Canopus Portable Planetarium System
MMI Corporation 2950 Wyman Parkway PO Box 19907 Baltimore, MD 21211 USA Phone 410-366-1222 Fax 410-366-6311
[email protected] www.mmicorporation.com
Delivering astronomy and space science to students of all ages.
The CANOPUS PORTABLE PLANETARIUM SYSTEM by MMI Corporation presents the grandeur of the night sky at a very affordable price. price. Unlike large municipal municipal planetariums, planetariums, many of which focus on vacuous entertainment, the Canopus portable planetarium is a valuable educational tool, geared to the teaching of the basics of astronomy for students of all ages. Further, a portable planetarium planetarium can serve the needs of an entire school district and, being transportable, can be carried to nearby schools or community centers for use by teachers, students, and astronomy enthusiasts. Your school district could even make the equipment available on a loan or rental basis to Scout Troops, Boys & Girls Clubs, YMCA, etc. The CANOPUS’ sturdy design ensures years of memorable education benefits to literally thousands of students in your school district and your community with an extremely favorable cost per student ratio!
If you do not have an astronomy specialist on your staff, not to worry! Your MMI portable planetarium comes complete with operating manuals for both the dome and the projector, as well as our exclusive PORTABLE PLANETARIUM TEACHER’S GUIDE AND ACTIVITY SAMPLER, a 100 page book for portable planetarium users. The Teacher’s Guide makes it easy to understand and operate the equipment and is full of educational activities for both planetarium and subsequent classroom
STAR PROJECTOR
The CANOPUS projector is the product of an extensive design, development, and construction. The result is an advanced, effective, and complete portable planetarium offering excellent benefits CHARACTERISTICS
• Two hemisphere platforms platforms with synchronous synchronous movement. • Operates with 110/220 volts volts and a totally integrated elecelectronic circuit. • 12 volt diurnal movement motor to simulate simulate terrestrial rotation rotation - 1 turn every 5 minutes • Brightness controls controls for stars, environmental lights, lights, and the Milky Way. • Stars are projected through through pin holes with halogen halogen micro bulbs. • Graduated circle circle for terrestrial latitude latitude and right ascension. • Projects 2,750 stars (down (down to magnitude magnitude 5.45) • Four special special lenses project the brightest stars: Sirius, Canopus, Alpha Centauri and Arcturus. • Star cylinders also project project 6 special bright stars in in colors as follows: Rigel (blue) Aldebaran (red) Spica (blue)
Antares (red) Betelgeuse (red) Achernar (blue)
• Displays 13 naked eye objects: galaxies, nebulae, star clusters, and both Magellanic clouds. • The Milky Way is independent independent from the stars. stars. • Hand - held constellation constellation projector with 12 mythological mythological figures. • The 5 naked naked eye planets. planets. • The Sun and the Moon Moon with its phases. phases. • A comet can be placed placed anywhere on the the dome. • A wooden cabinet covered outside with Cuerina (a leather simulated cloth) and inside with cloth similar to s uede. Its borders and edges are protected. • Measures 25 x 27 x 21 inches and and weighs 43 pounds. pounds.
PROJECTION CYLINDERS
The cylinders, which act as projection frames, are constructed of materials quite similar to Celluloid. The stars and other sky objects are part of the cylinder. Illumination Illumination is accomplished by the use of light bulbs inside the cylinders - the standard type system for this class of planetarium planetarium.. STAR CYLINDER SPECIFICATION SPECIFICATIONS S
Canopus star cylinders are manually created and digitized into our special design program. Two important considerations were placed into our system: (1) correct magnitudes and (2) compensa tion for image image deviation near the the edges of the cylinders. cylinders. It is important to note that these factors are not always included in competitive systems. Because Canopus believes their inclusion is a necessity, our stars is projected with the correct magnitude. The result is that Canopus provides the finest and most authentic representation of the night sky. Because Earth’s northern and southern hemispheres are separated by our planet’s equator, we have placed the stars in each hemisphere on two projector platforms. The advantage of this sys tem is that the viewer viewer sees all of the the stars, in both hemispheres, hemispheres, and at the same time.
This is accomplished without the need to change cylinders in order to view both hemispheres. hemispheres. There are no visible elements or supports to interfere with the sky image - allowing one to project the Milky Way with or without stars. To produce a realistic projection, Canopus projectors utilize four special lenses displaying the brightest stars: Sirius, Canopus, Alpha Centauri, and Arcturus, all accomplished without the need of increasing the artificial diameter of the stars. The Canopus Star Projector projects 2,750 stars down to magni tude 5.45. It also projects 13 naked eye objects: galaxies, nebulae, star clus ters and Large and Small Small Magellanic Magellanic clouds.
HAND-HELD CONSTELLATION PROJECTOR
The CANOPUS projector comes with a hand-held constellation constellation projector. It is similar to a flashlight that uses special slides with 12 figures: Orion, Lepus, Taurus, Canis Major, Gemini, Scorpius, Cygnus, Crux, Leo, Hercules, Ursa Major, and Ursa Minor. The images are projected on the star field by the hand projector with its power source on the control panel. Eight additional constellations may be purchased: Sagittarius, Sagittarius, Libra, Cassiopeia, Cancer, Draco, Corona Australis, Cepheus, and Canis Minor.
ATTACHED PROJECTIONS PROJECTIONS
The CANOPUS projector incorporates independent projections of the 5 naked eye planets: Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn. They are seen as viewed through a telescope: Venus with its phases, Mars with its polar caps, Jupiter with its cloud belts and Great Red Spot, and Saturn with its rings. The Sun and the Moon are projected phases. A comet can be projected any place on the dome. These views are done with small magnetic slides installed in the projector that are projected near the celestial equator.
MILKY WAY PROJECTOR
The CANOPUS Milky Way Projector displays that great white band in the night sky made up of millions of stars and stretching from horizon to horizon. This visible portion of our home galaxy is usually seen only far from urban centers. Our Milky Way Projector system is made up of four individual projectors with two for each hemisphere. Because they are completely adjusted before leaving the factory, no additional adjustment or alignment is ever necessary. You will be pleased to discover that our projected images offer a faithful representation of the Milky Way. The great advantage of having a Milky Way projector independent of a star projector is that it is can be utilized only when the operator requires it for the program. program. Another benefit is that the brilliance of the Milky Way image is controlled with a variable dial. This allows any desired amount of brightness from a dim to brilliant. The CANOPUS Milky Way Projector is one of the few systems available anywhere in the world that is totally independent of a planetarium star projector.
MMI DOMES
The MMI dome is an inflatable dome measuring 5 or 6 meters in diameter. It is inflated by a three-speed fan that continuously blows air into its interior interior.. To enter and exit, the highest blowing speed is used to compensate for air that is lost. Once the audience is inside, the fan’ fan’ss speed is reduced to its lowest speed to maintain a quiet, continuous airflow that keeps the dome inflated and the interior comfortably ventilated. The dome fabric is a blackout type with fire retardant treatment. Its complete opacity ensures optimum darkness and thus the best sky possible, regardless of the lighting outside the dome. Entrance to the dome is quick, comfortable and safe. The two meter high entrance is easily opened and closed with a doublesided, easy to grasp zipper. Since the dome does not have a floor, floor, emergency evacuation is instantaneously and safely achieved by simply lifting the dome over the audience’s heads and to one side, exposing the interior in seconds. The dome is remarkably lightweight with only 22 Kg. (50 lbs) for the 5 meters one, it can be transported by one person. Once folded, the dome fits neatly in the provided carry bag. The exterior color of the dome is blue. Our company name and data are never visibly printed on our domes.
