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Since 2011 our observatory is a member of
GLORIA (GLObal Robotic telescopes
Intelligent Array for e-Science) project - wide international collaboration
of 13 scientific institutions from 8 countries aiming at opening public
access to robotic telescopes, as well as propagating astronomy in general.
If you could point a telescope anywhere in the sky, where would you look?
The Personal Space web application
allows you to make a direct and personal connection to the universe by
linking significant events in your own life with what was above you in
the sky at that moment.
The GLORIA project aims to bring astronomy to anyone with an Internet
connection, by making a global network of robotic telescopes available
for use by the public. But being given the opportunity to observe anywhere
in the universe is a bit like being faced with a blank canvas - where do
you start?
Personal Space is a response
to this challenge that emerged from an art-science collaboration between
an astronomer and an artist.
Personal Space is an online
invitation to connect with and explore the universe in an intuitive
way by presenting beautiful astronomical images of the sky overhead
at key moments and places of personal significance. By inputting a date,
time and location (e.g. birth date and place) through a web interface,
the user will be supplied with an image of the part of the universe that
was directly above them at that significant moment in their life. It also
allows individuals to see when "their" piece of sky intersects with that
of another user or with an historical event. GLORIA scientists are building
an archive of stories by geo-mapping political and historical events to
the sky above. The archival sky images are provided by the Sloan Digitised
Sky Survey. As well as being beautiful in their own right, the images can
be overlaid with information about the stars, nebulae and galaxies within
them, acting as a launchpad for further exploration and inspiration.
A short video presenting Personal
Space
About GLORIA
GLORIA is a three-year project
financed by the Seventh Framework Program of the European Union
(FP7/2007-2012) under agreement number 283783. The project, started
in October 2011, involves
13 institutions from
8 countries.
For more information please contact:
Dr. Grigory Beskin (Astronomer), Special Astrophysical Observatory
of Russian Academy of Sciences, Russia.
Email: beskin@sao.ru.
Prof. Lorraine Hanlon (Astronomer), UCD School of Physics, Belfield,
Dublin 4, Ireland. Email: Lorraine.hanlon@ucd.ie.
Ms. Emer O Boyle (Artist), UCD School of Physics, Belfield, Dublin 4,
Ireland. Email: emer.oboyle@ucd.ie.
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