Zeiss Starmaster at Glasgow Science Centre (2002-2015)
Glasgow's
planetarium was launched on 30 January 2002 by Mario Di
Maggio and he managed it for three years. The planetarium
originally boasted a Zeiss Starmaster fibre-optic projector
costing £750,000 - the most expensive planetarium projector
ever installed in the UK - sponsored by ScottishPower
and motivated by the Astronomer Royal for Scotland at the
time, Prof. John Campbell Brown.
Although the Starmaster could only project stars (and not 360° video like the theatre's current system), it projected a perfect night sky, impossible to distinguish from a real night sky. With appropriate background music and inspirational content, skilled presenters regularly moved audiences to tears (see feedback below).
Although the Starmaster could only project stars (and not 360° video like the theatre's current system), it projected a perfect night sky, impossible to distinguish from a real night sky. With appropriate background music and inspirational content, skilled presenters regularly moved audiences to tears (see feedback below).
Well-maintained,
high quality Zeiss projectors can operate perfectly for 60
years or more. Yet sadly, the GSC Starmaster was retired
after only 13 years - apparently because 'it only produced
stars and with fulldome video planetariums can deliver much
more'. True, fulldome video is the order of the day. Yet a
handful of theatres around the world (eg. Hamburg
Planetarium and New York's Hayden
Planetarium) consider themselves extremely
privileged to own both
a Zeiss optical-mechanical projector and
a 360° video system.
The Glasgow planetarium had the opportunity to join this select group of theatres. The Starmaster was on a lift, so it could easily be moved below the video projection line. In the early days, when we wanted to fill the dome with slide all-sky images (see examples below), the Starmaster was simply lowered, which is how it's done in Hamburg and New York.
The Glasgow planetarium had the opportunity to join this select group of theatres. The Starmaster was on a lift, so it could easily be moved below the video projection line. In the early days, when we wanted to fill the dome with slide all-sky images (see examples below), the Starmaster was simply lowered, which is how it's done in Hamburg and New York.
Perhaps
the real reason for selling off the Starmaster was the
annual Zeiss maintenance contract became unaffordable.
What a pity for Glasgow and the UK, as 360° video doesn't move audiences to tears.
What a pity for Glasgow and the UK, as 360° video doesn't move audiences to tears.
Prof.
John Campbell Brown (1947-2019)
The following unsolicited 2004 article from The Guardian captures the magic of inspiring presenter-led shows that utilise a high-quality starfield
And the following comments from an experienced science communicator are in agreement
Mario Di Maggio, GSC Planetarium Manager (2002-2004)
In 2002, when the Royal Observatory
Greenwich was researching international planetariums in
preparation for constructing its own, the ScottishPower
Planetarium stood out from the crowd
We even convinced the Macao Science
Centre (China) to drop plans for an IMAX cinema and build a
planetarium instead
An article I wrote for a 2004
Special Edition of the Carl Zeiss Innovation
magazine
Proof the GSC dome could be filled
with 360° images with the Starmaster in place. The all-sky
slides below were created in partnership with CosmicSky
for the shows The Cosmic
Message (2002) and A
Celestial Journey (2003)
If you were lucky enough to have
seen the original Glasgow planetarium stars, consider yourself
extremely privileged!
