Bringing the stars indoors

Published 5:00 am Saturday, January 21, 2006

Local astronomers pursue a portable planetarium to honor the late John Rudolph.

During his lifetime, John Rudolph contributed enough to the Bainbrige community for many lifetimes, but a planetarium was his one unfulfilled dream.

Now his friends are completing that one for him.

“John loved kids,” said Sally Metcalf, who was Rudolph’s sweetheart. “He thought that with this (planetarium) if you could inspire kids when they’re young, they might grow up to be our next cutting-edge scientists – inspire minds that look out in the universe.”

Rudolph lived on Bainbridge Island from 1954 until his death in 2003 and during that time was known as the “Park Architect” for his hand in turning Battle Point into a park and contributing to the design of several other recreation areas. He also started what turned into the Bainbridge Youth Services job board.

With E.M. “Mac” Gardiner and the late Edwin Ritchie, Rudolph was also one of the designers of the observatory at Battle Point Park, with the area’s largest public telescope. The facility was named for Ritchie who passed away in 1996, the year before the telescope was installed.

Rudolph wrote: “We believe that the Ed Ritchie telescope coupled with planetarium presentations is an outstanding teaching combination… At a minimum, a student who is exposed to the knowledge we can dramatically impart will have more appreciation for the miracle which surrounds us.”

Rudolph’s original designs for the observatory included a planetarium in which the night sky is displayed on a domed ceiling, but the only projectors of suitable quality available in 1994 cost more than $100,000.

The Battle Point Astronomical Association, which Rudolph, Gardiner and Ritchie also founded, is now within $17,000 of the $35,000 it needs to purchase the planetarium projector with a portable cloth dome that will seat 35.

The funds will also allow limited modifications to a room in the observatory to put on planetarium shows there.

The Digitalis Alpha Projector, created by Bremerton-based Digitalis Education Systems, comes with several pre-loaded programs and also lets the operator create custom programs.

Weighing in at 32 pounds, the unit is easily transported and will be much more affordable to bring to Bainbridge Island schools than hiring a traveling show from Seattle’s planetarium.

On cloudy nights, the planetarium could substitute for telescope viewing at the BPAA’s monthly star parties and special events for scout troops and schools.

BPAA president Paul Below says the projector can bring up stars visible to the naked eye as well as deep sky objects, and lets viewers “zoom in” on celestial bodies or see the night sky from different parts of the world at different seasons of the year.

The planetarium would “let us expand the educational programs we have,” Below said. “The idea with either planetarium or observatory is to get students excited about astronomy or science in general.”

A fund-raiser last year plus donations from the Bainbridge Island Kiwanis Club, of which Rudolph was a longtime member, totaling $11,000 was sweetened by a $6,000 grant from the Bainbridge Island Parks Foundation and $1,000 from American Marine Bank.

“When I talk to people about a planetarium, people say I went to the such-and-such planetarium (as a child) and they get stars in their eyes,” Metcalf said. “(A planetarium) is going to be a magical journey into the stars for children and that’s what John would have loved to have happen — to inspire them.”

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Aim for the stars

Contributions to the planetarium project may be sent to: Battle Point Astronomical Association, P.O. Box 10914, Bainbridge Island, WA 98110. For information on other giving options, call 842-9152.

Note: The fund-raiser mime performance by his son Mikael Rudolph scheduled for Jan. 28 has been rescheduled for March. Ticket refunds are available by calling 842-6719.