GRIFFIN September 2026

September 2026 • CWEA GRIFFIN • 15 Central West End resident David Strom visited the James S. McDonnell Planetarium in Forest Park on July 18, the day it reopened to the public after a 6-month technological up- grade. Here is his review. “If you happen to see the IMAX version of The Odyssey, you might have gotten a ticket to our local venue at the St. Louis Science Center. But a bigger opening day event was happening at the other end of the complex in its Planetarium, which re-opened today with new projec- tion equipment after being closed for several months. “It was a big $2.5 million tech upgrade that puts the Planetarium in the top spot for a variety of reasons: the size of its 80-foot dome (bigger than Hayden’s dome, I might add), higher-resolution equipment (com- ing from not one but two different projectors), and some stunning real-time data visualization connec- tions. As someone who is a profes- sional speaker and former classroom teacher, I was envious of all the tech, and how the presenters were able to showcase its capabilities. I spent the morning watching the two sky shows and talking to the staff about the gear they are using. “The two projectors are the GOTO Chiron III Hybrid Star Projector and the Cosm Digistar system. The GOTO is the fourth projec- tor to be put into service since the Planetarium began its shows in the early 1960s, when an earlier GOTO projector was first deployed. The Chiron III is one of only 20 such units around the world, and the only one being used in North America. It offers a compact unit that can proj- ect both star color and brightness using fiber optic LEDs. It draws on data from billions of stars, including reproducing the entire Milky Way structures and all 9,500 stars that can be seen with a naked eye in the darkest skies. (The Centene Founda- tion, headed by former CWE resi- dent Keith Williamson, is the major funder of projector improvements.) “I was fascinated with the system, and its quality was enough to elicit wows from the audiences when I saw it show its stuff. Museum staff predicted a ‘next generation experience’ and I would claim this undersells things somewhat. Part of that fascination originates from when I first saw the Milky Way as a teenager when I took a trip out to the eastern end of Long Island to see a darker sky. “But the real wow element was being able to look down at the earth in addition to looking up at the stars. This is because the museum will be moving data across a 1GB internet feed to be able to process a wide variety of planetary data at near-re- al-time speeds and project it across its dome. We got to see the effect of the smoke plumes from Canadian wildfires as they headed out across the Atlantic, the pattern of the Gulf Stream as it made its way up the eastern US coast, and the pattern of 10,000 satellites as they orbited the Earth, zooming in on their orbital tracks. The visualization was incom- plete, however: the museum staff hadn’t yet put all the 3D pictures of satellites in their show and used a picture of Sputnik as a placeholder: a nice nod to history. “The planetarium has the first installation of a STL-area public Auracast hearing system, which my Bluetooth hearing aids picked up quite easily to augment the audio being broadcast in the dome. “Speaking of child-based expe- riences, the current museum chief executive officer credits his first visit to the planetarium as a child that led toward his physics doctorate. It also led toward my trying out being a physics undergrad for about my first three weeks of college — but I am glad that I made it for opening day. Now, a typical opening day in St. Louis usually involves a trip to the ballpark in the spring. But that pales by comparison when you can see the universe up close and in new ways. Get yourself down to the Science Center and see one of the two sky shows for yourself. The museum is free to see its exhibits, and the shows are well worth the six bucks too!” James S. McDonnell Planetarium at the St. Louis Science Center in Forest Park, 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Closed on Tuesdays. Technically Speaking: A Review of the Upgraded Planetarium Projector