2025-09-26 Chat

An Ancient Place for Skyscapes - 

Creating Immersive Experiences with Stellarium

with Daniel Brown

Video LINK

Below you can find a list of attendees, a copy of the chat, the slides for Dan's talk.  An AI summary will be forthcoming.

To see a description and schedule of all upcoming Planetarians' Zoom Seminars, visit

https://www.ppadomes.org/events/online-seminars/pzs-schedule

Date and time for the next seminar:

Showing Off the Solar System To Young School Groups, with Richard Nolthenius. 025 Oct 24 (4th Friday) at 2pm PDT (5pm EDT, 21:00 UT)

Below

• Slides

• Attendees

• Chat

• AI-generated Summary

• Partial List of References and Resources

Slides

Ancient Place for Skyscapes (slides)

Attendees

1. Rosemary Walling (co-host), Marie Drake Planetarium, Juneau, AK

2. Alan Gould (co-host), Berkeley California USA

3. Mary Holt, Berkeley, California

4. Jeff Nee, Pasadena, CA

5. Josh Roberts, South SF

6. John Erickson, Richmond, CA

7. Amie Gallagher, Raritan Valley Community College, Branchburg, NJ

8. Cal Powell, Alexandria, VA

9. Dário Fonseca @ Hemispherium - Coimbra, Portugal

10. Justin Stevick, College of San Mateo and Santa Rosa Junior College

11. Adam Thanz, BaysMountain Planetarium - Retired; Northeast State Community College - Astronomy Faculty - Not Retired

12. Victoria Tiki, Urbana, Illinois

13. Karl von Ahnen, Santa Cruz Mountains-(w/ flaky internet connection)

14. Sara Schultz, Planetarium Director, MN State Moorhead

15. Katie Iadanza - Pierce College Science Dome

16. Jon Bell, Halstrom Planetarium, Indian River State College, Fort Pierce, Florida

17. Carole Holmberg, retired, Rock Hill, SC

18. and a few more

Chat

(The timestamps below are roughly 30 minutes ahead of the corresponding times in the video. However, the answers to questions written in the chat started at about 1 hour into the recording .)

00:29:23 Rosemary Walling (PPA): Today's talk:      

https://www.ppadomes.org/

https://www.youtube.com/@ppadomes/videos

01:01:23 Jeff Nee: Question for later:  Have you found that the native "panorama mode" in smartphone cameras aren't good enough for this work?

01:03:33 Sara Schultz: Could you use a 360 camera to create the panorama?  Just crop it down to remove what you don’t want above the horizon?

01:12:31 Jeff Nee: How expensive was your LIDAR equipment?

01:17:32 Katie Iadanza: Thanks for a great talk!

01:21:55 Jon Bell: Gardam's Edge Standing Stone reminds me of the Inti Watana at Machu Pichu, about 13 degrees S latitude. One edge is vertical to show when the sun is directly overhead at that site, while the other edge is inclined 13 degrees to show when the Solstice occurs.

01:24:55 Amie Gallagher: Thanks!

01:33:57 Sara Schultz: Do you have any kind of guidelines/write up on the summer school you did?  That would be fun to be able to implement

01:43:15 Josh Roberts: everyone loves dinosaurs!

01:45:33 Sara Schultz: Awesome!  Thank you

01:45:37 Sara Schultz: I will follow up with you

01:55:36 Jeff Nee: nee@skyskan.com

01:56:05 Karl von Ahnen: I need to leave. - Thank you. I especially enjoyed your discussion of shadows.

02:01:33 Josh Roberts: ...SOUNDS like I need to get my presentation together...

02:01:58 Jeff Nee: Reacted to "...SOUNDS like I nee..." with 😂

02:04:20 Josh Roberts: great presentation!

02:08:34 Jeff Nee: Reacted to "great presentation!" with 👆

AI-generated Summary

This AI-generated summary has not been edited for accuracy nor does not replace watching the full video. If you find any incorrect or misleading information in the AI summaries, you can let us know. Our contact information is here.

Overview

This lecture introduced the concept of skyscapes and archaeoastronomy, focusing on immersive experiences with ancient sites using Stellarium. The presenter, Dan, an Associate Professor of Astronomy and Science Communication at Nottingham Trent University in the UK, shared his research on creating meaningful connections between ancient monuments, landscapes, and celestial phenomena. The presentation demonstrated how virtual recreations of archaeological sites can enhance understanding and engagement with cultural heritage through planetarium experiences.

Key Concepts or Theories:

• Skyscapes: How societies engage with the sky through observation, stories, myths, and daily life

• Archaeoastronomy vs. Skyscapes: Moving from purely astronomical interpretations to more holistic cultural approaches

• Transformative learning: Using separation, liminal space, and reintegration to create meaningful educational experiences

• Shadow phenomenology: Understanding how shadows interact with monuments to create meaningful experiences

• Virtual vs. real sites: The dialectic relationship between physical sites and their digital recreations

Important Questions Raised:

• How can we interpret astronomical alignments at ancient sites without imposing modern astronomical concepts?

• What is the relationship between physical sites and their virtual recreations?

• How can immersive experiences enhance public engagement with cultural heritage?

• How do shadows and light create meaningful experiences at ancient monuments?

• How can we incorporate multiple worldviews when interpreting ancient sites?

Key Takeaways

• Skyscapes archaeology offers a richer, more holistic approach to understanding how ancient people engaged with the sky compared to traditional archaeoastronomy

• Creating immersive experiences through planetarium shows and 3D landscapes can enhance public engagement with archaeological sites

• Shadows play an important cultural and experiential role in how people interact with monuments

• The dialectic between "real" and "virtual" sites creates opportunities for deeper understanding

• Co-creation with local communities enhances the relevance and impact of skyscape interpretations

• Stellarium software can be used to create realistic landscape panoramas and 3D models for educational purposes

• Experiential approaches to ancient sites should incorporate multiple senses and personal connections

Topic 1: Skyscapes and Archaeoastronomy Methodology

Skyscapes represents a holistic approach to understanding how societies engage with the sky, encompassing observation, stories, myths, and daily life interactions. Unlike traditional archaeoastronomy, which often imposes modern astronomical concepts onto ancient sites, skyscapes archaeology emphasizes richer interpretations that incorporate multiple worldviews. Dan described his dialectic approach, which presents multiple perspectives simultaneously rather than imposing a single narrative. This allows audiences to negotiate meaning for themselves. The methodology involves transformative learning through three stages: separation (removing people from everyday environments), liminal space (creating a transitional experience), and reintegration (supporting understanding after the experience). This approach recognizes the importance of emotional connections and "wow moments" that occur when people engage with historical sites, particularly when experiencing celestial phenomena at ancient monuments.

Topic 2: Gardom's Edge Standing Stone Case Study

Gardom's Edge is a unique standing stone located in the Peak District of England, surrounded by Neolithic enclosures and the only in-situ rock art in the region. The stone has several distinctive features: it's triangular in shape, approximately 2 meters tall, and has a north-facing side that is tilted at approximately 60 degrees. Through careful analysis, Dan discovered that this tilt matches the highest altitude the sun can achieve during midsummer (90 degrees minus the local latitude, plus the obliquity of the ecliptic). This creates an interesting shadow phenomenon: during winter, the north-facing side is always in shadow; during most of summer, it's partially illuminated; but only at midsummer does the sun remain above the plane of the stone face all day, causing the stone and its shadow to become one. Rather than interpreting this purely as astronomical knowledge, Dan suggests this could represent a deeper cultural meaning related to shadow phenomenology, where the merging of stone and shadow might have spiritual significance. The stone's location is also significant, positioned in a "liminal space" where nearby natural landmarks are not visible.

Topic 3: Creating Immersive Experiences with Stellarium

Dan demonstrated how to create immersive experiences of archaeological sites using Stellarium software. The process involves capturing panoramic images of landscapes, processing them to create a seamless 360° view, and importing them into Stellarium. For more advanced applications, 3D landscapes can be created using LiDAR data processed through QGIS and Blender before importing into Stellarium. These virtual recreations allow users to experience sites as they would have appeared thousands of years ago, accounting for changes in the obliquity of the ecliptic and vegetation. Dan showcased several examples, including Arbor Low (sometimes called "Stonehenge of the North") and King Arthur's Hall in Cornwall. The virtual environments enable visitors to explore how monuments interact with celestial phenomena and experience shadow effects that might have been culturally significant. Dan emphasized that these virtual recreations should complement rather than replace visits to the actual sites, creating a dialectic relationship between the physical and virtual experiences that enhances understanding.

Topic 4: Co-creation and Community Engagement

Dan described several projects that incorporated co-creation with local communities to enhance engagement with archaeological sites. For King Arthur's Hall, the team created a planetarium show featuring the site with its actual landscape and light pollution levels, then followed up with guided walks and stargazing sessions at the actual location. They also incorporated locally meaningful constellations created by community members, including a kangaroo constellation inspired by escaped kangaroos that had made news in the area. Another project called "Writing SkySkin" involved creating art and poetry inspired by the Creswell Crags Caves, which was then incorporated into an immersive planetarium experience. Dan also described working with schoolchildren to create personalized landscapes that incorporated astronomical phenomena relevant to their local environment. These co-creation approaches helped transform participants' perspectives, shifting their focus from purely ground-based interpretations to include celestial connections. The projects demonstrated how combining virtual experiences with physical site visits and creative expression can create deeper, more meaningful engagement with cultural heritage.

Q&A

Sarah: How do 360 panoramas work in Stellarium if someone has a 360 camera?

Dan: While 360 cameras can work, Dan prefers manually stitching images for better control. For planetarium purposes, landscapes typically only need to extend 30-40 degrees above the horizon, making full 360-degree vertical coverage less necessary.

Jeff asked additional questions about equipment and process. See video for details.

References and Resources (partial)

(This list is partially AI generated and partially human selected. There are various references scattered throughout Dan's talk.

• Silva, F., 2024. Defining skyscape. Culture and Cosmos, 26(2), pp.3-14.

• Brown, D., The Experience of Watching, 2016, Culture and Cosmos 17.2, 5-24

• Brown, D., Exploring Skyscape with Stellarium, 2015, Journal for Skyscape Archaeology 1.1, 93-112  (check back for access)

• Stellarium software for creating immersive landscape experiences

• QGIS software (free) for processing LiDAR data

• Blender software (free) for creating 3D models

• Scaniverse app for creating 3D models using mobile phones

• Skyscapes of Sacred Spaces (QR code was shown in presentation)

• "Writing SkySkin" virtual exhibition (QR code was shown in presentation)