technology that is knocking at the doors is the E-ink or E-paper. Though invented in 1970s by Nick Sheridon at Xerox's Palo Alto Research Centre it is making its presence felt only now. An early version of electronic paper consisted of a sheet of very small transparent capsules, about 40 micrometres across containing an oily solution and black dye, with numerous white titanium dioxide particles suspended within. The particles are slightly negatively charged, and each one is naturally white. The microcapsules are held in a layer of liquid polymer, sandwiched between two arrays of electrodes, the upper of which is made from indium tin oxide, a transparent conducting material.
According to Pandey the two arrays are aligned so that the sheet is divided into pixels, which each pixel corresponding to a pair of electrodes situated either side of the sheet. The sheet is laminated with transparent plastic for protection, resulting in an overall thickness of 80 micrometres about twice that of ordinary paper. The network of electrodes is connected to display circuitry, which turns the electronic ink 'on' and 'off' at specific pixels by applying a voltage to specific pairs of electrodes. Other research efforts into e-paper have involved using organic transistors embedded into flexible substrates including attempts to build them into conventional paper. Who knows future planetariums may be made domes made of e-paper?
(This story was first published in The Maharashtra Herald, Pune)
CELESTIAL OBJECTS ON YOUR SPECTACLES!
Renowned American journalist Thomas Friedman in his bestseller 'The World is Flat: A Brief History of the Globalised World Twenty-first Century' dwells on the fast changing global scenario and how the world has become "flat" with newer technologies and convergence. And, indeed, it applies to all sectors – and of course to astronomy in general and planetarium in particular.
Planetarium (plural: planetaria or planetariums) too is not away from these changes. The biggest question now is: how the future planetaria would look like? Though the new ideas of future planetaria may be at nascent stage, but five to six years down the line – there is going to be a big debate on the future of the existing planetaria – at a time when property prices across the globe are soaring high and electronic gadgets are becoming smaller and smaller. With personal computers (PCs) revolutionizing the world, time has come when planetaria – an audio-visual wonder - across the world are using more and more computing technologies in this arena of science.
More than 30 experts, professionals and chiefs of planetaria across India assembled in Mumbai, India's commercial capital on March 19-20 to deliberate on 'Planetarium Through Ages: Vision 2027' – a brainstorming session on what future holds for these giant structures.
What future looks like?
Piyush Pandey, the Director of Nehru Planetarium, who was the host of the conference, comes out with a unique idea – a call to the information technology and scientific community – to make it possible within a few years time. "Days are not very far when planetaria will be hand held, portable and much cheaper from what it is today," says Pandey, while pointing out that if one decides to set up a planetarium, it would cost several crores – but he wants it to be made available in few thousands rupees.
"A possibility, that would mean death of public planetarium, may come from virtual reality area. All a smart manufacturer would have to do is pack in a small PC-based platform, the 3-D planetarium software that would eventually be displayed on a device looking like large pair of spectacles," said Pandey.
But how would it look like? "The ultimate planetarium equipment will resemble a pilot-training headgear - flight-simulator, that would cover the eyes and would be connected to a PC, laptop or palmtop," he points out. As one turn his/her neck up, down or sideways, the view would change automatically. The specialised planetarium software can give real time sky image, ability to display sky images in real time and also animate time changes backwards and forwards.
Price of such a "spectacles-planetarium" would come down to a few thousand rupees within a few years of its launch and would be within the reach of common people. Interestingly, his idea was accepted by most of those who attended the two-day conference and presented papers on various subjects. However, experts were of the opinion that the existing planetaria need to be preserved – because of its heritage value.
Prof R Subramanian, Director General of Kolkata-based M P Birla Institute of Fundamental Research, points out that over the last eight decades – when the special-effect projection systems – developed, the educational value has increased. "The last two decades also saw the development of laser-based projection planetarium as well as the concept of huge screens of IMAX projects which had been modified to fit into large-sized tilted domes of planetarium," he says.
He said that it is his dream that a suitable planetarium instrument should be designed within a budget of around Rs one lakh so that all schools in the country can have one such instrument for the benefit of their students in acquiring knowledge about astronomical science.
Joy of show making
Size may reduce, but the concepts must be the same. This is what V S Venkatavaradan, Professor-Emeritus of Sona College of Technology, Salem, articulates. A noted physicist and astronomer himself, Prof Venkatavaradan, who had been Director of Mumbai's Nehru Planetarium, for nearly 18 years, said: "A good planetarium show can become an excellent one with lucid commentary, breathtaking visuals, blending music, and subtle humour, a bit of poetry, theatrical effects and presenting something pleasantly unexpected. Planetarium shows will continue to enhance the ever-increasing awe and wonder, increasing the joy of planetarium scientists as well as the audience!
Commenting on the present status of planetaria in the country, B G Sidharth, Director of Hyderabad-based B M Birla Science Centre, points out that from the view of "accessibility and presentation" there has been a sea change that has taken place over the decades. Nevertheless, there is a new challenge. "The post-1990 generation is a cable-TV and video games generation, wherein astronomy is a receding frontier. It is for the planetarium professionals to bring the excitement of outer space and astronomy back to them." He is quite clear in this.
Planetarium-on-Wheels
At a time when there is a receding interest in astronomy or science and technology, mobile planetarium or planetarium-on-wheels, can revive the interest of people in planetarium. "It is a highly successful project," says Suhas Naik-Satam, a senior official at Nehru Planetarium, Mumbai. "In the eighties and nineties, it was a successful programme," he said and pointed out that in rural areas such initiatives needs to be replicated. Besides the mini planetarium, the van in which the planetarium is carried, they also take exhibits, telescope, films, and material for slide shows.
"Our programmes are tailor made," he said. The mini planetarium is an umbrella-shaped four-metre diameter dome that can be suspended from the ceiling of any room, within half-an-hour. The room must be darkened for better viewing – and about 40 people can watch the programme at a time. "About 1,000 stars can be projected in correct positions and with relative brightness," he said. Auxiliary projector attached to the main projector are used to show the Milky Way, the Sun, Moon and five planets that can be seen through naked eye – Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn. "We have conducted more than 200 such shows across Maharashtra," he says proudly.
The Indian story
The year 1923 was a milestone in that a demonstration of the first equipment for a projection planetarium took place in Carl Zeiss, Jena. Some kind of planetarium existed even 357 years back from now. The Gottorp Globe was the predecessor of the modern planetarium. It dates back to 1650, as a reminder of the fun side of science. It had a 3-metre-diameter hollow globe decorated with mythological pictures of the constellations on it inside and a map of the world on the outside. It was turned by water power. People sat inside in candlelight. Czar Peter the Great of Russia received it in 1713 as a present from the Duke of Holstein-Gottorp, whose ancestors had built it in a palace garden to amuse and amaze visitors.
Before 1962, the idea of a planetarium must have been alien to most of our fellow citizens. That year the Birla Planetarium (now known as the M P Birla Planetarium) was set up in Calcutta (now Kolkata). About 15 years later, another planetarium started functioning in Bombay (now Mumbai). In between, Baroda (now Vadodara) too had its own planetarium in July 1976. With the initial lull, 1980 onwards we saw a speedy growth of the numbers. Planetariums were set up in almost all the parts of the country. Today there are two states that have three public planetaria each; they are West Bengal and Uttar Pradesh. The second position is probably enjoyed by Maharashtra for the moment but it may change very soon as many states have plans to set up planetaria and this tally which remained steady for one and a half decade after the first planetarium may now change every year. "In the next few five years the current number 30 may easily swell to 50," asserts Pandey.
All the three major suppliers of opto-mechanical type of planetarium equipment, Zeiss, Goto and Spitz are represented in India in that numerical order, the last one had only one installation but with the Kurukshetra planetarium coming up its tally goes to two. The new entrant was the Evans & Sutherland of USA that installed its first Digistar 3 in Asia in 2003 here in this planetarium. Even that status of Mumbai was short lived. Two years later Gorakhpur acquired a planetarium of the same kind and we hear that installation of a Digistar3 is going on in Nasik. The Digital Planetarium that came to India in 2003 had been there for many years in other parts of the world.
The first prototype digital planetarium was produced in April 1983 by Evans & Sutherland and was installed at the Science Museum of Virginia in Richmond (USA). Then in 1985 it we upgraded it to the final version that was christened Digistar I. It was followed by Digistar II a few years later. This introduced the planetarium world to the digital technology. For the first time, audiences were able not only to see the stars, but also to fly through the stars in three dimensions. This technology gives you the power to make your presentations soar to new heights in imagery and realism. All that you wish to show on your dome is generated on a computer system and displayed with the help of video projectors. For smaller domes just one projector at the centre fitted with a fisheye lens would suffice but for larger domes more projectors, usually six, project side by side to cover the dome with adequate brightness. The automation is superb so much so that the operator need not sit at the console; she may as well sit among the audience and use a small palm held device to start the pre-rendered planetarium presentation.
Digistar 3: The Latest
The Digistar 3 (manufactured by Evans & Sutherland, USA) product line uses powerful graphics hardware and software to generate immersive full-dome images on the interior surface of a dome, integrating all-dome video, real time 3D computer graphics, and a complete digital astronomy package. Designed as a state-of-the-art 21st Century digital planetarium instrument, Digistar 3 is a fully integrated system that replaces the need for traditional planetarium equipment such as slide projectors, special effects projectors, slewable video projectors and so on.
Digistar 3 provides all the features you'd expect with all the benefits of digital technology, all from one easy-to-use computer console. Digistar 3 even has a pocket-PC wireless remote control! The Digistar 3 product line uses powerful graphics hardware and software to generate immersive full-dome images on the interior surface of a dome, integrating full-dome video, real-time 3D computer graphics, and a complete digital astronomy package. With a variety of projection options and program content creation tools, there is a Digistar 3 system that is perfect for your theater.
Planetaria and Astronomy
Many young students have an intrinsically keen interest in astronomy and sky observations. They naturally gravitate towards the nearest planetarium to quench their thrust for guidance in this area. Points out N Rathnasree, Director of Nehru Planetarium, New Delhi, in a paper presented at the conference: "This gives the planetaria a unique opportunity for nurturing intrinsic interests of students in astronomy and allowing them to explore the skies a little quantitatively with very simple equipment."
Adds P Iyamperumal, Executive Director, Tamil Nadu Science and Technology Centre, Chennai, on the importance of planetarium: "Several new discoveries are being made everyday in astronomy and astrophysics, Mainly through astronomical studies, physical sciences get enriched. For the fields of physics and chemistry, the contributions by astronomical studies are enormous."
Possible Technologies
What has the future in store for us in terms of technology? Two technologies have already proven themselves in commercial advertising display segment. The first one is the high intensity LED matrix. Its display is so bright that it stands out in full clarity even during daylight. In the coming years we can hope much higher pixel intensity (though we do not really need it in the domed environment) and pixel density. Already some manufacturers have brought out densities of the order of 10.000 pixel/m² generated by virtual controlling. "In my vision 2027, when Mumbai's planetarium would be 50 I visualise a dome full of LEDs, no projectors, very simple interfaces, very little power consumption and negligible maintenance," said Pandey.
Another technology that is knocking at the doors is the E-ink or E-paper. Though invented in 1970s by Nick Sheridon at Xerox's Palo Alto Research Centre it is making its presence felt only now. An early version of electronic paper consisted of a sheet of very small transparent capsules, about 40 micrometres across containing an oily solution and black dye, with numerous white titanium dioxide particles suspended within. The particles are slightly negatively charged, and each one is naturally white. The microcapsules are held in a layer of liquid polymer, sandwiched between two arrays of electrodes, the upper of which is made from indium tin oxide, a transparent conducting material.
According to Pandey the two arrays are aligned so that the sheet is divided into pixels, which each pixel corresponding to a pair of electrodes situated either side of the sheet. The sheet is laminated with transparent plastic for protection, resulting in an overall thickness of 80 micrometres about twice that of ordinary paper. The network of electrodes is connected to display circuitry, which turns the electronic ink 'on' and 'off' at specific pixels by applying a voltage to specific pairs of electrodes. Other research efforts into e-paper have involved using organic transistors embedded into flexible substrates including attempts to build them into conventional paper. Who knows future planetariums may be made domes made of e-paper?
(This story was first published in The Maharashtra Herald, Pune)
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