SpaceWatchtower: February 2014

Thursday, February 27, 2014

Museum & Library Workers Seek Better Treatment

http://andrewcarnegie.tripod.com/CLPMain4.JPG

Photograph of the main entrance to the central branch of The Carnegie Library
of Pittsburgh in the Oakland section of the city.
(Image Source: Friends of the Zeiss; Photographer: Lynne S. Walsh)

By Glenn A. Walsh
Reporting for SpaceWatchtower

Last week (February 19), the Pittsburgh City Paper ran a story on a new initiative by museum and library workers in the city, to seek better pay, benefits, and greater say in the work place:

O'Driscoll, Bill. "Painted Into a Corner.
"Museum and library workers are looking for better treatment at work.
"Ultimately, $7.25 an hour isn't a suitable wage for any position, and especially not in the Carnegie system."
Pittsburgh City Paper 2014 Feb. 19: 58.
Link >>> http://www.pghcitypaper.com/pittsburgh/museum-and-library-workers-are-looking-for-better-treatment-at-work/Content?oid=1730796

For many of these cultural-industry workers, the issue came to the forefront when some non-profit employers cut employee hours, to avoid the expense of complying with the Federal Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, thus denying these part-time workers the opportunity to purchase discounted health care insurance. The newspaper article notes that both the Carnegie Museum and Carnegie Library systems in the city now restrict part-time workers to 25 hours per week, to avoid the 30-hour-per-week threshold which would require compliance with the Affordable Care Act.

Glenn A. Walsh, who was employed with Pittsburgh's original Buhl Planetarium and Institute of Popular Science (a.k.a. Buhl Science Center) from 1982 to 1991, and who served as a Life Trustee on the Board of Trustees of the Andrew Carnegie Free Library and Music Hall in Carnegie, Pennsylvania from 1995 to 2000, wrote a letter-to-the-editor regarding this issue. The Pittsburgh City Paper published Mr. Walsh's letter in the INCOMING column on page 6 of the newspaper's February 26 issue:

INCOMING
Re: Museum and library workers are looking for better treatment at work (Feb. 19)

After having worked for 10 years at Pittsburgh's original Buhl Planetarium in Allegheny Center, I do understand and sympathize with the museum and library workers mentioned in the article. Low wages, few benefits and part-time work is typical in most nonprofits.

As a Library Trustee for the Andrew Carnegie Free Library and Music Hall in Carnegie during the late 1990s, I can tell you that many nonprofits scrape by from year to year, often raising just enough money to keep the doors open. Even nonprofits with endowments took a big hit during this last recession, with the value of their endowments declining, as well a decline in the wealth of their major donors.

Just last week, the [Pittsburgh] Post-Gazette reported that the Carnegie Science Center's latest $55 million expansion plan may be “extremely ambitious and unachievable” according to a private fundraising analysis. A decade ago, an even more ambitious, $90 million expansion plan, designed by a noted French architect, fell-through due to a lack of funds.

Most nonprofits rely on some governmental funding but, particularly for non-library regional assets, private, foundation and corporate funding is critical. Such funding has been declining over several decades due to Pittsburgh's population decline and corporate consolidations, and earned revenue is limited by the audience's ability to pay.

Although high staff turnover costs money, regrettably, most nonprofits have determined it is less expensive than higher staff wages and benefits.

--- Glenn A. Walsh

Mount Lebanon

Pitz, Marylynne. "Carnegie Science Center expansion plan stumbles out of the gate"
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette 2014 Feb. 18.
Link >>> http://www.post-gazette.com/local/city/2014/02/18/Carnegie-Science-Center-plan-stumbles-out-of-the-gate/stories/201402180056

Info Desk Pittsburgh - Cultural Industry Workers' Declaration of Rights:
Link >>> http://www.infodeskpgh.org/

Source: Glenn A. Walsh Reporting for SpaceWatchtower, a project of Friends of the Zeiss.

2014: 75th Year of Pittsburgh's Buhl Planetarium

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gaw

Glenn A. Walsh, Project Director,
Friends of the Zeiss < http://buhlplanetarium.tripod.com/fotz/ >
Electronic Mail - < gawalsh@planetarium.cc >
About the SpaceWatchtower Editor / Author: < http://buhlplanetarium2.tripod.com/weblog/spacewatchtower/gaw/ >
SpaceWatchtower Blog: < http://spacewatchtower.blogspot.com/ >
Also see: South Hills Backyard Astronomers Blog: < http://shbastronomers.blogspot.com/ >
Barnestormin: Writing, Essays, Pgh. News, & More: < http://www.barnestormin.blogspot.com/ >
SPACE & SCIENCE NEWS, ASTRONOMICAL CALENDAR:
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Twitter: < https://twitter.com/spacewatchtower >
Facebook: < http://www.facebook.com/pages/SpaceWatchtower/238017839577841?sk=wall >
Author of History Web Sites on the Internet --
* Buhl Planetarium, Pittsburgh:
< http://www.planetarium.cc >
* Adler Planetarium, Chicago:
< http://adlerplanetarium.tripod.com >
* Astronomer, Educator, Optician John A. Brashear:
< http://johnbrashear.tripod.com >
* Andrew Carnegie & Carnegie Libraries:
< http://www.andrewcarnegie.cc >
* Civil War Museum of Andrew Carnegie Free Library:
< http://garespypost.tripod.com >
* Duquesne Incline cable-car railway, Pittsburgh:
< http://inclinedplane.tripod.com >
* Public Transit:
< http://andrewcarnegie2.tripod.com/transit >

Monday, February 24, 2014

100 Years Ago: Planetarium Concept Born

The world's first projection planetarium, the
Zeiss Mark I in the Deutsches Museum in
Munich in the Autumn of 1923. The concept for
a projection planetarium was devised almost a
decade earlier.
(Image Source: Wikipedia.org )

By Glenn A. Walsh
Reporting for SpaceWatchtower

100 years ago today, on 1914 February 24, the concept of the projection planetarium was born, at a meeting of staff scientists of the Carl Zeiss Company in Jena, Germany. Due to delays caused by the First World War, the first actual planetarium projector would not be produced until nearly a decade later.

The idea came as a solution to a problem brought on by a request from a client, Oskar von Miller. Mr. von Miller, a well-known German engineer, had spearheaded the establishment of the first modern-type science and technology museum, the Deutsches Museum in Munich, Germany, which opened to the public on 1906 November 12. In 1913, German Astronomer Max Wolf, former Director of the Baden Observatory in Heidelberg, urged Mr. von Miller to include, in the Deutsches Museum, a way to realistically reproduce the night sky, in detail, including the motions of the planets.

In 1913 (before Chicago's Adler Planetarium opened in 1930), a large-scale, mechanical celestial sphere, called the Atwood Sphere, opened to the public in the Museum of the Chicago Academy of Sciences (today, it is displayed in the Adler Planetarium and Astronomy Museum). In a mechanical celestial sphere, a small number of people would enter an enclosure where light from outside the enclosure would twinkle through small holes in the sphere, as a display of stars that could be seen outdoors; additionally, the sphere would spin around the viewers demonstrating star movement. The concept of a mechanical celestial sphere, large enough to accommodate at least ten people, dates back to 1664 when the Globe of Gottorf was installed in the Kunstkammer Museum in Saint Petersburg, Russia.

Mr. von Miller wanted a mechanical celestial sphere for the Deutsches Museum. However, he asked that the Carl Zeiss scientists find a way to also display the movements of the Sun, Moon, and planets in the celestial sphere, something that was not included in previous spheres.

Two Carl Zeiss scientists, Walther Bauersfeld and Rudolf Straubel, offered an alternative a century ago, today: replace the small celestial sphere with a giant hemispheric dome, and use a bright central lamp to project the planets and stars onto the dome-sky.

This was the first concept for a projection planetarium. Actually, it was also the first concept of a true, large-scale planetarium, as, except for a small-scale orrery, the previous celestial spheres had no way to demonstrate the motions of the planets.

A very primitive projection planetarium had been invented in 1912 by Professor E. Hindermann in Basel, Switzerland. Called an Orbitoscope, this spring-driven instrument included only two planets orbiting a Sun. A small light bulb on one planet projected shadows on the other two objects, accurately displaying retrograde loops and speed changes, but not much else.

Well after the end of World War I, the Carl Zeiss Company first demonstrated a large-scale projection planetarium in August of 1923, in a 16-meter dome set-up on the company's factory roof in Jena. The Zeiss Model I, known as the “Wonder of Jena,” was then dismantled and shipped to the Deutsches Museum.

On 1923 October 21, Mr. Bauersfeld, the Carl Zeiss Company Chief Design Engineer, demonstrated the Zeiss I in a program for invited guests at the Deutsches Museum. As the first public planetarium show, the professional and public reaction was enthusiastic. The planetarium projector was then returned to the Jena factory for finishing touches, and then permanently installed in the Munich museum in May of 1925.

This new educational tool greatly impressed scientists and civic leaders in Germany, resulting in six other German cities receiving Zeiss planetarium projectors by the end of 1926. By 1930, five more German cities had projectors. A much improved Zeiss Model II soon superceded the Zeiss I.

In 1927, the first Zeiss projector outside of Germany was installed in Vienna, and then a projector was installed in Rome in 1928 and one in Moscow in 1929. Other European cities to receive planetarium projectors from the Carl Zeiss Company, prior to World War II, included Stockholm (1930), Milan (1930), and Paris (1937). The first Asian planetarium projectors appeared in Osaka in 1937 and Tokyo in 1938.

Five Zeiss planetarium projectors were installed in America prior to World War II. The first came to the new Adler Planetarium and Astronomy Museum in Chicago in 1930. Founded by Chicago business leader Max Adler, the institution is now part of Chicago's Museum Campus, which includes the Field Natural History Museum and the Shedd Aquarium. A visit in 1930 by Amateur Astronomers Association of Pittsburgh co-founder Leo Scanlon, and other members of the club, inspired the club to lobby for a planetarium to be built in Pittsburgh.

The second, the Fels Planetarium, was installed as part of Philadelphia's Franklin Institute in 1933; the planetarium opened two months before the Franklin Institute Science Museum was completed in 1934. It is said that Samuel S. Fels, the soap company president and philanthropist who funded the planetarium, missed the debut performance in Fels Planetarium. He was late and refused to be seated late, as he felt nothing should interrupt a planetarium show once it is begun!

Two American planetaria opened in 1935. On May 14, Griffith Observatory and Planetarium opened in Griffith Park in Los Angeles. While the large planetarium dome is in the center of the facility, two smaller observatory domes are on the east and west sides of the building. The east dome houses a 12-inch Zeiss refractor telescope, one of the earliest public observatories; solar telescopes are housed in the west dome, with a coelostat which sends the images to the public exhibit gallery. Located on a high hill just above Hollywood, Griffith has been included in numerous motion pictures and television programs.

Hayden Planetarium opened in New York City's long-established American Museum of Natural History on 1935 October 3. After a very controversial renovation, which included the demolition of the original Hayden Planetarium building, the new Hayden Planetarium opened as part of the much larger and more impressive Rose Center for Earth and Space in 2000. Astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson, nationally known as a host of PBS science programs, is the long-time Director of the Hayden Planetarium.

Also in 1935, the Buhl Foundation committed to building a planetarium in Pittsburgh, in memory of department store co-founder Henry Buhl, Jr. Opened in 1939, Pittsburgh's original Buhl Planetarium and Institute of Popular Science included five public galleries of exhibits of the physical sciences, and even one life science presentation. A public observatory, with a rather unique 10-inch Siderostat-type refractor telescope, was added in 1941.

Buhl Planetarium's Zeiss II Planetarium Projector was the first such projector to be placed on an elevator, and the Theater of the Stars was the first planetarium theater to include a permanent theatrical stage and a special sound system for the hearing-impaired. Buhl used their Zeiss II, with no major modifications, until the building closed as a public museum in 1991. The Zeiss II is now on public exhibit, but not in use, in Pittsburgh's Carnegie Science Center, where the Henry Buhl, Jr. Planetarium and Observatory now utilizes a full-dome, digital projection system. 2014 is the 75^th year of Pittsburgh's Buhl Planetarium.

Two American-built star projectors are of special note. In 1937, the Korkosz brothers installed a projector, which projects 9,500 stars but no planets, in the Springfield Museum of Science in Springfield, Massachusetts. Including a major restoration in 1996, the staff of the Springfield Museum of Science have lovingly maintained this historic projector, which continues providing astronomy education to young and old alike, to this day!

After World War II, neither Zeiss factory in war-torn Germany was capable of producing planetarium projectors for several years. Thus, the California Academy of Sciences decided to build a one-of-a-kind planetarium projector for the Morrison Planetarium in San Francisco, which opened in 1952. Today, Morrison Planetarium claims to have the world's largest all-digital planetarium.

With the post-war boom in America, many new educational facilities were constructed in the second half of the twentieth century, including new planetaria, science museums, and public libraries. New technology has changed the planetarium experience and increased the educational capabilities of planetaria. Likewise, planetarium-type computer programs have brought the planetarium experience to school and home computers, and even to hand-held smart telephones.

"Who Made That Planetarium?
The New York Times On-Line 2014 Feb. 7.
Link >>> http://www.nytimes.com/2014/02/09/magazine/who-made-that-planetarium.html?src=recg&_r=0

More on the Historic Atwood Sphere:
Link >>> http://dees2.blogspot.com/2007/06/finally-atwood-sphere.html

History of the Adler Planetarium and Astronomy Museum: Link >>> http://adlerplanetarium.tripod.com/

History of The Buhl Planetarium and Institute of Popular Science:
Link >>> http://buhlplanetarium.tripod.com/75years/quickhistory.html

History of the Korkosz Projector, Springfield Museum of Science:
Link >>> http://www.pielock.com/kork.htm

More Links to History of the Planetarium:
Link >>> http://buhlplanetarium.tripod.com/Buhlbriefhistory.html#links

Special Thanks: Eric G. Canali, former Floor Manager, Pittsburgh's original Buhl Planetarium and Institute of Popular Science and Founder, South Hills Backyard Astronomers amateur astronomy club.

Special Thanks: Peter Volz, for the correction of the given name of one of the two Carl Zeiss scientists (Rudolf Straubel, not Werner Straubel) who "offered an alternative a century ago, today: replace the small celestial sphere with a giant hemispheric dome, and use a bright central lamp to project the planets and stars onto the dome-sky." The correction has now been made in the text.

Source: Glenn A. Walsh Reporting for SpaceWatchtower, a project of Friends of the Zeiss.

2014: 75th Year of Pittsburgh's Buhl Planetarium

Saturday, February 22, 2014

New Satellites to Watch Space Junk, Foreign Spacecraft

The Space Based Space Surveillance I satellite photographed passing through the Constellation Cygnus the Swan, by Marco Langbroek of the Netherlands on 2011 September 1.
(Image Source: Wikipedia.org )

By Irene Klotz

CAPE CANAVERAL, Florida (Reuters) - The United States plans to launch a pair of satellites to keep tabs on spacecraft from other countries orbiting 22,300 miles above the planet, as well as to track space debris, the head of Air Force Space Command said.

The previously classified Geosynchronous Space Situational Awareness Program (GSSAP) will supplement ground-based radars and optical telescopes in tracking thousands of pieces of debris so orbital collisions can be avoided, General William Shelton said at the Air Force Association meeting in Orlando on Friday.

He called it a "neighborhood watch program" that will provide a more detailed perspective on space activities. He said the satellites, scheduled to be launched this year, also will be used to ferret out potential threats from other spacecraft.

The program "will bolster our ability to discern when adversaries attempt to avoid detection and to discover capabilities they may have which might be harmful to our critical assets at these higher altitudes," Shelton said in the speech, which also was posted on the Air Force Association's website.

More - Link >>> http://news.yahoo.com/u-air-force-reveals-neighborhood-watch-39-spy-191025756--sector.html

Source: Reuters News Wire Service

More on the U.S. Department of Defense Space Based Space Surveillance System:
Link >>> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_Based_Space_Surveillance

2014: 75th Year of Pittsburgh's Buhl Planetarium

Thursday, February 20, 2014

Space Artifacts Move to New Climate-Controlled Facility

Photograph of an engineering backup of the Telstar satellite, the world's first active communications satellite. This is one of the major space and aviation artifacts the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum is working to preserve for posterity at their new climate-controlled facility in Virginia. A smaller scale model of the Telstar satellite was on display from the 1960s through the 1990s at Pittsburgh's original Buhl Planetarium and Institute of Popular Science, first in a Bell Telephone exhibit, and later in Buhl's Astronomical Observatory. (Image Source: Smithsonian Institution)

CHANTILLY, Va. -- In the early days of the U.S. space program, the spacesuits were life-saving technological marvels. But today, they're so brittle they're in danger of falling apart.

"They were designed for that harsh environment, but they were not designed to last a very long time," says Cathy Lewis, a curator of space suits at the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum's new $79 million facility in Virginia.

The mission is to slow the pace of inevitable decay of tens of thousands of U.S. aviation artifacts, a collection too big to house at the museum on the National Mall.

Those national treasures, from early flight attendant uniforms to vintage aircraft engines, are being moved from temporary storage facilities in Maryland, built after World War II, to their pristine, new climate-controlled home.

"As with all historic, technological objects, you can't just sort of park them," says chief conservator Malcolm Collum. "They require constant looking after."

More - Link >>> http://www.cbsnews.com/news/smithsonians-mission-to-preserve-us-aviation-history/

Source: CBS News.

More on the Smithsonian Institution National Air and Space Museum:
Link >>> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Air_and_Space_Museum

More on the Smithsonian Institution: Link >>> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smithsonian_Institution

Related Blog Posts ---

Presidents' Day: The Astronomy President (2014 Feb. 17) ---

Regarding John Quincy Adams' role in creating the Smithsonian Institution:

Link >>> http://spacewatchtower.blogspot.com/2014/02/presidents-day-astronomy-president.html

Telstar Satellite Accidentally "Nuked" 50 Years Ago (2012 July 12):

Link >>> http://spacewatchtower.blogspot.com/2012/07/how-u.html

2014: 75th Year of Pittsburgh's Buhl Planetarium

Monday, February 17, 2014

Presidents' Day: The Astronomy President

John Quincy Adams' Role in American Astronomy

By John E. Ventre, Historian for the Cincinnati Observatory
Reporting for SpaceWatchtower

On the occasion of Presidents' Day we pause to reflect on the actions of John Quincy Adams. His role in establishing observatories during our nation’s early history played a crucial role in the cultivation of American Astronomy.

Adams worked hard to establish the Harvard College Observatory and the U.S. Naval Observatory. At the end of his life, he embarked on an arduous trip to speak at the laying of the corner stone for the Cincinnati Observatory, which by 1845 would have the second largest telescope in the world.

Throughout his public career, he strongly felt that, with more than a hundred astronomical observatories in Europe, it was important for America to establish a national observatory. A contingent of states-rights legislators in Congress blocked this project for many years. Finally, before his death, a modest-sized U.S. Naval Observatory was approved by Congress.

More - Link >>> http://buhlplanetarium2.tripod.com/bio/jqa/astrorole.html

Source: John E. Ventre, Historian for the Cincinnati Observatory, Reporting for SpaceWatchtower, a project of Friends of the Zeiss. He has taught Astronomy at the University of Cincinnati and served as the first Administrator / Director of the Cincinnati Observatory Center (the non-profit organization which now leases the Observatory from the University of Cincinnati and operates the Observatory).

Related Blog Posts ---

Centennial: New Allegheny Observatory Dedication (2012 Aug. 28):

Link >>> http://spacewatchtower.blogspot.com/2012/08/centennial-new-allegheny-observatory.html

Pittsburgh's Allegheny Observatory History Video Now Available (2012 July 25):

Link >>> http://spacewatchtower.blogspot.com/2012/07/pittsburghs-allegheny-observatory.html

Pittsburgh's Allegheny Observatory: New History Film (2012 April 19}:

Link >>> http://spacewatchtower.blogspot.com/2012/04/pittsburghs-allegheny-observatory-new.html

2014: 75th Year of Pittsburgh's Buhl Planetarium

Saturday, February 15, 2014

Galileo's 450th Birthday

Portrait of Galileo Galilei painted in 1636 by Justus Sustermans.
(Image Source: Wikipedia.org )

By Glenn A. Walsh
Reporting for SpaceWatchtower

Today, Saturday, 2014 February 15, marks the 450th anniversary of the birth of one of history's most preeminent astronomers, Galileo Galilei. One of the first scientists to use a primitive telescope to look at objects in the sky was born 1564 February 15 and died 1642 January 8.

The Italian scientist was much more than an astronomer. He was also a physicist, mathematician, and philosopher who defended the Copernican model of heliocentrism, with the Sun at the center of the Solar System. From this defense, Galileo was found "vehemently suspect of heresy" by the Roman Catholic Church, which led to house arrest for the rest of his life after recanting his heliocentric views.

His accomplishments were many and varied ---

* Confirmation of the phases of Venus (similar to phases of the Earth's Moon).
* Discovery of the four largest natural satellites of Jupiter (named Galilean Moons in his honor).
* Observation and analysis of sunspots on the Sun.
* First observed the rings of Saturn, although his primitive telescope did not permit him a proper explanation of the phenomenon.
* First observed Neptune, but the brief observation did not permit him to understand it was a planet, although he did notice an unusual motion relative to the stars.
* First to correctly interpret the light and shadows on the Moon as lunar mountains and craters.
* First to realize that the Milky Way was really a multitude of stars packed so densely together to appear as a cloud without use of a telescope.
* First to see stars not visible to the naked-eye, including a double-star, Mizar in the Constellation Ursa Major.
* One of the first scientists to use a telescope to view celestial objects. The term "telescope" was coined by a Greek mathematician at a banquet where Galileo was inducted into the Accademia dei Lincei (Italy's first science academy).
* Invented a microscope. Again, the term "microscope" was coined for Galileo's invention by a fellow member of the Accademia dei Lincei.
* Invented improved military compass.
* Invented a thermometer, using the expansion and contraction of air in a bulb to move water in attached tube.

A theatrical play on the life of Galileo was part of a unique collaboration, a five-part, year-long Galileo Project, between Pittsburgh's original Buhl Planetarium and Institute of Popular Science and the Pittsburgh Public Theater in the Summer of 1981. "Galileo" by Bertolt Brecht (directed by J. Ranelli) was performed, from 1981 June 24 to August 2, in two neighboring venues - half the performance in one venue and the second half in the second venue.

The first venue was the theatrical stage in the Theater of the Stars of Pittsburgh's original Buhl Planetarium and Institute of Popular Science, the first permanent theatrical stage in a planetarium theater. Next-door, the second venue was the Hazlett Theater in Carnegie Hall (the world's first Carnegie Hall, which opened a year before the more famous Carnegie Hall in New York City), adjoining America's first publicly-funded Carnegie Library, which at that time was the home to the Pittsburgh Public Theater (since 1999, the Pittsburgh Public Theater has performed in the newer O'Reilly Theater, located in Downtown Pittsburgh's Cultural District).

In the mid-1980s, the author, Glenn A. Walsh, found a stage-prop used as Galileo's telescope in the play (as well as a stage-prop hat designed to look like a hat worn by a gentleman during Galileo's era) in a Buhl Planetarium storage room (which had once been used as a Sound Room for Buhl's 1939 state-of-the-art "talking exhibits," which used record turntables for the audio). From then-on, until the closure of The Buhl Planetarium and Institute of Popular Science building (a.k.a. Buhl Science Center) as a public museum in August of 1991, the Galileo telescope prop was displayed to the public in Buhl's Astronomical Observatory.

Galileo's name is prominently inscribed on the Indiana limestone exterior of the original Buhl Planetarium building, just below the outer planetarium dome, along with the names of other prominent astronomers such as Newton, Kepler, Tycho, Copernicus, Ptolemy, and Hipparchus. At the following link is a photograph of the Galileo name inscribed just below the outer dome of Pittsburgh's original Buhl Planetarium and Institute of Popular Science. (Image Source: Friends of the Zeiss; Photographer: Lynne S. Walsh): Link >>> http://buhlplanetarium2.tripod.com/Buhldome4.JPG

More on Galileo:
Link 1 >>> http://galileo.rice.edu/
Link 2 >>> http://www-groups.dcs.st-and.ac.uk/~history/Mathematicians/Galileo.html
Link 3 >>> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Galileo_Galilei

More on The Buhl Planetarium and Institute of Popular Science's Theater of the Stars:
Link >>> http://buhlplanetarium3.tripod.com/BuhlZeissII.htm

More on The Buhl Planetarium and Institute of Popular Science's Astronomical Observatory:
Link >>> http://buhlplanetarium2.tripod.com/

More on the Carnegie Free Library of Allegheny, along with the original Carnegie Hall:
Link >>> http://andrewcarnegie2.tripod.com/photoalbumAlleghenyReg.htm

Sources: Wikipedia.org , Glenn A. Walsh Reporting for SpaceWatchtower, a project of Friends of the Zeiss.

2014: 75th Year of Pittsburgh's Buhl Planetarium

Friday, February 14, 2014

St. Valentine's Day Full Moon

By Glenn A. Walsh
Reporting for SpaceWatchtower

There is much in literature regarding romance and the Moon. This year they come together with the Full Moon occurring on Saint Valentine's Day. In fact, for the eastern half of North America, the Full Moon occurs during the dinner-hour, just in time for a romantic evening meal.

February's Full Moon occurs on St. Valentine's Day, Friday Evening, 2014 February 14, at 6:53 p.m. EST (23:53 Coordinated Universal Time).

In Korea, this day is known as Jeongwol Daeboreum, the first Full Moon Day of the Asian Lunar Calendar. It is also the first time in 19 years that Jeongwol Daeboreum coincides with St. Valentine's Day. In China, the New Year of the Lunar Calendar began on January 30 (actually January 31 in Asia), The Year of the Horse.

Most Native Americans in the Northern Hemisphere referred to the February Full Moon as the Snow Moon for obvious reasons--particularly obvious during this cold and snowy 2013 - 2014 Winter in the eastern half of North America. Other Native Americans tribes have called the February Full Moon the Hunger Moon, due to the difficult hunting conditions during the harsh weather of the month.

While the January Full Moon (and for some tribes the December Full Moon) has been known by some tribes as the Wolf Moon, other tribes referred to the February Full Moon as the Wolf Moon. The Full Moon of February has also been known as the Racoon Moon and the Bare-Spots-on-the-Ground Moon.

In the Southern Hemisphere, the February / Mid-Summer Full Moon has been known as the Grain Moon, Sturgeon Moon, Red Moon, Wyrt Moon, Corn Moon, Dog Moon, and Barley Moon.

Once every 19 years, February has no Full Moon. This is due to the fact that February has only 28 days (29 days once every four years during the Leap Year) while the time duration of the Moon's orbit around the Earth is even shorter: 27.322 days.

For Birders, February 14 is also a special day. As the beginning of the four-day Presidents' Day Weekend, Friday also kicks-off the annual Great Backyard Bird Count. This is one of the major weekends of the year when bird enthusiasts simply tally the number and kinds of birds in their backyard, or some other specific location, for a 15-minute time period during one or more of the days of the weekend.

Launched by Cornell University's Lab of Ornithology and the National Audubon Society in 1998, it was the first on-line Citizen Science project to collect data on wild birds and display the results in near real-time. The results help scientists learn more about the complex distribution and movements of bird populations.

More on the Full Moon: Link >>> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Full_moon

More on Full Moon names ---
Link 1 >>> http://earthsky.org/astronomy-essentials/full-moon-names
Link 2 >>> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Full_moon#Harvest_and_Hunter.27s_moons
Link 3 >>> http://www.farmersalmanac.com/full-moon-names/

More on St. Valentine's Day:
Link 1 >>> http://www.almanac.com/content/when-valentines-day
Link 2 >>> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St._Valentine%27s_Day

More on the Korean Jeongwol Daeboreum:
Link >>> http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/culture/2014/02/386_151464.html

More on the Great Backyard Bird Count: Link >>> http://gbbc.birdcount.org/

More on Citizen Science Projects:
Link >>> http://buhlplanetarium2.tripod.com/FAQ/citizenscience.html

Source: Glenn A. Walsh Reporting for SpaceWatchtower, a project of Friends of the Zeiss.

Related Blog Post ---

Jan. 30: Solar Eclipse Only Visible From Outer Space (2014 Jan. 30):

Link >>> http://spacewatchtower.blogspot.com/2014/01/jan-30-solar-eclipse-only-visible-from.html

2014: 75th Year of Pittsburgh's Buhl Planetarium

Tuesday, February 11, 2014

NASA Works to Inspire Science Fiction

This illustration, from NASA, shows the concept of a space elevator.

(Image Source: NASA)

By Alexandra Alter

In William Forstchen's new science fiction novel, "Pillar to the Sky," there are no evil cyborgs, alien invasions or time travel calamities. The threat to humanity is far more pedestrian: tightfisted bureaucrats who have slashed NASA's budget.

The novel is the first in a new series of "NASA-Inspired Works of Fiction," which grew out of a collaboration between the National Aeronautics and Space Administration and science fiction publisher Tor. The partnership pairs up novelists with NASA scientists and engineers, who help writers develop scientifically plausible story lines and spot-check manuscripts for technical errors.

The plot of Mr. Forstchen's novel hinges on a multibillion-dollar effort to build a 23,000-mile-high space elevator—a quest threatened by budget cuts and stingy congressmen. Forthcoming novels in the series will explore asteroid mining, wormholes and astrobiology.

Fact-based science fiction may sound like a contradiction, or a poor marketing strategy, in a literary genre that typically celebrates flights of fantasy. But Tor and NASA say both stand to gain. Novelists get access to cutting-edge research and experts in obscure fields. A NASA official says that shaping science fiction offers "an innovative way to reach out to the public to raise awareness of what the agency is doing."

NASA has been hosting novelists at its research facilities for multiday tours titled, "Science Fiction Meets Science Fact." At one mixer, in October 2012, some 20 sci-fi writers mingled with NASA experts at the Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland. They toured the radar detector development lab, laser and electro-optics facility and cosmic ice laboratory. Novelists tried on white anticontamination suits and were sent home with fragments of the heat shields used to protect satellites.

More - Link >>> http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702304450904579369080192863224?mg=reno64-wsj&url=http%3A%2F%2Fonline.wsj.com%2Farticle%2FSB10001424052702304450904579369080192863224.html

Source: The Wall Street Journal.

2014: 75th Year of Pittsburgh's Buhl Planetarium

Saturday, February 8, 2014

Northside Chronicle: Buhl Planetarium Turns 75

http://buhlplanetarium.tripod.com/Buhl-AllegSq.JPG

With the feature article on Buhl Planetarium's 75-year milestone in The Northside
Chronicle, this photograph from the History of Buhl Planetarium web site was
published which shows the Buhl Planetarium building in October of 1998, taken
from the then-Allegheny Square Plaza.
(Image Source: Friends of the Zeiss; Photographer: Lynne S. Walsh)

The 2014 February edition of North Side Pittsburgh's monthly newspaper, The Northside Chronicle, includes a feature article on the 75th year of Pittsburgh's Buhl Planetarium on page 12. In addition to this article appearing in the print edition of the newspaper in 2014 February, it also was posted on the newspaper's web site on 2014 January 30 and appeared in their Weekly eEdition, e-mailed to subscribers each Thursday, also on January 30.

The following are the first few paragraphs of this feature article, authored by Staff Writer Kristin Douty. Then there is an Internet hyper-link to the rest of the story on The Northside Chronicle web site.

Buhl Planetarium celebrates 75th birthday

By Kristin Douty

This year, the Buhl Planetarium – Northside’s astronomical observatory and historic landmark – turns 75 years old.

The landmark has accumulated an impressive history since it opened in 1939, when it was one of the earliest museums of the physical sciences in the country and the first institute in the country to design a sound system to accommodate hearing impaired visitors.

Although the original building currently houses the Children’s Museum of Pittsburgh, 10 Children’s Way, Buhl Planetarium was once a standalone organization and beloved by the local community. The planetarium’s Octagon Hall originally displayed now-famous exhibits, including daily, public demonstrations of the one million volt Oudin-type Tesla Coil, a machine that produced man-made lightning.

In 1954, Buhl Planetarium attracted over 200,000 visitors for the enormous early twentieth-century Miniature Railroad and Village. Glenn Walsh, a local preservationist and historian of the planetarium, notes that this exhibit alone could “fund the entire planetarium for a whole year.”

Pittsburgh native Walsh has documented the history of Buhl Planetarium since his childhood.

More - Link >>> http://buhlplanetarium.tripod.com/75years/nschron20142.html

Source: The Northside Chronicle.

More on the history of the Historic Buhl Planetarium:
Link >>> http://buhlplanetarium.tripod.com/75years/quickhistory.html

2014: 75th Year of Pittsburgh's Buhl Planetarium

Thursday, February 6, 2014

Largest Amateur Telescope at 70 Inches

Enormous: Utah man Mike Clements stands proudly aloft his 35-feet tall telescope he built from the remnants of a Cold War satellite

Utah truck driver builds largest amateur telescope, using a former spy satellite mirror.
(Image Source: Fox News)

By Glenn A. Walsh
Reporting for SpaceWatchtower

Late last year, a Utah truck driver constructed what is believed to be the largest amateur telescope in the world. Using a 70-inch mirror which had been built to be used on a Cold War spy satellite, Mike Clements, 51, built a telescope that rivals that of some professional astronomical observatories.

He obtained the mirror through an auction, as the mirror was not deemed suitable by the U.S. Department of Defense due to the fact that the edge was slightly chipped. The West Jordan, Utah resident constructed most of the rest of the telescope from materials purchased at big-box stores Lowes, Home Depot, and Wal-Mart.

Mr. Clements has named his telescope the "KH-12," which is the name of the spy satellite the mirror was originally designed for.

Mr. Clements readily admits he has no professional credentials in Astronomy. He simply came across the government-surplus mirror and felt it would help him complete his dream of building a huge telescope.

Some people told him that the huge mirror could not be adapted to an amateur telescope. However, a long-time friend, Steve Dodds who owns Nova Optical, helped him test the focal distance of the mirror. It turned-out the eyepiece lens would have to be 427 inches away from the mirror, hence the telescope structure, with a 29-inch secondary mirror, is 35 feet tall !

He purchased the 900-pound mirror in 2005, which he silvered himself; silvering of the large piece of glass was successful on the second try. It took about a year and a-half to construct the telescope, but Mr. Clements will not mention the total cost. The complete telescope weighs 3,000 pounds.

A group of amateur astronomers in Northern California, called Group 70, attempted to build a 70-inch amateur telescope, beginning in 1988. However, a decade later the project was shelved until they can raise additional funds.

Mr. Clements plans on using his huge telescope to bring Astronomy to the public. There are plans to take the telescope to public star parties, and perhaps even to several national parks.

Sources: The Salt Lake Tribune, KSTU-TV 13 Salt Lake City,
Glenn A. Walsh Reporting for SpaceWatchtower, a project of Friends of the Zeiss.

More on the 70-inch Amateur Telescope ---

"Utah man builds largest amateur telescope on record":
Link >>> http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/news/57034821-78/telescope-clements-mirror-inch.html.csp

"Utah man 's massive creation may be largest amateur telescope ever built" -
VIDEO - Television Report:
Link >>> http://fox13now.com/2013/11/03/utah-mans-massive-creation-may-be-largest-amateur-telescope-ever-built/

Group 70 Amateur Telescope Project: Link >>> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Group_70

2014: 75th Year of Pittsburgh's Buhl Planetarium

Tuesday, February 4, 2014

Tuesday Marks Mid-Winter

On Sunday morning, Groundhog Punxsutawney Phil declared there would be six more weeks of Winter. Groundhog Day is considered the traditional mid-point in the Winter season. However, with our modern calendar, the actual mid-point of Winter occurs at 12:04 a.m. EST Tuesday.

(Image Source: Associated Press)

By Glenn A. Walsh

Reporting for SpaceWatchtower

The moment of posting of this blog post, 12:04 a.m. EST (5:04 Coordinated Universal Time) on Tuesday Morning, 2014 February 4, marks the actual mid-point in the season of Winter in Earth's Northern Hemisphere. The day of this point in time is known by the term, Cross-Quarter Day (XQ). Having no formal astronomical definition, "cross-quarter" here is defined as the moment in time precisely half-way between an adjacent equinox and solstice or adjacent solstice and equinox.

In this case, the moment in time is precisely half-way between the Winter Solstice (observed on 2013 December 21) and the Vernal Equinox (which will be observed on 2014 March 20).

Ancient peoples did know the concept of a "cross-quarter," even though they did not use that particular term.They used festivals to celebrate the mid-point of a season, or what some saw as the beginning of a new season.

In Gaelic Ireland, Imbolc, also known by the name Imbolg and also common in Scotland and the Isle of Man, was considered the beginning of Spring and celebrated on February 1. The ancient societies were all agrarian-based, hence agriculture was important to their survival. They used the Imbolc festival to prepare their people for the beginning of the growing season. Once Ireland was Christianized, the pagan feast day Imbolc became the Christian St. Brighid's Day (which included the Christianization of the pagan fertility goddess Brighid).

Imbolc is immediately followed by Candlemas on February 2, among the most ancient feasts of the Christian Church. This feast is timed forty days after Christmas Day, the day when Joseph and Mary brought Jesus into the Temple forty days after his birth, to complete Mary's ritual purification after childbirth and to perform the redemption of the first born son according to the Law of Moses, as described in the Gospel of St. Luke. For those who celebrate Orthodox Christmas on January 6, Candlemas falls on February 14.

Imbolc was also the time of weather divination, as weather was crucial to the success of the coming crop. By watching to see if badgers, bears, wolves, or snakes came out from their Winter dens, they thought that this animal behavior may give them a clue as to the future weather. If these animals feel safe staying out of their Winter dens, then it was figured that Winter was ending.

It was believed that the Cailleach, a divine hag of Irish and Scottish mythology, would make the day of Imbolc bright and sunny (so it is easy for her to gather lots of firewood) if she wished to make the Winter last a while longer. However, if bad weather falls on the day of Imbolc, it means Cailleach is asleep and no additional firewood is needed; Winter is just about complete for the year.

This led to the German custom of Groundhog Day, which was brought to America with the German immigrants ("Pennsylvania Dutch"), particularly to central and southeastern Pennsylvania. According to the custom, should a groundhog see its shadow on February 2, then the bright sunshine scares the animal into returning to its burrow for six more weeks of Winter weather. However, should the groundhog not see its shadow on that day, the cloudy weather leads the criter to believe the weather has moderated, and shelter is no longer necessary.

The greatest celebration of Groundhog Day, today, is in the small town of Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania, located about 90 miles northeast of Pittsburgh. As many as 40,000 people have been known to come on February 2 to see if Punxsutawney Phil will see his shadow, often including many students from the relatively close main campus of the Pennsylvania State University.

Along with Halloween (Oct. 31, Nov. 1, 2) and May Day (May 1), Groundhog Day is the best known of the cross-quarter days. Halloween ("All Hallows Eve") is actually the eve of All-Saints Day followed by All-Souls Day, while in modern times May Day has been observed as an International Labor Day in many countries around the world. The least known cross-quarter day, known as Lammas Day and also as Lughnasadh Day, falls on August 1.

As previously mentioned, some ancient societies considered February 1 as the beginning of Spring, when the amount of time of daylight becomes significant, compared to the Winter Solstice. While others insisted that Spring does not start until the Vernal Equinox, when the hours of daylight equal, and then begin to exceed, the amount of darkness of the day.

Some explain Groundhog Day as a way to accommodate the two rival calendrical systems. Some years Spring begins at Imbolc (when the groundhog does not see his shadow), while other years (when the groundhog does see his shadow) Spring does not begin until the Vernal Equinox!

Special Thanks: Eric G. Canali, former Floor Manager of Pittsburgh's original Buhl Planetarium and Institute of Popular Science and Founder of the South Hills Backyard Astronomers amateur astronomy club.

Source: Glenn A. Walsh, Reporting for SpaceWatchtower, a project of Friends of the Zeiss.

Thursday, February 27, 2014

2014: 75th Year of Pittsburgh's Buhl Planetarium

Monday, February 24, 2014

2014: 75th Year of Pittsburgh's Buhl Planetarium

Saturday, February 22, 2014

2014: 75th Year of Pittsburgh's Buhl Planetarium

Thursday, February 20, 2014

Presidents' Day: The Astronomy President (2014 Feb. 17) ---

Regarding John Quincy Adams' role in creating the Smithsonian Institution:

Link >>> http://spacewatchtower.blogspot.com/2014/02/presidents-day-astronomy-president.html

Telstar Satellite Accidentally "Nuked" 50 Years Ago (2012 July 12):

Link >>> http://spacewatchtower.blogspot.com/2012/07/how-u.html

2014: 75th Year of Pittsburgh's Buhl Planetarium

Monday, February 17, 2014

On the occasion of Presidents' Day we pause to reflect on the actions of John Quincy Adams. His role in establishing observatories during our nation’s early history played a crucial role in the cultivation of American Astronomy.

Centennial: New Allegheny Observatory Dedication (2012 Aug. 28):

Link >>> http://spacewatchtower.blogspot.com/2012/08/centennial-new-allegheny-observatory.html

Pittsburgh's Allegheny Observatory History Video Now Available (2012 July 25):

Link >>> http://spacewatchtower.blogspot.com/2012/07/pittsburghs-allegheny-observatory.html

Pittsburgh's Allegheny Observatory: New History Film (2012 April 19}:

Link >>> http://spacewatchtower.blogspot.com/2012/04/pittsburghs-allegheny-observatory-new.html

2014: 75th Year of Pittsburgh's Buhl Planetarium

Saturday, February 15, 2014

2014: 75th Year of Pittsburgh's Buhl Planetarium

Friday, February 14, 2014

Jan. 30: Solar Eclipse Only Visible From Outer Space (2014 Jan. 30):

Link >>> http://spacewatchtower.blogspot.com/2014/01/jan-30-solar-eclipse-only-visible-from.html

2014: 75th Year of Pittsburgh's Buhl Planetarium

Tuesday, February 11, 2014

2014: 75th Year of Pittsburgh's Buhl Planetarium

Saturday, February 8, 2014

Buhl Planetarium celebrates 75th birthday

2014: 75th Year of Pittsburgh's Buhl Planetarium

Thursday, February 6, 2014

2014: 75th Year of Pittsburgh's Buhl Planetarium

Tuesday, February 4, 2014

Astronomical Calendar: 2014 February (2014 Feb. 1):

Link >>> http://spacewatchtower.blogspot.com/2014/02/astronomical-calendar-2014-february.html

Winter Begins Sat.; Ursid Meteor Shower Peaks Sun. w/ Web-Cast (2013 Dec. 21):

Link >>> http://spacewatchtower.blogspot.com/2013/12/winter-begins-sat-ursid-meteor-shower.html

Astronomical Mid-Point of Summer (2013 July 30):

Link >>> http://spacewatchtower.blogspot.com/2013/07/astronomical-mid-point-of-summer.html

2014: 75th Year of Pittsburgh's Buhl Planetarium