Putting cows on the front page since 1885.
Putting cows on the front page since 1885.
Amy Gray (left) and her daughter Destiny, 12, head down the steps to the Hollidaysburg Area High School Planetarium for the live Zodiac show on Thursday, April 18, admiring the murals along the way. This was their first show at the planetarium and they just purchased a telescope. Destiny is studying constellations in the sixth grade at Penn Cambria, Cresson.
The new Hollidaysburg Area High School (HAHS) Planetarium became a time machine on Thursday, April 18, catapulting a captivated audience 4,000 years back in time.
Guided by Fred Marshak, planetarium volunteer assistant, astronomy and astrology fans watched as the April sky shifted to what earthlings would have seen in 1983 B.C.
Marshak, a retired HAHS Astronomy teacher, in this first live show in the new planetarium, demonstrated how different the placement was of well-recognized constellations when astrologists first identified Orion, Pisces and the other zodiac symbols. He also turned off the moon to allow better sighting of the stars being discussed in this 45-minute live presentation.
Viewing Castor and Pollux, the Gemini Twins constellations, up close showed that Castor is a binary star. There are actually two stars, Castor A and Castor B; B circles Castor A in a 500-year orbit. Castor A is a blue star, while Pollux appears orange, indicating the age of each star. Blue stars are younger while reddish orange stars are aging. Two other zodiac constellations, Leo the Lion and Cancer the Crab, were also visited.
Marshak, along with Rick Imler, current HAHS astronomy teacher, presented two other shows on Thursday. The first was a repeat from the planetarium opening premier in August 2018, "Incoming," a full dome show about meteors and comets striking the Earth. The final show of the evening, "Two Small Pieces of Glass," premiered a new full dome planetarium show about Galileo and his observations about the universe through a telescope.
Since that August premier, after raising more than $200,000 for a 21st-century projection system, the planetarium is used for three classes daily taught by Imler. Every elementary grade in the Hollidaysburg district will have visited the planetarium for a show this school year.
"People are still asking about it. They are still coming to every new show. Word is spreading with more people learning that the planetarium is new," Marshak said. "We have a growing community outside the Hollidaysburg area with people coming from State College and Tyrone and surrounding areas."
More live shows are being planned in addition to the full dome movie shows. If you missed the April Zodiac presentation, visit astroprof.com for May show dates and times.
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