The Copernicus Science Center in Warsaw is inviting the public to the Planetarium for the premiere of the show “Copernicus’ Revolution” on March 1, 2023. The event will explain what the “Copernican Revolution” was and what upheaval in science can be expected yet.
When Nicolaus Copernicus looked up at the sky, there were no telescopes yet. So, his eye had to suffice for observation, and for determining the positions of stars and planets – instruments such as the quadrant, the wooden paralactic triangle and the most complicated armillary sphere. Today the night sky is observed through huge telescopes, the size of which often exceeds that of a football stadium. “The position of the stars can be checked in an app installed on a smartphone, and planetariums are used to map the night sky”, informs the Copernicus Science Center.
All this is due to the advances made in science. Advances that turned upside down the hitherto unquestionable foundations of human knowledge of the world are today called Copernican upheavals or scientific revolutions. We owe this term to Nicolaus Copernicus, who used it in the original Latin title of his work “De revolutionibus”.
“As is known, the Planetarium has a specific dome-shaped screen. It is impossible to watch feature films on it, but we can see the sky perfectly. We will show what Copernicus saw in the sky in 1473”, announces Katarzyna Nowicka of the Copernicus Science Center.
“Copernicus’ Revolution” is a show prepared to celebrate the 550th birthday of the Polish astronomer. It begins with a display of the sky and a reconstruction of Ptolemy’s model, before moving on to a presentation of the revolutionary model proposed by Copernicus.
A surprise has been prepared for visitors to Warsaw’s Copernicus Science Center. The “Copernicus gets in for free” campaign is part of the celebration of the 550th anniversary of the birth of the Center’s patron. Anyone named Kopernik has free admission with accompanying persons to all events at the Copernicus Science Center this year.
Adrian Andrzejewski