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Here is one of Magnuz of Sweden's projects in Second Life.
The Astronomy Theme Park by Magnuz of Sweden BDSM is a futuristic sky planetarium which contains 10 different interactive asronomical items of various complexity, 5 major interactive exhibitions and some 24 astronomical art installations, divided between three major levels connected by stairs and teleporter pads. An automated guided tour can be taken to experience most of the park. The theme park hovers high above ground, both to avoid fog and cloud interaction and not to disturb the originally more rustic character of the sim. It can be reached by both teleportation, flying (with aid) and what is probably one of the tallest spiral staircases in Second Life.
Location
SLURL: http://slurl.com/secondlife/Honawan/96/122/421
The astronomy theme park is located in the central part of the sim Honawan, a region of the old southern continent of Second Life. It is hovering some 300 meters above a mountain ridge.
Background
Astronomy is one of my earliest interests and the basis for many of my other interests: physics and chemistry to understand the structure of the universe, mathematics and programming to simulate it, geology, paleonthology and biology to understand the development of our Earth, mythology from the astronomical name space, and from that history, religion, culture, sociology, architecture and art. So even if astronomy is not my present major field of science, it felt right to honor it by making it my first major science project in Second Life. The project evolved from a simple star sphere and is so far my biggest, most complex and most appreciated project there. A big bonus is that much astronomical data is publicly available on the Internet, through the astronomy science culture and especially the policy of NASA.
Construction
I acquired the land for the astronomy theme park in the sim Honawan 2007-09-02. The embryo to the astronomy theme park, the first simple star sphere with a simple toggle control between a gridded and non-gridded starry sky, was created 2007-09-26. Within a few days, it was developed into an interactive mini-planetarium with the planets, their orbits and movements in 3D. But even before that, 2007-09-24, the first steps towards the center-piece of the present sky planetarium was taken, in the form of a 30 meter sphere built from 288 tiles. However, it wasn't until 2007-11-08 I had managed to create the necessary tiled star maps to turn it into a large stellarium sphere, and 2007-11-10 the first version of the large stellarium sphere was finished. A few days after that, the basic structure of the first version of the sky planetarium was more or less finished. Much development work remained, however, and it wasn't until 2007-12-01 I officially inaugarated the astronomy theme park. In less than two months, I realized I needed a new construction, both for more space for items and exhibitions, and for a better experience for the visitors. I started the work in late January 2008, at an altitude below the present sky planetarium. After dismissing a first attempt, I started on the present structure 2008-01-28 and replaced the old sky planetarium 2008-03-27. No major changes to the structure have been made since then.
Future
Many developments are in various stages of planning, but none in the immediate future: the star texture in the large stellarium sphere should be replaced by a color corrected one (produced but not installed), better dance-balls should be installed there, the guided tour should have a voice instead of text guide, "4D" (animated 3D) models of the Big Bang, cosmological development, galaxy, star and planet formation, star evolution including formation of novae, super-novae, neutron stars and black holes should be added, as well as exhibitions of distance comparisons ouside our Solar system.
Documents
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Magnuz_046, 2008-01-10
size: 1676x1006 px, 134 kB
description: building, sky-planetarium 1 in the sim Honawan 
Magnuz_056, 2008-03-27
size: 1676x1006 px, 144 kB
description: building, sky-planetarium 2 in the sim Honawan 
Magnuz_057, 2008-03-30
size: 1676x1006 px, 148 kB
description: building, sky-planetarium 2 in the sim Honawan 
Magnuz_058, 2008-03-30
size: 1676x1006 px, 182 kB
description: objects and avatar, Solar system bodies and Magnuz Binder 
Magnuz_059, 2008-03-30
size: 1676x1006 px, 141 kB
description: object and avatar, mini-planetarium 2 and Magnuz Binder 
Magnuz_060, 2008-03-30
size: 1676x1006 px, 143 kB
description: object and avatar, mini-stellarium 2 and Magnuz Binder 
Magnuz_061, 2008-03-30
size: 1676x1006 px, 163 kB
description: object and avatar, galaxy sphere and Magnuz Binder 
Magnuz_062, 2008-03-30
size: 1676x1006 px, 109 kB
description: object and avatar, stellar sphere and Magnuz Binder 
Magnuz_063, 2008-03-30
size: 1676x1006 px, 240 kB
description: object and avatar, galaxy clusters and Magnuz Binder 
Magnuz_064, 2008-03-30
size: 1676x1006 px, 168 kB
description: object and avatar, black hole and Magnuz Binder 
Magnuz_065, 2008-03-30
size: 1676x1006 px, 317 kB
description: object and avatar, Hevelius sphere and Magnuz Binder 
Magnuz_066, 2008-03-30
size: 1676x1006 px, 192 kB
description: object and avatar, celestial body and Magnuz Binder 
Magnuz_067, 2008-03-30
size: 1676x1006 px, 177 kB
description: object and avatar, space diorama and Magnuz Binder 
Magnuz_068, 2008-03-30
size: 1676x1006 px, 288 kB
description: object and avatar, celestial globe and Magnuz Binder 
Magnuz_069, 2008-03-30
size: 1676x1006 px, 127 kB
description: interior and avatar, Club Stellarium and Magnuz Binder 
Magnuz_070, 2008-03-30
size: 1676x1006 px, 193 kB
description: avatar, Magnuz Binder at sky-planetarium 2 
Magnuz_071, 2008-03-30
size: 1676x1006 px, 144 kB
description: object and avatar, mini-planetarium 2 and Magnuz Binder 
Magnuz_072, 2008-03-30
size: 1676x1006 px, 157 kB
description: object and avatar, celestial body and Magnuz Binder 
Magnuz_109, 2008-05-08
size: 1676x1006 px, 146 kB
description: view, futuristic sky-planetarium by Magnuz of Sweden in the sim Honawan 
Magnuz_110, 2008-05-08
size: 1676x1006 px, 337 kB
description: view, futuristic sky-planetarium by Magnuz of Sweden in the sim Honawan 
Magnuz_111, 2008-05-08
size: 1676x1006 px, 147 kB
description: view, futuristic sky-planetarium by Magnuz of Sweden in the sim Honawan 
Magnuz_112, 2008-05-08
size: 1676x1006 px, 177 kB
description: view, futuristic sky-planetarium by Magnuz of Sweden in the sim Honawan 
AstroDemo1_001, 2008-05-22
size: 1676x1006 px, 235 kB
description: view, object and avatar, mini-planetarium 2 and Magnuz Binder 
AstroDemo1_002, 2008-05-22
size: 1676x1006 px, 239 kB
description: view, object and avatar, mini-planetarium 2 and Magnuz Binder 
AstroDemo1_003, 2008-05-22
size: 1676x1006 px, 263 kB
description: view, object and avatar, mini-planetarium 2 and Magnuz Binder 
AstroDemo1_004, 2008-05-22
size: 1676x1006 px, 330 kB
description: view, object and avatar, mini-planetarium 2 and Magnuz Binder 
AstroDemo1_005, 2008-05-22
size: 1676x1006 px, 239 kB
description: view, object and avatar, mini-planetarium 2 and Magnuz Binder 
AstroDemo1_006, 2008-05-22
size: 1676x1006 px, 340 kB
description: view, object and avatar, mini-planetarium 2 and Magnuz Binder 
AstroDemo1_007, 2008-05-22
size: 1676x1006 px, 209 kB
description: view, object and avatar, mini-planetarium 2 and Magnuz Binder 
AstroDemo1_008, 2008-05-22
size: 1676x1006 px, 240 kB
description: view, object and avatar, mini-planetarium 2 and Magnuz Binder 
AstroDemo1_009, 2008-05-22
size: 1676x1006 px, 211 kB
description: view, object and avatar, mini-planetarium 2 and Magnuz Binder 
AstroDemo1_010, 2008-05-22
size: 1676x1006 px, 211 kB
description: view, object and avatar, mini-planetarium 2 and Magnuz Binder 
AstroDemo1_011, 2008-05-22
size: 1676x1006 px, 248 kB
description: view, object and avatar, mini-planetarium 2 and Magnuz Binder 
AstroDemo1_012, 2008-05-22
size: 1676x1006 px, 251 kB
description: view, object and avatar, mini-planetarium 2 and Magnuz Binder 
AstroDemo1_013, 2008-05-22
size: 1676x1006 px, 222 kB
description: view, object and avatar, mini-planetarium 2 and Magnuz Binder 
AstroDemo1_014, 2008-05-22
size: 1676x1006 px, 222 kB
description: view, object and avatar, mini-planetarium 2 and Magnuz Binder 
AstroDemo1_015, 2008-05-22
size: 1676x1006 px, 220 kB
description: view, object and avatar, mini-planetarium 2 and Magnuz Binder 
AstroDemo1_016, 2008-05-22
size: 1676x1006 px, 221 kB
description: view, object and avatar, mini-planetarium 2 and Magnuz Binder 
AstroDemo1_017, 2008-05-22
size: 1676x1006 px, 234 kB
description: view, object and avatar, mini-planetarium 2 and Magnuz Binder 
AstroDemo1_018, 2008-05-22
size: 1676x1006 px, 251 kB
description: view, object and avatar, mini-planetarium 2 and Magnuz Binder 
AstroDemo1_019, 2008-05-22
size: 1676x1006 px, 221 kB
description: view, object and avatar, mini-planetarium 2 and Magnuz Binder
Items and Exhibitions
Planetarium Deck
Magnuz_112, 2008-05-08
size: 1676x1006 px, 177 kB
description: view, futuristic sky-planetarium by Magnuz of Sweden in the sim Honawan
The Planetarium Deck is the main exhibition area for more advanced astronomical objects, like interactive planetariums and stellariums. The objects are arranged so it's easy to cover them all, simply by strolling a full turn around the deck. Signs offer information about the objects on display. Except for the main astronomical objects, there are also artful dioramas and interactive celestial bodies, as well as the entrances to the Club Stellarium. The stairs between the upper deck and the park also serves as small art exhibitions, with renderings on astronomical themes.
Planetarium Park
Magnuz_110, 2008-05-08
size: 1676x1006 px, 337 kB
description: view, futuristic sky-planetarium by Magnuz of Sweden in the sim Honawan
The Planetarium Park is a mainly a relaxation area, although also offering both additional astronomical objects and places for meetings, seminars and lectures. There are plenty of seats in various groupings, and also space for temporary exhibitions, displays and demonstrations. Water is a main theme of the park, with ponds and fountains, but also lawns and plants. There are also entrances to larger exhibitions in the basement. The stairs between the upper deck and the park also serves as small art exhibitions, with renderings on astronomical themes.
Space Exhibitions
Magnuz_058, 2008-03-30
size: 1676x1006 px, 182 kB
description: objects and avatar, Solar system bodies and Magnuz Binder
The basement is the area for large astronomical exhibitions that require more space, such as size comparisons and the order of celestial bodies. There are interactive models of various aspects of the Solar System, such as the Sun, planets, their rings, moons and orbits. Much information can be gathered by touching the interactive signs of the exhibitions or the objects themselves. The environment of the exhibitions is a star-lined hangar, where the sky grids also make size comparisons and perspective views easier.
Guided Tour Chair
This guided tour chair takes you through a tour of the entire theme park, narrating as you pass by the various items and exhibitions there. The tour starts as soon as you sit down in the chair, takes approximately 15 minutes, but can be halted at any time simply by standing up. For a first time visitor or someone unfamilliar with astronomy, this may be a good start to exploring the astronomy theme park. (document)
Club Stellarium
Magnuz_069, 2008-03-30
size: 1676x1006 px, 127 kB
description: interior and avatar, Club Stellarium and Magnuz Binder
Club Stellarium is a recreation area with dance floor and sitting areas, in a large sphere lined with rendering of some 2.5 million stars. Interior furniture and such is semi-transparent and can also be temporarily hidden to allow a free view of the starry sky. The sphere consists of 288 panels, allowing for a more precise projection of star positions compared to a single large sphere in Second Life. The club also has dance pose-balls and some interactive decorations to play around with.
Mini-Planetarium 2
Magnuz_049, 2008-03-26
size: 1676x1006 px, 91 kB
description: object, mini-planetarium 2 in the sim Honawan
Mini-Planetarium 2 is a complete and advanced map over our Solar system with many (50+) interactive functions tucked into its 32 parts. Times, places, projections and animations can be set, different parts displayed or hidden, and also other aspects of appearence can be controlled. Both the main celestial bodies themselves, scaled up but realistic, and their projections on the starry sky can be seen, to better understand their appearence. The owner can also make custom default settings and control usage of the planetarium. (document)
Mini-Stellarium 2
Magnuz_050, 2008-03-26
size: 1676x1006 px, 74 kB
description: object, mini-stellarium 2 in the sim Honawan
Mini-Stellarium 2 is a high-quality and high-resolution star-map drawn from a catalog of some 2.5 million stars and projected on the inside of a sphere. The mini-stellarium displays stars with colors based on their spectral classes and allows setting of star brightness, sphere size and toggling of grids and text by touching. This offers both a natural view with just the stars and a more informative view with constellation outlines, designations and grids. The owner can also control and limit usage of the stellarium. (document)
Celestial Body 1
Magnuz_044, 2008-01-10
size: 1676x1006 px, 78 kB
description: object, celestial body in the sim Honawan
Celestial Body 1 is an interactive object where you can use a menu to select a celestial body of our Solar system, have it displayed and get information about it. Brightnesses are not comparable between the bodies. Some textures are from photos of the bodies, but in many cases data is missing partly or entirely, and textures are then generic or artist's impressions. Sizes, and especially shapes, of the minor and more distant bodies are very uncertain. In many cases they should be considered "educated guesses". Small bodies are generally not spherical but irregular. Bodies are not shown to scale, but rather at the same approximate size, regardless of if it's the Sun or a moon less than a millionth the diameter of the Sun. (document)
Star Sphere 1
Magnuz_052, 2008-03-26
size: 1676x1006 px, 75 kB
description: object, star sphere in the sim Honawan
Star Sphere 1 gives a three-dimensional representation of nearby stars, in a sphere lined with rendering of some 2.5 million stars. The sphere allows selection of stars to highlight and get information about them, and also allows setting of distant star brightness and toggling of grids and text. This makes it easy to locate the stars in comparison to the starry sky and eachother. The owner can also control and limit usage of the sphere. (document)
Galaxy Sphere 1
Magnuz_051, 2008-03-26
size: 1676x1006 px, 74 kB
description: object, galaxy sphere in the sim Honawan
Galaxy Sphere 1 gives a three-dimensional representation of the Local Group of galaxies to scale, in a sphere lined with rendering of some 1.5 million more distant galaxies. The sphere allows selection of galaxies to highlight and get information about them, and also allows setting of distant galaxy brightness and toggling of grids and text. This makes it easy to locate the galaxies in comparison to the starry sky and eachother. The owner can also control and limit usage of the sphere. (document)
Celestial Dioramas
Magnuz_067, 2008-03-30
size: 1676x1006 px, 177 kB
description: object and avatar, space diorama and Magnuz Binder
The Celestial Dioramas are a series of 4D (animated 3D) representations the planets Mercury (partly artist's impression), Venus (with clouds), Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune, respectively, the four latter with their rings, revolving in space, with their axis tilt and Sun illumination correct in 3D but not in time scale. There are no controls or interactivity in these items, and even if they can be used for demonstration purposes, thet are mainly intended as decorations.
Dummy Stellarium
The Dummy Stellarium is actually not a real dummy, but a rather high quality stellarium sphere, although lacking the interactivity most other objects around have. The stars are rendered from a 2.5 million star database, and the sphere can be used as decoration, a building block or a simple stellarium. Star colors are set according to star spectral classes, where known, and areas are proportional to their apparent brightnesses.
Galaxy Clusters 1
Magnuz_053, 2008-03-26
size: 1676x1006 px, 116 kB
description: object, galaxy clusters in the sim Honawan
Galaxy Clusters 1 displays the space within 500 million light years from us, with galaxies projected onto a number of discs to enable a 3D view. Some nearby and prominent groups and clusters of galaxies can be selected and highlighted to facilitate the localization. Sphere appearence can also be controlled. Each of the 50 discs represents a 20 million light thick slice of the space. The galaxy projection size is proportional to their brightnesses. The owner can also control and limit usage of the sphere. (document)
Black Hole 1
Magnuz_054, 2008-03-26
size: 1676x1006 px, 69 kB
description: object, black hole in the sim Honawan
Black Hole 1 models a rotating black hole with a gas accretion disc, corona and polar jets. The outer appearence and size of the surrounding sphere can be adjusted. Since no real black hole has actually been depicted, this model is based on educated guesses and mathematical models. Some relativistic effects are also hard to model since they depend much on the viewer's position. The owner can also control and limit usage of the object. (document)
Hevelius Sphere 1
Magnuz_055, 2008-03-26
size: 1676x1006 px, 157 kB
description: object, Hevelius sphere in the sim Honawan
Hevelius Sphere 1 displays a spherical adaption of the beautiful baroque star maps drawn by the Polish 17th century astronomer Jan Hevelius. The color of the star maps can be inverted, and the outer appearence and size of the sphere can be adjusted. Although star magnitudes and general positions are correct, the projection used by Hevelius is not compatible with modern day projections. The owner can also control and limit usage of the sphere. (document)
Celestial Globe
Magnuz_042, 2007-10-29
size: 1676x1006 px, 65 kB
description: object, celestial globe in the sim Honawan
The Celestial Globe displays the faces of Mercury (partly artist's impression), Venus (without clouds), Earth, Moon, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn (with rings), Uranus, Neptune, Pluto (artist's impression) and the starry sky, with or without grids. The display can be altered and rotation turned on and off by a simple touch control. This item is mainly intended as decoration.
Presentator
Magnuz_047, 2008-02-26
size: 1676x1006 px, 73 kB
description: object, presentator in the sim Honawan
The presentator allows you to run presentations with slides, text narration and handout of free items, like notecards, images, landmarks, objects, URLs and direct teleports. The presentation can be run automatically, manually or a combination, controlling several aspects of the presentation. You can allow anyone to browse the presentation, or reserve that right to the presenter in charge. (document)
Moons Exhibition
This display aims at showing the proportions of the moons and some other minor bodies of our Solar system by lining them up in proper scale according to size. Brightnesses are not comparable between the bodies. Some textures are from photos of the bodies, but in many cases data is missing partly or entirely, and textures are then generic or artist's impressions. Sizes, and especially shapes, of the minor and more distant bodies are very uncertain. In many cases they should be considered "educated guesses". Small bodies are generally not spherical but irregular. At this scale, where one unit equals one million, or one mm equals one km, the Sun would be 1.4 km in diameter, Jupiter 140 m and Earth 12 m, compared to the moon giant Ganymede at 5.3 m. The distance from Earth to Moon at this scale would be 380 m, from Earth to Sun 150 km, and to the outermost planet Neptune the distance would be 4500 km.
Satellites Exhibition
This display aims at showing the proportions of the planets, moons and some minor bodies of our Solar system by lining them up in proper order scale. Their distances are however not to scale. The major moons are lined up in proper order next to their respective planet. In many cases, they have been scaled up 10X to 100X in (semitransparent) "enlargement trays" to be visible at all. Brightnesses are not comparable between the bodies. Some textures are from photos of the bodies, but in many cases data is missing partly or entirely, and textures are then generic or artist's impressions. Sizes, and especially shapes, of the minor and more distant bodies are very uncertain. In many cases they should be considered "educated guesses". Small bodies are generally not spherical but irregular. At this scale, where one unit equals twenty million, or one mm equals 20 km, the Sun would be 70 m in diameter, compared to 7 m of the planet giant Jupiter and 26 cm of its largest moon Ganymede. The distance from Sun to Earth at this scale would be 7.5 km, and to the outermost planet Neptune the distance would be 225 km.
Planets Exhibition
This display aims at showing the proportions of the Sun and the planets of our Solar system by lining them up in proper order and scale. Their distances are however not to scale. Brightnesses are not comparable, neither between the Sun and the planets, nor between the planets. The textures are from photos of the bodies, except for Mercury and Pluto, where data is missing. At this scale, where one unit equals two hundred million, or one mm equals 200 km, the Sun is 7 m in diameter, 10 times the diameter of the planet giant Jupiter and 120 times that of Earth. The dwarf planet Pluto is just slightly over one cm in diameter, and the largest asteroid, Ceres, also considered a dwarf planet, would be less than half a centimeter in diameter.
Orbits 1 Exhibition
This display aims at showing the proportions of the inner Solar system by comparing the sizes of the Sun and segments of the inner planet and some asteroid orbits at their proper distances to scale. In this display, the orbits are projected on a single plane, while in reality, they exist at different inclinations. To see the real 3D appearence of the main planets' orbits, check the Planetarium 2 "upstairs". At this scale, where one unit equals ten billion, the sun is like a large fruit of 14 cm diameter, the largest planet Jupiter would be a small pebble of 1.4 cm diameter and Earth a grain of 1.2 mm diameter. Jupiter would be at a distance of 78 m from the Sun, 23 meters outside the opposite wall, and the outermost planet orbit, Neptune's, at 450 m distance, two sims away. The Asteroid belt, with at least tens of thousands of bodies, are represented by a few of the major asteroids' orbits, but stretches both further out and in than those representatives.
Orbits 2 Exhibition
This display aims at showing the proportions of our Solar system by comparing the sizes of the Sun and segments of the main planet orbits at their proper distances to scale. In this display, the orbits are projected on a single plane, while in reality, they exist at different inclinations. To see the real 3D appearence of the main planets' orbits, check the Mini-Planetarium 2. At this scale, where one unit equals a hundred billion, the sun is a small pebble of 1.4 cm diameter, the largest planet Jupiter would be a grain of 1.4 mm diameter and Earth a speck of dust of 0.12 mm diameter. Compare this to the outermost planet orbit, Neptune's, at 45 m distance, some 32,000 times the diameter of the Sun, 320,000 times that of Jupiter, or almost four million times that of Earth. Some components of our solar system exist at a far greater distance than Neptune, like Trans-Neptunian Objects similar to Pluto out to double the distance and comets out to 1000 times the distance.
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