The Astronomy Visualization Workshop hosted by the California Academy of Sciences, 6-8 May 2009, will bring together astronomy education and public outreach professionals as well as Bay Area graphics and interactive specialists.

Description and Venue

More than 1.1 million people have visited the Academy since it reopened six months ago, and more than a quarter of those visitors have already experienced our debut planetarium show, “Fragile Planet.” The Academy also boasts a stereoscopic theater that makes use of Dolby's impressive 3D technology, and our “Science in Action” exhibit features a two-by-two power wall. All these venues will be open for experimentation during the Astronomy Visualization Workshop. (For more information on the Academy and our LEED platinum building, please browse the rest of this website.) The workshop goals encompass a variety of topics, including tools and technology, techniques and common practices, visual communication and aesthetics, community issues, and collaborations between companies, content producers, informal education institutions, and media. Given the diverse digital venues housed at the Academy, we hope to highlight fulldome, stereoscopic, and high-definition content in particular. We have also extended invitations to artists, designers, and developers in the Bay Area technology and visual effects community, and we look forward to hosting a wide variety of interested parties from this vital part of the San Francisco cultural landscape. In particular, we want to explore the relationship of inspiration and mass culture – the way in which astronomical ideas and images inspire filmmakers, designers, and technologists. We hope you can join us in San Francisco!

Astronomical Symphony

As soon as registration opens, workshop attendees will have a chance to purchase discounted tickets to see “Pictures at an Exhibition” performed live by the California Symphony. This compelling video suite blends breathtakingly beautiful astronomical images with Mussorgsky's enchanting musical. In creating this unique sensory experience, Adler Astronomer and visual artist Dr. José Francisco Salgado selected spectacular pictures from observatories around the world, the Hubble Space Telescope, and other NASA and European Space Agency spacecraft. He combined these images with animations produced by the National Center for Supercomputing Applications at the University of Illinois, NASA, the European Space Agency, and the Adler Planetarium. This is the first time many of these 3D images have been seen by the public. Astronomical Pictures at an Exhibition »

From Earth to the Universe

In celebration of the International Year of Astronomy 2009, the Academy will host the exciting image exhibition “From Earth to the Universe.” In the 400 years since Galileo used his telescope to observe the heaves, astronomers have built telescopes and detectors that can see far beyond the type of radiation we can detect with the human eye. Ranging from long radio and infrared waves to shorter wavelengths of ultraviolet, X-rays, and gamma rays that reveal the hottest parts of the Universe, modern astronomy is really one of telescopic diversity. “From Earth to the Universe” highlights that diversity in a series of high-resolution prints the span the enormous scales of the Universe around us. From Earth to the Universe »

Reservations

Reservations may be made online by credit card through Monday, April 27, 2009.

Registration »

Stanyan Park Hotel

There may still be special rates at the Stanyan Park Hotel, 750 Stanyan Street, San Francisco, CA 94117. This turn-of-the-century, award-winning hotel lies just a short walk from the California Academy of Sciences, through Golden Gate Park. Please call (415)751-1000 for reservations and mention the California Academy of Sciences workshop to receive the discounted rate.

Stanyan Park Hotel web site »