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Celestial Mapping

  • 13 Jun 2019
  • 25 Jul 2019
  • San Francisco State University, Downtown Extension Campus, San Francisco, CA

Celestial Mapping

Instructor: Nick Kanas MD
Osher Lifelong Learning Institute
San Francisco State University

Thursdays, 10:00 AM - 12:00 Noon
6/13/2019 - 7/25/2019 (6 Meeting Days)

All maps tell a story and are products of their times. Maps of the heavens are no exception. Star maps show the relative locations of the stars in constellations and are useful for planting, navigation, and storytelling. Cosmological maps depict the position of the Earth in the heavens according to then-held views of the Solar System. Planetary maps define the surface of the planets and moons as seen through telescopes or visiting space probes. Class lectures will trace the fascinating story of how the heavens have been mapped from antiquity to the present day. Through the use of beautiful images from antiquarian and modern sources, how these maps relate to cultural, artistic, and scientific ideas of their times will be discussed.

Week 1: Constellations and Early Star Maps
Week 2: The Golden Age
Week 3: Frontispieces and Title Pages; Early American Star Maps
Week 4: Transition to Modern Star Atlases
Week 5: Solar System Maps
Week 6: Pictorial Maps; Celestial Images in Art

[Description from OLLI, SFSU website.]

REGISTRATION through OLLI, San Francisco State University.  Click here to go to website.



Agenda

Times are subject to change.

10:00 Registration and Hospitality
 10:30   welcome
10:40 - 11:20 William Mosely

"Satellite imagery and wildfire response: The Palisades Fire"

Planet Labs PBC operates flocks of microsatellites providing a hi-resolution snapshot of the earth every day, and even higher-resolution satellites that capture images on demand.

Customer Success Manager William Mosely will detail how Microsoft AI for Good and Planet partnered to measure the impact of the devastating nearby Palisades fire this past January.
 11:25 - 12:05

Cal Tabuena-Frolli

"Yield 02"

Artist Cal Tabuena-Frolli is following a stint with the Santa Paula Oil Museum with a series of maps and related pieces detailing the history of oil in California, from pre-historic times through 1929. That's when most of us think California oil history begins.
 12:10 - 12:50 Ed LanFranco

 “Map Madness: Corralling, Collating and Categorizing a Cartobiliography of Beijing”

Journalist and sinophile Ed LanFranco will share the various ways the capital of China has been cartographically portrayed throughout the 20th century.
12:50 - 1:30
break
1:30 - 2:10 Jon Jablonski "Resurrecting Landscapes with Machine Vision"

Librarian Jon Jablonski is leveraging collections of aerial photography at UC Santa Barbara and UCLA to build 3-d models of 1930s Yosemite Valley, the Gaviota Coast, and more! By using Agisoft Metashape, the overlapping stereo photographs reveal long-forgotten vistas and have the potential to help find forgotten abandoned oil wells. 
2:15 - 2:50 Debra Scacco

Santa Monica's first artist-in-residence at City Yards, Debra Scacco will highlight how maps, cartography, and the landscape interact in her work as artist and curator. 

bonus: Debra's exhibition "Laboratory for the Future" at Santa Monica City Yards' Propeller Gallery is open through January 2026! She has offered to walk us through immediately after the meeting. The gallery is a short drive away


closing remarks




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