Earth & Sky:
3:30 p.m.

  I, your Wizard, per ardua ad alta, am about to embark upon a hazardous and technically unexplainable journey into the outer stratosphere…to confer, converse, and otherwise hobnob with my brother wizards.  

— The Wizard of Oz (1939)

Earth & Sky comes in two versions. Use the first one for public shows.

  1. With atomic theory, for older children. The CD box says Earth & Sky ↑ with an up arrow; the CD is labeled “Earth & Sky — Atomic Theory Version”. Load DVD-E&S.CUE.
  2. Without atomic theory, for younger children. The CD box says Earth & Sky ↓ with a down arrow; the CD is labeled “Earth & Sky — For below 5th Grade”. Load DVD-E&SY.CUE.
Do not use E&S.CUE or E&SBLANK.CUE for anything.

Setup for version with atomic theory

  1. Show DVD: Earth & Sky ↑ with up arrow.

  2. Animations DVD: animations, cue “Earth orbiting Sun” on page 1, line 1.

  3. CD: entrance music.

  4. Sound board: volume up for CD, DVD, and output; down for all others.

  5. Video projector: monitor select line 2, input select line 2 for animations DVD; brightness and contrast down.

  6. Zeiss: north in back, latitude 40° North, December 21 sun rising in East.

  7. Spice: DVD-E&S.CUE.
    1. Slew the molecule to lower left; leave slew in automatic for line 306.
    2. Let satellite run until it comes into view. Used in Ionosphere and space, lines 431, 434, 441, 445, 447.
    3. Wait at ' start show… comment in line 68 for audience to enter.

  8. Audience entry sequence.

Intro

Why Earth in a planetarium show? (Earth is a planet.) What causes the seasons?

The show with atomic theory

  1. “The sky, on clear days, was a pearly blue.”
    Zeiss blues on.

  2. “In the sky was the Sun, the source of all life.”
    Zeiss sun on, fast forward dirnal motion up to meridian.

  3. “On some days of the year, the Sun never got very high at all.”
    Stop Zeiss sun on meridian.

  4. “At other times during the year, the Sun got so high in the sky…”
    Sun off, latitude clockwise to raise invisible sun along meridian, Sun back on, forward diurnal motion.

  5. “We can watch how the Sun’s motion across the sky changes…”
    Slowly fade out sun. Then surreptitiously center the Zeiss sun for line 192.

  6. “For thousands of years, people have watched the sky…”
    Zeiss blues off, horizon glow west on, fade up stars with slow diural motion as yellow cove lights fade down, fade down horizon glow west.

  7. “The Earth rotates once a day, and goes around the sun…” Tinkly music starts.
    Animations DVD: play Earth Orbiting Sun.

  8. “…and watch the Earth as it moves in its orbit.”
    Fade down video projector, turn on Zeiss SY (Styrofoam Sun). Select Earth Day-Night Summer in animations, p. 1, line 2.

  9. “Now that you know where the seasons come from, let’s take…”
    Fade down Styrofoam Sun.

  10. “During the day, the side of the Earth facing the Sun is heated…”
    Animations DVD: play Earth Day-Night Summer.

  11. “The motion of the air is similar to the motion you might see…”
    Fade video projector. Select :60 Earth w/swirling clouds from page 1, row 3.

  12. “You’ve probably heard about air pressure before.”
    As blue cove lights come up, fade stars down and Zeiss blues up.

  13. When city panorama disappears,
    Zeiss blues down a bit for Stratosphere.

  14. Ionosphere:
    Zeiss blues off, stars on low.

  15. Space: Earth chord (LoCate 5 STEP: F) and Satellite (Locate 6 STEP: C):
    Stars on high.

  16. “As the heat of the sun causes the air to move…” “masses of air moving” Swirly music.
    Play :60 Earth w/swirling clouds.

  17. “High” and “Low” weather map:
    Fade video and stars down to make room for map.

  18. “…the bigger the droplets in the clouds become…”
    Zeiss blues up.

  19. “…Some gasses can trap more heat…”
    Zeiss blues off with all-sky molecules. Select Earth in greenhouse from p. 2, line 3.

  20. “It’s almost as if the Earth’s atmosphere were a greenhouse.”
    Play Earth in greenhouse. No more animations after this.

  21. “But on other planets, the air is different.”
    Zeiss stars on for background of Venus in space.

  22. “The surface of Venus is a dry desert.”
    Moon panorama on (HP HP PA PC, knob under silver cover), Zeiss stars off.

  23. “Mars’s atmosphere is also mostly carbon dioxide.”
    Moon panorama off for surface of Mars; stars on.

  24. “If we are careful, we can prevent this from happeneing.”
    Stars off when red around Earth changes to blue during preachy bit.

  25. Sky tonight?

Why can Venus’s atmosphere hold more heat than the Earth’s?

Basically because Venus’s atmosphere is “massive”—about a hundred times the density of Earth’s at the surface—and mostly carbon dioxide, which can hold far more heat than nitrogen.

Physically, CO2 is a triatomic molecule with many vibrational modes to store energy, rather than a diatomic molecule. Also CO2’s vibrational modes give it a lock on certain wavelengths of infrared, rather than N2 and O2’s ability to let IR slip away.

Also, the irradiation at Venus’s distance from the Sun is much higher. It’s actually outside the habitable zone of the Sun, i.e. the distance at which water could remain liquid under something like normal atmospheric pressure.