NCSA contributes to planetarium shows

released 03.04.09

NCSA's Advanced Visualization Laboratory, led by Donna Cox, contributed animations to a new space show that will debut at Chicago's Adler Planetarium on Friday, March 6. "IBEX: Search for the Edge of the Solar System" focuses on NASA's Interstellar Boundary Explorer, which set out in the fall of 2008 on a two-year mission to map the boundaries of our solar system by studying the interaction of hot solar winds with the cold of deep space.

NCSA's visualizations show the Milky Way context of the sun's changing interstellar environment as it sweeps through its quarter-billion-year orbit through our galaxy, oscillating above and below the galactic plane.

Animations produced by NCSA are also part of "3-D Universe: A Symphony," a unique sensory experience that combines high-definition stereo pictures and animations with the music of Mussorgsky's "Pictures at an Exhibition" as performed by the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. "3-D Universe: A Symphony" is being presented at the Adler as part of its 2009 celebration of the International Year of Astronomy; the show opens March 6.

The NCSA team has previously produced high-resolution animations for productions such as the Academy Award-nominated IMAX film "Cosmic Voyage" and the NOVA programs "Monster of the Milky Way," "Hunt for the Supertwister," and "Runaway Universe." The group produced visualizations for the space shows "Black Holes: The Other Side of Infinity," "The Search for Life: Are We Alone?" and "Passport to the Universe."

For show times and other information, see: www.adlerplanetarium.org.