Exploring the realm of different cultures, Illinois State University's Planetarium is hosting a Mayan-themed show.
The ISU Planetarium is presenting “Mayan Archeoastronomy: Observers of the Universe” through May 6. The animated show is an imaginative look at how the ancient Mayans interpreted the night sky. It tours the six Mayan temples San Gervasio, Chichen Itzá, Uxmal, Edzná, Palenque and Bonampak. It’s narrated in four languages: English, Spanish, Portuguese, and Chinese.
The archeoastronomy show honors the ancient Mayans by showcasing their heritage. Mayan civilization is most known for its temples, glyphs, and fascinating astronomical system. According to the Canadian Museum of History, they observed the sky and calendars to predict solar and lunar eclipses, the cycle of planet of Venus, and the movements of the constellations.
“We look back at the way the ancient Mayans viewed the night sky,” said astronomer and ISU Planetarium Director Thomas Willmitch. "At the same time, some of our shows look at science or understanding of the universe today. Those shows are immersive just like the Mayan show, but where the Mayan show is colorful artwork filling our dome.”
The show was produced by a major planetarium in Mexico and by graphic designers from an agency called Frutos Digitales (Digital Fruits) with the support of the European Southern Observatory.
The ISU Planetarium offers a wide variety of shows based on mythology and science. The objective of each presentation is to educate and explore planets, stars, universe, and galaxies.
“It gives us an appreciation of our past and we can look back and see how it is we’ve come to understand the world today,” Willmitch said.
He said it brings real excitement and appreciation to the natural world around.
“You start to understand how the ancients looked to the stars and created their myths around those stars," he said. “Even at the time if they didn’t see those myths as true stories, they did see them as truths.”
Willmitch shared his point of view of becoming an astronomer. It's not just learning the stars and fascinating mythology behind it but understanding the underlying physics. The planetarium community is very diverse, with people from backgrounds of science, art, music, writers, and educators overall. They take the research of an astronomer and convert it to make planetarium shows visual as if you are there.
Next year will be the ISU Planetarium’s 60th anniversary. It was built in 1964.
The Mayan archeology astronomy show runs on weekends through May 6. There are shows on Fridays at 7:30 p.m. and Saturdays at 2 p.m. and 7 p.m.
