The Calusa Planetarium, Fort Myers, Florida
A Look into the Universe, from a Natural Perspective
Aug 17, 2008
In Fort Myers, Florida, there is a rather eclectic location, the Calusa Nature Center and Planetarium, at 3450 Ortiz Ave in Fort Myers. On seeing the sign, a nature center and a planetarium appear to be odd bedfellows. The nature center promotes both learning and quiet reflection. This is described in a companion article, Calusa Nature Center.
Planetarium & Nature Center, Together?
Contemplating a planetarium brings about many other initial thoughts. Examples of these thoughts are: powerful Saturn moon rockets, Apollo spacecraft, robot explorers, space stations, the Hubble telescope, great collections of radio telescopes searching for extra terrestrial intelligence, and the highest of high technology are all things that come to mind with the word planetarium. The combination of these with a butterfly house and natural walking paths seems curious, but in truth, the planetarium and nature center are complimentary.
The Star Ball
The planetarium is much like a movie theater, something like an I Max, with the whole curved ceiling being the night sky. There are a variety of planetarium technologies available. The Calusa planetarium utilizes the star ball technology. Their precision-engineered star ball combines optical and electro-mechanical technology to provide an accurate relative motion of the sky. This technology can be set to display the sky at any point in time, past or present, and to show the night sky as it would appear from any point of latitude on Earth.
Planetarium Shows
The Calusa planetarium puts on a show every day at 2:00 PM. The shows cover a multitude of topics and vary from day to day. Most recently the topics covered include:
- Nine Planets and Counting. This gives an overview of how planets are defined (larger than an asteroid, mostly round), and a description of the various celestial bodies that revolve around our own sun. Including why some may harbor life and the controversy over Pluto’s status as a planet.
- Skies Over Southwest Florida. This shows visitors the sky in Florida and where to look in the sky for various stars and planets.
- Ring World. The Cassini-Huygens mission to the planet Saturn and its moons is featured in this presentation. This is a two-billion-mile odyssey to Saturn and its fascinating satellites A huge undertaking, The Cassini-Huygens Mission to the Saturnian system is a multinational cooperation between three space agencies and 17 nations
- Grand Tour of the Solar System. This live sky talk is given by Astronomy Specialist and NASA/JPL Solar System Ambassador Carol Stewart, and educates on the sun’s corner of the Milky Way Galaxy showing the audience where and when to locate the five planets that can be found with the naked eye.
A Planetarium and Nature Center, Together? Of Course!!!
While the nature center gives you a sense of our world, its ecosystem and what we must do to protect it, the planetarium reminds you that we are part of a much vaster universe. Both promote contemplation and education, and actually about the same thing. The place of human beings on earth and earth’s place in the universe are innately related. This all happens in a single locale and for a single admission, at the Calusa Nature Center and Planetarium. .
 |
 |
 |
