February 2003 Colloquium

The Planetarium is a rather magical place for the students of astronomy. Not only can one view the night sky with a sesnse of reality and a deep feeling of awe, but also one can obtain such a view from any time in the past or future as well as the present. The ability to quickly move through time makes the planetarium the ultimate tool to demonstrate such phenomena as lunar phases, planetary motions, seasonal changes, precession, the equation of time, the sidereal day and the astronomical coordinate system. Some of the techniques used to present and merge the astronomical concepts into the astronomy classes taught in the Emory University Planetarium will be presented during this colloquium.