Escape room profile

On board a photon

On board a photon is an interactive experience that allows players to relive the journey of photons – light particles – from the depths of the Sun, where they start their adventure, through the planets of the Solar System, all the way to the telescopes of astronomers who observe these celestial bodies from Earth and try to make sense of the cosmos we live in.

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The Story

The Narrative

How long will it take for photons to emerge from the solar interior to the surface of the Sun? Which planet will they visit on their cosmic adventure through the Solar System? How long is the journey to get there, at the speed of light? And on which telescope will their tour end? Explore these questions, solving coding and robotics challenges, on board a photon. On board a photon has been created by the Play working group of INAF, the Italian National Institute for Astrophysics (by Claudia Mignone, Silvia Galleti, Laura Leonardi, Federico Di Giacomo, Maria Teresa Fulco and Maura Sandri). It premiered at the 2022 Genova Science Festival.

Inside the Experience

The core elements of the experience.

Your Role

Inside the Sun, deep at its core, nuclear reactions fuse hydrogen, the lightest element, to create helium. Incidentally, the process also produces energy: this is how the Sun shines, releasing photons – particles of light. You are a newly created photon at the center of the Sun and your mission is to explore the Solar System! Photons travel very fast – remember the speed of light? – but the solar interior is such a dense place that they constantly bump into other particles so it takes hundreds of thousands of years for them to get out of our star: it’s a maze! The first challenge is to get out of the Sun – easier said than done. Then, by decoding clues through pixel art and robotics, you will discover your planetary destination and eventually end your journey… as a cosmic image!

Scientific Focus

You will explore the journey of a light particle from its generation in the core of the Sun and its complex trek across the solar interior, all the way across space to one of the Solar System’s planets that reflect it towards Earth, where it eventually lands on a telescope that produces an image of that particular planet. Besides exploring outer space, you will also practice computational thinking by deciphering clues and solving challenges using unplugged coding and small robots.

Distinctive Features

Through clues in coding language and robotics challenges, this escape room lets players experience life as a particle of light! You can travel faster than anything in the universe, yet it will take you hundreds of thousands of years to get out of the Sun and start your cosmic journey. Then, within minutes or hours at most, you can cross the Solar System, carrying information about your travels that astronomers hunt with cutting-edge telescopes.

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