2023-06-24 07:32:10
Othere is! Spectators experience what we experience on a space mission! » As the new planetarium of the Vulcania theme park is inaugurated this April day, in the heart of the Auvergne volcanoes, astronaut Jean-François Clervoy is full of praise for the exceptional nature of the installation. , unveiled at the dawn of the tourist season.
The project was not born from the last comet since it dates back to 2015. “If volcanism and extreme natural phenomena were already well treated by the park, the space was only slightly, recognizes Sophie Rognon, the director of Vulcania. However, to fully understand how the Earth works, you have to take a step back. During the renewal of the public service delegation entrusted to SEM Volcans for 2017-2031 by the region, owner of Vulcania, it was decided to develop this theme. From there was born the idea of the planetarium. »
The largest planetarium in France
The comet-shaped building has a dome 22 meters in diameter, the largest in France, with a hemispherical screen of 750 m2 and 314 seats. But beyond the size, it’s the digital equipment that makes the attraction particularly immersive: twelve high-tech laser projectors are used to cover the entire screen, offering exceptional brightness and the best image quality. image to the world (10K). “We can’t do better since the resolution is higher than what the eye can see”, enthuses Jean-François Clervoy again. The shades of black and the brilliance of the stars offered by space are transcribed with astonishing fidelity.
This exceptional equipment, the park owes it to RSA Cosmos, an SME from Saint-Étienne. /Clfd Capture
This exceptional equipment, the park owes it to RSA Cosmos, an SME from Saint-Étienne, known throughout the world for its expertise in the field, and which also sold, to SEM Volcans, two films screened in the dome: VASTon the formation of the universe, and, for the little ones, Hazelnuts, in search of the ideal planet.
Top of the planetarium program, projections made live by the park’s scientific facilitators using the SkyExplorer astronomical simulator, also provided by RSA Cosmos. Hidden at the back of the room behind a computer or on the front of the stage with a tablet, they manipulate the software to take the spectators on a journey through space, unfolding the scenarios imagined by the park’s scientific animation manager, Fabrice Fillias, and his sidekick, Julien Malaval, astronomy project manager.
A spectacular and educational story
“The simulator gives access to a 3D model of space in which we have computer-coded movements, such as landing on Mars in a rover or entering a nebula, in order to tell a story that is both spectacular and educational to viewers.
The animators successively launch the coded sequences and comment on them live”, describes Fabrice Fillias, showing the story-boards sketched at the very beginning of the adventure and which have given rise, for the moment, to two animations: “The volcano-sidereal adventure”, which takes the spectators on board a space shuttle, and “Tonight in the sky”, which reveals the evening sky. “The SkyExplorer database is fed by the telescopes of the satellite Gaia. We are therefore closer to reality! There are also 3D computer graphics of objects such as the International Space Station (ISS), robots, etc. that can be used to create the scenarios”adds Julien Malaval.
All the facilitators have knowledge of Earth sciences, but they had to be trained in astronomy and the software. “We rented a dome 3 meters in diameter from RSA Cosmos to practice while the real one was operational. Moving through space on a flat screen and on a hemisphere is not the same thing. The distances are not at all the same! “, continues the project manager. The passage over 22 meters in diameter was not easy either, causing some cold sweats during the first live broadcasts.
Two other workshops have been designed specifically for schoolchildren: one on the seasons and the other on celestial objects. / Vulcania
The planetarium also has educational rooms where two workshops for the general public are organized: “Under the Sun”, which deals with the influence of the Sun on our daily lives, and “In the shoes of an astronaut”, during which participants experience life in space. Not without difficulty!
Content validated by the scientific council of the park
Two other workshops have been designed specifically for schoolchildren: one on the seasons and the other on celestial objects. Thanks to a partnership with the rectorate, three teachers are partially seconded to develop this content with Saïd Mourtada, in charge of the educational center of Vulcania. Everything is made fun and interactive thanks to in-house experiment supports, but also Lego models of the ISS and the Saturn V rocket from the Apollo mission, or even thanks to a replica of Ariane 5 provided by the National Center for Space Studies (Cnes).
As with all Vulcania attractions, the content has been validated by the park’s scientific council, in particular by astrophysicist Nicolas Laporte. Content that Fabrice, Julien, Saïd and their colleagues took two years to create and which will constantly evolve, thanks in particular to a partnership signed last March with Cnes. This gives them access to all of the centre’s documentary resources, as well as the authorization to screen the conferences given by its experts in the planetarium. Enough to multiply the creativity of the fine team…
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