In celebration of the International Year of Light (#IYOL15, #ROCtheIYOL), NYPhotonics member Navitar sponsored the donation of 2500 polarizing slides for the upcoming “Wonders of Orion” planetarium show at the Rochester Museum and Science Center’s Strasenburgh Planetarium. Navitar, Inc. supplies custom projection optics for planetariums around the world.
As part of the International Year of Light, the Strasenburgh Planetarium has chosen “the polarizing effect” and The Crab Nebula.
In the late 1940’s and early 1950’s, astronomers noticed that light from the Crab Nebula is polarized. For example, Walter Baade photographed it with a polarizer in various orientations using the then-new 200-inch Palomar telescope. Polarization (among other things) indicates that something strange is going on in the Crab Nebula. The planetarium has the pictures. With your help they will show their audiences.
The pictures don’t mean much unless you have personally had the experience of watching something change as you look through a rotating polarizer. To make the point complete for the planetarium visitors, we wanted them to observe the polarizing effect through a rotating polarizer after the “Wonders of Orion” show.
Navitar President, Julian Goldstein comments, “We are pleased to help sponsor this exciting new show at the Strasenburgh Planetarium and celebrate the International Year of Light within the Greater Rochester community.”
The show will run for about 27 performances over three months.
For over forty years, Navitar has been a leading producer of standard and custom engineered optics, opto-mechanical sub-assemblies and opto-electronic technologies and systems. Supporting the Biomedical & Life Sciences, Defense & Security, Industrial Imaging, and Projection markets worldwide, Navitar products are used in a variety of applications ranging from live cell imaging and flat panel inspection to flight simulation and digital signage.
