TWENTY-FOUR YEARS IN AN HOUR

Evening Star, Issue 19062, 3 October 1925, Page 18

TWENTY-FOUR YEARS IN AN HOUR

“ BAY'S " FLIGHT THROUGH STARLAHD THE MAGIC PLANETARIUM '■ A well-known London theatrical manager is negotiating with the famous Carl Zoiss Company, or Jena, Germany, for the purchase of a Planetarium for London. At present there are only two of these marvellous inventions in the world, and a ‘Daily Chronicle correspondent describes a visit to the original model on the roof of the Zeiss works. In a dark theatre under a blackened dome he then witnessed an illusion which he describes as the “ eighth wonder of the world. In the hour’s performance the audience “ lived ” through an astronomical period of twenty-four years. In a “ day ” which took only four and a-half minutes to pass, the progressions of the heavenly bodies sun, moon, stars, and sunrise and sunset—were shown in magical fashion. It appears probable that within the next twelve months Londoners will bo able to see the remarkable scientific ilhiy gion which has set all Germany talkpresent there are only two planotariums in the world—one at Munich and the original model still on the roo. of the Zeiss works at Jena. The Munich instrument is possessed by tbe city, and the Zeiss Company has steadfastly declined to allow any private enterprise to handle the invention In Germany. .. • ... So far eleven German cities, including Hamburg, have ordered planetarhinis. These are now being made, and delivery will start early nest >oar, i As the orders are executed in rotation, London is not likely to get one before jnext spring. The planetarium really has its origin in Munich. TwelVe years ago tno Munich Museum set the Zeiss experts the task of displaying the stars mechanically. The Zoiss idea of a big dome on the inside of which the heavens could be depicted with the aid of a complicated magic lantern took shape after the war. It took five years to make the mathematical and theoretical calculations. Then the slides and special lens were made, and the first instrument, assembled and displayed last year. The illusion produced simply makes one gasp. It is an eighth wonder of the world. I joined the long queue of holidaymakers before tho dome-shaped building on the roof of the Zeiss works. The audience included several Japanese and a company of Swedish visitors, as well as Gormans. WHEN IT WAS DARK. Wo passed into the dome and sat on chairs arranged in circles round the instrument in the middle. The doors were closed, and it was pitch dark. A lecturer explained that wo would have to sit in the darkness a short time to enable our eyes to see stars of the sixth magnitude—or, as be added, “ to see what is equivalent to a candle light six miles away.” One presently perceived that the dome was bounded by an artificial horizon, a black replica of the hills around Jena itself, DAY OE FOUR AND A-HALP. MINUTES. Suddenly the sun and the moon and the planets Venus, Saturn, Mars, Jupiter, and Mercury rose from the -horizon and glided across the artificial sky. The planets were ail enlarged and the sun had a diffused halo round it. As the snn rose tho black dome assumed the appearance of a blue sky, and as it set it was night again. The entire “ day ” of twenty-four hours took four and a-hnlf minutes to pass by. As the days passed, one clearly saw tho moon changing its phases from new moon to full moon. STOP THE EARTH. In order to show the astonishing movements of these planets in relatiou to each other, the “ day ” was gradually speeded up until it lasted a fraction of a second. A “year”- was passed in seven seconds. Tho sun and the moon flashed across the sky like streaks of lightning, while the other planets performed their amazingly intricate motions in the heavens. Some of them looped tho loop in the course of their career. Members of the audience became dizzy and appealed to the operators to '“stop the earth.” WONDER MACHINE. The top consists of a spherical shell of gunmetal with a powerful lamp in the centre. There are thirty-one projection lenses mounted on the sphere, and. in each lens are tiny lantern slides bearing star maps. The thirty-one slides form a continuous picture of the stars when cast on the dome as the sphere automatically revolves. The cylinder on the right side of the instrument contains the projectors of the planets. Each projector in the cylinder moves separately, but by means of an ingenious system of cog wheels and gearing_ tho planets appear building the dome in their actual relations. The planetarium has brought so many visitors to Jena that tho municipality has ordered one and has built a special dome for it in the Princess Gardens. It is hoped to open the building and use tho present Zeiss roof Instrument in it this month. It had boon tho hope of the German directors that London University, tho Royal Society, or some British public institution would buy and introduce the planetarium to England. Tho price for the erection of tho theatredomo and the instrument is about £25,000.