The Ott Planetarium is a planetarium at

Weber State University Weber State University (pronounced ) is a public university in Ogden, Utah. It was founded in 1889 as Weber Stake Academy. It is accredited by the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities. History Weber State University was founded ...

in Ogden, Utah, USA. The facility is named for Layton P. Ott and the Ott family. The planetarium is operated by university students and is a place of learning for audiences and staff alike.

The Facility

The Ott Planetarium star

theater Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actors or actresses, to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a stage. The perform ...

seats 60 persons under a 9.1 meter (30 foot) diameter perforated

aluminum Aluminium (aluminum in American and Canadian English) is a chemical element with the symbol Al and atomic number 13. Aluminium has a density lower than those of other common metals, at approximately one third that of steel. It ha ...

dome. Images and video are projected onto the dome with a single projector located in the center of the room. The star theater is equipped with 5.1 channel

surround sound Surround sound is a technique for enriching the fidelity and depth of sound reproduction by using multiple audio channels from speakers that surround the listener (surround channels). Its first application was in movie theaters. Prior to s ...

. In December 2004 the Ott Planetarium upgraded its main projection system from a 1969 Spitz A4 to
Konica Minolta Mediaglobe

fulldome video Fulldome refers to immersive dome-based video display environments. The dome, horizontal or tilted, is filled with real-time (interactive) or pre-rendered (linear) computer animations, live capture images, or composited environments. Although ...

system. The Mediaglobe upgrade replaced the star projector and over 30 slide and special effects projectors. Shortly after the Mediaglobe upgrade, planetarium staff began producing original content in the new digital format. In 2006 the planetarium received a $1 Million U.S. Congressional Earmark to fund the development of educational programs. Part of this grant was used to purchase a 128 CPU render cluster and workstations for star show production.

Star Shows

The Ott Planetarium offers star shows to the public through its public events program. The planetarium is a popular

field trip A field trip or excursion is a journey by a group of people to a place away from their normal environment. When done for students, as it happens in several school systems, it is also known as school trip in the UK, Australia, New Zealand an ...

destination - the star theater can be reserved for classes, groups, family outings, Boy Scouts and

Girl Scout Girl Guides (known as Girl Scouts in the United States and some other countries) is a worldwide movement, originally and largely still designed for girls and women only. The movement began in 1909 when girls requested to join the then-grassroot ...

s. The Ott Planetarium serves over 20,000 people per year through field trips, public nights, and other public programs.

Original Productions

The Ott Planetarium produces original

fulldome Fulldome refers to immersive dome-based video display environments. The dome, horizontal or tilted, is filled with real-time (interactive) or pre-rendered (linear) computer animations, live capture images, or composited environments. Although t ...

content with a stated commitment to scientific accuracy and educational effectiveness. Astro Otters and Astro Otters Jr. are module-based astronomy education programs. The population and sequence of these modules can be altered to meet the astronomy curriculum requirements of states or provinces. The Astro Otters program modules were produced with

Blender 3D Blender is a free and open-source 3D computer graphics software tool set used for creating animated films, visual effects, art, 3D-printed models, motion graphics, interactive 3D applications, virtual reality, and, formerly, video games. Blende ...

. Cosmic Journey features images from NASA's Great Observatories, including the

Hubble Space Telescope The Hubble Space Telescope (often referred to as HST or Hubble) is a space telescope that was launched into low Earth orbit in 1990 and remains in operation. It was not the first space telescope, but it is one of the largest and most vers ...

and the Spitzer Space Telescope. The show is narrated by astrophysicist, Dr. Stacy Palen. Cosmic Journey was produced with

and uses a 3D adaptation of the

Ken Burns Effect The Ken Burns effect is a type of panning and zooming effect used in film and video production from still imagery. The name derives from extensive use of the technique by American documentarian Ken Burns. This technique had also been used to prod ...

References

External links

Ott Planetarium Website

A List of Original Productions

Astronomy in the K–8 Core Curriculum: A Survey of State Requirements Nationwide (Astronomy Education Review, 28 August 2006, Volume 5, Issue 1)
{{Weber State University Buildings and structures in Ogden, Utah Planetaria in the United States Weber State University Science museums in Utah Tourist attractions in Ogden, Utah Museums in Weber County, Utah