On December 7, 2013 I went to the Griffith Observatory for the first
time ever. The main thing I wanted to do there was see the planetarium show
“Centered in the Universe”. I caught a showing and was ready to
learn about my existence here on Earth.
The amazing thing about planetariums is they can take something so big
and shrink it down to a perceivable size. They can do this by using the most
power telescopes in the world and take you on a journey back in time though the
universe on a journey to figure out what humans represent out in the stars.
The show begins with an everyday view of the sky that quickly shifts
into an all-encompassing view of the night sky. Even though we all know
realistically starts are very far away, I felt as if I was under the true night
sky but could reach out and touch all the stars above me. However, just like I
realized at the Museum of Jurassic Technology, all of this beauty would be
possible without the use of some high-tech gear.
The planetarium is possible because of the Zeiss projector and, even
more important because of the invention of the telescope. As Professor Vesna
pointed out in week 9 part 1 of lecture, space exploration means micro and
macro technology. The show touched on different cultural histories and how the
views of the stars influenced culture. It ended with a note on Edwin Hubble,
who was the first person to prove that the universe is expanding as well as
show that there are other galaxies besides our own (Edwin Hubble). The Hubble
Telescope was named in his honor.
The show ended by linking all this information together with the Big
Bang Theory. I am very happy I attended this event because it really put into
perspective for me how big the universe is and how small we as human beings
are. Thanks to technology we can ask ourselves invigorating and interesting questions
that “Centered in the Universe” asked and find some order in all the disorder
around us.
References
Edwin Hubble. Edwinhubble.com. 3
May 2002. Web. 12 Dec 2013.
Griffith Observatory. Centered in
the Universe. 2013.
Half65. The Rome Planetarium. 7
May 2010. Web. 12 Dec 2013.
Hawking, Stephen. Life in the
Universe. Web. 12 Dec 2013. http://www.hawking.org.uk/index.html
Vesna, Victoria. Unit 9 View
Lecture Part 1. 2013. YouTube. Online
video clip. 12 Dec 2013.