KEY POINTS:
Name: Graham Murray
Age: 50-something
Job title: Stardome education and programmes manager
Working hours: 8.30am to 5pm, plus some evenings and special astronomical occasions (eg the Matariki breakfast)
Pay: Compares with senior teacher
Qualifications: BSc, FNZIC, a patent (he devised an astronomy tool for making maps using the sun)
Career prospects: Education consultant
Describe your job
I manage the delivery of Stardome's education programmes, which is really the core of our business. Most term days we have four to five different educational groups visiting.
Why did you choose this line of work?
I love astronomy, which to me means reading the sky and helping others recognise its patterns, its dimensions etc.
Your history?
Thirty years of teaching science, maths in NZ secondary schools, plus a spell running science classes for 8-12-year-olds as an after school activity.
What training do you need?
A science degree (mine is in chemistry with maths) and keeping up to date in the field.
Why is your job important?
Ask the public! I think I hear that the science that is talked about most by the public is astronomy, so we have the opportunity to feed accurate and credible information on request.
Who do you have to liaise with when you set up a new programme at the Stardome?
Most of our visitors come in school groups, so we have to link our day programmes to the school curriculum. The public sessions are often driven by topical events, and people's curiosity about the huge subject of space and the universe.
What are the profiles of visitors to the centre?
45 per cent children's programmes, 55 per cent public programmes; 92 per cent from the Auckland area.
How do you cater for the different age groups that visit the Stardome?
Experience. We ask a few questions, and then the responses show how high we can go.
How many different programmes do you have on the go at once?
Eight to 10.
What kind of equipment and materials do you use?
The computer-generated 3D images of any chosen part of the sky, from any chosen vantage point, run at any chosen speed, are greatly appreciated by visitors. We also use physical models for seasons and of course telescopes and other optics.
What should schools expect when they visit the centre?
Our core business is teaching astronomy science and we are able to offer visitors the experience of learning together with entertainment in a planetarium environment. Evening visitors are then offered the additional benefit of being able to use telescopes. We are taking learning, simulated environment and turning it into reality.
We offer a uniquely immersive environment where all visitors can gain a better understanding of the concepts involved in astronomy and space science by surrounding themselves in this wonderful, very visual realm of science. The planetarium is a unique medium and a key part of our facility. It is the perfect delivery system for what can sometimes be complex notions.
Educational programmes are tailored to meet the requirements of the curriculum from the strand 'planet Earth and beyond'. We currently have a contract to deliver education outside the classroom with the Ministry of Education. Our visitors come from all levels of this sector from pre-school right through to university students.
Public programmes give us the opportunity to offer an 'edutainment' experience which is incorporated into our evening, weekend and holiday sessions.
Stardome is recognised as a leader in the field of New Zealand astronomical education. We have become the primary source of information when investigating the matter of space science.
What is the strangest question a schoolchild or visitor has asked?
There are too many; this may be a result of people coming to us the Hollywood blockbuster version. Star Trek especially has given people clear ideas about aliens!
What programmes do you have in the pipeline?
Eclipses - Aug 28 and Feb 7; during the school holiday sessions in September, we are taking a look at Space Junk. Everyone is interested in all the rockets debris out there in space; this is timely as it is also the 50th anniversary of the Sputnik launch.
Have you visited observatories in other countries?
I have been to related places e.g. standing in Ecuador with each foot on a different hemisphere; the Greenwich Time Museum.
What is your favourite aspect of the Stardome?
The affection for the observatory that is forever being expressed by Auckland people, and the fact that everyone here really enjoys the sky even if it is 50-100 years since they first looked at it.
Advice to someone wanting to do the same thing?
Read, listen and be sceptical.
What are your strengths?
Science and investigation skills, people and management skills.
Where would you like to be in five years?
As long as I am working in science I don't mind.
