Goodbye, Zeiss

it was a great 80 years

08/26/2010 9:26 PM

By Bonnie McGrath

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I ran over to the Adler Planetarium tonight for the goodbye member get-together to say farewell to the Zeiss projector--the lens contraption that has been beaming pictures of the planets, stars and other galactic manifestations onto the dome in the Sky Theater for 80 years. It will project it's last space pictures in September--and then it will be put on display. The theater will be completely renovated and the new sky shows will be digital all the way.


One of the members asked if Senator John McCain would be invited to the opening, harkening back to a debate he had with then-Senator Barack Obama, when he made a nasty crack about Obama asking for money from the federal government to help maintain the Zeiss, one of the most respected pieces of aging scientific equipment in the world.

Which reminded me of the day before when I took a group visiting Chicago for the National Federation of Press Women convention on a trolley tour called Obamaland--based on research I did last year for an article geared for the American Bar Association convention in Chicago. Early in the tour, I took the NFPW group to a few sights in the South Loop such as Homer Bryant's Chicago Multi-Cultural Dance Center where Sasha and Malia took dance lessons--and two places Barack frequented in the neighborhood, which now happen to be in the same spot (Buddy Guy's is where the Hothouse used to be on Balbo), Hutchinson Field where he made his winning night speech, all before heading to Hyde Park for all the restaurants he liked, the stores he liked, the manse, the previous condo, South Shore Cultural Center where the Obamas had their wedding reception, etc., etc.

When I left the Planetarium, the most beautiful bright gold full moon was just rising on the far edge of the lake. And a few Tall Ships from the Navy Pier exhibition were out sailing around it. I could hear the waves lapping onto the 12th Street beach; and the skyline was popping out of a dusky orange sky. What a beautiful moment.


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