More Than Meets The Eye

After telescope viewing sessions, how many times have you heard comments like these? "Yeah, I thought I saw something — but I'm not sure what it was I was supposed to see . . ." and "But I thought it was gonna look real big and colorful . . . that fuzzy blotch is all there is"?

Most planetarium programs show excellent images of planets and galaxies, taken from spacecraft or big observatories. Then, when people look at the real thing through a telescope or binoculars, they're understandably dismayed that what they see "isn't like in the planetarium".

Yet photographs taken through low-power instruments still look like photographs, not like what someone actually sees with the naked eye.

So artist Tim W. Kuzniar created original paintings depicting various planets and deep-sky objects as people can actually expect to see them using binoculars and four- or eight-inch telescopes. More Than Meets The Eye features that artwork, then compares the naked-eye views from our back yard (or planetarium parking lot) with observatory astrophotos and spacecraft images.

We briefly discuss the effects of atmospheric turbulence; that stars have different colors; and how only time exposures produce brilliant colors in galaxies and nebulae. The point is made that, although we don't see celestial objects in glorious color from our back yard, to know that a faint smudge is really a stellar city or a place where stars are born can spark the imagination, and make the search worthwhile.

More Than Meets The Eye includes winter, spring, and summer night-sky scenes, so something mentioned in the show will be prominent in the sky that night, no matter when you show it. If you don't have a local panorama scene already installed, the show includes a 3-section partial pan of a generic "backyard", and a single slide of the same artwork for use in a wide-angle-lens projector if you don't have a pan system. A "ripple wheel"-type special-effect to simulate a telescopic view with atmospheric turbulence is suggested, but not required.

More Than Meets The Eye will be a perennial favorite; a work-horse for your planetarium show schedule, and the perfect way to start out the evening's star party!

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In 1987, we originally produced this show as a 17-minute mini-program, NESS VIGNETTE #2, with 32 slides. In 1993, we expanded on the concept and created the 31-minute show, based on and including all the material from the old. We simply look at more objects (the ones in red above) in the longer version. On the More Than Meets The Eye CD, we provide both soundtracks, so you can program either one or both, whichever fits your schedule. The 1993 EXPANDED EDITION of More Than Meets The Eye was produced in cooperation with SPITZ, INC.

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