Manager Of New MOSI Planetarium Relishes Life With Stars

Steve Nipper made his living as a computer programmer, banker and insurance agency owner, but he's dreamed of the stars since he bought a dime-store telescope as a boy.

"You couldn't see much with it," he said, "but you could see the craters on the moon, you could see the rings of Saturn, you could see the color bands and the four Galilean moons around Jupiter, and I've been hooked ever since."

Now, as manager of the new $1.173 million Saunders Planetarium at the Museum of Science & Industry, Nipper says he's as happy as a kid.

At the grand opening Saturday, the public will get its first look at Nipper's fabulous new toy: a $500,000 Chronos Space Simulator that can display the heavens from any place on Earth at any time up to 100,000 years ago and 100,000 years into the future. Hillsborough County Administrator Pat Bean and other dignitaries will cut the ribbon Friday during an invitation-only ceremony.

The Chronos replaces a 45-year-old projector donated by the University of South Florida 16 years ago. Able to show 2,500 stars, the old equipment enlightened 700,000 visitors over the lifetime of the original planetarium. The new projector, made by the Japanese firm Goto, can display pinpoint images of 8,500 stars.

"It is the nicest projected star field I've ever seen," says Nipper, who has a master's degree in astrophysics. He came to work for MOSI in August.

The Chronos operates out of a new planetarium in the Kids In Charge! Children's Science Center. It has 48 plush seats for stargazers attending its daily shows. The planetarium visit is included in the price of admission, and people will be seated on a first-come, first-served basis, MOSI spokeswoman Shani Jefferson said.

The shows will have space themes, such as how a solar eclipse would look to future humans living on the moon, and images from the Chronos projector.

Nipper can show how the night sky looks to people in Tampa complete with the light pollution. In the west, we can see Saturn lining up almost directly above Mars, which is almost above Regulus, the brightest star in the constellation Leo. Rising Jupiter is the brightest object in the eastern sky.

Take away the light pollution and thousands more stars are visible. It's so disorienting, Nipper says, that he and other show directors sometimes have to add the light pollution again to get their bearings.

He can show the line of the celestial equator and add the elliptic that the planets follow in their path around the sun. He can superimpose the signs of the zodiac over the star patterns that represent them, so visitors can pick out Leo, Scorpio and other constellations.

The constant, it seems, is Polaris, the North Star, but it really isn't a constant. The Earth wobbles like a top in its spin, he says, but it takes 26,000 years to wobble once. So, in 12,000 years, the celestial North Pole will be far removed from Polaris. The main north star then will be Vega, in the constellation Lyra.

For those who want to see the real thing, and not just a projected image, MOSI holds Sky Watch Saturday. At the free event, the public is invited to inspect the heavens through telescopes. The next one is 8 to 10 p.m. Saturday near the butterfly garden in the plaza near the main building. It gets canceled if it's raining or if clouds obstruct the view.

Nipper insists that even the most spectacular picture of, say, Jupiter, cannot match the experience of viewing live through a telescope.

"Once you look at it with your own eyes, it's just different," he says. "It has more impact on you."