L'Hemisferic & Mueller Planetarium
Where can you see lasers in an already out-of-this-world location? In a Planetarium - that's where. And in a Science Center you find the latest in technology and science education.
ILDA member Science Centers and Planetaria present laser displays in a setting which encourages imagination, curiosity and learning.
These displays are located around the world in unique theaters
and applications, which range from the very large to more modest
and intimate surroundings. For those of us who work in planetaria,
we think the dome provides the most intriguing surface for laser
display.
The "wrap-around" nature of the dome immerses the audience
in laser images. Laser light shows date from the early 1970's
in planetaria located in large municipalities. But enterprising
planetarians started experimenting in many of their theaters with
low power HeNe lasers in even the most fundamental uses of laser
display because they recognized the unique appearance of laser
light.
With the formation of the International Laser Display Association, planetaria and science centers became aware of an organization with meetings, which one could attend to learn more about new technologies and techniques to make our laser shows better. The most constant factor in working with the public is change. Public audiences are affected by societal influences such as video games and large format films, which are more and more impacting general audiences. To present effective shows, which still draw large audiences to our Planetaria and Science Centers, we need to keep up with the technology, while doing so most efficiently and at lowest cost. ILDA meetings and publications present a great advantage to the Planetarian or Science Center member by being a place to learn (and grow from that knowledge). The adoption of the ILDA standard projector has also created great benefit by allowing Planetarium and Science Center locations to easily exchange show material. We could point out, for instance, that the Planetarium community has never been able to come to a consensus and establish standards for Planetarium program formats. We are proud to say that the laser display industry brings the idea of standards into reality - and may foster such an idea among Planetarians in other areas.
Our Planetaria and Science Centers are found across the globe. We have members from North America to Europe and hope soon to expand to the Pacific and Southern hemisphere. The excitement of laser displays in domed theaters stimulates audiences to wonder at great music like Pink Floyd presented in artistic interpretations. But more and more theaters are incorporating the unique vision of laser light for graphics and special effects, which help audiences learn about the universe. Laser display also plays a role in exhibits in science centers where the thrill of animation and spectacular lighting effects heighten audience participation.
ILDA-member Planetaria and Science Centers have pioneered in working with the visually impaired and designing unique applications for laser shows in their locations.
You can see some of the beautiful and unique theaters and locations which are members of ILDA on these pages. Below you can link to these locations for more information.
If you are a Planetarium director or staff member, or a person representing a Science Center which would like more information on joining ILDA, contact the ILDA Executive Director, Page Howard, at ILDADIRECT@aol.com . And for information on the Planetarium and Science Centers Committee, contact Jack Dunn (Mueller Planetarium - University of Nebraska State Museum) jdunn@spacelaser.com.
Astronaut Memorial Planetarium & Observatory
Brevard Community College, Cocoa, Florida, USA
http://www.brevard.cc.fl.us/~planet
Contact: Mark Howard
Email: howardM@brevard.cc.fl.us
Benedum Science Theater
Oglebay Resort and Conference Center, Wheeling, West Virginia,
USA
http://www.oglebay-resort.com/goodzoo/zoo1.htm#theater
and http://www.oglebay-resort.com/
Contact: Steven Mitch
E-mail: stargate@hgo.net
Bishop Planetarium
Bradenton, Florida, USA
http://www.sfmbp.com
Contact: George Fleenor
E-mail: jetson1959@aol.com
Buehler Planetarium
Broward Community College, Davie, Florida, USA
http://fs.broward.cc.fl.us/central/buehler
Contact: James Sullivan
E-mail: sullivan_j@popmail.firn.edu
C.A.C. - L'Hemisferic
Valencia, Spain
http://www.cac.es
Contact: Antonio Camarasa
hemisferic@cac.es
El Paso I.S.D. Planetarium
El Paso, Texas, USA
http://www.elpaso.k12.tx.us/ABT-D/plntrm.html
Contact: John R. Peterson
E-mail: jrp@WHC.NET
Europlanetarium V.Z.W.
Genk, Belgium
http://titan.glo.be/martin.s
and http://www.luc.ac.be:80/~fdaerden/planetarium.html
Contact: Chris Janssen
E-mail: planetar@skynet.be
Fiske Planetarium
Boulder, Colorado, USA
http://www.Colorado.EDU/fiske/
Contact: Bob Stoller
E-mail: stoller@spot.colorado.edu
Hummel Planetarium
Eastern Kentucky University, Richmond, Kentucky, USA
http://eagle.eku.edu/campus_tour/Buildings/hummel.html
Contact: Cory Anderson
E-mail: hplander@acs.edu.edu
Kountze Planetarium
Omaha, Nebraska, USA
http://www.physics.unomaha.edu/planet/
Contact: Chuck St. Lucas
E-mail: stlucas@cwis.unomaha.edu
Miami Space Transit Planetarium
Miami, Florida, USA
http://www.miamisci.org/www/eventsplan.html
Contact: Jack F. Horkheimer
E-mail: starhslr@starhustler.com
Mueller Planetarium
University of Nebraska State Museum - Lincoln, Nebr. - USA ,
http://www.spacelaser.com
Contact: Jack Dunn,
E-mail: jdunn@spacelaser.com
South Carolina State Museum
Columbia, South Carolina, USA
http://www.museum.state.sc.us/Science&Technology/index.htm
Contact: Jeff Guill
E-mail: guillj@museum.state.sc.us
Taylor Planetarium
Bozeman, Montana, USA
http://www.montana.edu/wwwmor/planetarium.html
Contact: Mike Murray
E-mail: ammmm@montana.edu
Technology Museum of Thessaloniki
Thessaloniki, Greece
http://uranus.ee.auth.gr/TMTh/
Contact N.A. Economou
E-mail: tmth@uranus.ee.auth.gr
Tycho Brahe Planetarium
Copenhagen, Denmark
http://www.tycho.dk/tychoeng.html
Contact: Lars Lindberg Christensen
E-mail: tycho@inet.uni-c.dk