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Show Planetarium's historic facade hides latest in star projectors .. " .... ' I J " o , 1 ill is I I! H I ' Z"- ft H nUfiH i lK n't -1 by Robin Moench The Hansen Planetarium is housed in a registered historic landmark near the Hotel Utah in Salt Lake. It was built at the turn of the century and first served as the city's free library. A spherical fountain between curved staircases and rows of tulips and daffodils give the building's entry a Victorian serenity. But inside, the planetarium's centerpiece a computerized star projector, one of just a pair now existing in the world is as modern as Madonna. DIGISTAR is a computer graphics system that can show the viewer the star field as seen from deep in space as well as from the surface of the earth. Stars, planets, galaxies and original graphics (we'll get to him in a minute) are projected onto the planetarium's broad dome through a fisheye lens. We happened into a half-priced Saturday afternoon star program designed for children ages nine and over and their parents. Called "Adventures along the Spectrum," it's accompanied by music and a running monologue from astronomereducator astrono-mereducator Ruth Lynch. And there's also pre-recorded dialogue with that original graphic we mentioned. His name is Professor Photon. And to the delight of Cub Scout Den 243 and a crowd of kids and grownups gathered that day in the auditorium's comfortable, neck-supporting neck-supporting seats, the animated character with bright red hair wore tennis shoes and was appropriately absent-minded. He also knew how to explain a complex subject visible and invisible in-visible light and the energy spectrum with straightforward examples ex-amples and in simple language. The cartoon scholar explained that "there is more to light than meets the eye." For one thing, all the light that exists doesn't meet the eye at all. Some of its is invisible. Light is described in wavelenghts, he said, because it moves the same way waves move on water and is measured from crest to crest. Some light travels in wavelengths that are white movies whose dialogue included the word cozy ("Cozy little place you got here" was the phrase that turned up most frequently). And the Dr. Pepper commercial that gives another version of the Hunchback of Notre Dame story was a variation on nostalgic old themes. In this one, instead of water, Quasimodo is given a bottle of the fizzy elixir. The actor who played the hunchback won for best male performer. Best female performer was the celebrated "Where's the Beef?" lady from Wendy's fluffy-bun fluffy-bun commercial. Among the international award-winners award-winners were Coca Cola's "Olympic Dance" commercial, "A Busy Day" in the life of a pair of Lee jeans and an Indiana Jones takeoff for England's Wright's Coal Tar Soap. Perhaps the best entry was in the tobacco category, from England: Grandee Cigars presents the Prisoner of Zenda in a lavish production that includes an imposter and an assassination. If you have time to browse, the Hansen also has a library (non-lending) with 3,000 books on space science. And two floors of exhibits include a chunk of moon rock, a photo montage of the equator area of Mars as viewed from space and a 3-D display of the moon's surface. A Foucault pendulum swings from the building's apex, proving that the earth spins. I For adults, laser light shows are f scheduled at 9 and 10 :15 on weekend nights. The Beatles are featured now, and they'll be followed soon by Led Zeppelin. "Laserock Platinum: j Laserium's Greatest Hits" is an j ongoing show. J The adult star program, "Journey j with DIGISTAR," is 15 minutes longer than the shows for youngsters I and is billed as a trip through the known universe. Astronomy Day is April 27, and to celebrate its 12 th anniversary, a special lecture and free daytime star shows will be held at the Hansen. For more information on star show schedules, special events and classes, call the planetarium at 538-2098. Man's reach into space is the theme of the Hansen Planetarium's new star show, "Journey with DIGISTAR: . From the Atom to the Edge of the Universe." shorter or longer than the wavelengths wave-lengths of the light we can see, he said. These go off the red end of the spectrum in one direction and off the violet end in the other. Among these invisible light waves are infrared, microwave, radio, radar, X-rays and gamma rays. The professor, with the help of Lynch, uses everything from a speeding ticket to an upright piano and a dive into a pool to illustrate the different kinds of light and their uses. Following most star shows, Clio Award-winning television commercials commer-cials from around the world are shown in a 45-minute show on the dome. (Clio or Kleo is one of the nine muses of Greek mythology. She's "the proclaimer, glorifier, and celebrator of history, great deeds, and accomplishments," according to the Hansen's program notes.) The Clios are the Oscars of the advertising world and the winners are selected by a panel of 1,000 judges. More than 17,000 commercials commer-cials representing 44 countries were entered in the competition this year. The first half of the program shows the United States' winners, the second half is an international roster. A few of the ads used old film snippets to get the point across. For instance, a commercial for KOZY TV used clips from '40s-era black-and- |