A giant illuminated art installation of the Sun using NASA data, a ‘Space Opera’ and family-friendly science fair will be showing in Coventry over three evenings next week.
Butterworth Hall, on the University of Warwick campus will be home to SUN, a free touring light artwork based on a pre-pandemic idea by leading UK solar astrophysicist Robert Walsh and artist Alex Rinsler, from Monday July 11 until Wednesday July 13.
A packed programme of events to accompany the artwork has been organised as part of the university’s ongoing Resonate Festival, launched during Coventry’s year as UK City of Culture in 2021.
An inflatable 6-metre diameter floating representation of our closest star, SUN features detailed imagery of the solar surface from NASA’s Solar Dynamic Observatory in 360 degrees with smoke effects to mimic the sun’s outer atmosphere.
It depicts 10 weeks of the sun’s life in just 12.5 minutes accompanied by an original soundscape from electroacoustic composer Ebe Oke featuring opera singer Feargal Mostyn-Williams.
Professor Walsh from the University of Central Lancashire, who will be attending the event, said: “You see a full representation of the sun with no computer generation. We like people to walk under SUN and experience the ‘wow’ factor.
“SUN was premiered in Autumn 2019 before lockdown, but the team are only just starting to take the installation on tour in 2022. We see SUN as a vehicle for people to explore and learn something new about their place in space and the connection to our closest star.
“At this event at the University of Warwick people will be able to speak to astrophysicists and join in lots of related science-based activities.”
Across the three nights visitors can drop-in and marvel at the awe-inspiring installation, discover more about the sun from top scientists and join in exciting solar-inspired family activities at a mini science festival.
One of the evenings – Tuesday July 12 - will also include live excerpts from a new space opera by two phD music students from the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire, made in collaboration with a team of astrophysicists at the University of Birmingham who made the ground-breaking discovery of four potentially habitable Earth-sized planets orbiting the red-dwarf star TRAPPIST-1.
The Flowering Desert premiered in the planetarium at ThinkTank Science Museum, Birmingham, in May. It was created by co-artistic directors of fringe opera company, Infinite Opera, Spanish-born composer and conductor Daniel Blanco Albert and opera singer and librettist Roxanne Korda, who also has a first-class degree in Physics and Philosophy from King’s College London.
Daniel said: “Our approach is to create an interdisciplinary operatic work which really investigates the latest scientific research. It is an immersive planetarium sonic experience. There are two storylines – one follows an astrophysicist who witnesses this discovery, and the other is the story of a planet in a journey to become habitable.
“For this event we have a chorus and a soprano performing a scene featuring a planet and its mother star live in the Butterworth Hall.
“As a fringe opera company, you can be more flexible, break genre and incorporate different disciplines. We have previously collaborated with a craft beer company in Digbeth to produce the first-ever beer opera, which is very fun and immersive, and we have also written a physics dissemination opera, amongst other works.”
Tickets are free but booking is required. Events include:
‘See the SUN’ on Monday July 11, 5pm – 10pm, gives people the opportunity to explore this incredible light artwork, take a selfie and audio clips from staff and students at the University of Warwick University on how scientists use and learn about the sun, the sun in art, the sun as part of history, religion and culture. https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/see-the-sun-tickets-366619206917
See the SUN – a Space Opera on Tuesday July 12, 5pm – 10pm, is set to be an atmospheric evening of music, talks, food and drink. There will be a rolling programme of live performances of excerpts from The Flowering Desert, augmented reality, an interactive exhibition, and flash-talks from the artists and researchers involved in bringing this stunning installation to life. . exhibitionhttps://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/see-the-sun-a-space-opera-tickets-366624442577
For the final evening of See the SUN, on Wednesday July 13, the University of Warwick is hosting a fun Science Fair, 4pm – 8pm, https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/see-the-sun-science-fair-tickets-366627471637
Highlights include the SUN installation, sun-inspired arts and crafts run by the SunSpaceArts team (https://www.sunspaceart.org/team/) led by Helen Mason, a solar scientist at the University of Cambridge and an inflatable igloo-shaped Warwick planetarium.
The founder of Tactile Universe, an award-winning project based at the University of Portsmouth’s Institute of Cosmology and Gravitation which is making current astronomy research available for the blind and visually impaired community, will be bringing along some of their models.
Other activities include solar observing, experimenting with exoplanets, Coding with Sophie and embroidering solar quakes.
Rebecca Nealon, a Stephen Hawking Fellow in the University of Warwick’s Astronomy and Astrophysics group, originally from Melbourne, Australia, is part of the team which has helped to co-ordinate the science fair.
She said: “It is aimed at primary school aged children, people with families and curious adults. We hope some people can come after school. The main feature is SUN installation, which will be available throughout the whole evening. It has some QR codes attached so you can see the magnetic field through augmented reality via a SUN app on your phone. We have solar physicists on hand to talk and answer any questions.
“After entry into the festival, limited tickets will be available to visit the inflatable Warwick Planetarium, which is made from the same material as bouncy castles, which will have astrophysicists presenting a show inside. It can hold small groups of up to 15 at a time.
“At 8pm there is a screening of sci-fi film Arrival at Warwick Arts Centre’s cinema at 8pm, preceded at 7.30pm by guest speaker Dr Amy Chambers, a film lecturer from Manchester Metropolitan University, who specialises in the public understanding of science through film.
“Experts from the from the University of Warwick, UK Astronomy Technology Centre, Space Park Leicester, the University of Oxford and the University of Sussex will also be reacting to new images of the universe released from NASA’S James Webb Space Telescope following a big press reveal on July 12.”
For further information about the University of Warwick’s Resonate Festival visit https://www.resonatefestival.co.uk/
To find out more about SUN visit https://seethesun.org/
For more information about the science festival visit https://nam2022.org/public-engagement-temp/science-festival