Planetarium for Blind: Touching the Sky

Lead Designers Beatriz Garcia

Entry Description

In the framework of the developments of Astronomy for inclusion, we have developed a planetarium for the blind, in which the stars on the sky are LEDs of different color (the color of the stars is related to their surface temperatures) and of different sizes, (appealing to the convention by which the different apparent magnitudes or brightness of the stars are represented on the celestial maps with circles of different diameter: the largest, represent brighter stars. The LEDs are installed in the semi-circular dome, which closes an isolated environment from the outside. In it, the conditions of the night of observation are recreated, generating a multi-sensory experience that appeals to the sense of touch (temperature), smell (the perfume of the field and wild flowers) and the ear (the sound of the nocturnal ecosystem). The LEDs can be detected visually, but the stellar configurations can be detected with the tips of the fingers, giving the blind access to the celestial sphere.