Bulletin of the Eastbay
Astronomical Society
Founded in 1924 at Chabot Observatory, Oakland, California
Volume 76, Number 11, July 2000
Annual Dinner and Awards
Dr. Michael Reynolds
José Olivarez
Prof. Harold Weaver
Chabot Space and Science Center
Saturday, 15 July, 2000
Doors Open 6:00 p.m.
Dinner 7:00 p.m.
Awards and Presentations 8:30 p.m.
Chabot Space and Science Center, 10000 Skyline Boulevard, Oakland,
California
When you attend the Annual Dinner and Awards meeting on July 15,
you will be among the first to see “The Soul of Night,”
the opening planetarium program at the new Chabot Space and Science
Center atop the Oakland hills. This is a Universarium Planetarium
demonstration done to the beautiful music of Wagner, Strauss and
Saint-Saens. Director of Astronomy José Olivarez will include
in his demonstration an overview of the Universarium sky, a total
eclipse of the Sun, a comet and a meteor shower. Also, there will
be an accurate simulation giving a view of the solar system as
seen from the planet Pluto, and the AVI laser's magnificent animated
graphics. After the show/demo, EAS members can ask questions and
look more closely at the planetarium's control system.
The accompanying illustration is a poster
that has been prepared to announce the opening of the Science
Center and the Planetarium in August.
Executive Director Dr. Mike Reynolds will outline the features
of the new 86,000-square-foot Chabot Space & Science Center,
which include:
• Chabot's historic 8-inch and 20-inch telescopes and a new
36-inch reflector, one of the largest public telescopes in the
United States.
• Teacher training programs, available both on-line and at
the new facility
• 250-seat planetarium, the most advanced in the world
• Sophisticated science labs and classrooms
• 210-seat domed-screen theatre
• Challenger Learning Center® for space flight simulation
• Hands-on, interactive science and technology exhibits
• Teacher Research Center.
• Restored outdoor environmental study area
• Outdoor 150-seat amphitheater, nestled into the hillside
• Virtual Science CenterSM for on-line educational resources
• Cafe, catering kitchen, dining terrace, and gift shop
Professor Harold Weaver will speak about the exhibits, which will
be an important part of the program of the new center.
The entrance exhibit is modeled after the children’s game
‘Where are you?’ The answer is: I am in my room in my
house at 123 Sunny Avenue in Oakland in the county of Alameda
in the East Bay Area in the state of California in the United
States of America on the continent of North America in the Western
Hemisphere … and so on, ending with the Universe.
The exhibit will start with the viewer’s location in CSSC,
then ascend to show Oakland, the Bay Area, … the Earth. The
Earth will then be displayed as a wonderful large real (and realistic)
image floating in space. Various demonstrations can then be shown
on this “hologlobe” as, for example, plate tectonics.
From the hologlobe the visitor moves out through the Solar System,
and then goes on a trip to the center of the Galaxy, visiting
the Orion Nebula on the way. The trip then continues out to the
Magellanic Clouds, the Local Group, and deep space. The exhibit
will be totally 3-D. The visitor will exit through the Hubble
deep field of galaxies. This very realistic illusion is created
by having the visitor exit through a large walk-through kaleidoscope.
A second major exhibit is composed of a dozen works of scientific
art designed and made by Ned Kahn, an artist who has many exhibits
in the Exploratorium. These hands-on pieces at CSSC will show
how planetary landscapes are formed and how well-known physical
forces produce the displays we see on the planets. One exhibit
will show, for example, how wind can interact with sand and rock
to sculpt landscapes; another how flows and the nature of the
surface the flow moves over can produce braided streams. Another
exhibit will demonstrate convection cells which provide one of
the principal modes of heat transport in planets and in the Sun
as well. Convection cells on Earth are involved in the motions
of the continents and with earthquakes.
Still other exhibits demonstrate cyclones, Martian dust devils,
the forces that give rise to volcanic activity, and a host of
other features found in the Solar System. This exhibit should
be very popular with all the students who visit CSSC (and with
the adults as well).
And in addition, we'll have the usual door prizes and awards presentations.
Contact Don Stone for dinner ticket information. Phone (510) 336-3680
or e-mail ddcstone@earthlink.net.
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