September 20, 2019: Matt Linke (Planetarium Director). “The New U of M Museum of Natural History Planetarium.”
For many years the University of Michigan hosted a museum, known as the “Exhibit Museum,” in a building on the university’s central campus. In recent years, the name of the museum was changed to the “Museum of Natural History” and a decision was made to move collections within the museum to other locations. Somewhat later another decision was made to construct a new building which would house two university departments as well as a new space for the museum and a new planetarium. This building opened in April 2019.
The September 2019 meeting was held in the new planetarium. Matt Linke, director of the planetarium, talked about the design and construction of the planetarium, showing pictures he had taken at various stages of the construction. He then demonstrated the capabilities of the planetarium both for astronomical education and other fields. Night sky capabilities were demonstrated. Vantage points from different locations in space demonstrated views that could never be seen from earth. Some wide screen immersive videos were spectacular. He spoke lastly of some Great Lakes underwater theater programs that were in the process of being developed.
