Flagstaff, Ariz. – Starting today, Lowell Observatory visitors are learning and experiencing astronomy from completely new perspectives, thanks to an amazing new multimedia theatre. The John Vickers McAllister Space Theatre debuts at Lowell with the Observatory offering hourly daytime space theatre programs, regular nighttime shows, and special onsite and offsite educational programs for schoolchildren throughout Arizona and the region.
“Astronomy and astronomy principles are part of our everyday lives,” said Kevin Schindler, Lowell Observatory Outreach Manager. “For example, time is based directly on astronomical phenomena. The new space theatre is a welcome tool for us to help explain such fundamentals – and to also introduce more advanced astronomy concepts – so they are both fun and accessible.”
The space theatre is a 24-seat planetarium-like venue tucked inside Lowell Observatory’s exhibit hall. The Observatory is offering 20-minute daytime space theatre shows on the hour starting at 9:30 a.m. with the last show starting at 4:30 p.m. During its regular evening hours, the Observatory complements telescope viewing with five to seven-minute space theatre presentations introducing visitors to what they will be viewing in the night sky that evening.
“We are grateful to Advisory Board member Frances McAllister for her generous contribution to make this new space theatre possible,” said Jeffrey Hall, Associate Director for Education and Development. “The John Vickers McAllister Space Theatre is a major step forward in allowing us to present the results of astronomical research to the public.”
The space theatre is a computer-based planetarium program, but unlike the traditional planetarium format, it is presented on a five-foot-diameter concave screen directly in front of the audience with comfortable theatre-style seats for them. It is a real-time program that is easily customized, and is narrated by trained Lowell Observatory education guides who take visitors from Earth outward to the edge of the universe. Space theatre shows are set to music with state-of-the-art surround sound and feature animations and real-time views of the night sky. The system was built and installed by Aram Friedman of Ansible Technologies in Princeton Junction, New Jersey.
“This new program puts visitors directly into an imaginative world, a richly varied realm of astronomical wonders that should intrigue would-be space travelers of all ages,” said Schindler.
In honor of her late husband after which the new space theatre is named, Frances McAllister contributed a major portion of the funding for the $55,000 facility. Additional support was provided by APS, the GeoFund, and AV Domotics.
For information about all of Lowell Observatory’s programs including hours of admission, visit www.lowell.edu or call (928) 233-3211 for regularly updated recorded information.
Lowell Observatory is a private, non-profit research institution founded in 1894 by Percival Lowell. The Observatory has been the site of many important findings including the discovery of the large recessional velocities (redshift) of galaxies by Vesto Slipher in 1912-1914 (a result that led ultimately to the realization the universe is expanding), and the discovery of Pluto by Clyde Tombaugh in 1930. Today, Lowell's 19 astronomers use ground-based telescopes around the world, telescopes in space, and NASA planetary spacecraft to conduct research in diverse areas of astronomy and planetary science. The Observatory welcomes about 80,000 visitors each year to its Mars Hill campus in Flagstaff, Arizona for a variety of tours, telescope viewing, and special programs. Lowell Observatory currently has four research telescopes at its Anderson Mesa dark sky site east of Flagstaff, and is building a 4-meter class research telescope, the Discovery Channel Telescope.
Rusty Tweed
tweedr[at]lowell[dot]edu
(928) 233-3267
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