New York Blog

On Planetariums

This week I finally made it to the AMNH to see the new show at the planetarium, Journey to the Stars. Extreme Mammals was sold out by the time I got there (bummer), so I’ll have to catch that one another time.

But back to the point of this post. As I sat there, watching the roughly half-hour show, I realized that no matter how old you are, the planetarium remains the most awesome way to watch a film. Forget IMAX, this is SKYMAX. Maybe it’s just because I rely on films at the planetarium to educate me on astronomy (well, at least partially), but I am just blown away by how much information they can stuff into a short film and how very clearly the information is portrayed in this format. A planetarium is really the ultimate model for learning about space.

The idea for the planetarium dates back to Archimedes, who is said to have possessed a primitive planetarium device. Today, content for planetarium movies such as Journey to the Stars, parallels that of major films but often employs scientists as part of the production team. The Journey to the Stars production team included science visualizers, digital artists, producers, engineers, sound designers, educators and more. Science visualizers?!?! I want to do that. The executive producer is Earth scientist, Dr. Rosamond Kinzler, who according to the AMNH website has “led major award winning digital projects that engage audiences that range from children, families, and the general public at home to science educators seeking graduate accredited courses online to visitors at informal learning centers across the country.”

So the next time you happen to make it to the planetarium, remember that there is likely an impressive production team and a whole lot of history making the show so great (and by “great” I mean fun and educational).

Comments

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    Bob O'Hara said:

    Oh. If you fancy going to the Extreme Mammals show, some of us will be going there on Saturday. Check Grrlscientist’s blog for details, when she posts them…

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    Caryn Shechtman said:

    I would love to come… but I will be away next week. I always miss the fun:(

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