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).
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.
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, because 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 their own, the ScottishPower
Planetarium stood out from the crowd
Jon Davies (one of the presenters
mentioned in the letter above), describes what it was like to
deliver a planetarium show with the Zeiss Starmaster:
"I'm standing very
quietly, looking at the backs of 120 human heads. In my
right hand I have a laser pointer. In my left, a remote
control device.
I nod at my colleague beside me and start to descend the
curve of steps around the edge of this, sloping, circular,
domed room. My heart rate increases as I step onto the stage
and look at 120 expectant human faces. Most of them don't
know what to expect.
I am about to leave my body.
I welcome everyone and explain the health and safety fire
escape procedures.
I then float into space as I become one with the Cosmos and
take the audience with me...we explore, we ooh and ahh, we
gasp, I gasp, even though I've been there before, because it
is profound!
The Cosmos, the improbability of our existence....
After what seems like forever I reappear on the stage and
the 120 humans clap spontaneously as I run up the circular
steps to my colleague at the back of the dome. I have a tear
in my eye and am emotionally exhausted!
This is what it's like to deliver a planetarium show with a
Zeiss Starmaster in a 15m dome. It takes a lot out of you
but gives you the affirmation of life and existence. Even
though I miss doing this I have it all in my head - the
pathways are there and I can revisit them anytime, as I
do...
What a privilege it was to work with Mario and the 'A Team',
in the Glasgow Science Centre Planetarium in the early
2000s. I'll never forget those days, I relive them
regularly, some of the best times of my life..."
- Jon Davies, GSC Planetarium
Presenter (2002-2009)
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)
Oh yes, now this is something you
can't do with digital stars: find deep sky objects using
binoculars.
We hosted the first Binocular Bonanza in September 2004, and as
you can see from the list below, the Starmaster projected at
least 23 deep sky objects visible from Glasgow alone. Note the
local astronomy society partnership and the commercial
opportunities this hands-on astronomy show afforded (ie. selling
binoculars), as well as the low ticket price due to Carl Zeiss
sponsorship.
So if you were lucky enough to have
seen the original Glasgow planetarium stars (and deep sky
objects), consider yourself extremely privileged!