Digital planetarium wows foreign students

By Robbie Pangilinan

Chinese, Korean and Japanese students of Diliman Preparatory School (DPS) are amazed at the latest innovation brought by DPS president Nikki Coseteng to the world of learning: the DPS Astronomy Center.

The foreign students, though coming from countries more developed than the Philippines, are in awe of such advanced and complete resource for astronomy education in the country. The DPS Astronomy Center features educational exhibits, services, and equipment to enhance the study of astronomy and inspire young people to be future scientists.

What completely left the students captivated is the Philippines’ first ever and only 7-meter diameter digital mobile planetarium, the largest in the country. Because it is digital, the students are able to experience very realistic images of the universe. “The stars actually twinkle!,” exclaims one of the astronomers.

The students can also see how the sky looks like from other places on earth and from the surface of other planets; zoom in to planets, stars clusters, nebulas, and galaxies; quickly see how the sky looks like on the day you were born; show constellation artwork from several cultures; show constellation lines, boundaries, and special lines; show astronomical coordinate systems (both equatorial and horizontal); and show information about any selected object in the sky.

The DPS Astronomy Center will launch an astronomy outreach program called the SKYXPLORE which will go to different schools nationwide. Activities include viewing the digital planetarium, a simulated display of the day- and night-time sky and celestial objects; film showing of the International Year of Astronomy 2009 Official Movie, The Eyes on the Skies; an astronomical exhibit that showcases NASA space photos and a collection of stunning photographs and time-lapse videos of the world’s most beautiful and historic sites against a night-time backdrop of stars, planets and celestial events; a meteorite exhibit; the Ask-An-Astronomer Activity where an all-UP team of astronomers answers questions. #