2025-04-25 Chat

Caves in Domes - Geoscience Education and Visualization in Digital Planetariums. The technology that allows us to fly through a virtual simulation of the known universe also shares a history with the software tools that enable us to zoom down to high resolution views of Earth’s surface. Digital planetariums are naturally suited not just to space beyond the Earth, but to Earth itself. In this talk, Ka Chun Yu relates the shared history of space and Earth science visualizations, what geoscience education actually entails, and why fulldome theaters are especially suited to take audiences on tours of their home planet.  He is an astronomer at the Denver Museum of Nature & Science, has helped produce movies for the digital dome and done research on how digital planetariums can be used to effectively teach astronomy.

Below you can find the list of attendees, a copy of the chat, and a slightly edited version of an AI Summary for Ka Chun's talk.

To see a description and schedule of upcoming Planetarians' Zoom Seminars, visit https://www.ppadomes.org/events/online-seminars/pzs-schedule

Below:

• Attendees

• Chat

• AI Summary

Attendees (partial list)

1. Rosemary Walling, Marie Drake Planetarium, Juneau, AK

2. Alan Gould, Lawrence Hall of Science, UC Berkeley California USA

3. Cal Powell, Alexandria, VA, USA

4. Erik Johnson, Staerkel Planetarium, Parkland College, Champaign, IL, USA

5. Dário Fonseca, Hemispherium @ Exploratório -  Coimbra, Portugal

6. Ken Murphy, Southwest Minnesota State University Planetarium, Marshall, Minnesot

Chat

Questions are included in the recording.

AI-Generated Summary

This is an AI-generated summary with only minor edits.

Quick recap

This meeting focused on geoscience education and visualization in digital planetariums, featuring a presentation by Ka Chun Yu from the Denver Museum of Nature and Science. The discussion covered various applications of planetarium technology for Earth science education, including 3D visualizations of caves, climate change education, and interactive audience engagement techniques. The conversation ended with planning for future seminars and discussions about website resources and job postings.

Summaries

Caves and Domes: Geoscience Education

Alan Gould introduces the speaker, Ka Chun Yu from the Denver Museum of Nature and Science, who presents on "Caves and Domes: Geoscience Education and Visualizations in Digital Planetariums." Ka Chun demonstrates this concept by showing a detailed 3D visualization of Carlsbad Cavern, created using photogrammetry, which allows viewers to explore areas of the cave system not accessible to regular visitors.

Virtual Globes in Geoscience Education

Ka Chun discusses the history of virtual globes and their relevance to geoscience education in planetariums. He traces the concept from Buckminster Fuller's 1960s idea of a "geoscope" to Al Gore's Digital Earth program in the 1990s, leading to the development of technologies like web mapping services. Ka Chun explains how these ideas influenced planetarium software and led to the creation of Google Earth. He emphasizes the power of overlaying different geospatial data sets for educational purposes and mentions early implementations of these technologies in planetarium software like Cosmic Atlas and Skies's [sp] Geoscope feature.

Geoscience Education and Planetarium Software

Ka Chun discusses geoscience education in the United States, focusing on the Next Generation Science Standards and their three dimensions of learning: science practices, cross-cutting concepts, and disciplinary core ideas. He explains that geoscience education at the college level emphasizes the unique aspects of earth sciences, including historical approaches, complex systems, and phenomena across various scales of space and time. Ka Chun highlights how planetarium software is well-suited for teaching geoscience concepts, particularly in visualizing large-scale phenomena and integrating data from different systems. He then describes various types of visualizations important in geoscience education, such as satellite imagery, digital elevation models, 2D maps, time-based phenomena, vector objects, and 3D models, which can be effectively incorporated into planetarium software.

Geoscience Visualization in Planetarium Software

Ka Chun discusses various applications of geoscience visualization in planetarium software. He explains how mantle plumes can be visualized using seismic data, and how photogrammetry techniques can create realistic 3D models of caves like Carlsbad Caverns. Ka Chun emphasizes the importance of 360-degree spherical panoramic imagery for virtual field trips in geoscience education. He also highlights areas for improvement in planetarium software, including better support for subsurface visualizations, ocean bathymetry, atmospheric models, and volumetric 3D data from CT scans and X-rays.

Climate Change Education Through Planetariums

Ka Chun discusses the use of planetariums and domes for climate change education and solutions. He describes projects like the Worldviews Network and Climate Stories, which aim to engage audiences in local climate issues and inspire action. These initiatives combine planetarium presentations with post-dome dialogues, connecting global perspectives to local impacts. Ka Chun emphasizes the importance of not just educating about climate change, but also encouraging people to think about their roles in addressing it. He suggests that planetariums have the potential to facilitate experiences that inspire audiences to take action on climate issues in their communities.

Engaging Audiences With Earth Science

Ka Chun discusses various ways to engage audiences in planetarium presentations using Earth science topics. He suggests using 3D models of cave features to explore geological formations like stalactites and stalagmites, and proposes interactive activities where audiences can guess names of features or discuss how they formed. Ka Chun also mentions using satellite imagery to show glacier retreat over time and human impacts visible from space, like agriculture and deforestation. He emphasizes the importance of starting conversations and getting audiences to think critically about Earth phenomena.

NOAA Data Integration in Planetariums

Ka Chun discusses various resources and methods for incorporating Earth science data and imagery into planetarium presentations. He mentions NOAA's Science on a Sphere project, which offers a large archive of atmospheric, oceanic, and land surface datasets. Ka Chun explains that some planetarium software can directly connect to NOAA servers to download and display this data, while others may require manual downloading and wrapping of imagery onto virtual Earth models. He also describes the use of KML files, developed by Google, for overlaying geospatially referenced graphics and satellite imagery. Ka Chun notes that while some software like Uniview can load KML files directly, others like Open Space require more complex processes involving geospatial tools such as GDAL to create compatible layers.

Earth-Focused Programs in Planetariums Discussed

The discussion covers various topics related to Earth-focused programs in planetariums. Dário mentions his interest in involving archaeologists to showcase prehistoric monuments and caves on the dome, particularly for areas that are physically inaccessible. Erik shares that his planetarium has worked with geology professors to visualize plate tectonics. Ka Chun offers to share his planetarium article with more detailed information on the topics discussed. The conversation concludes with a discussion on the importance of accurate shadow casting for archaeoastronomy programs in planetariums, acknowledging the technical challenges involved in implementing such features.