They recognised that they had stacks of great science to demonstrate and explain, but saw that many presentation methods were difficult for much of the public.

They came up with the idea of “Science on a Sphere”. This is a specialised display which is now showing in a number of museums worldwide, notably in the Smithsonian Natural History in DC. Four computer projectors play onto a sphere nearly 2m in diameter suspended in a room. They show ocean currents, continental drift, plate tectonics etc – in a way which is hard to do on flat 2D movie.

http://sos.noaa.gov/

Maybe it would do well for displaying some astronomical situations, like the evolution of a star – though its diameter is fixed, unlike some stars at the end of their life. Maybe we need 3D holographic projectors like in TNG….

From a very, very long distance

“If you see this phase of the explosion you are driving too close”