Shanghai Astronomy Museum begins trial operation
"Walking" in the solar system
The museum's interior structure
True-to-life stars twinkling around, faraway galaxies swirling above ahead, the Shanghai Astronomy Museum has captivated the world with its amazing exhibition in its first public appearance.
In the undistributed countryside of Lingang, the museum, known as the largest in the world, opened for trial operation on Monday as an otherworldly sort of place, creating a star-dubbed world away from the neon-lit downtown.
For most, it's well worth the long wait over the past four years and eight months. The complex itself is a subtle blend of science and art. More notably, it immerses visitors on a journey into the mystery-shrouded universe.
The museum will officially open to the public on July 18.
Before that, the trial operation is only open to invited guests, except Saturday, when 3,000 people will be allowed to pay a visit. They are required to scramble for tickets, priced at one yuan, on the real-name reservation system on the museum's official website (www.sstm-sam.org.cn) or WeChat Account (gh_f1afa6047afc). Reservations can be made beginning at 9am on Friday.
True-to-life planets
Entrance to the museum
Birds-eye view of the museum
Construction of the museum began in November 2016.
The complex covers an area of 58,600 square meters near the Dishui Lake Station of Metro Line 16. The steel structures are built in irregular shapes to create a futuristic vibe, and several breakthroughs were made, such as the 30-meter-in-diameter dome cinema "hanging in the air" and 200-meter-long spiral staircase with few holds.
The museum features a main building and ancillary structures, including a solar tower, youth observation base and public observatory.
The main building consists of three structures for three celestial bodies: the Oculus, Inverted Dome and Sphere. Together they form a giant astronomical instrument that tracks time based on changes in light and shadow. It can also display China's solar terms, created by ancient Chinese based on the changes in the sun's position.
"It's more than just a building. It's also an exquisite astronomical instrument and the biggest exhibit of the museum," said Lin Qing, director of the museum's astronomical research center.
According to the museum, the solar tower will allow visitors to observe high definition images of sunspots, solar flares and solar prominences through professional optical devices. Looking through a telescope one meter in diameter, people can enjoy beautiful views of the heavens.
"We will definitely open our giant telescope to visitors. Maybe we can take visitors to observe the stars before midnight and return the site to our research after midnight," Lin said. "But here in Shanghai, we have too many overcast days, which may hinder star observation."
Twisting space and time is visualized.
More than 70 pieces of meteorites are displayed.
An interactive exhibit
Aimed at becoming a world-class planetarium, it offers unprecedented museum experiences, backed by cutting-edge interactive technologies and visualizations.
"We are writing something like a textbook, and we are hoping to create some immersive experiences," Lin said. "So we don't just hang some models of planets. Instead, we create hyper-realistic virtual environments in the universe. We hope to bring people and the universe closer together."
The exhibition is mainly divided into three zones – "Home," "Cosmos" and "Odyssey" – to lead visitors on a tour around the solar system, faraway galaxies and even black holes, and to understand the history of astronomy and inspire people to think about its future.
There are more than 300 exhibits, 85 percent of which are developed by the museum and over half are embedded with interactive functions.
The "Home" exhibition zone, no doubt, is the most amazing of all.
It allows visitors to walk in our solar system to experience the past and present versions of the Earth, Moon, Sun and other planets, as if God is overlooking the universe. Or visitors can be the "Guardians of the Galaxy" to experience flying a spaceship over a black hole.
Returning to Earth, a virtual star observation awaits visitors. In a dome-shaped room decorated as an outdoor lawn on a summer night, visitors can lie on sofas and see thousands of twinkling starts in the sky projected by a 17-meter-in-diameter advanced optical celestial apparatus. Meanwhile, they can hear stories about the zodiac and learn about some of the most iconic stars such as the Polar Star.
A replica of Galileo Galilei's study
A reenactment of how Chang'e-5 and Yutu work on the surface of the moon.
Inside a life-size model of the core module of Tianhe.
Another highlight of the "Home" exhibition zone is about 70 pieces of the museum's collection of meteorites.
They include the largest recovered piece of the Changxing Meteorite, which fell into Shanghai's Changxing Island in 1964 and destroyed a farm house. It is the only meteorite seen falling in Shanghai.
A wall of artworks showing artistic interpretations of the universe and a long interactive multimedia screen that changes as people pass by and leads visitors to the second exhibition zone "Cosmos." It tells the history and fundamental principles of the universe, such as the origin of the universe and gravity's impact on our lives.
"Odyssey," the third exhibition zone, displays different country's explorations of space, including China's.
A highlight is original works from pioneering scientists many centuries ago, which helped shape our view of the world. They include Claudius Ptolemy "Almagest" published in 1515, Isaac Newton's "Opticks" published in 1704, Johannes Kepler's "Tabulae Rudolphinae" published in 1627 and Galileo Galilei's "Systema Cosmicum" published in 1635.
Additionally, how Chang'e-5 and Yutu work on the surface of the moon is reenacted, and people can wear augmented reality glasses to experience walking on the moon. Also, there is a life-size model of the core module of Tianhe, which allows visitors to walk in and learn about how astronauts live in the space – what they eat, how they sleep and whether they exercise.
Information about the universe is explained.
Inside the exhibition hall
