Sky-Skan's DigitalSky demonstrates latest visualizations at New Views of the Universe Symposium

Nashua, Sunday December 11, 2005

The Kavli Institute of Cosmological Physics (KICP) at the University of Chicago is presenting New Views of the Universe, a symposium focusing on the cosmological discoveries of the past 10 years that have revolutionized our view of the Universe.

Today, at a special session for symposium delegates in the Adler Planetarium, Josh Frieman from KICP and Fermilab presented two sets of spectacular visualizations, prepared by KICP's Mark SubbaRao and Dinoj Surendan and brought into DigitalSky with the help of Sky-Skan.

"I'm delighted KICP recognizes the scientific value of our products and DigitalSky in particular," said Steve Savage, president of Sky-Skan. "They've graciously allowed us to take over the Adler dome for this evening and project the future of cosmological visualization to this distinguished audience."

This event was the first time these extraordinary views of the cosmos have been presented in real time in the full dome format:

The Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) is the most comprehensive survey of the sky yet undertaken, mapping in detail one-quarter of the entire sky. The positions and brightness of more than 100 million celestial objects can now be explored with this groundbreaking accomplishment. The visualization was drawn from sections of the very latest SDSS data, drawing on more than one million objects mapped in three dimensions.

Cosmic Ray Showers - visualized by Cosmus, a stunning AIRES simulation of what happens when elementary particles and atomic nuclei of very large energies hit the atmosphere about 20km above the ground. The simulation of the shower was superimposed on a scale map of Chicago's lakefront.

Additional information:

New Views of the Universe - from particle physics and cosmology of the early universe to structure formation in the local Universe, the Symposium brought together cosmologists, particle physicists, astrophysicists and astronomers from around the world. The symposium also honored the memory of David Schramm, a pioneer in research at the interface of cosmology and particle physics. See: newviews.uchicago.edu

The Kavli Institute for Cosmological Physics (KICP) at the University of Chicago is dedicated to forefront research that exploits the connections between physics at the smallest scale - interactions of the quarks and leptons - with the largest scale - the constitution and birth of the cosmos itself. It is committed to the development of innovative approaches that combine both physics and astronomy to further our understanding of the birth and earliest evolution of the Universe.

KICP was founded in 2001 as a National Science Foundation's Physics Frontier Center, in 2004 it received a generous endowment from the Kavli Foundation. This generous endowment has made this research institute devoted to interdisciplinary cosmological physics a permanent entity at the University of Chicago. See: kicp.uchicago.edu

The Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS): www.sdss.org

Cosmus - Open Source Science Outreach is a group of scientists and science communicators who bring astronomy, astrophysics, and cosmology to the public by providing visualizations that explain scientific concepts and data. See: astro.uchicago.edu/cosmus/home.html

Sky-Skan - For nearly 40 years, Sky-Skan has been the world's leading provider of media technologies and facility design for dome theaters. Sky-Skan's ever expanding line of digital theater solutions seamlessly integrates real-time scene rendering, stunningly realistic star field simulation and high-definition full dome media playback.

Sky-Skan's products and services include their trademark SPICE Automation show control system, digital dome video and audio systems, and complete turn-key facility design and construction management services.

There are over 75 Sky-Skan Digital Theater installations installed or under contract and over 250 SPICE Automation systems installed in dome media theaters, planetaria, large format film theaters, museums, and science centers worldwide, including the National Air and Space Museum, Washington DC; the Eugenides Planetarium, Athens, Greece; the Melbourne Planetarium, Victoria, Australia; and onboard the luxury ocean liner, the Queen Mary 2.

Sky-Skan maintains sales, production facilities and technical support on 3 continents with its offices in Nashua, NH USA; Munich, Germany; and Melbourne, Australia; and has affiliate offices in Japan, Korea, and South America. More information on Sky-Skan, DigitalSky, SPICE Automation and other technologies can be found at www.skyskan.com.