Passeio virtual ao primeiro observatório das américas: proposta de ensino de astronomia

Abstract

Presents content for the teaching and dissemination of Astronomy and related Sciences, making it possible to visit the first observatory in the Americas. This type of visitation is carried out in a virtual way, allowing anyone to know how the observatory works, which was built on the roof of a Portuguese house. For this purpose, a virtual tour was created that allows to know the observation rooms that the astronomer Jorge Marcgrave designed and that carried out his observations of the stars in the sky. The construction of the virtual tour was carried out from documents with historical records of the observatory of the German Jorge Marcgrave in 1639. It focused on updating the visualization format of the virtual observatory, which allowed for a more realistic system and with higher quality of graphic resources. For the making of this project, Blender was used (3D modeling tool, free version) for the animation. The virtual tour adds value to educational institutions in a unique way, attracting students from different nations and institutions (Museums, Governmental Agencies, NGOs). With the virtual environment it was possible to acquire knowledge about important historical facts for our society, mainly in the field of Astronomy.