A visit to the super modern Carl-Zeiss Planetarium of Stuttgart, Germany
I had the privilege to visit the Carl-Zeiss Planetarium in the southern city of Stuttgart, Germany in September 1998. Stuttgart is best known for being the home of the Head-offices of both Mercedes Benz and Porsche, this means it has potential for good sponsorship of science and technology supportive institutions such as Planetariums. The city of Stuttgart was heavily bombed by the allies during the last war and the originally Planetarium was also damaged in the process. In 1977 the new Planetarium was opened to the public with instant appeal and had since then been visited by 3 million visitors and a further 1 million attended lectures, courses, musical programmes and art exhibitions.
It works in close association with a nearby active observatory, which like our own in Johannesburg, has been hampered by the encroaching city and associated air and light pollution. 277 visitors can been seated in the Planetarium with a further 188 and 60 respectively in adjacent lecture rooms (see diagram). One of the latest star projector: Model VI A, is in use and the normal shows run in fully programmed & automated mode from start to finished. A permanent staff of 11 run the entire complex which houses inter-alia an electronic, optical and mechanical workshop plus a photo lab and a comprehensive library.
"SPICE" (not the girls) Automatik, runs the steering mechanism and this is supported by over 300 different projectors including Allsky, Sky Skan, Talent and ROHA systems. Sound comes from 2 channel Dynacord Mixerboard with a potential of 5 000 Watt output through 67 loudspeakers with 11 amplifiers. A number of HE-NE, Argon and Krypton lasers are in use with a supporting PC driven laser graphic system.
16 to 25 shows are held weekly with focus on schools during the week and public shows over the weekend. Every two months new shows are produced, recent ones included shows on Mars, twin-triplet-quadruplet suns, dying stars, the latest southern sky observations and on comets the sojourners of our solar system. What impressed me most was a recent addition (last 10 years) of a system allowing live viewing in the foyer of the weather all over the world with pictures received from both geo-stationery Meteosat and also polar circumventing NOAA and METEOR satellites. There are also a limited number of interactive features for public use.
The Carl-Zeiss Planetarium gives some indication where things are going, as plans are being made to have their automated shows supplemented by live views brought about by various satellites and the HST. Plans are being made to share live observations from around the world and let both scientist and layperson participate in analysing, questioning and having the whole programme televised for public consumption. Astronomy courses and lectures can be vastly enhanced using these satellite and HST type inputs, allowing those who have no access to telescopes to share observations. "Far-fetched" you may say, don’t you believe it, the Germans and Americans are working on this at an advanced stage. It certainly bodes well for the future of astronomy to widen its access at an affordable price to the people.
Germany being a country where music is a major part of the culture, especially of the classical variety, there is no shortage of both modern and classical music in support of all shows. Classical masters such as Strauss, Debussy, Holst, Schumann, Bruckner and others being heard as well as Pink Floyd, Kitaro, Morricone, Oldfield, Schulze and Duval mixing it in.
It was both educational and enjoyable to see this truly modern well run Planetarium at first hand. It is not easy and it would be most unfair to compare the Carl-Zeiss Planetarium to our own Johannesburg Planetarium, which is more in line with the more traditional Planetariums such as the one in Vienna and other older Planetariums. The purpose however remains the same: bringing the starry skies to the ordinary man, women and child in a very realistic way (both scientific and artistic) – enhancing our knowledge and understanding of the universe in which we reside.