Mueller Planetarium acquires innovative equipment

Planetariums are usually for watching stars. But Mueller Planetarium at the Nebraska State Museum is looking at a whole new dimension.

Jack Dunn, the planetarium's coordinator, waved goodbye to the museum's conventional star projector and obsolete slide shows on June 1.

Now the 31.5-foot-wide dome is used as a giant screen that immerses the audience right into the digital world of the two shows currently running: a cartoon, "Secret of the Cardboard Rocket," and a 3-D natural history show, "The Origins of Life."

This was made possible by the purchase of a new computer, a high-resolution projector, a specially coated mirror and most importantly, the software, all of which come together as a spherical mirror system.

In April, Dunn borrowed the software, leased the projector and used his own laptop and mirror to showcase the display on Astronomy Day. The museum didn't have sufficient funding, however, and the entrance fee of $4 couldn't support the purchase, he said.

Shortly after the celebration, Mark Harris, the museum's associate director, spoke about hopes of obtaining this next-generation equipment in a meeting with the Friends of the University of Nebraska State Museum, the museum's support group, Dunn said.

Now the dream has come true: Mueller Planetarium is the first in the country to have the spherical mirror system on a permanent basis.

"Most other systems require fish-eye lenses that (alone) cost thousands and thousands of dollars," Dunn said. "The Friends gave us the fund of $16,000, and we managed to get everything."

The spherical mirror projector, created by Dunn's colleague Paul Burke of the University of Western Australia in Perth, is about 15 times less expensive than the system used in big full-dome planetariums. But it is definitely a step up for Mueller, said Priscilla Grew, the state museum's director.

"I consider this just a start," she said. "It's our hope that once people see the power of this medium, we'll be able to attract more donors to go on to more expensive systems."

Right now it's just a matter of getting the word out that the immersing full-dome experience is open to all interested, she said.

Grew hopes to attract film, architecture, design and visual arts students to the project by letting them create their own shows for the planetarium because the possibilities are as limitless as outer space.

One could use the dome's screen to make 3-D tours of buildings, dive into DNA structures or create art, like the eclectic piece "The Dark Side of the Moon" that Dunn hopes to purchase soon for permanent shows.

"There are a lot of people who have no idea (the projector) is here and think that (Mueller) is just a lecture place with just a star projector," Dunn said.

"It's going to take awhile for people to know it's here."

During the summer, though, the attendance of the planetarium rose by 60 percent in comparison to last summer, he said.

"We've had great responses from the visitors," Dunn said.

He especially liked a comment by a 10-year-old after watching "'The Secret of the Cardboard Rocket."

"Whoa! That was so much worth missing the county fair for."

If you go: "The Secret of the Cardboard Rocket," full-dome 3-D cartoon When: Saturdays at 1 p.m., Sundays at 2 p.m.

"The Origins of Life," natural history full-dome 3-D show When: Saturdays at 2 and 3 p.m., Sundays at 3 p.m. Where: Mueller Planetarium, Nebraska State Museum in Morrill Hall

alinaselyukh@dailynebraskan.com