The Shorthorn - Upgraded planetarium projector will boast 3-D function, state-of-the-art features

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Upgraded planetarium projector will boast 3-D function, state-of-the-art features

Written by Justin Sharp, The Shorthorn staff

Wednesday, 03 February 2010 07:58 PM

Planetarium Director, Levent Gurdemir coordinates planetarium shows and researches extra-solar planets also known as �Hot Jupiters�. (The Shorthorn: Raziq Brown)

Personnel in the Planeterium are waiting to install a final software update during spring break, which would have 3-D functions.

The upgrade for Digistar 4, the planetarium’s projection system, costs roughly half a million dollars.

Once the software patch is installed this spring, the projectors will provide not only brighter and sharper pictures, but 3-D and interactive functions.

“After the final patch is installed, one of the features will be driving the planetarium screen like a spaceship on a virtual tour of the solar system,” Planetarium Director Levent Gurdemir said.

The upgrade won’t be complete until the final software patch, which will be available March 19.

The university’s planetarium system is currently the most advanced and expensive in the state of Texas and will be the first to use the newest Digistar 4 technology.

“In general, the Digistar 4 technology is far superior to the old light bulb in a room,” physics graduate student Ian Howley said.

Howley said it is a great new tool but he cautions that technology shouldn’t be too heavily relied upon.

“It’s important not to lose the personal side of the planetarium experience,” he said.

Gurdemir expects it to have a role in UTA’s college town initiative.

“It will be an important attraction for the future downtown Arlington,” he said.

Physics Chair Alexander Weiss was one of the early advocates for the Planetarium to be built in the Chemistry and Physics Building and was supportive of acquiring the new technology.

“I think it was an important upgrade,” he said. “There’s a big difference in the quality from the original digital technology.”

In addition to shows for the community, the Planetarium is used to create original content for new shows based on current scientific data.

Two grants from NASA have been awarded for the creation of new content.

“That’s part of our mission, to get knowledge into the public’s hands, to the citizens of the state of Texas,” Weiss said.

The planetarium is an attraction for the Arlington community, and the addition of the new technology could draw people who have not yet attended viewings, like interdisciplinary studies junior Thomas Ketchersid.

“I’d probably go anyway, but it sounds like an interesting and new way of seeing the Solar System,” he said.
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Last Updated ( Wednesday, 03 February 2010 08:03 PM )

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