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Staerkel Planetarium
The William M. Staerkel Planetarium is a planetarium at Parkland College in Champaign, Illinois. It is the second largest planetarium in the state (after the Adler Planetarium in Chicago) and has the first Carl Zeiss M1015 opto-mechanical star projector installed in the western hemisphere. The Staerkel Planetarium provides science education programs and light show entertainment to as many as 40,000 people each year. It has a 50-foot dome, seats 144, and private group and school show reservations can be made beyond the regular public offerings.
Public shows are every Friday and Saturday evenings. Aside from their regular star shows, the planetarium also hosts a lecture series the first Friday of every month.
The planetarium is named after Parkland College's founding president, who led the college for the first 20 years.
The William M. Staerkel Planetarium at Parkland College, built as part of the college's cultural center, was planned and designed in the late sixties as part of Phase V in the construction of Parkland College's campus. The cultural center was divided into two parts, the theatre and the planetarium, which together cost an estimated $4.2 million to build. (News-Gazette)
The planetarium was named after Parkland College's founding president, who led the college for the first 20 years of its life, during the dedication on 1987-10-01. The planetarium officially opened to the public on 1987-10-22.
The Planetarium uses the Zeiss Model M1015 star projector, manufactured by Carl Zeiss, Inc. of Germany. It is the first of its kind to be installed anywhere in the world.[1] It projects 7,600 stars down to magnitude 6, 25 star clusters and nebulae, the sun, moon, and the five planets visible to the human eye. The Zeiss can show the daily motions of the sky, the sun, the moon, and the positions of the stars on almost any given day, as well as various astronomical grids and scales. Auxiliary equipment allows projection of rainbows, clouds, solar and lunar eclipses, rotating galaxies, double star systems, and varied constellations.
It also consists of its dome, automation, sound and film systems, and projection equipment. The planetarium's projection dome is 50 feet in diameter and at its highest point is 31 feet from the floor of the theater. It consists of perforated aluminum panels that are held together with 7,000 rivets and has approximately 43 million holes in its surface. This allows for acoustic integrity and the placement of effects and speakers behind the dome to be seen or heard throughout the dome.
The William M. Staerkel Planetarium uses a specialized automation computer, the MC-10 Media Controller, to automate shows using programmable disks. The MC-10 Media Controller can operate either independently or in conjunction with audio tapes. The Staerkel Planetarium's sound system includes a recording studio and a playback system made up of twelve speakers and two sub-bass enclosures located behind the projection dome. The Staerkel Planetarium has the capability of showing 35mm films and can project an image over more than one-third of the dome surface area. And, in addition to the star projector at the center of the theatre, the planetarium uses 57 carousel slide projectors that can show panoramas to cover the entire dome as well as three CRT projectors which allow for the projection of videos and special effects.
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Staerkel Planetarium
The William M. Staerkel Planetarium is a planetarium at Parkland College in Champaign, Illinois. It is the second largest planetarium in the state (after the Adler Planetarium in Chicago) and has the first Carl Zeiss M1015 opto-mechanical star projector installed in the western hemisphere. The Staerkel Planetarium provides science education programs and light show entertainment to as many as 40,000 people each year. It has a 50-foot dome, seats 144, and private group and school show reservations can be made beyond the regular public offerings.
Public shows are every Friday and Saturday evenings. Aside from their regular star shows, the planetarium also hosts a lecture series the first Friday of every month.
The planetarium is named after Parkland College's founding president, who led the college for the first 20 years.
The William M. Staerkel Planetarium at Parkland College, built as part of the college's cultural center, was planned and designed in the late sixties as part of Phase V in the construction of Parkland College's campus. The cultural center was divided into two parts, the theatre and the planetarium, which together cost an estimated $4.2 million to build. (News-Gazette)
The planetarium was named after Parkland College's founding president, who led the college for the first 20 years of its life, during the dedication on 1987-10-01. The planetarium officially opened to the public on 1987-10-22.
The Planetarium uses the Zeiss Model M1015 star projector, manufactured by Carl Zeiss, Inc. of Germany. It is the first of its kind to be installed anywhere in the world.[1] It projects 7,600 stars down to magnitude 6, 25 star clusters and nebulae, the sun, moon, and the five planets visible to the human eye. The Zeiss can show the daily motions of the sky, the sun, the moon, and the positions of the stars on almost any given day, as well as various astronomical grids and scales. Auxiliary equipment allows projection of rainbows, clouds, solar and lunar eclipses, rotating galaxies, double star systems, and varied constellations.
It also consists of its dome, automation, sound and film systems, and projection equipment. The planetarium's projection dome is 50 feet in diameter and at its highest point is 31 feet from the floor of the theater. It consists of perforated aluminum panels that are held together with 7,000 rivets and has approximately 43 million holes in its surface. This allows for acoustic integrity and the placement of effects and speakers behind the dome to be seen or heard throughout the dome.
The William M. Staerkel Planetarium uses a specialized automation computer, the MC-10 Media Controller, to automate shows using programmable disks. The MC-10 Media Controller can operate either independently or in conjunction with audio tapes. The Staerkel Planetarium's sound system includes a recording studio and a playback system made up of twelve speakers and two sub-bass enclosures located behind the projection dome. The Staerkel Planetarium has the capability of showing 35mm films and can project an image over more than one-third of the dome surface area. And, in addition to the star projector at the center of the theatre, the planetarium uses 57 carousel slide projectors that can show panoramas to cover the entire dome as well as three CRT projectors which allow for the projection of videos and special effects.
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