First Free Downloadable Planetarium Show

The world’s first full-length fulldome planetarium movie freely available for planetarium use, From Earth to the Universe, has been released in high-resolution 4k fulldome format, for the worldwide planetarium community to download and use. This stunning, 30-minute voyage through time and space conveys, through an arresting combination of sights and sounds, the Universe revealed to us by science. The show was produced for the ESO Supernova Planetarium and Visitor Centre, which will open in 2017. Until then, the show will be shown in planetariums worldwide and have its world premiere at the Νew Digital Planetarium of the Eugenides Foundation in Athens, Greece and at Hamburg Planetarium in Germany, on the 22 June 2015.

The night sky, both beautiful and mysterious, has been the subject of campfire stories, ancient myths and awe for as long as there have been people. A desire to comprehend the Universe may well be humanity’s oldest shared intellectual experience. Yet only recently have we truly begun to grasp our place in the immensity of the cosmos. To learn about this journey of celestial discovery, from the theories of the ancient Greek astronomers to today’s grandest telescopes, we invite you to experience From Earth to the Universe.

Directed by the young Greek filmmaker Theofanis N. Matsopoulos, and featuring a sweeping soundtrack from Norwegian composer Johan B. Monell, viewers can revel in the splendour of the various worlds in the Solar System and the ferocity of the scorching Sun. From Earth to the Universe then leaves our home to take the audience out to the colourful birthplaces and burial grounds of stars, and still further out, beyond the Milky Way, to the unimaginable immensity of a myriad galaxies. Along the way, the audience will learn about the history of astronomy, the invention of the telescope, and today’s giant telescopes that allow us to probe ever deeper into the Universe.

Director Theofanis N. Matsopoulos described the film as “a colourful and inspiring journey… the visuals are stunning and really speak for themselves in showing just how far humanity’s ambition has taken us in terms of observing and understanding the Universe”.

The first viewers who will have the chance to watch From Earth to the Universe are those who are in Athens and Hamburg on 22 June. The planetarium show will have its world premiere at the Νew Digital Planetarium of the Eugenides Foundation, (387 Syngrou Avenue – 175 64 P. Faliro, entrance from 11 Pendelis Street), at 18:30, 19:30 and 20:30 local time. On the same day, 22 June, Hamburg Planetarium (Otto-Wels-Straße 1, D-22303 Hamburg) will run the show at 19:00 and 20:15.

Media representatives who wish to attend the premiere, may contact the press officers from Hamburg and Athens below.

Courtesy of European Southern Observatory