Event 3

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.