Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/14320
n n n n Scientific Visualization Children and adults alike often can be found wishing upon a falling star. But, according to many astrophysicists, shooting stars are not really stars at all. Mostly, they are mete- ors—particle debris from the solar system—entering the Earth’s atmosphere. Tis reality seems far less interesting than the childhood myth, yet the real death, and birth, of a star is an event that is truly spectacular beyond all imagination. And it is one that is depicted in awesome fashion in the Hayden Planetarium’s latest immersive show Journey to the Stars. A mixture of complex astrophysics research, physics-based simulations, scientific visualiza- tions, and cutting-edge CGI, Journey launches audiences through time and space to experience the life and death of stars in our night sky. Te show, like all the planetarium’s productions, was created at the American Museum of Natural History by an internal team of astrophysicists, scientific visualization experts, and a media production crew, in collaboration with NASA and dozens of scientists throughout the world. “Te clock started ticking in 1999, and since then, we have produced four full-blown, high- Members of the creative team at the Rose Center for Earth and Space guide the space show Cosmic Collisions in the Hayden Plan- etarium to completion. end space productions, in addition to other projects,” says Benjy Bernhardt, director of engineer- ing at the museum’s Rose Center for Earth and Space, home of the Hayden Planetarium. “We are able to produce roughly one show every three years.” Unlike a typical movie crew, creating these scientific shows is just one aspect of the Hayden team’s job responsibilities. And while creating eye-catching CG and visual effects for entertain- ment-based feature films can be complicated and time-consuming, generating stunning, scientif- ically accurate simulations of out-of-this-world phenomena becomes an astronomical feat—and one that can only be accomplished through leading-edge digital technologies. 38 July 2010 Images ©AMNH. Photo by D. Finnin.