Having Chile as the astronomical capital of the world, this year and 2020 not only because of the presence of the large observatories, but also because it is the scene of two total solar eclipses, CONICYT’s Explora Program and the perfect framework to name 2019 as the year of the Sun.
In that context, what better than to know this star inside and that’s what he proposes “The Solar Tunnel: A Stellar Journey”, an exhibition developed by the MAS Millennium Institute of Astrophysics with support of the Valuation and Disclosure Projects that this program delivers, in its version 2018-2019.
“The Solar Tunnel”, invites exploration of the different layers of the most important star of our system through an immersive journey, which goes from the photosphere, which is illustrated at the door of the exhibition by the artist Silvana Zuñiga, known as Anim-Hop; passing through the convective area, where the gas bubbles of the Sun are represented by colored balls that must be transferred to reach the radiative zone, where the visitor is greeted by a shower of ribbons representing the photons. At the end of the tour, there is a nucleus in which each participant must help the star to produce nuclear fusion by forming, through a game guided by a monitor, the helium nuclei that go inside.
A playful journey
According to Manuela Zoccali, deputy director of the MAS and scientific director of the exhibition, one of the main attributes of the “Solar Tunnel” is that it “allows to understand in a playful way what is the energy source of the Sun and how it reaches us. Despite how vital the light and heat of the Sun are to us, very few people know what is inside the Sun and what generates that heat,” he explains.
“It is of the utmost interest to the MAS to develop instances of citizen participation in order to transmit and develop an interest in science in a transversal way. Understanding how stars work is one of the intellectual peaks of modern astrophysics and with this exhibition we hope to share with the public our fascination with this achievement”, notes MAS director Andrés Jordán.
After two weeks on display in units of the Interactive Center of Science, Arts and Technology, CiCAT, of the University of Concepción, the exhibition was launched in Santiago on Friday, December 27 at the Planetarium of the University of Santiago, place where you will be for three weeks and you can visit it for free.
