Translated material
The planetarium of the future
The Moscow Planetarium, the host of his work since 1929 , notes his 85th anniversary. We publish the responses of astronomers and astrophysicists with congratulations and dreams of the future.
Vladimir Surdin, astronomer, associate professor of the Faculty of Physics , Art. scientific. sore. GAISH Moscow State University, Laureate of the Enlightener Prize
- What would you wish the Moscow Planetarium on the eve of his anniversary ?
- The anniversary is always a little sad: a great age, which means, loss of pace. For a person, this is not a very pleasant event, I know by myself. Well, for the Moscow planetarium, this event is quite useful and pleasant, since it has recently been revived. At the beginning of perestroika, he collapsed, and now it can already be said that in Moscow a new large planetarium was born, which has little in common, few general traditions with the one that was under the Soviet regime.
In any country, the planetarium is a forge of personnel. It is from the astronomical circles of different planetarians-the Moscow, Volgograd, and St. Petersburg that good scientists came out and come out. Really creative astronomers. And now, among astronomical academicians, doctors of sciences, candidates, you will find many those who have started their way through the planetarium.
Especially through Moscow. He has always been leading in the country, he always made up the best programs, the best ideas. Among all others. And there were more than a hundred of them in the Soviet Union, there are many left in Russia.
So, in Moscow a new planetarium was born, which is gaining pace, getting together traditions. He has a beautiful building, fantastic, the most modern equipment. A great collection of meteorites, tools, physical devices. And not very experienced employees, lecturers, mostly young. I follow this case, I was a member of the scientific council of the planetarium, followed his revival, somehow participated in the fact that it was the planetarium, and not the restaurant under the starry sky. And such a solution to the issue was quite assumed, but, fortunately, we defended it.
Today it is a planetarium of almost a world level. Almost, because it still does not have much science. It has Hard , but there is little Soft 'a. And this Soft is slowly , this content is increased by professionalism. Scientific lectures have begun, which are proposed by the chosen public.
In the planetarium, it has always been so that there was a wide stream of spectators who just wanted to look at the starry sky, to feel themselves in the wild. In the city, they will never see this. And there was a narrow rivulet of those who know astronomy, wants to recognize it even deeper, advanced lovers of astronomy, professionals of other sciences - physicists, biologists, chemists. Who came to talk with scientists, learn about the latest ideas and discoveries.
And today in the Moscow planetarium this is also, it is very pleasant. There you can find astronomical knowledge of a very different level. In any case, the accuracy of the information emanating from the planetarium is much higher than the one that sits or many media outlets give us. Today it is really possible to seek help from the planetarium employees. These are professionals, mainly graduates of Moscow State University, our graduates. We are responsible for the quality of their work.
I am very glad that this anniversary will be so widely celebrated-guests will come from abroad, guests from Russia, from all over countries. Unfortunately, I myself can’t, it is on this day that I need to be outside of Moscow, to give a lecture in another city, very far. But I sincerely wish you success and further growth to our beloved planetarium, our brainchild. We all participated in his revival, and I am glad that it took place.
- What do you think , will that story be repeated with the gift of stars ? Is she a good lesson for the Moscow Planetarium ?
- I'm not sure that now we need to mention this story, because ... it was a mistake. People did not keep track. They have a huge room, they have a lot of sites. Naturally, they provided them for various public events. And did not always track what exactly
There will be to happen. We presented them a lesson, we alerted them that in the walls of the planetarium, science should be in the first place, and the business in the second, although it is not canceled. Now I think that they will monitor the quality of those events that occur in the walls of the planetarium.
- If you look at the dynamics of the development of planetarians from the moment of their appearance to the present day , then what do you see the future of Planetari Ev in 50 years ? What will they be ?
- I can't imagine. 50 years ago it was impossible to imagine a 4D cinema, active experiments. Previously, the audience only listened, and the lecturer explained to them with a mentor tone, showed the pointer to some fixed cards, cardboard devices. The audience themselves could not show any activity. Today they touch their hands, twist, watch interesting things on the Internet. Today, a person is actively involved in the absorption of scientific knowledge.
Probably, after half a century, electronics will supplant almost all mechanical devices, judging by how it has been in recent years. But I would not want this, after all, electronic means of information are just a presentation, not scientific experiments. And the fact that you can touch with your hands, twist, look at the telescope ... Look, many people interested in science saw everything that was obtained by astronomers on the computer's screens. Nevertheless, they go to the planetarium, to our astronomical institute in order to touch a real telescope to feel that all this is not an invention, not a drawing of the artist on the computer screen, but a real object. In a real telescope, they can see the real objects of the universe with their own eyes. I want this to be preserved, so that such a touch to nature remains not through electronic means and multimedia, but directly. So that a person perceives space directly.
- Do you think whether the participation of a living lecturer will go into oblivion ? Or will a live lecturer remain ?
- It has already been half gone. Those programs that are now demonstrated in the planetarium are recorded by professional actors with excellently staged voices, but this is a little disappointing the audience. Because they can hear these voices anywhere. And the planetarium provided a direct reaction to an unexpectedly asked question from the space room. The lecturer was behind him, you felt his breath, his sometimes confused speech. But this said that a thought was working in his head. And neatly read the texts are a little disappointed with famous actors.
I want a living professional to return to the hall, who says what happened yesterday or this morning, interrupting his story with scientific news, some thoughts that had just come to his mind. This is one of the main advantages of the planetarium. I want such live communication with scientists and lecturers to return so that electronics would not replace a living person.
Yuri Kovalev, head. Laboratory of the Astrosmic Center Fian, head of the scientific program of the Radio Astron project , member of the Council for Science of the Ministry of Education and Science of the Russian Federation
- What would you wish the Moscow Planetarium on the eve of his anniversary ?
- On November 7, when the anniversary was celebrated, it began with a visit to various exhibitions and lectures of the planetarium. My daughter and I went to the museum, where there are old devices to demonstrate the sky. There I experienced unusual feelings, as if returning in my school years. There was a feeling that he was a thing of the past. Whatever happens in life, there are such values as science, as an enlightenment that will always show the right direction for the development of civilization.
I watched the picture how my grandmother was pulling her granddaughter to go home. And the granddaughter rests. It turned out that they had already spent six (!) Hours in the planetarium. Probably, this scene is the best embodiment of the planetarium wishes in his anniversary. Be different, be interesting, good luck in attracting our children into the vastness of the universe!
- How do you see the planetarium in 50 years ?
- I think that in 50 years, as it may seem, the planetariums will become homemade. They will be something like stereo glasses moving under you and the rest of the set of devices for the interactive “10D” perception of virtual reality.
This has its pros and cons. The advantages are that people will be able, without leaving home, to have access to a good education that can be obtained today only by arriving in some big city. Visit, for example, a planetarium. But the minus is again obvious, we will stop communicating with each other in real life, we will stop communicating with living professionals.
The unique characteristic of the Moscow Planetarium is that professional lecturers, teachers and guides work here. These are people who, to one degree or another, have a professional astronomical or physical education. And this live communication needs to be preserved if possible. This real live interactive, fundamentally important for the popularization of science.
One of the important missions of the planetarium is not only to carry knowledge to the masses, but also to try to instill in people love and interest in science. And this is largely determined by the living communication that we have in the planetarium today. A huge number of new interactive exhibits, a magnificent set of experiments. It would be great to save it in the future.
- You are a member of the Scientific Council of the Planetarium . What questions do you solve ?
- The scientific council of the planetarium is developing recommendations for the development of educational programs. We help the planetarium organize a series of popular science lectures. We read them ourselves, we invite leading specialists. In addition, we are watching new programs and giving our recommendations to improve them. By the way, on the day of the anniversary, all guests were shown the first full -time film for the development of the Moscow Planetarium. About Mars. And the third moment, we try to help the planetarium not slide into a cruel, cynical business. This is due to objective processes in which many popular science sites of both Moscow and Russia are located. The planetarium must be completely self -bumpy. And in this difficult situation, we need to try to help the planetarium preserve and expand our popular science function, support the balance between enlightenment, science and business. It seems to me that the planetarium succeeds. Merry thanks to the scientific director of the planetarium, Faina Borisovna Rubleva, and all her colleagues for a wonderful job!
Dmitry Vibe, head. Department of Physics and Evolution of Stars of the Institute of Astronomy of the Russian Academy of Sciences
- How do you see Pla Netari what is 50 years old ?
- This is a complex, more precisely, two -syllable question. Firstly, how I would like to see the planetarium. The ideal planetarium seems to me primarily an educational institution. The idea that the planetarium should make a profit seems as absurd as the idea that a school or hospital should bring profit.
And the planetarium as an educational institution already has everything that is needed for the next 50 years: the starry sky, a pointer and a person who controls this. Everything else is effects, a voluminous sound - this from the evil one, from the desire to deceive the listener, the desire under a powerful sweet shell of flickering colors and a powerful bass sound to shove a tiny tasteless pill of knowledge into it.
It is this knowledge that is the most profitable product of the planetarium. Unfortunately, this profit is long -playing. To realize its reality and scale, you need to have strategic thinking, and it is not an oversupply in our society. Therefore, the answer has the second part ...
... What will the planetarium really become. Unfortunately, many planetaries, like other educational and cultural institutions, are released to the will of self -sufficiency. Therefore, they have to attract visitors in a variety of ways that are far from being related to enlightenment - weddings, banquets, romantic dates ... And in the next fifty years of the planetarium, being, in mass representation, high -tech institutions, they will be forced to accumulate new media technologies, amazing visitors to all six feelings with a light that astronomy.
It is clear that you can’t get anywhere from this, and therefore it would be advisable to at least breed enlightenment and entertainment to the sides, without combining them under the roof of one program.
- A few kind words about the Mos of the Kovskoye Planetarium in the days of its 85th anniversary ...
- The large planetarium of Moscow is perhaps in the most difficult position, since there is a very high level of responsibility on his shoulders. He is often criticized just over the slope towards the spectacular. Unfortunately, the large educational work of the planetarium remains unnoticed: lectures of scientists in the Big Star Hall and conference room, astronomical circles, work with schools. I would very much like this side of the planetarium to receive the lighting deserved by it.
Prepared by Natalia Demina