Doing Astronomy at a Museum

Abstract

Working as an astronomer-curator in a planetarium at a major collections-based museum offers opportunities and challenges very different from those encountered by colleagues at universities and observatories. It may be counterintuitive, but it’s true; one can do serious astrophysics research at a museum while connecting millions of people to the wonders of modern science. In this chapter I discuss how the advent of high-resolution digital projectors has brought about “space shows” – 3D immersive journeys through the universe that transcend the earth-bound “sky shows” of the past century. Producing these multi-million dollars movies puts a curator at the intersection of modern astrophysics and Hollywood movie production. Permanent and temporary exhibitions allow curators to present both the basics of our science and cutting edge discoveries to millions of visitors. While we can’t interact personally with every child who visits, we can devote significant efforts to upgrading the skills of science teachers. This has a strong multiplicative effect, and is where most of our education efforts are directed. Finally I note that hosting VIPs and donors, both at the museum and on travel is a delightful way to garner support for our science and our museum.