Art-Science-Wonder

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Cosmic Castaways

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For general audiences -- runtime 20 minutes There are places where the night sky has no constellations. No Orion, no Big Dipper, nothing but a few lonely, far away stars and a few faint, ghostly patches of light. Most stars lie within the crowded boundaries of galaxies, travelling with their brothers and sisters in a vast galactic family. But some find themselves on their own, deep within voids between the galaxies. These are the cosmic castaways. This show is an original production of the Ward Beecher Planetarium and is based on the research of YSU's resident astrophysicists Dr. John Feldmeier and Dr. Patrick Durrell.

Capturing the Star Light

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Telescopes are high technology scientific instruments which collect light from distant celestial objects. With these noble instruments humans managed to dive into the deep space and collect valuable scientific information about the formation, life and death of planets, stars and galaxies. All this knowledge helps us to understand how nature works in the large scale and determines our place in the magnificent Cosmos. In this 30 min fulldome documentary, the Greek director Theofanis Matsopoulos, describes in a simple and understandable way, how telescopes work, their historical evolution and also travels the audience to some of the most important observatories in the world. The immersive experience of the documentary is breathtaking , due to the extensive use of real 4k fulldome video footage of the observatories and telescopes.

The Dark Matter Mystery

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What keeps Galaxies together? What are the building blocks of the Universe? What makes the Universe look the way it looks today? Researchers all around the world try to answer these questions. We know today that approximately a quarter of the Universe is filled with a mysterious glue: Dark Matter. We know that it is out there. But we have no idea what it is made out of. This planetarium show takes you on the biggest quest of contemporary astrophysics. You will see why we know that Dark Matter exists, and how this search is one of the most challenging and exciting searches science has to offer. Join the scientists on their hunt for Dark Matter with experiments in space and deep underground. Will they be able to solve the Dark Matter Mystery?

Dark: The Search for the Ghost Particle

Dawn of the Space Age

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From the launch of the first artificial satellite Sputnik, to the magnificent lunar landings and privately operated space flights.

Be immersed and overwhelmed with this most accurate historic reconstruction of Man’s first steps into space.

Who were these Men and Women that took part in these death defying endeavours? Witness their drive, their passion, and their perseverance to explore, in Dawn of the Space Age.

Distant Worlds - Alien Life?

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Farewell to Cassini

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After almost 20 years in space, Cassini spacecraft concluded the final chapter of its remarkable story of exploration in a dramatic way. Between April and September 2017, Cassini undertook a daring set of orbits that was, in many ways, like a whole new mission. Following a final close flyby of Saturn's moon Titan, Cassini leaped over the planet's icy rings and begun a series of dives between the planet and the rings. No other mission had ever explored this unique region. What we have learned from these final orbits will help to improve our understanding of how giant planets – and planetary systems everywhere – form and evolve. Then it entered into the Saturn's thick atmosphere where it was disintegrated. Follow the fascinating Journey of Cassini through this 20 min planetarium documentary. Learn about the Saturn’s environment and discover the unique satellites of Saturn.

From Earth to the Universe

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The night sky, both beautiful and mysterious, has inspired awe and been the subject of campfire stories, and ancient myths for as long as there have been people. A desire to comprehend the Universe may well be humanity’s oldest shared intellectual experience. Yet only recently have we truly begun to grasp our place in the vast cosmos. To learn about this journey of celestial discovery, from the theories of the ancient Greek astronomers to today’s grandest telescopes, we invite you to experience From Earth to the Universe.

This stunning, 30-minute voyage through space and time — the world’s first free downloadable fulldome planetarium movie — conveys, through sparkling sights and sounds, the Universe as revealed to us by science.

Directed by the young Greek filmmaker Theofanis N. Matsopoulos, and featuring a sweeping soundtrack from Norwegian composer Johan B. Monell, viewers can revel in the splendour of the various worlds in the Solar System and the ferocity of the scorching Sun. From Earth to the Universe then leaves our home to take the audience out to the colourful birthplaces and burial grounds of stars, and still further out, beyond the Milky Way, to the unimaginable immensity of myriads of galaxies. Along the way, the audience will learn about the history of astronomy, the invention of the telescope, and today’s giant telescopes that allow us to probe ever deeper into the Universe.

Director Theofanis N. Matsopoulos described the film as “a colourful and inspiring journey… the visuals are stunning and really speak for themselves in showing just how far humanity’s ambition has taken us in terms of observing and understanding the Universe”.

The Hot and Energetic Universe

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The planetarium documentary “The Hot and Energetic Universe” presents with the use of Immersive Visualisations and real images the achievements of the modern astronomy, the most advanced terrestrial and orbital observatories, the basic principles electromagnetic radiation and the natural phenomena related to the High Energy Astrophysics.

High Energy Astrophysics plays a key role in understanding the universe. These radiations reveal the processes in the hot and violent universe.

High Energy Astrophysics probes hot gas in clusters of galaxies, which are the most massive objects in the universe. It also probes hot gas accreting around supermassive black holes in the centers of galaxies.

Finally, high energy radiation provides important information about our own galaxy, neutron stars, supernova remnants and stars like our Sun which emit copious amounts of high energy radiation. Europe plays a leading role in high energy astrophysics research.

The XMM-Newton and the Integral missions, are leading the exploration of the X-ray and gamma-ray universe. ESA‘s mission ATHENA, to be launched in 2028, will carry the most sensitive X-ray telescope ever and it will be the flagship of all high X-ray missions.

The producer of the documentary is the “Integrated Activities in the High-Energy Astrophysics Domain” (AHEAD).

AHEAD is a project funded by the European Commission in the framework of Horizon2020 (Access to large scale facilities). It is led by IAPS/INAF in Rome and involves most Universities and Research institutes which are involved in High Energy Astrophysics in Europe. The project aims to combine the efforts of all these Institutes in the analysis of X-ray data and facilitate the access to infrastructures distributed across Europe.

IBEX: Search for the Edge of the Solar System

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Join scientists who are investigating the boundary between our Solar System and the rest of our galaxy in IBEX: Search for the Edge of the Solar System.

Designed for visitors with an appreciation for the challenges of space science and a desire to learn more about science research, the show follows the creation of NASA’s Interstellar Boundary Explorer (IBEX). Audiences will get an in-depth look at the mission and how IBEX is collecting high-speed atoms to create a map of our Solar System’s boundary.

Narrated by two inquisitive teenagers, audiences will hear from the scientists and engineers that developed the IBEX mission and created the spacecraft, and get the latest updates on the mission’s discoveries.

Journey to Mars

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Journey to the Center of the Milky Way

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What lies at the heart of our galaxy? For twenty years, ESO’s Very Large Telescope and the Keck telescopes have observed the centre of the Galaxy, looking at the motion of more than a hundred stars and identifying the position of an otherwise invisible object — the supermassive black hole at the centre of our galaxy.

 

Embark on a Journey to the Centre of the Milky Way and during seven minutes travel faster than light, from the driest place on Earth, the Atacama Desert in Chile right to the centre of our own galaxy, where a black hole is consuming anything that strays into its path. 84 million stars will appear in front of your eyes, each hiding mysteries waiting to be solved. Are there planets around them, perhaps with moons? Do they have water? Could they harbour life?

LCROSS - Revisited

The Clark Planetarium and NASA have partnered to create a 9-minute mini-show about NASA’s LRO and LCROSS missions to the Moon.

In 2009, two unmanned spacecraft, the LRO (Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter) and LCROSS (Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite) launched together to explore the Moon in new ways.

The LRO spacecraft continues to map the moon in unprecedented detail. LCROSS delivered the Centaur impactor into a shaded lunar crater (called “Cabeus”) near the lunar south pole, creating a plume for the spacecraft to fly into and collect data to look for water.

This post-impact version has been updated to include results from the LCROSS mission and orbital photography from LRO.

Light Echoes

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Losing the Dark

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Starry skies are a vanishing treasure because light pollution is washing away our view of the cosmos. It not only threatens astronomy, it disrupts wildlife, and affects human health. The yellow glows over cities and towns — seen so clearly from space — are testament to the billions spent in wasted energy from lighting up the sky. To help raise public awareness of some of the issues pertaining to light pollution, Loch Ness Productions in collaboration with the International Dark-Sky Association has created a 6.5-minute "public service announcement" called Losing the Dark. It introduces and illustrates some of the issues regarding light pollution, and suggests three simple actions people can take to help mitigate it.

Mayan Archaeoastronomy

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In a feast of colours and sounds, Mayan Archaeoastronomy: Observers of the Universe makes a tour of 6 Mayan temples: San Gervasio, Chichen Itzá, Uxmal, Edzná, Palenque and Bonampak where the spectator dives into a Mayan world of knowledge about the importance of the orientations of its temples in relation to the movement of some stars like the Sun, the Moon and Venus.

Mexica Archaeoastronomy: Between Space and Time

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Through impressive immersive scenarios, "Mexica Archaeoastronomy: between space and time" illustrates the important role played by astronomical observation for the evolution of pre-Hispanic cultures in central Mexico. The Mexicans used the calendrical and astronomical knowledge inherited by their predecessor cultures to found the capital of their empire: Tenochtitlan. Vibrant colours, shapes and sounds transport the viewer to one of the most important cultures that, to this day, still lives in the heart and skin of the Mexican people.

Out There

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For thousands of years, mankind thought that the Earth was the centre of the Universe. Thanks to our curiosity, imagination and urge to explore, we now know that planets like our Earth are nothing special in the cosmos. The Sun is just one ordinary star among hundreds of billions in our galaxy, the Milky Way. With the world’s most powerful telescopes, we are able to explore more and more of the Universe. What we have found so far has surpassed even the wildest expectations of scientists as well as authors of science fiction. Most stars have planets — it turns out they are more common than we thought. A huge diversity of different worlds is out there, just waiting to be discovered.

Phantom of the Universe

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Seeing
Sentient

Sunstruck

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Stellar Quest
Stepping on Other Planets

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The fulldome documentary "Stepping on other planets" describes, in a simple and understandable way- along with stunning visuals, the other planets and the human efforts for the exploration and conquest of the closest to Earth heavenly bodies as the Moon and planet Mars.

 

Two Small Pieces of Glass

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The history of astronomy is rich and deep, having been part of almost every major civilisation for thousands of years. It was 400 years ago, however, when the field took a major step forward, with the invention of the telescope. "Two Small Pieces of Glass" is a fulldome planetarium show that will tell the story of how the first rudimentary telescopes were constructed and used, which allowed humans to gaze out further into the Universe than ever before. The history of this marvellous invention will take viewers right through to the modern day, where current telescopes are making groundbreaking discoveries all the time.

The Unknown Between

Waiting Far Away

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