as the audience is seated, the planetarium dome is suffused with a cool blue light, with a suggestion of clouds. the presenter walks to the center of the theater and flourishes a glowing ball, representing a star, about the size of a grapefruit, which he/she alternately lights and dims to accent a description of how various cultures interpreted celestial phenomena such as the cycle of day and night. at the conclusion of the introduction, the orb fades, the theater darkens, and the audience experiences a simulated sunset projected by the laser video system. as the sunset proceeds, the star projector rises to simulate the night sky. the lecturer asks the audience to imagine how mysterious the stars must have seemed to ancient people, and then demonstrates, using the star projector, how people invented constellations in an effort to make sense of the randomly scattered stars. in accelerated time, we see the complex motions of the sun, moon, and planets.