The Big Picture: Space as an Exhibit
The Astronomer’s Universe for May 2009 is really about a wonderful image of the cosmos disguised as an astronomy exhibit and I find such exhibits fascinating. As a producer for planetarium shows and a frequent visitor to science museums around the world, I get the chance to see many kinds of science outreach projects each year, and I always find something to learn from them.
Science is a complex topic, and often it is difficult to distill that complexity into something that people with a wide variety of interests and educational levels can understand. So, when I was offered the chance to work as a writer on a major set of astronomy exhibits for Griffith Observatory a few years ago, it was a chance to put into practice some ideas that occurred to me over years of visiting other people’s exhibits. I love astronomy and I love talking to people about it, so it was a win-win.
One of the most challenging of Griffith exhibits to write was the Big Picture, which I describe in the first segment of The Astronomer’s Universe. This fantastic image that covers one whole huge wall in the Gunther Depths of Space at Griffith was actually first conceptualized some years ago by a team of designers who currently work at C&G Partners, a group that designs exhibits. Their idea was discussed and refined over several years, through many conversations about the proper way to visualize scientific data — particularly on a wall 150 feet long!
When I came on board the project I studied the image for several months, along with the project scientists, in order to understand its nuances and content. You’d think that after a few times through the image, we’d know all we need to know. But, that’s not true! Every time I look at a high-res version of the image, I find more things to study. Even today — three years after I wrote the exhibit panels for the Big Picture, I still bring it up on my computer screen and simply look at it and marvel at what I see. For example, the galaxies depicted there are really quite amazing — no two are exactly alike, which raises a number of questions about how they formed and what forces shaped them.
I know I’m not the only one who looks at the image often. It’s still being studied by astronomers who are categorizing all those structures within it. And, members of the public explore it every day at Griffith. Along with other so-called “deep field” views of the universe, The Big Picture is a really good introduction for anybody who wants to learn about the structures that populate the universe.