Rising Star — A South African Astronomy Journey

Rising Star takes you on an astronomical journey from our beginnings through the development of astronomy research in South Africa and looks at what the future of astronomy holds for the country. In addition to introducing multi-wavelength and multi-messenger astronomy, it highlights the many remarkable facilities hosted in South Africa along with some of their latest results. This includes unrestricted views of the 10-metre class Southern African Large Telescope and the most powerful radio telescope in the Southern Hemisphere, MeerKAT. The film is accessible to all ages and aims to excite audiences from around the world about South African astronomy, while inspiring the next generation of astronomers. As the first of its kind to be produced in Africa, Rising Star hopes to stimulate the production of many more locally-produced planetarium films from multidisciplinary fields, with the goal of popularising Africa’s numerous scientific achievements.

Credit:

Narrated by
Katlego Maboe

Directed by
Telmo dos Reis

Executive Producers
Daniel Cunnama
Sally Macfarlane

Script Writer
Guy Spiller

Original Music Score
Samkelo Mahlalela

3D Animations
Werner Botha

Colour Grade
Michele Wilson

Cinematographer
Telmo dos Reis

2nd camera operator
Samkelo Mahlalela

Post Production
VR Capture
Ludus Post Production
Animmate

Spacial Audio & 5.1 Mix
PixelWave

Volumetric video capture
VR Capture
Alexia dos Reis

Voice over Recording
Michael Botha
The Workroom

SKA Aerial Footage
Hans
J Z Van Loggenberg
Multimedia

KhoiSan dance footage
Chris Du Plessis

Locations
South African Astronomical Observatory, Cape Town, Western Cape
Sutherland, Northern Cape
Carnarvon, Northern Cape
Hartebeesthoek, Gauteng
The Southern African Large Telescope (SALT)

Special Thanks
Simphiwe Madlanga
Julie Meswatu
Willem Prins
Thea Koen
Moses Mogotsi
Eben Wiid
Ayanda Mgwatyu
Anja Fourie
Lory Wingate
Kechil Kirkham

Iziko Planetarium and Digital Dome
Hylton Arnolds
Ofentse Letebele
Luzuko Dalasile
Theo Ferreira
Tom Jarrett
Michelle Cluver

MeerLICHT/MeerKAT imagery
Julia Healy, IDIA, MeerLICHT, MeerKAT

Crab Nebula images
X-ray: NASA/CXC/SAO
Optical: NASA/STScI
Infrared: NASA/JPL/Caltech
Radio: NSF/NRAO/VLA
Ultraviolet: ESA/XMM-Newton

This film was made possible by:
The National Radio Astronomy Observatory(NRAO)
South African Radio Astronomy Observatory(SARAO)
Multi-wavelength Public Engagement Programme (MAPPP)
National and International Non-Traditional Exchange (NINE)
The Department of Science and Innovation
The National Research Foundation
The South African Astronomical Observatory
The South African Radio Astronomy Observatory
The University of Cape Town
The IDIA Visualisation Laboratory