Costellazione Manga: Explaining Astronomy Using

Resources
Japanese Comics and Animation
Daria Dall’Olio Piero Ranalli Keywords
Onsala Space Observatory, Chalmers Combient AB, Göteborg, Sweden; Public outreach, science communication,
University of Technology, Sweden; Lund Observatory, Sweden informal education, planetarium show,
ARAR, Planetarium of Ravenna and ASCIG, Italy [email protected] learning development
[email protected]

Comics and animation are intensely engaging and can be successfully used to communicate science to the public. They
appear to stimulate many aspects of the learning process and can help with the development of links between ideas. Given
these pedagogical premises, we conducted a project called Costellazione Manga, in which we considered astronomical
concepts present in several manga and anime (Japanese comics and animations) and highlighted the physics behind
them. These references to astronomy allowed us to introduce interesting topics of modern astrophysics and communicate
astronomy-related concepts to a large spectrum of people. In this paper, we describe the methodology and techniques
that we developed and discuss the results of our project. Depending on the comic or anime considered, we can introduce
general topics such as the difference between stars, planets and galaxies or ideas such as the possibility of finding life on
other planets, the latest discoveries of Earth-like planets orbiting other stars or the detection of complex organic molecules
in the interstellar space. When presenting the night sky and the shapes of constellations, we can also describe how the
same stars are perceived and grouped by different cultures. The project outcomes indicate that Costellazione Manga is a
powerful tool to popularise astronomy and stimulate important aspects of learning development, such as curiosity and crit-
ical thinking. We show through our experience that Costellazione Manga has attracted a broader and more diverse public
than traditional planetarium activities and astronomy lectures.

Introduction: The Role of Comics One of the most famous authors currently Le Scienze (the Italian edition of Scientific
and Animation in Education is Leiji Matsumoto, creator of several com- American) started to print a series of com-
ics and animated series such as Galaxy ics made for outreach purposes that
Walt Disney argued that animation is a flex- Express 999, Captain Harlock, Queen include several works originally published
ible and stimulating tool that is well suited Millennia and Space Battleship Yamato in Europe, Japan and the USA. The t­opics
for the purposes of explaining and teach- (also known as Star Blazers). Some of the of these comics range from astronomy,
ing, provided that an educator knows how characters and plot lines of these sagas physics and biology to computer science
to use it (Disney, 1948). Although it may were reused and adapted into shows to and mathematics.
seem unusual to make use of fantasy char- be projected inside a planetarium. Leiji
acters to popularise astronomy or other Matsumoto himself is active in popularis-
general science subjects, such use is in ing astronomy and in collaborating with Effectiveness of Comics and
fact a long-standing practice that started universities and magazines to create spe- Animation in Education
in America in the early 1940s. During cial lectures and outreach conferences
World War II, Disney started to produce (Murakami, 1997). Several fantasy and science fiction com-
many animated films aimed at popularis- ics and anime contain references to phys-
ing the practical and technical aspects of Unfortunately, in some countries (including ics and astronomy. Most of these refer-
war, for example the workings of US avia- our own country, Italy), comics and anima- ences are not fully explained but instead
tion. These movies were followed by many tion have traditionally been seen as a lower used as plot devices; other times, they are
others that promoted everyday topics such type of art, mostly aimed at young individ- just embellishments. Following the path
as the importance of of good nutrition or uals, and they are not considered worthy already proposed by Walt Disney and the
good hygiene for disease prevention. of the interest of adults or professionals. example given by Leiji Matsumoto, we set
Other films, based on the scientific knowl- However, the market for comics and ani- out to create a planetarium show and other
edge of the time, described human anat- mation is changing and has expanded to activities that would delve further into the
omy and behaviour, including Reason and include many authorial works and transla- science alluded to in our favourite man-
Emotion (1943), a precursor of sorts to the tions of world-known classics. Italy, France gas and address the questions that arose
recent Pixar movie Inside Out. and Germany are the three largest mar- from them. These questions not only act
kets for manga in Europe (Bouissou et al., as a starting point to generate curiosity
We also find examples of the use of car- 2010). An encouraging sign of change is about astronomy but also ignite a pas-
toons in education and learning in Japan. that at the beginning of 2017, the magazine sion for asking questions and looking for

CAPjournal, No. 24, October 2018 7

Costellazione Manga: Explaining Astronomy using Japanese Comics and Animation

with huge success. New songs for the

opening and closing titles, written by some
of the best Italian composers of the time,
probably contributed to the success: ­their
disc sold more than one million copies.
Grendizer even had an impact on the older
generations, not least because of the con-
troversies that arose when it was first aired
(Nicora, 2017; Montosi, 2007).

A combination of the liberalisation of TV

broadcasting and availability of cheap
imports made Japanese animation the
dominant form of children’s entertainment
throughout the 1980s and 1990s, with
non-Japanese animation soon becoming
Figure 1. Front of the flyer for the first edition of Costellazione Manga, held in 2011 in Ravenna, Italy. The subtitle
may be translated as “Stars in Japanese comics and animation”. Credit: D. Dall’Olio the minority. This created a shared system
of imagery and cultural references for at
least one generation, whose members are
answers, thereby connecting the pleasure under production to satisfy the curiosity of now in their thirties and forties, although the
of reading science fiction to the process the public. The second approach takes an most popular shows are known by younger
of discovery. In the following sections, we opposite stance, where no new material is and older generations, too (Pellitteri, 2018).
describe some of the pedagogical prem- produced but what people have already It is on these shared cultural references
ises on which our project is based. seen and is already part of their back- that we based the development of our
grounds is instead built upon. The main planetarium shows, seminars and nightly
Many formal and complex concepts can examples of this approach are L. Krauss’s observations.
be easily transmitted to the public with the book The Physics of Star Trek, J. Kakalios’s
help of cartoons and comic books that book The Physics of Superheroes (more The Costellazione Manga (Manga Constel­
support the learning process (Tatalovic et pertaining to comics and animation) and lation in English) adventure started in
al., 2009; Hosler & Boomer, 2011). Using T. Handa’s book on understanding astron- October 2011 (Figure 1), during the 9th
references from comics and animation is a omy Space Battleship Yamato 2199. These Edition of “Japanese October”, a ­cultural
way to reduce formality and break the wall books take something most people know, event organised by the Association for
between scientists and the public. Such at least superficially (in Star Trek, space- Cultural Exchanges between Italy and
an approach includes most of the “dimen- ships travel faster than light; Superman Japan (ASCIG) in Ravenna, Italy. In the
sions of change” that identify modern and flies; etc.), to introduce a topic and dis- initial stages of the project, the authors
effective science communication1: story- cuss the underlying science (Why is the collaborated with and benefited from the
telling, humour, artistic expression, sci- speed of light a limit? What is gravity?). expertise of Marco del Bene, the President
ence as part of everyday life and emotion Since this approach builds on pre-­existing of the ASCIG and associate professor
(since adults from the general public prob- knowledge, by choosing the right cul- at the Department of Oriental Studies,
ably have childhood memories of several tural reference, it can directly hook peo- La Sapienza University in Rome, and
of the series). Moreover, it has been shown ple’s emotions and memories. Our project Alessandro Montosi, a freelance writer
that learning is deeply connected to previ- Costellazione Manga 2 follows this latter and expert on Japanese animation and its
ously acquired knowledge: students con- approach and, in the next sections, we will impact in Italy. Since the first conference,
nect the new things they learn to what they give an account of how and why it works. hosted by the Planetarium of Ravenna
already know, and the same happens for (Figure 2), we have been collecting ideas
the general public when they learn new and materials from several manga and
things (Hemminki et al., 2013). The Birth of Costellazione Manga anime (Dall’Olio, 2015), considering both
works that are famous worldwide and the
There are two possible approaches to Japanese animation started to be imported more avant-garde ones. The proposed sto-
using comics and animation for teaching to Europe at the end of the 1970s. In Italy, ries are often pure fantasy or science fic-
purposes. One follows in the footsteps the breakthrough happened in 1978, when tion. From these, we built an outreach show
of Disney’s seminal work and includes the national TV broadcaster RAI imported that aims to take the public through an unu-
works produced with the main purpose of the anime UFO Robot Grendizer (localised sual universe: not just an imaginary and fic-
explaining a subject. Historical examples as UFO Robot Goldrake and also known in tional travel across the bizarre and funny
are Bruno Bozzetto’s prize-winning ani- several other countries as Goldorak, from adventures narrated in manga and anime
mations for the Italian science outreach the French adaptation). Grendizer — a but also an astrophysical journey explor-
TV programme Quark. Sweden also has show so different from the Italian produc- ing the starry sky.
a tradition of animated documentaries. A tion, Disney and Hanna–Barbera styles
number of comics dealing with many var- and even from the European/Japanese
ied fields are nowadays on the market and co-productions of the time 3 — was met

8 CAPjournal, No. 24, October 2018

 CAPjournal, No. 24, October 2018

Costellazione Manga: How to Build

a Space Journey through Manga
and Anime

In this section, we will describe the meth-

odology that we used to create one of the
Costellazione Manga shows. We will pro-
vide some examples of the manga and
anime used, tips on how to use astronomy-
related references and descriptions of how
we develop them during the show.

Methodology

All the planetarium shows, seminars and

Figure 2. The Planetarium of Ravenna, Italy, in 2017. Left panel: The Zeiss analogue planetarium inside its dome.
activities related to Costellazione Manga Right panel: Entrance to the planetarium building, showing the dome and the sundial panel. Credit: M. Garoni
have been offered as educational activ-
ities. The Planetarium of Ravenna has a
Zeiss ZKP 2 analogue projector that is able several parts of the starry sky visible at that using the dome-projected sky. The number
to project more than 3000 stars in the two time of the year and connected to specific of anime/manga used can be varied at the
hemispheres and seat 60 people inside the anime or manga. The maximum duration of request of the seminar or lecture organiser,
dome (Figure 2). In general, the show is a show is 60 minutes, so we typically touch and we can also offer games, riddles and
organised as a space journey across the on three anime/manga. Since these com- quizzes to generate a buzz. These devices
starry sky, starting with a brief introduc- ics are so popular, the audience immedi- also help the audience remember con-
tion to basic astronomical concepts and ately recognises them and we need only cepts, develop critical thinking and build
then simulating the sunset and the lighting a few minutes to describe the parts of the links between topics.
up of the first evening stars. This introduc- plot with astronomy-related references.
tion is needed to give first-time visitors the Finally, we summarise what we have talked When we organise night excursions, we
opportunity to understand how the plan- about and then leave time for questions. use nothing but telescopes and a laser
etarium works. Moreover, having time to pointer to show the location of the object
let the eyes adjust to the darkness is use- A sample script can be found in Table 1. in the sky. In this case, the comics selec-
ful for everyone. After the introduction, we tion depends on the season, as some con-
recall the plot of the first manga or anime in When conducting activities outside the stellations or objects may only be visible at
our schedule and then start to highlight the planetarium dome, such as seminars and certain times of the year.
astronomy-related references and peculi- lectures, we prepare slides with sky charts
arities. We organise a guided tour between to show the constellations and the posi- For both seminars and night excursions,
constellations and objects in order to cover tion of various objects in the sky instead of the format can remain similar to that of the
planetarium show or it can be modified on
the basis of specific requests. For exam-
Example script of a planetarium show Duration (minutes) ple, if the night excursion is organised in
a nature reserve, we usually alternate the
Introduction. 5 observations of the sky with other senso-
rial activities such as listening to the calls
Manga/anime 1 (e.g., UFO Robot Grendizer): description. 5
of night birds or smelling the scent of night
Astronomical references in Grendizer: Vega, M57 (Ring nebula), 10 flowers or other plants. At the end of the
difference between planetary nebula and planetary system. activities, we always leave time for ques-
tions and feedback (oral or written anony-
Manga/anime 2 (e.g., Galaxy Express 999): description. 5 mous feedback).
Astronomical references in Galaxy Express 999: feasibility of space travel, 10
comparison between artist impressions and real images.
Examples of Manga and Anime
Manga/anime 3 (e.g., Saint Seiya): description. 5 Used in Costellazione Manga
Astronomical references in Saint Seiya: constellations, objects inside the 10 Galaxy Express 999: A Variety of Extra-
constellations.
Solar Planets
Conclusions and questions. 10
Feedback. Leiji Matsumoto’s Galaxy Express 999
(Figure 3) tells of a future in which Earth
has changed. Wealthy people live in
Table 1. Sample script. mechanical bodies capable of surviving

Costellazione Manga: Explaining Astronomy using Japanese Comics and Animation 9

Costellazione Manga: Explaining Astronomy using Japanese Comics and Animation

similarities between the artistic impres- to go back to Earth. This manga can give
sions and real scientific images, which us the chance to discuss the topic of space
stimulates the learning process. Quizzes travel in a more realistic way than the pre-
can also help: for example, we show sev- vious example of Galaxy Express 999
eral pictures of Mars and of the Atacama does. We can discuss the history of space
Desert on Earth, and we ask the audience exploration and talk about the recent suc-
to Figure out which pictures are from Mars cesses of aeronautics, such as the Space
and which are from Earth and why they X ­program. Moreover, we can illustrate the
think so. Thanks to the recent discovery of discoveries made thanks to probes and
water on Mars (Orosei et al., 2018), another satellites launched to reach planets and
possible topic is the history of water in other objects in our Solar System, such as
our Solar System, from the chemical pro- Juno, Rosetta, New Horizons and Cassini.
cesses involved in the protostellar cloud
to the presence of water on the planets. We are still in the early phase of space
Moreover, since Galaxy Express 999 fea- exploration, which is mostly conducted
tures intergalactic travel on board a train, using robotic probes. In the show, we
we usually discuss the feasibility of space use the example of the Voyager 1 probe
travel, showing the difficulties of building to show how difficult it is to programme
a spaceship and the challenges that engi- a space mission and how long a satellite
neers face. has to travel to reach other planets or the
edge of our Solar System. Indeed, at sev-
Figure 3. The cover of the Japanese edition of
Galaxy Express 999, by Leiji Matsumoto. We see the 2001 Nights: A Realistic View of Space eral times during the last decade, we have
two protagonists and Andromeda galaxy, the final Travel had updates on the status of the Voyager 1
destination of the fictional train. Credit: Leiji Matsumoto probe, which is thought to have reached the
Written and drawn by Yukinobu Hoshino, heliopause (the point where the solar wind
2001 Nights (Figure 4) is an ­anthology, with meets the interstellar medium). Forty years
for hundreds of years, immune to diseases the first three issues published between since its launch, it has travelled 120 au4,
and ailments. Poor people face the most 1984 and 1986 and the last one in 2006. making it the human-made object that has
abject conditions. It is rumoured that in a Unlike most other comics mentioned in gone the farthest from Earth; it has gone
distant planet in the Andromeda Galaxy, a this paper, its main characters are ­neither beyond the heliosphere and is now travel-
mechanical body can be obtained for free. heroes nor villains but just representatives ling towards the Oort Cloud. However, for
However, finding the money for a ticket to of humanity. In a number of short stories, it to exit the Solar System, it has to travel
get there is a problem. The ticket is for 400 years of space exploration and evolu- another 100 000 au, which will take more
the Galaxy Express 999 intergalactic train. tion by human beings are narrated. Stories than 30 000 years 5. This probe is also
This is how the adventure begins for the cover a range of advancements, from the
two protagonists, the young Tetsuro and first steps in space to a possible future col-
his mysterious guide Maetel, who travel to onisation of the Universe. Topics include
unknown and bizarre planets and stars. On fear, dreams and awareness of the solitude
this journey, we do not have precise astron- and fragility of human presence in space.
omy-related references as Matsumoto Space exploration is analysed from both a
invents almost all the saga’s astronomical physical and psychological point of view.
places, apart from the Andromeda galaxy The comic has a lot in common with sci-
and the Solar System. This comic gives us ence fiction films and books, with some
the chance to talk about observations of atmospheres and settings closely resem-
other planetary systems and the possibil- bling those of Arthur C. Clarke and Stanley
ity of finding rocky planets, water and other Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey; other
molecules. We can also discuss the recent references include Matrix and Avatar. The
discoveries of Earth-like planets that orbit title of the comic itself is not only a refer-
low-mass stars and how they can shed ence to Kubrick’s masterpiece but also to
new light on the origin and evolution of the One Thousand and One Nights collec-
planetary systems with more than two or tion of tales, with which the comic shares
three bodies (Gillon et al., 2017). the narrative structure. In 2001 Nights,
the Universe is perceived as slow: no fast
In Galaxy Express 999 we find several chases, no spaceships rushing in battle,
images of the planet Mars. The images but a slow and difficult quest. It may even
taken from the comic can be compared happen that after 400 years in the cosmos,
with real images observed by the satel- humans realise they are not cut out for life
Figure 4. Cover of the Italian edition of 2001 Nights
lites in orbit around Mars or by the robots in space after all. Despite having founded by Yukinobu Hoshino, published by Flashbook. A hard
on its surface. Thanks to this comparison, colonies and having many more worlds to science fiction work describing the human venture of
we can highlight the differences and the explore, humans feel homesick and decide exploring space. Credit: Y. Hoshino

10 CAPjournal, No. 24, October 2018

 CAPjournal, No. 24, October 2018

­ entioned at the beginning of the manga

m against each other in order to conquer the
in a very realistic sequence that illustrates entire country. Only the youngest of them
the famous plaque that carries images of ­succeeds in stopping the war and bringing
two humans and the Solar System. In one peace to his brothers in heaven, where they
of Hoshino’s stories set in the far future, become the seven stars of the Big Dipper.
technical developments allow faster-than-
light travel, and humans reach Voyager 1 The above references allow us to explain
to recover it. that the word constellation has a much
more precise meaning than the word
This manga can also be used to introduce “asterism”, because a constellation iden-
the topic of international collaborations tifies not only the stars but also an area
under the common objectives of sustain- of sky whose boundaries are fixed by the
able development and wellness for every- International Astronomical Union (IAU)
one. It is important to make the public (Figure 6). We discuss what a constella-
aware that people of different cultures and tion is, how they came about in history and
nationalities can fruitfully work together in the role of the IAU in standardising them.
science, especially for the younger genera- An important idea that we try to explain is
tions. Both in reality and in Hoshino’s work, that while the official constellations of the
humanity is aware of its limits but wants Northern sky come from Western tradition
to overcome them in a continuous quest with roots in ancient Greece and Babylonia,
for knowledge and growth. With this spirit, all cultures have their own ways of look-
astronomy can help to create a better soci- ing at the sky. Within a constellation, we
ety by promoting peace and collaborations can find one or more asterisms. Asterisms
and making people aware that we are liv- are sometimes easier to observe and are
Figure 5. The cover of the Japanese manga Hokuto
ing under the same sky and that our planet no Ken, by Buronson and T. Hara. The scars shaped well known traditionally. The most striking
is a small blue dot in a very big Universe. as the seven stars of Hokuto are visible on Ken’s example in the northern hemisphere is the
chest. Credit: Buronson-Hara Big Dipper within the constellation of Ursa
Hokuto No Ken: Asterisms, Major. In the same patch of the sky, the
Constellations, and the Traditional stars can be arranged in the constellation
Chinese–Japanese Sky is forced into a long struggle to be able of Sagittarius, in the asterism of Nanto or in
to finally bring peace into this dystopian the asterism of the Teapot (Figure 6, right
Fist of the North Star (Hokuto no Ken) is world. During his trip, Ken has to fight panel). There are also interesting astro-
a saga by Buronson and Tetsuo Hara against other martial arts masters, risk- nomical objects in Ursa Major, such as the
(Figure 5). The plot starts with a nuclear ing his life several times. While the manga binary system consisting of the stars Alcor
war that has destroyed the planet and left has many references to Bruce Lee’s films and Mizar.
humanity confined in small groups fighting and the Mad Max saga, the plot dates back
each other for the small supply of remain- to an old Japanese legend that tells the On the basis of the comparison between
ing food and water. The main character, story of seven brothers involved in a war Hokuto and Nanto, another possibility is
Ken, is the master of a deadly martial art
called Hokuto Shinken. Opposing him are
many members of the Hokuto and Nanto
schools of martial arts. Both schools take
their names from asterisms of the Chinese/
Japanese sky: while Hokuto corresponds
to the Big Dipper, known in Japan as
Hokuto shichi sei (meaning “seven stars
of the North”), Nanto is a group of six
stars in Sagittarius whose shape is a mir-
rored image of the Big Dipper and that
is part of a larger asterism known as the
Teapot (Hokuto and Nanto literally mean
“north star” and “south star”, respectively,
although the character used for “star” in
both words may also mean “asterism”). On
Ken’s chest is a scar resembling the stars
of Hokuto and, for this reason, he has the
nickname of “seven-star man”.
Figure 6. Charts of the Ursa Major and Sagittarius constellations. The asterisms of Hokuto (in Ursa Major, left
panel) and Nanto (in Sagittarius, right panel) from the traditional Japanese sky have been highlighted in red.
The purpose of the Hokuto school of mar- While Hokuto corresponds to the Big Dipper, Nanto is a part of an asterism known as the Teapot (shown in
tial arts is to guarantee peace, and Ken green) and looks like a rotated version of Hokuto. Credit: IAU and Sky & Telescope

Costellazione Manga: Explaining Astronomy using Japanese Comics and Animation 11

Costellazione Manga: Explaining Astronomy using Japanese Comics and Animation

to describe the Sagittarius constellation Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA), it is in the original Japanese (Montosi, 2007).
where besides Nanto, we find the galac- possible to identify complex organic mole- While the original names were common
tic centre. Looking in that direction, we cules in star-forming regions (Fayolle et al., Japanese names, the new ones were
observe the central areas of the Milky Way, 2017; Jørgensen et al., 2012). Molecules deeply connected to astronomical objects
rich in stars and clouds of dust and gas such as glycolaldehyde, organohalogens such as the stars Alcor, Mizar and Rigel
where many new stars are formed. and acetic acid are considered as the and the planet Venus.
building blocks of life, and their detection
Inside Ursa Major, there is the well-known can help answer several questions about There are countless astronomy-related
asterism of the Big Dipper. In the planetar- the origin of life and evolution in space. curiosities about this saga. For instance,
ium, we can point to the stars composing Vega is of great importance in astron-
the constellation. We can describe how in UFO Robot Grendizer: Difference omy since it has long been used to cal-
different cultures, these stars are grouped between Stars, Planets and Planetary ibrate observational instruments and as
under different shapes. For example, in the Nebulae a reference for measuring the magni-
USA and Iran, the seven stars are seen as a tude of stars. It is used as the zero point
sort of big ladle; in Italy, Germany, Sweden One of the first animes introduced in of the Johnson-Morgan photometric sys-
and Spain they form a chariot; in France Europe and America during the 1970s was tem. In the Grendizer saga, Duke Fleed’s
they are a big pot; and in the UK, they are UFO Robot Grendizer, created by Go Nagai native planet belongs to the Vega system;
a plough. Talking about asterisms provides and Toei Animation (Figure 7). UFO Robot we start from this to describe the elements
the opportunity to connect the history of Grendizer tells the story of Duke Fleed and that have been observed in this system to
some populations with their mythology and his friends, who with the aid of the giant suggest the presence of a planetary sys-
traditions. Macro asterisms, which include robot Grendizer, try and stop the invasion of tem around Vega. One of these elements
stars belonging to several constellations, Earth by evil aliens. Coming from the Vega is a disc of dust, extending around 100 au,
can be shown to illustrate nearby stars, for system and ruled by King Vega, the aliens very similar to what is expected from an
example, the Summer Triangle that groups want to exploit Earth and all its precious equivalent of a Kuiper belt (Su et al., 2005).
Vega (α Lyrae), Deneb (α Cygni) and resources, slaughtering the human race Further investigations have shown the
Altair (α Aquilae). in the process. Duke Fleed and Grendizer presence of condensations of material in
are also aliens from the planet Fleed, which the disc. This fact has led some research-
The presence of Alcor and Mizar in Ursa was previously attacked and destroyed by ers to assume the presence of giant plan-
Major also allows us to explain how the the evil Vega troops. Miraculously escap- ets, probably similar to Jupiter or Neptune,
stars are seen as projected onto the celes- ing, Duke Fleed manages to land on Earth although they have not yet been directly
tial sphere and how some stars appear and organise a resistance. observed and their presence is currently
close to each other only because of the regarded as unlikely, at least in the inner
effect of perspective, while other stars are In the Italian and French versions, the few au of the system (Wilner et al., 2002;
physically near. In the case of Alcor and series was dubbed and the main char- Piétu et al., 2011; Mennesson et al., 2011).
Mizar, they were born together from the acters were named differently from those
same protostellar cloud and, like twins,
they are similar but not exactly identical.

Talking about the galactic centre is a good

way in to describe how a star is born and
how a planetary system is eventually cre-
ated. For example, we start by describing
the star formation processes and discuss
how star-forming regions are initially sur-
rounded by a thick cloud, like a fog that
prevents us from seeing anything. Over
time, the cloud starts to fragment and the
gas begins to collapse under the action
of gravitational attraction. Dust and gas
arrange themselves in a disc surround-
ing the protostar; their fate is to be either
accreted or ejected away by violent jets.
The young star begins to form, and the light
of a new overwhelming dawn emanates
from the dark cloud. Planetesimals are
continuously formed in the disc through the
collision of small dust grains (Andrews et
al., 2016). This is probably the most impor- Figure 7. Cover of the Italian edition of the anime UFO Robot Grendizer published by Yamato Video.
tant stage in the origin of life. With modern The powerful robot Grendizer, Koji Kabuto and the evil King Vega are depicted in the cover. Credit: Go Nagai,
instruments such as The Atacama Large Toei Animation

12 CAPjournal, No. 24, October 2018

 CAPjournal, No. 24, October 2018

In the constellation of Lyra we find the high-energy radiation that we observe in

famous Ring Nebula (M57), a ­spectacular the form of X-rays (Webster et al., 1972;
planetary nebula. M57 is a very good Young et al., 2001).
example to explain the difference between
planetary nebulae and planetary systems. Another example is the constellation of
A planetary nebula is the final product of Andromeda, which houses one of the most
the life of a Sun-like star (from 0.8 to four famous and beautiful objects of the north-
times the mass of the Sun) that, at the end ern hemisphere: the Andromeda galaxy.
of its evolution, expels its outer layers in a In Saint Seiya, this object appears often
series of explosions. The ejected gas forms associated to the special fight moves of
a cloud of material around the parent star, the knight of Andromeda, who has a chain
which expands at great speed and gener- that resembles the shape of the spiral gal-
ates a planetary nebula. The star continues axy. This reference gives us the chance
its evolution as a white dwarf in the centre to point to the Andromeda galaxy in the
of the cloud, which diffuses incoming radi- sky (it is barely visible with the naked eye
ation. At this point, it is easy to understand but can be observed with small binocu-
that if there was a planetary system, it must lars) and to explain that it is a spiral galaxy
have been destroyed much earlier than the very similar in shape and size to our Milky
planetary nebula phase. Way. Andromeda is traveling in our direc-
tion and its eventual destiny is to merge
Saint Seiya: Prominent Constellations with the Milky Way.
of the Northern Hemisphere, the
Figure 8. Cover of the Italian edition of the anime
Zodiac and the Objects they Contain Saint Seiya, published by Yamato Video. Seiya is Close to Andromeda in the sky, we find
wearing his armour connected with the constellation Pegasus, which is easily recognisable
Sagittarius and the other constellations of of Pegasus, which is visible in the background. in the sky because of its square shape.
the zodiac are featured in Saint Seiya by Credit: Masami Kurumada, Toei Animation The first extrasolar planet orbiting a Sun-
Masami Kurumada (Figure 8). Five of the like star was discovered around the star
main characters in Saint Seiya are a group named 51 Pegasi (Mayor & Queloz, 1995).
of knights (called “Saints”), valiant warri- We usually start by pointing to all of the It was also the first discovery of a hot-Ju-
ors who are faithful to the goddess Athena, ­relevant constellations in the dome and piter planet: a very big, very hot, gaseous
protector of humanity. They fight against ­c onnecting them with the heroes of the body orbiting extremely close to its star.
the dark forces that threaten Earth. Each manga. We then proceed by showing the
character is linked to a constellation of the constellation shapes and brightest stars
boreal or austral sky through the armour and by giving further astronomical details. Discussion
that they wear. The knights who wear For example, the Cygnus constellation is
armour representing zodiacal signs are also known as the North Cross, as opposed Effectiveness of Costellazione Manga
the most powerful, although some of them to the more famous Southern Cross. The Compared to Traditional Outreach
are corrupt. The main heroes wear the reference to the North often recurs in the Methods
less-powerful armour of the constellations comic, since the knight of Cygnus has his
Cygnus, Andromeda, Draco, Phoenix and power connected to ice and snow. The Compared to the traditional shows and lec-
Pegasus, and the plot follows their quest brightest star in Cygnus, Deneb, marks the tures held at the Planetarium of Ravenna
in fighting villain knights and becoming swan’s tail; its name comes from Dhanab, that mostly cater to people already curi-
more powerful. Their fighting techniques which in Arabic means tail. Albireo is the ous about astronomy, Costellazione
are in some cases connected to the myth- star that marks the head; it is a double Manga seems to attract a broader and
ological and astronomical objects in these system like the aforementioned Alcor and more diverse audience. While the usual
constellations. One example is that of the Mizar. Close to Albireo, we find a famous audience often includes a good fraction
Andromeda knight. His armour has a chain and quite different source: Cygnus X-1, one of regular patrons, we have observed that
that during the fight, may be disposed of the first X-ray sources to ever be discov- for Costellazione Manga, most of the audi-
around the hero in a spiral shape resem- ered (Bowyer et al., 1965). Cygnus X-1 is ence are first-time visitors to a planetarium.
bling that of the Andromeda galaxy. Saint a binary system where the X-ray emission We have seen that the number of partic-
Seiya also has ties to Chinese traditions is due to the phenomenon of stellar can- ipants is larger by a factor of five or ten
and Taoism. For example, heroes fight nibalism. During its evolution, one of the compared to the regular visitors at the
evil by widening their perceptions through two components has become a black hole Planetarium of Ravenna. In several cases,
the use of “the cosmos”, a seventh sense and is slowly eating its sister. The pulled additional shows were needed because all
that enables them to gain knowledge of material is attracted by the black hole and the interested participants would not have
their own possibilities and to increase it arranges itself in an accretion disc sur- fit in the room for a single show.
their strength. Using this comic, we can rounded by a hot corona. The material in
illustrate some peculiarities about these the disc is compressed and heated, and Costellazione Manga has also been pre-
constellations. it emits radiation whose energy is subse- sented as night excursions in natural parks
quently increased by the corona. It is this in the area of Ravenna. The public had a

Costellazione Manga: Explaining Astronomy using Japanese Comics and Animation 13

Costellazione Manga: Explaining Astronomy using Japanese Comics and Animation

chance to discover the beauty of nature certain extent, by a lack of Swedish trans- main result was that the audience appre-
and learn more about astronomy. In par- lations, with most manga being available ciated the format and valued the interaction
ticular, they appreciated the idea of learn- only in English and by their distribution with the speakers.
ing astronomy using manga and anime being limited to specialised bookstores.
references, both because of the novelty Under these constraints, we identified The Audience of Costellazione Manga
of the approach and the proximity of the three suitable works: Starzinger, the first and their Reactions
references to their cultural experience; anime to be broadcasted in Sweden;
conversely, the traditional way of explain- Sailor Moon, a popular success for which Costellazione Manga has been proposed
ing constellations using Latin and Greek a Swedish opening song was written; and in several forms: as planetarium shows,
mythology was perceived as a somewhat Dragon Ball, whose manga was translated night observations of the sky or seminars.
school-like experience, probably because and whose anime and films were released For each format, we had enthusiastic reac-
Latin and Greek culture has a significant in VHS and DVD format. The bulk of the tions from the audience, which included
share in the Italian school curricula. Costellazione Manga show therefore relied both adults and children.
on these three works, with Starzinger (a
Localising Costellazione Manga out- science fiction anime involving a quest The format has been successful both in
side Italy: The Swedish Experience through the Milky Way) being used to Italy — a country where anime and manga
introduce the theme of space travel and are mainstream forms of literature — and
Japanese cartoons may not be as popu- extra-solar planets, Sailor Moon (a fantasy in Sweden — a country where they are not
lar everywhere as they are in Italy or per- work where warrior girls have their pow- as popular. We have seen that tuning the
haps a different set of shows may have ers linked to the planets in the Solar sys- format to the expectations of the public has
been imported elsewhere. To try and tem) introducing a review of the planets been key for success.
export the Costellazione Manga format, and minor bodies in the Solar System, and
one needs to tune the show to the public’s Dragon Ball (a martial arts franchise fea- Adults were familiar with the cultural refer-
knowledge and expectations. Compared turing aliens) presenting the topic of life in ences and enjoyed being able to connect
to Italy, France and Spain, Scandinavian the Universe. In the final part of the event, their childhood memories to science. They
countries do not have as developed a we also showed a few pages from the less also appreciated that the learning experi-
market for manga and anime. In creating a popular 2001 Nights and Planetes, with ence was markedly different from tradi-
Swedish version of our show for the 2018 which we intended to encourage inter- tional lectures.
Gothenburg Science Festival (Figure 9), ested individuals to broaden their knowl-
we were helped by cartoonist Yvette edge about the more mature and literary Children were less familiar with some of
Gustafsson and by the personnel of the side of manga. the material (Japanese animation is still
SF Bokhandeln bookstore in Gothenburg being broadcast on television and is avail-
to identify suitable works. Fewer anime The Costellazione Manga event was held able on modern distribution channels; but
have been broadcasted by Swedish tele- in the Sirius Café run by SF Bokhandeln in most productions aired are contemporary
vision, so in several cases, the popularity their premises and was a definite ­success, with only some classics from the 1980s
of anime in this country is mostly because with the venue filled to capacity. We had are also aired) but they showed immedi-
of VHS and DVD editions. The popularity provided feedback forms asking for the ate interest in our stories and were curious
of manga also seems to be hindered, to a audience’s feedback on the show; the about the astronomy-related aspects of the

Figure 9. Daria Dall’Olio and Yvette Gustafsson presenting Costellazione Manga at the Sirius Café run by the SF Bokhandeln bookstore during the Science Festival in
Gothenburg (Sweden) in 2018 (left panel). One playful moment during the conference, when we explain the Moon’s tidal locking (right panel). Credit: P. Ranalli

14 CAPjournal, No. 24, October 2018

 CAPjournal, No. 24, October 2018

series, once we introduced these to them. comics and animation who may be curi- Notes
Children and their parents (and grandpar- ous about astronomy with the right fram-
ents too!) were linked together by a com- ing. In our experience, adults are likely to 1  he Evolving Culture of Science
T
mon fascination for astronomy. A great and understand the references and connect to Engagement: www.cultureofscienceen-
somewhat unexpected outcome was that childhood memories through them, while gagement.net/
they started sharing appreciation for their children soon get engaged after an initial 2  he Costellazione Manga website:
T
own favourite stories and heroes, therefore introduction. A happy consequence is that www.costellazionemanga.eu
establishing a fruitful dialogue among the children and their parents get to share their 3  uropean/Japanese co-productions of the
E
generations. Thus, Costellazione Manga fascination for astronomy and appreciate time included Heidi — girl of the Alps and
has proven to be a truly efficient pedagog- the same stories. Costellazione Manga can Vickie the Viking.
ical tool to popularise and communicate be successfully used as pedagogical tool 4  u is the measure astronomical units,
a
astronomy. The use of comics and anime to explain astronomy in several countries, roughly equal to the average distance
deeply engages the public. It also stimu- since the choice of anime and manga can between the Sun and Earth and defined to
lates important aspects of learning devel- be tuned to the needs and expectations of be 149 597 870 700 m exactely.
opment, critical thinking and curiosity; the public. We have reported our experi- 5  oyager 1 press release: www.jpl.nasa.gov/
V
moreover, it motivates people to read more ence in two countries in Europe where the news/news.php?release=2013–278
about the astronomy references and helps manga and anime markets are quite differ-
them in remember concepts and build con- ent: Italy, where the market is well devel-
nections between different topics and sub- oped and Sweden, where it is still nascent. References
jects, which is a fundamental part of the
deep learning processes. Costellazione Manga is based on stories Andrews et al., ‘Ringed Substructure and a
that are part of our common background Gap at 1 au in the Nearest Protoplanetary
often associated to dear memories or funny Disk’, The Astrophysical Journal Letters,
vol. 820, no. 2, 2016, p. L40
Future Development and moments. Therefore, it is perceived by the
Conclusions public more as a recreational activity than Bouissou, J. M. et al., ‘Manga in Europe: A
as a conventional lecture. Thus, the atmos- Short Study of Market and Fandom’, in T.
Johnson-Woods (ed.), Manga: An Anthology
In the future, we aim to increase and phere is more relaxed, where the public is
of Global and Cultural Perspectives, London
improve our offer of outreach events and more inclined toward learning. The com-
– New York, Continuum, 2010
material by making them available in more parison between fiction and science stim-
Bowyer, S. et al., ‘Cosmic X-ray Sources’,
countries. Our plan is to expand our team, ulates curiosity and critical thinking. The
Science, vol. 147, no. 3656, 1965, p. 394–
involving astronomers and artists from dif- novelty of the method seems to help peo-
398
ferent countries. This will allow us to tune ple remember concepts and build links
Dall’Olio, D., ‘Le Stelle nel Fumetto e nel
content and topics according to the expec- between topics and encourages people to
Cinema di Animazione Giapponese’,
tations of the public and to the country discover and learn more about astronomy.
Giornale di Astronomia, vol. 41, no. 1, 2015
where the events will be offered. A good Costellazione Manga can thus be consid-
Disney, W., ‘Introduction to Lo Duca,’ in Le
opportunity to expand our team will be the ered an efficient pedagogical tool to popu-
Dessin Animé — Histoire, Esthétique,
“AHA! Festival — Art x Science 2018” to be larise and communicate astronomy. Technique, Paris, Prisma Editions, 1948
held in November at Chalmers University
Fayolle, E. et al., ‘Protostellar and Cometary
of Technology in Gothenburg, Sweden,
Detections of Organohalogens’, Nature
where we will present Costellazione Acknowledgements Astronomy, no. 1, 2017, p. 703–708
Manga. Another idea is to form associa-
Jørgensen et al., ‘Detection of the Simplest
tions with other disciplines like chemistry, We thank the anonymous referee whose
Sugar, Glycolaldehyde, in a Solar-Type
biology or physics, which are deeply con- comments have contributed to improving Protostar with ALMA’, The Astrophysical
nected with astronomy, and start collabo- the presentation of this paper. Journal Letters, vol. 757, no. 1, 2012, p. L4
rations with experts and teachers in those
Gillon, M. et al., ‘Seven Temperate Terrestrial
fields. The plan is to encourage people to We thank Marco Del Bene and Alessandro Planets around the Nearby Ultracool Dwarf
be curious about science and show them Montosi for their contributions and Star TRAPPIST-1’, Nature, vol. 542, 2017,
that different scientific disciplines overlap expertise during the start of our activi- p. 456–460
and have profound connections. ties. We also thank all other members of 半田利弘 (Handa, T.), 宇宙戦艦ヤマト２１９９で
the Japanese–Italian cultural associa- わかる天文学 (Understanding astronomy
To conclude, Costellazione Manga has tion (ASCIG) of Ravenna for their support with Space Battleship Yamato 2199/Star
been presented as a planetarium show, along the years, the ARAR association and Blazers 2199), Tokyo, 株式会社誠文堂新光社
night observation of the sky and sem- the Planetarium of Ravenna for their sup- (Seibundo Shinkosha Publishing Co.), 2014
inar. We have seen that our audience port and dedication, the Solaris cultural Hemminki, M., M. Leppänen and T. Valovirta,
can easily include both adults and chil- association and the organisers of Festival ‘Get Inspired! A Guide for Successful
dren. Compared to a traditional planetar- Naturae for their contribution to the devel- Teaching’, Helsinki, Aalto University, 2013
ium show or astronomy-related outreach opment of Costellazione Manga.
activity, Costellazione Manga caters to a
broader variety of people and can thus
reach a new audience passionate about

Costellazione Manga: Explaining Astronomy using Japanese Comics and Animation 15

Costellazione Manga: Explaining Astronomy using Japanese Comics and Animation

Hosler, J. and K. B. Boomer, ‘Are Comic Books Orosei, R. et al., ‘Radar Evidence of Subglacial Young, A. J. et al., ‘A Complete Relativistic
an Effective Way to Engage Nonmajors in Liquid Water on Mars’, Science, vol. 361, Ionized Accretion Disc in Cygnus X-1’,
Learning and Appreciating Science?’, CBE no. 6401, 2018, p. 490–493 Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical
Life Sciences Education, vol. 10, no. 3, 2011, Pellitteri, M., Mazinga nostalgia. Storia, valori e Society, vol. 325, no. 3, 2001, p. 1045–1052
p. 309–317 linguaggi della Goldrake-generation. Ediz.
Kakalios, J., The Physics of Superheroes, New ampliata. Vol. 2, Tunué Editore, 2018
York, Gotham Books, 2005 Piétu, V. et al., ‘High-Sensitivity Search for
Krauss, L., The Physics of Star Trek, New York, Clumps in the Vega Kuiper-belt. New PdBI Biographies
Harper Perennial, 1995 1.3 mm Observations’, Astronomy &
Mayor, M., and D. Queloz, ‘A Jupiter-Mass Astrophysics, vol. 531, 2011, p. L2
Companion to a Solar-Type Star’, Nature, Su, K. Y. L., et al., ‘The Vega Debris Disk: A Daria Dall’Olio is a PhD student in astron-
vol. 378, no. 6555, 1995, p. 355–359 Surprise from Spitzer’, The Astrophysical omy at Chalmers University of Technology —
Onsala Space Observatory (Sweden), where
Mennesson, B. et al. 2011, ‘New Constraints Journal, vol. 628, no. 1, 2005, p. 487–500
she works on magnetic fields in star-forming
on Companions and Dust Within a Few Au Tatalovic, M., ‘Science Comics as Tools for regions. Daria is active in popularising astron-
of Vega’, The Astrophysical Journal, Science Education and Communication: A omy and has authored several outreach arti-
vol. 736, no. 1, 2011, p. 14 Brief, Exploratory Study, Journal of Science cles and conducted seminars and planetar-
ium shows.
Montosi, A., UFO Robot Goldrake — Storia di Communication, vol. 8, no. 4, 2009, p. 1–17
un eroe nell’Italia degli anni ‘80, Coniglio Webster, B. L. and P. Murdin, ‘Cygnus X-1:a Piero Ranalli has been an astronomy
Editore, 2007 Spectroscopic Binary with a Heavy researcher since 2001 and is the author of
Companion?’, Nature, vol. 235, no. 2, 1972, more than 50 papers published in interna-
Murakami, S., ‘Interview to Leiji Matsumoto – tional refereed journals. He has expertise in
Cantavo: “Harrok, harrok”’, Man-Ga! p. 37–38 X-ray astronomy and planet detection and
Magazine, n. 2, Planet Manga and Yamato Wilner, et al., ‘Structure in the Dusty Debris is passionate about outreach. He spent two
Video, 1997 around Vega’, The Astrophysical Journal years in Japan conducting research at the
RIKEN institute in Wakoshi, Saitama, where he
Nicora, M., C’era una volta Goldrake. La vera Letters, vol. 569, no. 2, 2002, p. L115–L119
also learnt the Japanese language. Currently
storia del robot giapponese che ha rivoluzi- he works as a data scientist at Combient AB
onato la TV italiana, La Torre Editrice, 2017 in Göteborg (Sweden) and is an associate at
Lund University (Sweden).

16