SCHOOL OF STARS

didactic guide
STARRY NIGHT AT THE MUSEUM
3 y 4 de ESO / Bachillerato
STARRY NIGHT AT THE MUSEUM
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w w w .escuela.pam plonetario.org 2/11
Starry night at the museum is an exclusive show to project in digital planetariums. Its images
cover all the planetariums canvas and it gives a spectacular immersive effect: the spectator
feels like inside of the scene that is projected. Actually the public is inside the scene, because
Starry Night at the Museum is a full-dome digital planetarium audiovisual. The image projected
on the screen produces a unique immersive effect, which places the viewer into each scene.
In this special environment, we invite you to enjoy the starry sky and reflect, from an
interdisciplinary perspective on the invisible connections between science and art.
The program lasts 35 minutes and is made with a combination of techniques including 3D
animation, photography, video and drawing scenes. In addition, several sequences featuring
the projection of the sky with a realism hard to imagine. The soundtrack includes classical
pieces, songs composed especially for the program and a variety of sound effects.
Starry Night at the Museum is a production of the Science Museums of Corua (A Corua
City Council) in collaboration with the Science Museum of Valladolid, Pamplona Planetarium,
the Museum of Science and Cosmos in Tenerife, the Elder Museum of Science and Technology,
The Astronomical Parc Montsec and Eureka! Zientzia Museoa. Several professionals from
these institutions as well as digital artists, musicians and sound engineers have worked in
this production for over a year.
This program is partially funded by the Ministry of Science and Innovation Spanish Foundation
for Science and Technology in the Call for Grants for the 2010 Program of scientific culture
and innovation..
For more information, visit this links:
Official website: http://www.nocheestrellada.org/index.php
Didactic guide of the website: http://tinyurl.com/cba7wgl
Didactic guide of the website (PDF format): http://tinyurl.com/bs5364k
In the first sequence of the program Urania shows to her friends some examples
of art works that incorporate elements related to astronomy. The Prado Museum
website (http://www.museodelprado.es/) allows to enjoy these paintings in
great detail. Can you identify all the elements mentioned in the speech and
reproduced here?
The seven liberal arts
Each one is represented by a woman who
appears accompanied by the most important
figure in the discipline. Astronomy heads the
composition carrying a celestial sphere. Sitting
at his feet we see Ptolemy, who between the
first and second centuries collected in 13
volumes the history of Greek astronomy.
Visit: http://tinyurl.com/c5bexu5
Sight
This work belonging to the set of the Five
Senses is the result of the collaboration
between Rubens and Jan Brueghel the Elder.
It was painted in 1617 and, to our knowledge,
is the second painting of history in which
appears a telescope.
Visit: http://tinyurl.com/czv4vcy
Saturn devouring his son
Rubens also painted his own version of the
classic myth about the god Saturn. I would
like to draw attention to the top of the box,
where a triple star represents the planet Saturn
as Galileo Galilei had observed 26 years
earlier.
Visit: http://tinyurl.com/dxbkguj
Esta obra perteneciente al conjunto de los
Cinco Sentidos es fruto de la colaboracin
entre Rubens y Jan Brueghel el Viejo. Fue
realizada en 1617 y, que sepamos, es la
segunda pintura de la historia en la que
aparece un telescopio.
Rubens painting the Allegory of Peace
To the right is Mars, dressed as a warrior,
harassing Venus, symbolizing peace. And at
the bottom, some of the objects that are
destroyed by war. These include an astrolabe
and an armillary sphere, representing scientific
knowledge.
Visit: http://tinyurl.com/c6nobq7
w w w .escuela.pam plonetario.org 3/11
STARRY NIGHT AT THE MUSEUM - 3 y 4 de ESO / Bachillerato
Activity 1 Stars on the canvas
Just as the literature allows us to understand how people lived
a certain time, in works of art is also possible to trace the beliefs
and lifestyles of the past. For example, since the days of ancient
Greece it was believed that the moon was a perfect sphere which
surface was highly polished. Hence that our satellite was considered
as a symbol of purity and was frequently represented at the feet
of the Virgin. However, early in the 17th century, Galileo first
observed the moon with the telescope, and found a landscape of
valleys, craters and mountains that cover our own planet. His
drawings show unequivocally the imperfect nature of the Moon.
Do you know any work of art - however popular - regarding the scientific and
technological advances of the 20th century? Can you find a famous painting
where appears an airplane? And a locomotive??
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Here are two Madonnas with a moon at her feet, one painted by Murillo and
another by Cigoli. Would you know which one is more realistic in the
astronomical details?
Cigoli Murillo
STARRY NIGHT AT THE MUSEUM - 3 y 4 de ESO / Bachillerato
Activity 1 Stars on the canvas
Astronomy is one of the oldest sciences, even though because deciphering the movements
of the stars helped the first civilizations to oriented on trips, and develop schedules that
allowed them to organize their activities. Moreover, almost all cultures turned their mythology
and beliefs in the sky, and many of them left a sediment that can still be tracked, for example,
names of stars, planets and constellations.
The planetarium program talks of a virtual reality machine that allows you to visit some historic
places in which it is still possible to feel the weight of astronomical knowledge.
The Stonehenge cromlech and the
Almendros cromeleque
On the summer solstice, the sun rose across
the central axis of the building. Its... lets say,
amazing that 5000 years ago they had such
precise astronomical knowledge.
Video (spanish): Stonehenge (el misterio de las piedras)
- http://tinyurl.com/cw67v7e
wikipedia: Cromlech
http://tinyurl.com/qcfgg
The antas or dolmens of Alentejo
The study of more than a hundred of these
dolmens has revealed that are oriented at
sunrise - or perhaps at the moonrise -
sometime in the annual cycle. Plates with
numeric patterns have also been found and
suggest that the builders relied on astronomical
observations to measure time.
The cave paintings of Lascaux
We are in the cave of Lascaux in France. As
you can see, is decorated with magnificent
prehistoric paintings. Some researchers argue
that in this veritable Sistine Chapel of
Paleolithic Art is the first representation of the
Pleiades.
Visit: www.lascaux.culture.fr
w w w .escuela.pam plonetario.org 5/11
STARRY NIGHT AT THE MUSEUM - 3 y 4 de ESO / Bachillerato
Activity 2 Stars in memory
The pyramids of Giza
At the plateau in Giza, near Cairo, we can
see the famous pyramids of Cheops,
Chephren and Mycerinus, which are perfectly
oriented to the four cardinal points.
The petroglyphs on the Northwest Iberian
Peninsula
The Great Deer at Laxe dos Carballos and
other petroglyphs found in Pontevedra,
northwest of the Iberian Peninsula, seem to
confirm this lunisolar calendar.
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Internet and some applications such as Google Earth or Google Maps allow you to make
a virtual trip to some of these places and check, for example, its orientation with respect to
the cardinal points. Find some pyramids in Egypt, and also in Central America. Are they
oriented in any special way? Is that orientation perfect or just approximate?
As Saturn reminds us at a certain point of the program, Christian churches also tended to
be oriented with respect to the cardinal points. Find with Google Earth the main Spanish
cathedrals (Santiago, Leon, Burgos, etc..) and check their orientation. What about other
recently built cathedrals, like the Almudena in Madrid?
Apart from the religious monuments, many civilian buildings are oriented to the cardinal
points.Does it happen as well with the city council of your town? What about the football
stadium or hospitals?
The orientation of the axes of the Plaza de Mara Pita, which houses A Corua City council,
matches up with the cardinal points. The names of many stars and constellations, reveal
their Babylonic, Greek, Roman, or Arabic source. Would you know the origin of stars like
Sadalmelik, Capella, Kornephoros, Polaris, Ukdah, Bellatrix, Mirfak or Tsze Tseang?
The constellations are arbitrary groupings of stars that throughout history have been associated
with the figure of an animal, object or mythological being. In general, each culture has
imagined its own, but some are repeated suspiciously as far as ancient Greece or the Amazon
jungle.
The sky map currently consists of 88 constellations that cover the entire sky like a mosaic.
Some are easy to recognize, as the Big Dipper, Orion and Scorpio. Others, however, have
little shining stars to help us locate them. The best tool to learn to know the sky is a planisphere.
There are several computer programs that allow you to identify what youre watching. One
of the best is called Stellarium (www.stellarium.org) and is free.
If you have a smartphone, for very little money you can download an application of augmented
reality as StarWalk. Placing the phone as a window frame the application will tell you what
you are watching.
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STARRY NIGHT AT THE MUSEUM - 3 y 4 de ESO / Bachillerato
Activity 2 Stars in memory
w w w .escuela.pam plonetario.org
Starry Night at the Museum contains several sequences in which we can observe the
movements in the sky at night. Although the presence of so many stars can lead to confusion,
the fact is that the motion of the sky is very similar to the sun during the day. And both have
their origin in the rotation of the Earth, that completes one turn on its axis within 24 hours.
Today we take for granted that the earth turns endlessly, but if you think about it, we dont
have ample evidence that the movements of the stars are the result of Earths rotation. Do
you notice a steady wind blowing from the east? In fact, until a few centuries ago everyone
believed that the Earth - as it seems - was motionless, and the planets and stars turned
around it. Can you think of any observation or experiment that demonstrates indisputably
that the earth rotates on itself? If you do not have evidence, why do you think were so
confident that the Earth rotates on itself and around the sun?
Given that our planet is roughly spherical and has a radius of about 6350 km, calculate the
distance covered during a day by an earthling who is on the Ecuator. How fast does this
movement mean? And if we calculate the speed at which we move because of the (hypothetical)
annual movement of translation of the Earth around the Sun? Is it possible that we are moving
through space at more than 1000 km / h? And if so, why dont we perceive it?
If these questions have made you uncomfortable, dont worry. The first experiment that
showed unequivocally the Earths rotation was made by Leon Foucault, who swung a
pendulum similar to that now hang in many planetariums and science museums. If you have
one nearby, you can see how it works and what it shows on the website of the Science
Museum of Valladolid.
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Video of Foucaults pendulum (in spanish): http://tinyurl.com/cdegchp
Didactic files: Foucault pendulum (in spanish): http://tinyurl.com/d9jur38
STARRY NIGHT AT THE MUSEUM - 3 y 4 de ESO / Bachillerato
Activity 3 Stars in the sky
w w w .escuela.pam plonetario.org
He also noticed that the line separating the illuminated area of the dark regions of the Moon
is not a perfect curve -as would be expected if the moon was a sphere- but a broken line
that demonstrates the existence of ground features.
The relationship between science and technology is complex. Sometimes a scientific discovery
is an unexpected application on a new technology. But sometimes we need a technological
breakthrough to open the door to new scientific discoveries. This is what happened, for
example, with the construction of the first telescopes in the early seventeenth century. Galileo
produced some of the first, and although their quality was far below cheap binoculars, they
allowed him to see things that nobody had seen before. And best of all is that anyone can
see his main observations in a clear night.
Just as the telescope allowed him to see stars too faint to the eye, it also put within reach
the four brightest satellites of Jupiter. These bodies are not distinguished from the stars
above, except that they seem to follow the planet as a slow stroll through the constellations
of the zodiac. Galileo knew that Jupiter was much closer than the stars, which meant we
could see those stars that change position during a single night, were actually the satellites
of Jupiter.
For example, he realized that the Milky Way
and some nebulae that patched the sky are
nothing but a multitude of small stars, too
weak for our eye to distinguish them
individually.
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STARRY NIGHT AT THE MUSEUM - 3 y 4 de ESO / Bachillerato
Activity 4 Uranias tools
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The first telescopes were made up of sets of lenses, but imperfections degraded the image
as the light passed through. In addition, the search for magnifiers resulted in increasingly
long tubes, so that came to be unmanageable.
Another of the great names of science, Isaac Newton revolutionized the construction of
telescopes using curved mirrors instead of lenses. As the light reflects off them without
crossing the image degradation is lower. In addition, the scheme with mirrors allows the
building of compact telescopes.
The poor quality of Galileos telescopes is
evident in these pictures of what he saw when
focusing on Saturn. Today we know that the
planet is surrounded by a ring system, but
Galileo could only distinguish a sort of "ears"
flanking it.
In order to obtain the best images, the large telescopes are now being built in places where
the sky quality is exceptional. The most important are grouped in the Canary Islands, on the
peaks of Hawaii and in the desert of Chile. What do these places have in common? How do
they look in photographs showing the city lights at night?
Reflector (mirrors) Refractor (lenses)
Primary
mirror
Secondary
mirror
Objetivo Ocular
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LIGHT
STARRY NIGHT AT THE MUSEUM - 3 y 4 de ESO / Bachillerato
Activity 4 Uranias tools
w w w .escuela.pam plonetario.org
One of the most exciting sequences in the
program is the night observation starring a
group of amateur astronomers. In Spain there
are many astronomical groups who enjoy this
hobby and work with professional scientists
gathering and analyzing data. They also tend
to be the ones who discover the comets and
maintain a constant activity to bring astronomy
to the general public. The website of the
I nt ernat i onal Year of Ast ronomy
(http://ti nyurl .com/ckvbcov) maintains a list of
astronomical groups in our country. Locate
the nearest and contact them to try to arrange
a chat or better an astronomical observation
for beginners.
The program cites the Declaration in Defense of the Quality of the Night Sky and the Right
to Observe the Stars. You can find more information about this initiative at the Starlight project
website (http://tinyurl.com/cf87o38).
What other statements on intangibles do you know? Do you agree on the preservation of
such cultural heritage?
The greatest enemy for amateur astronomers, is not cold or sleep, but light pollution. The
lights of cities and roads minimize darkness, and prevent to see less bright objects. In the
program you can see how the situation annoys Saturn:
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STARRY NIGHT AT THE MUSEUM - 3 y 4 de ESO / Bachillerato
Activity 5 The pleasure of watching stars
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Light pollution is not only a problem for astronomers. Many species of animals -including
humans- are altered in their behavior by the disappearance of nocturnal cycles. But also, if
we consider that the light projected upward is wasted light, and that most of the electricity
we use comes from power plants that burn fossil fuels, we can imagine the magnitude of the
environmental problem. In light of these considerations, some have even said that these
images of nighttime light sources are more than a map of the distribution of human population
and wealth, a map of the human stupidity and waste. What do you think?
After observing a dramatic sky crossed by the Milky Way, the naked Maja sighs and remembers
a poem that Jose Asuncion Silva devoted to the stars. Heres the full version:
The beauty of the sky has inspired musicians, poets and painters. Can you find at least three
works in which the night, the planets or the stars play a special role?
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STARRY NIGHT AT THE MUSEUM - 3 y 4 de ESO / Bachillerato
Activity 5 The pleasure of watching stars
www.escuela.pamplonetario.org
www.pamplonetario.org
Las actividades de divulgacin y educacin cientfica del Planetario de Pamplona
cuentan con el impulso de laObra Social "la Caixa" y la Fundacin Caja Navarra
Este obra est bajo una licencia de Creative Commons Reconocimiento-NoComercial 4.0
http://creativecommons.org/choose/?lang=es_ES