Comments from Educators

Below are some comments we have received from members of the astronomy education field.

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"With a public event coming up this weekend, and my being absent meaning no planetarium show (for the second month in a row), something had to be done. So I decided to look into [our] Digitarium's scripting feature. All I can say is, wow, wow, wow!

"I spent the whole weekend learning the commands, and have put together a 45 minute show that I think is far superior to any live presentation I have done. I love the ability to embed narration, graphics, and music into the presentation instead of having to switch to the DVD drive. It’s like PowerPoint on steroids!"

John Zimmerman, Taylor Observatory, Kelseyville, CA

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"There's nothing worse than sitting there with a group of kids and the technology doesn't work or you don't know what to do. But this really is simple. You can do it all with the touch of a button."

Robby Cramer, Grand Haven Area Public Schools, Grand Haven, MI

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"I have been amazed at the support Digitalis has provided for their Digitarium. The product is constantly evolving and new functionality is being added all the time. I will always remember hearing the kids gasp in awe at seeing Saturn in all its glory from the moon Mimas for the first time. This is as close as you can get to your own private observatory/spaceship/time-machine!"

Darren Townsley, Star Dome, Winnipeg, Canada

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"In July, our first Beginners' Session using the [Digitarium Alpha] planetarium was a big hit -- it was hard to get people to go outside and look at the REAL stars, although it was a beautiful night."

Catherine Koehler, Battle Point Astronomical Association, Bainbridge Island, WA

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"I lost count of the number of 'wows' I heard over the 10 days of the festival. I was doing 5 or 6 shows a day. 60 kids per time on the 4 school days and around 400 people through on the public days.

"At any rate, the [Digitarium Alpha] projector worked brilliantly. In extremes of temperature ... I'm really happy with the performance."

Iain Smith, Discovery City Learning Centre, Wirral, UK

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"Our university purchased a Digitalis unit and I am thrilled with it! The unit allows you to show the sky anywhere on Earth, show all of the celestial motions, and show constellations individually or [altogether]. There are a lot of labeling functions, and the unit is very easy to set up.

"The remote makes operations extemely easy, and they have developed a scripting function as well. I've used starlabs in the past, but I really love the digital unit. I would strongly recommend Digitalis to anyone planning to purchase a portable system."

Shawn Laatsch, East Carolina University, Greenville, NC

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"Just wanted to let you know that we received the projector last week and had it up and running literally within 10 minutes of getting it unpacked. It is a wonderful machine. All of the astro faculty here are very pleased with the purchase and are already coming up with lots of ideas of how to use it in their classes!"

Charles Kerton, Iowa State University, Ames, IA

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"I really liked all the different options available with the remote control and the Digitarium Alpha projector... I was really impressed with the deep sky objects. With the older students I like to teach them about the zodiac and what it is. It is really nice to be able to set the time for noon and whatever date you want, then turn the atmosphere off and show them what stars and constellations are in the sky at that time... I have nothing but good things to say about it."

Larry Parfitt, CESA 11, Turtle Lake, WI

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"Wow! The Digitalis projector is a true innovation for portable planetaria. It is compact, one-piece and easily transported -- no more multiple cylinders, no more tiny planet pieces or moon magnets. The software it contains increases a hundredfold (maybe more) the capacity of topics we can do in the portable planetarium. We will now be able to bring high quality, in-depth astronomy programs to communities who cannot visit a fixed planetarium. Thank you, Digitalis!"

Elizabeth Wiles, Pacific Science Center, Seattle, WA

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"This new planetarium is a wonderful tool for teaching astronomy to our community college students. It presents the science of astronomy in a spectacular, and often beautiful way. Coupled with the fact that it is also very easy to use and even update, it is a digital planetarium for the 21st century."

Dr. Mike Inglis, Suffolk County Community College, Selden, NY

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"In a Planetarian Forum article last year (2003), the question was about what would you most like to see in new planetarium innovations. I submitted the need for a very low cost digital star projector system as my number one priority for new hardware development. In the race to make available a very low cost digital star projector, the folks at Digitalis, with their Digitarium Alpha, have taken the early lead and are to be commended for their pioneering efforts in this realm."

Alan Gould, Lawrence Hall of Science, Berkeley, CA

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"I love starting a presentation with an afternoon sun, and atmosphere and horizon turned on... the sun slowly sets and the stars come out. You can literally feel the awe felt by the audience when this happens. [...] I never get tired of hearing the involuntary gasps of excitement and surprise when you zoom in on a deep sky object. One of my favorites is M13, the Great Globular Cluster in Hercules. You feel as though thousands of stars are going to shower upon you..."

John Zimmerman, Taylor Observatory, Kelseyville, CA

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"I used the Digitalis planetarium and loved it! I have used two other types of portable planetariums and this is the best. The digital controls are easy to use. The number of slides and options for a planetarium show make this set up a delight to use. The audience reactions were very positive."

Barb Johnson, Pacific Science Center, Seattle, WA

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