All energy for life on Earth comes from the Sun.

Come stare at Te Rā, the sun – safely! A large projection of the sun from solar telescopes in Dunedin, Dresden, and outer space is beaming in to warm up your winter. Check here for times of public discussions on astrophysics, energy, ecologies, and cosmologies  – everyone is welcome.

23 Princes Street, Dunedin | June 16 — July 1

3.30pm — 9.30pm daily

15,000,000

degrees Celsius

1,300,000

earths fit inside the sun

28

days for one rotation

Sun notes

“The sun is like a big drum, its pulsating all the time. There is a boiling going on and that causes all these low frequency sound waves.”

Todd HoeksemaHelioseismologist – Stanford Solar Center

The sounds you hear as part of this work have been increased in speed by 100,000 times bringing the sound up to 300 Hz and into the range of our hearing. It is produced from 20 years of raw solar data, captured from the beginning of 1995 to the end of 2014.

Steven J. Hale – Birmingham Solar Oscillations Network (BiSON)

“In the 1960s they saw the oscillations – the surface of the sun was moving in and out within a 5min period – eventually figured out that the sun was vibrating like a bell… “

Todd HoeksemaHelioseismologist – Stanford Solar Center

Public events

Sun-side chats and whizz-bang weekends

Wed 28, 6.30pm  (note date change)
The sun as a star
Ian Griffin, Otago Museum

Ian Griffin, Director of Otago Museum and amateur astronomer extraordinaire, discusses his own fascinations with stars—their physics, scales and the wider contexts of the fiery maelstrom that is our star.

Thu 29, 10.00am
Sun Salute Yoga
Josh Smith

Join us for a free session of sun salutations taught by Josh Smith. Come and salute the sun! Move your body with rhythms as old as the creation of the universe itself, as we bring down this contemplation of the centre of all life and energy in our solar system and embody an appreciation for this most epic of heavenly entities. BYO mat, and bring a spare mat if you have one to share.
Sunroom host: Connor Boyle.

Sat July 1, 6.30pm
Sunroom Closing

Come and join us to farewell the Dresden sun and thank those that have provided it to us. Local sound artists involved in the Sunroom project will perform including Connor Boyle with Peter Claman and friends, and Sally Ann McIntyre.

PAST

Mon 19 June, 6.30pm
Sun storms
Craig Rodger, Physics, University of Otago

A discussion of space weather and how energy flows from the sun impact the environment on and around the Earth—including the recent auroras and the larger solar storms which hold the potential to destroy our digital communication infrastructures.

Thu 22 June, 6.30pm
A bi-cultural discussion – creation narratives and quantum physics
Rua McCallum, David Hutchinson

Join us for an informal bi-cultural discussion between Rua McCallum, a researcher exploring creation narratives as part of her PhD, and quantum physicist David Hutchinson. An ongoing conversation, born from a position of love and respect.

Sat 24 June, 3.30pm
Sizzling sun science show
Amadeo Enriquez Ballestero of Dunedin Astronomical Society

Come enjoy an amazing interactive science show about the sun! Hold with your own hands the gases that make our star. Make a comet that will behave as explosively as a real comet approaching the sun! Experience the power of ultraviolet light and discover why using sun block in New Zealand is so important.

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#sunroomdunedin

Can you think of a product we use that does *not* use energy from the sun?

 

Further thanks go to: Astroclub Radebeul, NASA’s Scientific Visualization Studio, Birmingham Solar-Oscillations Network (BiSON), Otago University, Julian Priest, Morgan Oliver, Michael Morley, Sally Ann McIntyre, Alastair Galbraith, Matt de Gennaro. The project has been supported by GigCity Community Fund through Letting Space’s Urban Dream Brokerage service with funding from Dunedin City Council. Image: Hydrogen alpha solar telescope image test by Stu Todd and Mirko Harnisch of Dunedin Astronomical Society, 22 August 2016 at Beverly-Begg Observatory, Dunedin.

Our thanks to Bigpipe for providing the fantastic broadband connection that Sunroom ran on. Check out the brightest internet provider in NZ at bigpipe.co.nz. Bigpipe: smart internet for smart people.