Disappointed when he took some boy scouts to gaze at the stars but clouds quickly obscured them, a Wisconsin man decided to open his own planetarium using the money he earned while working at a local paper mill.
Frank Kovac built the planetarium himself — a huge spherical structure in the backyard — and painted 5000 stars, each with the correct brightness, resulting in a spectacular replica of the entire night sky as seen on a clear night in the northern hemisphere.
The high school graduate who now operates full-time his facility near Rhinelander, says it took him ten years but he managed to install the world’s largest mechanical globe planetarium.
His friends thought the 47-year-old was crazy, but they contributed their knowledge and help, whenever asked. “They were a tremendous boost on a project of this magnitude”.
“Throughout history only three known globe style planetariums were constructed dating back to the fifteenth century.” according to KovacPlanetarium.com. “Thanks to my late father, who took the time to show me the stars, the world now has the fourth.”
(WATCH the Steve Hartman video below or READ his story at CBS News)