The planetarium at Oswego State has over 50 years of history. First operating out of Piez Hall, which was renovated into the Shineman Science Center in 2012, the planetarium now operates in a domed room on the second floor of Shineman Center, right in the middle of the main atrium.
The planetarium today has a modern projection system operated by computer. However, a nod to its analogue past sits in the front of the room. A large, green metal device, the original projector looks nothing like the black box with wire grating that is used today. The circular room, with black carpeting and seats, is uplit around the lip of the projection dome.
The room has the feeling of a Disney World ride. The classical music softly playing in the background adds to this feeling. Before the show began, Scott Roby, planetarium director since 2000, introduced himself and gave a short background on the planetarium program. He mentioned how the first planetarium in Piez Hall was built shortly after the Sputnik satellite launch by the Soviet Union in the 1960s, and that the planetarium in Shineman will be celebrating its fifth anniversary next month.
Roby also talked about how the digital planetarium can show a representation of the sky from various areas of the galaxy. He said that he can show the sky from the surface of Mars or can fly through the Milky Way galaxy. The planetarium show starts from pitch black. The black room and lack of windows make for an extremely dark atmosphere. As the projectors warm up, an image of the moon comes into view.
The background music, a classical piece by Richard Strauss, is a nod to the 1968 space opera by Stanley Kubrik titled “2001: A Space Odyssey.” As the music crescendos, Earth rolls into view over the top of the moon. Then, the sun. As the drum beats of the music peak, a graphic pops into the center of view: “The Planetarium at SUNY Oswego.”
The show for the month of September, “The Weird Lives of Close Binary Stars,” was designed by Roby himself. It discusses the science behind how two stars in very close proximity, sometimes close enough to touch, interact and feed off each other. The digital images show how high mass and low mass stars are born, how they feed one another with gasses when close enough and the explosions associated with the deaths of these stars. This was the last weekend showing of “The Weird Lives of Close Binary Stars.”
The public shows change on a monthly basis. “In October, we’re going to do ‘The Autumn Constellations,’” Roby said. “In November, we’ll do ‘The Great American Eclipse.’” Roby and the other operators of the planetarium give regularly scheduled public shows, as well as by-appointment private showings. “We give 100 to 200 shows.
Half of those are for the public and the other half are for classes or campus events,” Roby said. The planetarium has hosted shows for the astronomy, biology, geology and philosophy departments, as well as for clubs, campus events and local groups like schools or senior classes. The planetarium hosts its public shows every Sunday during the school year and can seat 50 people at a time.
Roby said that if one showing is overbooked, he will host a second show after the first one ends. Oswego State junior Audrey Milillo, who has attended other shows, said she would definitely consider attending another show. “I thought that the graphics were really cool,” Milillo said.
Photo: Alexander Gault-Plate | The Oswegonian
