News
Astronomy Crowdfunding Soft Launch Starts Now!
Have you ever wondered what it would be like to walk on the surface of Pluto, or fly by the supermassive black hole at the center of our galaxy? A group of scientists in the Department of Astronomy would like to help you find out!
A crowdfunding campaign has been initated, with the goal of purchasing new interactive tech hardware (specifically a touchscreen for the lobby, and VR headsets and touchscreen tablets for outreach events). With the aid of space visualization software (e.g. World Wide Telescope and Space Engine), these tools will facilitate dynamic immersive astronomy demos to highlight some of the exciting research in the department.
In short, this equipment would allow the department to:
- Share astronomical phenomena that cannot normally be seen through a backyard telescope
- Fly through the galaxy and interact with astronomy up close
- Use new technologies to spark interest in STEM
The growing public interest in Astronomy has identified a need to do more outreach. Not only will this endeavor enable people to take virtual reality tours to the beginning of the universe, or watch a star explode up close, all with a swipe of a finger—the flexibility of the proposed setup will allow us to bring astronomy into classrooms around the Bay Area through existing science outreach initiatives.
We need your help! The project goes live April 1st, but the soft launch starts today! Please consider donating to this effort to help us upgrade the outreach equipment in our department.
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