Iziko Planetarium & Digital Dome

This guide to the Iziko Planetarium in Cape Town centers on Tony Fairall, the astronomer who ran this dome from 1988 to 2005 and taught the beginners course still nicknamed the Star Finder class. It follows his career staring into the emptiest parts of the universe, from spotting a record-bright galaxy in 1977 to mapping the great attractor pulling our own corner of space toward it. Friends remembered him as gentle, a practical joker on stargazing trips who could make a light year sound simple on the radio.