4 T
14B -- The Michigan Daily Weekend Magazine -- Thursday, February 19, 1998
0
A weekly guide to who's
HF where, what's happening and
HE1ST! why, you need to be there...
The Michigan Daily Weekend I
ON TOP OF THE WORLD
U' students see final frontier from roof of
Saturday
CAMPUS CINEMA
The Extras (1993) Nabil
Maleh's contribution to
the Middle East Film
Series, about a couple's
long-awaited rendezvous
and its subsequent fail-
ure. Arabic with English
subtitles. Mich. 5 p.m.
The Apostle (1997) See
Thursday. Mich. 7 and
9:45 p.m.
Anastasia (1997) The
animated story of the
adventures of a Russian
princess. Angell Aud. A. 8
p.m. $2; kids get in free.
MUSIC
Monsters of A Cappella
A cappella groups
Amazin' Blue, the
Harmonettes and the
Friars present a concert
for charity. Rackham. 8
p.m.. $6. 763-TKTS.
State Street Poetry Project
Concert Featuring Ann
Arbor singer/songwriter
Lisa Hunter, Aurora and
Sugar Pill. plus jazz and hip-
hop artists t.b.a. Michigan
League Underground. 9:30
p.m. $5.
Four Bitchin' Babes
Contemporary folk
artists Sally Fingerett,
Megon McDonough, Debi
Smith and Camille West
bring female angst and
humor to Ann Arbor. The
Ark. 8 p.m. $15.
763-TKTS.
Buckwheat Zydeco
Cajun great is more than
just a silly man with an
accordion, and his zydeco
music kicks off Mardi
Gras in style. Blind Pig.
7:30 and 10:30 p.m.
$14. (248) 645-6666.
Mazinga Punk quartet
rips it up with help from
Rochester favorites Loose
Stools and Ann Arbor's
Whiptail. Club Heidelberg.
10 p.m. 663-7758.
THEATER
Inverted Pyramid See
Thursday. 8 p.m. $12.
By Nicole Pearl
For the Daily
It's bound to happen while walking
through the many corridors of Angell
Hall. That funny, "where am I?" feeling
hits, causing even upperclass students
to wonder where their destination with-
in the labyrinth of a building could be.
Indeed, Angell Hall holds more than
what first meets the eye. Explorers
could stumble onto out-of-the-way
offices, hidden elevators or, better yet, a
whole universe. What many students
may not know is that the roof of Angell
Hall is home to a full-scale astronomi-
cal observatory.
The Angell Hall observatory was
built in 1926 as a tool for beginning and
advanced astronomy students. At that
time, it had a 10-inch refractor and a 15-
inch reflecting telescope. In 1994,both
of these were removed and put in stor-
age to make way for modemn equipment.
The telescope at Angell Hall is com-
pletely computer-controlled and pro-
tected by an 18-foot dome. Six smaller
telescopes stand nearby.
The observatory's location isn't per-
fectly ideal, said Pat Seitzer, an astron-
omy professor. It stands atop a shaky
building, and as Seitzer said, "It's like
putting an observatory on an active vol-
cano. "
Bright city lights can also complicate
observation. The nearest large galaxy to
earth, the Great Nebulae in Andromeda,
is barely visible through the Angell Hall
telescope, Seitzer said.
But that can't overpower the experi-
ence of seeing the details on Saturn's
rings or studying the composition of a
M
is
,r .
v
7
^)
................
................
................
.................
................
iii:v:' .:..v: ..
}'\ Y X61 } ---}
Iff f.
'fv
,:{:fin;. : ".- {L.
SiY:iti r::y "-v h ri v:
DANA U
Astronomy graduate students Lynne Jones, Deano Smith, Kristin Chiboueas, Eric Miller, Beth Brown, Kaspar Von Brau
Stroiger and Denise Hurley-Keller pose with the telescope they use.
star.
The observatory at Angell exempli-
fies the technological advances made in
astronomy during the last part of this
century. It differs significantly from
another telescope on campus, at the
Detroit Observatory. That observatory
was the second building on campus and
stands near the hospital. A nationally
registered historic place, it remains a
monument to former University
President Henry Philip Tappan's efforts
to transform the University into a major
research institution.
The Detroit Observatory has changed
little since 1854. A rope pulley is used
to turn the dome and the original astro-
nomical instruments remain in place. In
their day, they were among the biggest
in the world. The building is now under-
going a complete historic restoration.
Aside from these telescopes,
University astronomers have access to
telescopes all over the world. The Curtis
Schmidt telescope is located in Cerro
Tololo, Chile, and the Hiltner 2.4-meter
telescope and the McGraw
meter telescope both fur
Arizona. The University is ah
pating in a research project
Magellan Project, and intend
two 6-1/2-meter in diameter 1
in Chile. The first of those
operational around the year 2
The University contribt
scopes to other observatori
Michigan's boundaries, as
Peach Mountain Observatc
North Territorial Rd. and ho
Society astronomers share starry
eyes
Friday
CAMPUS CINEMA
My Left Foot (1989) Daniel Day-
Lewis stars in this autobiographical
piece about the Irish writer/painter
'Christy Brown, a brilliant mind
trapped in a body ravaged by cere-
bral palsy. North Campus Chrysler
Center Aud. 5:30 p.m. Free.
Stand Up Straight, Don't Grovel
(1992) In Mandarin with English
subtitles, "Stand" is Huang Jianzin's
portrayal of several families and
their lives within the reform era.
Angell Aud. A. 8 p.m. Free.
MUSIC
-University Choir Performing a pro-
gram of chamber and contemporary
selections. Hill. 8 p.m. Free.
Chick Corea and Gary Burton Jazz
greats and vibe masters celebrate
-forthcoming CD release. Michigan
Theater. 8 p.m. $20-$30. 764-2538.'
Jim Carroll New York poet, musician
and author of "The Basketball
Diaries" delivers spoken-word perfor-
mance. With Poignant Plecostomus.
Blind Pig. 9:30 p.m. $12.50. (248)
645-6666.
Aurora Ann Arbor trio trips out audi-
ences with psychedelic rock. Club
Heidelberg. 10 p.m. 663-7758.
Ekoostik Hookah These groovy guys
bring on the funk. Magic Bag,
Ferndale. 8 p.m. (248) 544-3030.
THEATER
By Renatt Brodsky
For the Daily
It's a bird, it's a plane ... no, it's the Student
Astronomical Society! Unlike Superman, who tries to
save the world by spinning around the earth, this student
group is Earthbound as it observes the sky each month on
top of Angell Hall.
This 15-person society, which meets biweekly on
Wednesdays at 5 p.m. in 1057 Dennison, sponsors a vari-
ety of astronomy-related events. The group frequently
hosts public lectures. A recent speaker discussed the
restoration of the Angell observatory, and on March 18,
physics Prof. Yukio Tomozawa will lecture on time trav-
el.
The SAS also sponsors free public viewing nights at
the observatory. On Feb. 6, about 160 people came out to
see the sky. LSA senior Aimee D'Onofrio, president of
SAS, said, "It was the best open house ever. Everyone
from students, to families, to small children came."
Besides lectures and public events, the society also
offers free tutoring from 8-10 p.m. on Monday nights for
students in 100-level astronomy courses.
"A lot of people from the same classes will come in
with the same problem sets and the society helps them
out," D'Onofrio said. "It's a great service because not
only do we feel like we are helping out underclassmen,
but it's a great way for people with the same major to get
to know one another."
The society is also planning its second annual Inreach
project. This project involves bringing school-aged chil-
dren from metro Detroit schools to Ann Arbor and show-
ing them hands-on astronomy fun. This year, members
are hoping to have the program take place in a planetari-
um, where theyacan present a slide show and different
scaling exercises.
How does the society have time to plan all these
events, tutor other students and study for their own vig-
See SOCIETY, Page 16B
Inverted Pyramid See
p.m. $12 for students.
Thursday. 8
Prof. Patrick Seltzer runs the
ALTERNATIVES
Hilton Als Reading from "The
Women," recently released in paper-
back, which he has described as a
partial memoir, part psychological
study and part sociopolitical mani-
festo. He discusses his personal role
models, including Dorothy Dean.
"'Shdman Drum. 8 p.m.
Weeked1
M A G A Z I N E
Weeken Magazine Editors:
Emily Lambert
Weekend Magazine Associate Editor: Christopher Tkaczyk.
Writers: Joanne Alnajjar, Renatt Brodsky, Brian Cohen, Chris Farah, Geordy Ga
Joshua Pedersen and Gina Rasmussen.
Photographers: Dana Linnane, Nathan Ruffer, Adriana Yugovich and Warren Zii
Cover photo courtesy of Gary Bernstein: Stars photographed with the Big Throu
Arts Editors: Bryan Lark and Kristin Long.
Courtesy of GRP Records
Chick Corea returns to Ann Arbor to perform tomorrow at the Michigan Theater.