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A N N A R B O R P I O N E E R H I G H S C H O O L
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Historical Highlights  Dr. John Rosemergy demonstrates the original Spitz A1 star projector.
(left) Nicholas Schreiber, principal of Ann Arbor High School, now Pioneer High School.
(center) John Rosemergy, director of the Argus Planetarium from 1956 through 1986. (right) James Bryant Conant (see text below) The Argus Planetarium opened in 1956. It is the oldest known public school planetarium in continuous operation in the US. The Argus Planetarium was paid for by a generous donation from the Argus Camera Company and built inside of Pioneer High School. The original planetarium contained a Spitz A-1 star projector under a 24 foot diameter canvas dome. With 63 seats in a circular pattern, the Argus Planetarium hosted several hundred thousand visitors over the next 46 years. The planetarium has had many important visitors over the years. These included Dr. James Bryant Conant and Sidney Chapman. According to Dr. Rosemergy, "Conant was a renowned organic chemist, President of Harvard University, U.S. High Commissioner to Germany at the end of WW II, and chairman of a committee which organized the A-Bomb Manhattan Project. Conant came to Ann Arbor High School while gathering material for his 1959 report 'The American High School Today.' This publication was much anticipated and quite influential for a time. Another distinguished visitor in the early days was Sidney Chapman, who attended a lecture. Chapman was a British geophysicist, holder of the Gold Medal of the Royal Astronomical Society, and President of the International Geophysical Year. He was at the University of Michigan for a few weeks and once addressed our city-wide science staff. You'll recall that the big event of the IGY was to be the launch by the U.S. of a grapefruit-sized satellite in Project Vanguard. Instead, and with no preliminary fanfare, the Soviets launched Sputnik, which astonished, embarrased, and frightened the U.S. - and which lead to big changes in science education." In 2003, the Argus Planetarium was totally renovated. The original star projector was replaced with a state-of-the-art Evans & Sutherland Digistar 3SP. The canvas dome was replaced with a lightweight aluminum dome, and the fixed auditorium-style seats were replaced with 50 movable chairs arranged in a unidirectional pattern. The Digistar 3SP is a computer driven star projection system that uses the Hipparcos Star Catalog , a 3 dimensional database of over 118,000 stars, to display realistic skies as seen from Earth and far out into space. In addition, the system can display 3D images of planets, major moons, and many deep space objects. Used in conjunction with computerized lighting and 5.1 surround sound, the new Argus Planetarium can take its visitors from the surface of the Earth through the solar system and out between the galaxies with an exciting sense of realism. Every year over 300 school groups visit the Argus Planetarium. This includes every 1st and 3rd grade class in Ann Arbor Public Schools, along with many middle school and high school groups.
 By 2001, many improvements had been added. Sixteen slide projectors filled the dome with still images. A 3-gun projector provided video to a portion of the dome. The Spitz A-1 projector was automated. Sound came from four DCM Timeframe speakers in the four corners of the room. Everything was still run from the center of the room.
 In 2002, major renovation was begun. Funded by a local school bond, the 1956 system was replaced with a new digital projector. This is the current interior of the planetarium. The black box in the center of the room is the Digistar's digital projector. The computer system that generates the images is in the next room. Directors: John Rosemergy (1956-1987) Steve Schaffer (1987 to 2011) Ron Robinson (2011 - ) |
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