Latest news with #ScienceRendezvous
Hamilton Spectator
30-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Hamilton Spectator
Out of This World: The Travelling Planetarium Coming to Burlington That's Redefining Astronomy Education
Is visiting the stars part of your summer to-do list? Are you curious about what exists past the clouds when you look up into the cosmos? Astronomy in Action, a Canadian-based and owned travelling astronomy company, is returning to Burlington in the month of July for a summer round of informative presentations. On Friday, July 11 and Saturday, July 12, 2025, Burlington astronomy enthusiasts — and their equally enthusiastic, telescope-peering kids — will have the opportunity to be transported to the celestial spheres without having to leave the city. The two-day event will be held at the Grace United Church, located on 2111 Walkers Line. Interested attendees can sign up for three separate shows at prices per ticket from $22.99 to $26.99: The Wanderers (with a runtime 40 minutes, recommended for viewers 5 years and older), The Great Cosmic Journey (runtime: 50 minutes, also recommended for those 5 years and older), or What Is In the Sky? (runtime: 25 minutes, aimed at the toddler set). The spaceship that attendees board will be an inflatable dome shaped like a turtle's shell, as shown below. Astronomy in Action has been an entry point into outer space for nine years. Creator and organizer Ryan Marciniak, who goes by the fitting alias 'The Travelling Planetarian,' regularly journeys across the province of Ontario accompanied by his two trusty inflatable planetarium domes, which serve as an accessible gateway into outer space. Marciniak has a vast background in the field of interactive and entertaining public astronomy and has agreed to discuss how Astronomy in Action came about as a touring program. He is also happy to inform readers on what they can expect from the full Astronomy in Action experience. Answers have been lightly edited for flow. How did Astronomy in Action get started as a program? It was about fourteen years ago now. I finished a master's degree in astrophysics, and I had done a lot of science communication for events at Science Rendezvous [a charitable organization that organizes STEM shows and demonstrations]. At the University of Western Ontario in London, I actually helped run their observatory. I got to talk to a lot of kids who came into the observatory and gave them talks on astronomy. I really fell in love with live presenting and science communication to the public, and bringing them the challenging, difficult, and advanced knowledge that scientists and astronomers are still figuring out. It's about understanding the universe and trying to bring that down to a level that anybody can understand. It started with schools, Scouts, and Guides. I personally worked at the Ontario Science Centre for about six years, doing everything from camps and birthday parties to designing exhibits and being on the floor staff. All that experience in working with people and sharing the wonders of science with them, I've brought into Astronomy in Action. I've taught some of our new presenters, who we've added to our program in the past few years, the style of really connecting with people and connecting them to the content that we're seeing in the domes. The beautiful thing about having a planetarium is that we actually feel like we're venturing out into the cosmos. We can use our imagination and go anywhere we want without actually being there. It feels like we're riding in a spaceship. It feels like we're surfing on the rings of Saturn. It feels like we're venturing close to a black hole without any danger. It started out as this big dream, and it's growing and growing over time. We're serving more people every year, and we hope to continue to grow and serve more people and more communities. Can you describe how your portable planetarium works? We unroll it like a cinnamon bun. It opens up, and we plug in a couple of fans that are specifically tailored to the shape of it to blow air into the structure. It inflates and becomes this giant, thirty-foot-wide, twenty-foot-tallstructure. And then the seats are actually a separate piece. They're custom-made for the domes we have. People sit on these comfy seats, and in the centre is a projection system with what's called a fisheye lens. The fisheyes spreads light over the entire surface of the dome, kind of like a movie theatre in a way. The special lens projects light evenly across the dome, and then the computer that we have creates imagery made to fit that space. If you have ever tried to view planetarium imagery on a flat screen, it looks really weird. But in the dome, it looks the way it's supposed to. You feel immersed in the space everywhere you look. There's something to see, whether it's the background stars as we fly past the planet Earth, or collisions as we talk about how the moon formed, or even shooting stars flying over our heads. It's a really beautiful experience, and you really feel like you're part of it without ever having to stay up late or brave the cold Canadian winter temperatures by going outside. I'd also like to mention that we at Astronomy in Action pride ourselves on leaving spaces exactly the way we found them. We have good relationships with all the churches and schools we work with. We treat their spaces and their people with respect, and they do the same for us. What will children and their parents take away from an Astronomy in Action experience? I think sparking interest is the key phrase here. We want everyone to reconnect with the universe. We're all part of the universe. We all have a connection to space and the planets and the stars at night, not to mention the Milky Way that we can see in the sky. We live in a time where we have a much better understanding of what's really happening up there than many humans in history, and that's a wonderful thing. So we want every person who comes through the planetarium to be engaged with what they're seeing, and to feel like they've done something fun, exciting, and interesting. They're also going to learn something new. Error! Sorry, there was an error processing your request. There was a problem with the recaptcha. Please try again. You may unsubscribe at any time. By signing up, you agree to our terms of use and privacy policy . This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google privacy policy and terms of service apply. Want more of the latest from us? Sign up for more at our newsletter page .
CTV News
10-05-2025
- Science
- CTV News
Science Rendezvous at Western gets kids interested in the sciences
The Science Rendezvous seen at Western University in London, Ont. on May 10, 2025. (Bryan Bicknell/CTV News London)
