3D shows, part of the new Planetarium line-up at ‘Imiloa

03/16/2010

New Planetarium Shows Starting March 27

Hilo, Hawai‘i -‘Imiloa Astronomy Center introduces three new planetarium offerings starting Saturday, March 27. Two new 3D planetarium shows, 3D Sun and Awesome Light 2 come into the daily rotation and Tycho to the Moon fills in the Saturday 10 am keiki show.

From Earth we cannot look directly at the Sun with human eyes. 3D Sun, playing at 1 p.m. and 3 p.m., gives audiences the chance to see the sun up close in dazzling, high-definition 3D. Stand above the Arctic Circle and witness the most brilliant auroras on Earth. Take a ride on a solar blast from Sun’s surface to Earth’s Magnetosphere. Witness the most powerful explosions in the solar system, equal to the force of a billion megaton nuclear bombs.

In October, 2006 NASA launched twin spacecraft from a single rocket in Florida, Solar Terrestrial Relations Observatory (STEREO) spacecraft that is designed to capture high-definition 3D images of the Sun. The twin STEREO spacecraft will provide one “eye” each on opposite sides of the Earth and offer unparalleled 3D detail of the Sun. Audiences will first experience the 3D rocket launch in seat shaking 5.1 stereo, then witness a 3D animation of the spacecrafts separating and floating through space to their final vantage point and ultimately see and analyze 3D Sun images that only scientists usually get to see.

Awesome Light 2: Seeing the Invisible, playing at 2 p.m., takes the audience to Maunakea and the radio and submillimeter observatories located there. In this show the audience sees the remnants of a comet collision with Jupiter using the Smithsonian Submillimeter Array, fly into the heart of our Milky Way Galaxy to see gas flows observed by James Clerk Maxwell Telescope, study star formation in the famous Whirlpool Galaxy from Caltech Submillimeter Observatory, and explore at the largest black hole and jet in the Universe with the Very Long Baseline array. The program uses dramatic footage of each of these observatories and displays their science results in spectacular 3D.

This offering is the second show in the ‘Imiloa produced Awesome light: Updates from Maunakea series with Sky Skan Inc., and will soon be available to planetariums around the globe.

On Saturdays, keiki can come and meet Tycho, a dog who doesn’t just howl at the moon, but wants to go there, in the Saturday 10 a.m. keiki show Tycho to the Moon.

The audience will blast off on an amazing ride into space with Tycho and his young friends Ruby and Michael. Learn about night and day, space travel, the phases of the Moon and features of the lunar surface. Take a close-up look at the Sun, watch the effects of gravity, see the Earth from space and watch meteors shoot across the night sky.

‘Imiloa Astronomy Center will also offer its signature show, Maunakea: Between Earth and Sky, daily at 11 a.m. Admission ticket includes the Exhibit Hall and Planetarium show. ‘Imiloa Astronomy Center of Hawai‘i is open to the public from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesday through Sunday (closed Mondays). For more information, visit the Web site at www.imiloahawaii.org or call (808) 969-9700 (for recorded information) or 808-969-9703 if you have further questions.

Media Contact:
Jeff Harman
808-969-9705
jharman@imiloahawaii.org

Vinnie Recinto
808-969-9714
vrecinto@imiloahawaii.org