Be a World of Good
At 10 feet high and 20 across, the UW Astronomy Department’s portable planetarium is an igloo-like dome that inflates with the help of a high-powered fan, creating a pop-up galaxy with projected telescopic images designed to teach students about the solar system.
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The planetarium was created in 2012 as part of the Astronomy Department‘s outreach efforts that also include student visits to the UW Planetarium and public star-viewing at the Theodor Jacobsen Observatory.
Those campus attractions draw about 1,000 students a year, but oddly, not many from the Seattle area. The mobile planetarium was designed to turn that around and take astronomy to the schools.
“I’ve told my volunteers to think of how and where they would like to use the mobile planetarium,” said Oliver Fraser, a UW lecturer in astronomy. “I’d love for the people who have presented so much to others to bring the dome to their own communities. I’m also hoping to partner with community centers in Seattle that often look for programming — working with them is a great way to reach students whose schools find it harder to make space and time for the mobile planetarium.”
Watch the planetarium get set up, used and taken down all in a minute
All photos were taken by Mary Levin of UW Photography.
More on UW planetariums
- Do-it-yourself universe: Creators of the traveling planetarium have written a 12-page do-it-yourself guide, where they provide “advice we wish we had when starting this project from scratch.”
- Volunteer or book a show?: Interested in booking the traveling planetarium, or volunteering? Contact Oliver Fraser.
- The UW Planetarium: The UW Astronomy Department also runs its own full-sized planetarium and gives shows to students and the public. The next scheduled shows are Dec. 5, 2014, and Feb. 6, 2015. Shows on the first Friday of each month are also in the planning.