Cali Kid Corals

Cal Academy, new planetarium show...

Expedition Reef is a new show at the Cal Academy of Sciences in SF.
If you are a member, there’s a special preview on Thursday March 15 at 10:30am and 3:30pm
You have to reserve for the preview calacademy.org/memberpreview

We cannot make it for such date but I’ll tag along with my son when he works on a Saturday at the Academy to watch the show.
 
Expedition Reef is a new show at the Cal Academy of Sciences in SF.
If you are a member, there’s a special preview on Thursday March 15 at 10:30am and 3:30pm
You have to reserve for the preview calacademy.org/memberpreview

We cannot make it for such date but I’ll tag along with my son when he works on a Saturday at the Academy to watch the show.

Now we're supposed to take destination advice from a guest?
 
I hate the lines :/

Have you ever tried going to the Nightlife events on Thursdays? I don't know if you drink at all, but lines are great when you're hanging out with friends having a few drinks. Also, at night there aren't many lines at all.
 
Yeah used to love nightlife, not even a drinker either, and you basically can do the place for a massive discount without screaming kids.... then I had a screaming kid, so now karma has come back to haunt me.

That said, I really wish they'd stop calling it a planetarium, it's basically an Imax screen. Although I get why they do it, it gets more visitors than points of light on a dome, and can do just like this in having non-space related stuff because not everyone is into space (although it's all free once you get in... so who knows). But I have former students who work there, and I gotta feel for them they were hired for their knowledge of astronomy and now they have to talk about reefs?
 
Yeah used to love nightlife, not even a drinker either, and you basically can do the place for a massive discount without screaming kids.... then I had a screaming kid, so now karma has come back to haunt me.

That said, I really wish they'd stop calling it a planetarium, it's basically an Imax screen. Although I get why they do it, it gets more visitors than points of light on a dome, and can do just like this in having non-space related stuff because not everyone is into space (although it's all free once you get in... so who knows). But I have former students who work there, and I gotta feel for them they were hired for their knowledge of astronomy and now they have to talk about reefs?

What's the difference between a planetarium and a gigantic curved screen? Or is it more about the subject matter?
 
they are optimized for demonstrating celestial movements. Currently most used a strange alien object looking thingy :) at the center of the dome. You can get one of the portable ones for indoor use as well. But I would assume that machine + a dome shaped building would what most of us will call a planeteriun (i.e not a projection from a 2d projector)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Planetarium
 
What he said. While I have not seen every show at the place, the ones I have seen do have a feel almost like this could be done on the Discovery channel (well the old Discovery channel), while there was some interactivity with the hosts, and some of the space shots were definitely cool most anything would be that cool if shown on such a large screen with the steep stadium seating they do.

Don't get me wrong, they do great work there, and I get technology advances, but part of the allure of the planetarium was that you feel like you were actually under the skies, and except for that big projector in the middle of the room you could look anywhere and see stars.
 
Hope, always wanted to go but the few times I've been down in the SoCal area I was never really that close to it, plus being on the freeways I really did not feel like exploring the area and just wanted to get to my destination.
 
but part of the allure of the planetarium was that you feel like you were actually under the skies, and except for that big projector in the middle of the room you could look anywhere and see stars.


There's a difference between seeing stars and SEEING stars.

There is so much light pollution here that you only see the brightest of stars. If you've never had the chance to view the Milky Way with naked eyes, the planetarium is usually the only way to experience it 1st hand.

I've had the opportunity to go to sites where on a moonless night, it's so dark you can just barely see your hand in front of your face. I think I had to imagine my hand there. Then you look up and see the Milky Way in all it glory. It's hard to put into words the wonder and awe of it all then having the feeling of how insignificant we are in the scope of the universe.

There were so many stars that I was actually lost and couldn't find most of the constallations until someone more experienced point out Polaris and Ursa Minor.


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