A New Dawn for Awesome Earth at Questacon - the National Science and Technology Centre

Questacon – The National Science and Technology Centre has revealed a new dawn for one of its most enduring exhibitions, Awesome Earth.

A favourite with visitors for over ten years, Awesome Earth re-opens to the public today after an extensive refurbishment, featuring exciting new exhibits and a striking makeover.

Awesome Earth reveals the mighty power and stunning beauty of our planet and the wonders of the universe through exploring natural phenomena and how they interact.

Questacon Director, Professor Graham Durant said, “Awesome Earth helps visitors understand why these natural phenomena happen the way they do and how they create the dynamic conditions we live in on Earth.

“Even regular visitors to Questacon will be excited by the new-look Awesome Earth which features a mixture of new exhibits and refreshed old favourites.”

The exhibits are now grouped under the themes of air, water, earth and space, offering an exploration of interlinked phenomenon, such as how the earth's atmosphere drives our weather, how the earth's core fuels continual change at the surface, and where we sit in the vastness of space.

A highlight is the Painting the Data exhibit which visualises real scientific data sets from NASA and the US Geological Survey, showing sea surface temperature, earthquake activity, active fires and rainfall.

“Painting with Data allows visitors to experience how scientists use various methods of data collection— from satellites to seismometers—and then overlay these data sets to give them a more complete look at the whole world,” said Professor Durant.

Visitors will be equally intrigued by the new Star Fingerprints exhibit, which shows visitors how we can use the light emitted from stars to tell its age, by working out which gas the star is burning.

Visitors can still experience the shake, rattle and roll of an earthquake and feel the sizzling power of a lightning strike with visitor favourites Earthquake House and Caged Lightning. These exhibits will be refurbished in subsequent phases of renewal that will also see new exhibits added.

“Just like the Earth's dynamic systems are always changing, we are continuing the upgrade of this exhibition over the coming months. I encourage everyone to visit now but to keep coming back to see what's new.” said Professor Durant.