Latest news with #EncountersintheMilkyWay
Nahar Net
2 days ago
- General
- Nahar Net
Accidental discovery at planetarium opens window into universe inner workings
by Naharnet Newsdesk 04 June 2025, 14:59 Scientists have unlocked one of the solar system's many secrets from an unexpected source: a planetarium show opening to the public on Monday. At the American Museum of Natural History last fall, experts were hard at work preparing "Encounters in the Milky Way," a deep dive into our home galaxy shaped by the movements of stars and other celestial objects. They were fine-tuning a scene featuring what's known as the Oort Cloud, a region far beyond Pluto filled with icy relics from the solar system's formation. Comets can hurtle toward Earth from the cloud, but scientists have never glimpsed its true shape. One evening while watching the Oort Cloud scene, scientists noticed something strange projected onto the planetarium's dome. "Why is there a spiral there?" said Jackie Faherty, an astrophysicist who leads the museum's educational programs and helped put together the planetarium show. The inner section of the Oort Cloud, made of billions of comets, resembled a bar with two waving arms, similar to the shape of our Milky Way galaxy. Scientists had long thought the Oort Cloud was shaped like a sphere or flattened shell, warped by the push and pull of other planets and the Milky Way itself. The planetarium show hinted that a more complex shape could lie inside. The museum contacted the researcher who provided the Oort Cloud data for the show, who was also surprised to see the spiral. "It's kind of a freak accident that it actually happened," said David Nesvorny with the Southwest Research Institute. Realizing they'd stumbled on something new, the researchers published their findings earlier this year in The Astrophysical Journal. The spiral is "a striking shift in our understanding of the outer solar system," planetary scientist Andre Izidoro with Rice University, who was not involved with the study, said in an email. The discovery, relying on data on how celestial objects move and using simulations, will be difficult to confirm with observations. But knowing more about the orbits of distant comets could give scientists some clues, Izidoro said. While putting together the planetarium show, the museum's experts weren't expecting a window into the universe's inner workings. The show, narrated by actor Pedro Pascal, features many vivid scenes that may capture audiences more than the Oort Cloud, said the museum's Jon Parker — including an ongoing merge of the Sagittarius mini galaxy with the Milky Way. No matter how striking and beautiful the visuals of the show, the museum was committed to making it scientifically accurate. That's what created the perfect conditions to stumble upon something new, said the museum's Carter Emmart. "You just never know what you're going to find," Emmart said.
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
How a new planetarium show helped scientists unlock a cosmic secret
This scene from the new Hayden Planetarium Space Show "Encounters in the Milky Way" at the American Museum of Natural History shows our solar system's Oort cloud with a newly discovered spiral structure.
The Star
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- The Star
New York museum showcases past, future of Milky Way with new space show
NEW YORK, June 3 (Xinhua) -- The American Museum of Natural History in New York City is launching a new space show to present the story of cosmic motion and how that impacts the solar system, offering a journey through the history and future of the Milky Way galaxy. Titled "Encounters in the Milky Way," the immersive show will open to the public on June 9. As the 7th space show from the museum's Hayden Planetarium, it has been developed by a team of astronomers, scientific visualization experts, and artists, and designed to explore the dynamic movements of the universe, tracing the Milky Way's past over billions of years and projecting its future across millions more. The space show is presented in a theater equipped with a high-resolution projection system and immersive sound, giving the audience the sensation of traveling through space and experiencing the galaxy up close. The show has been particularly supported by the European Space Agency's Gaia mission, also called the "billion-star survey," a project aimed at mapping the precise positions, distances, and motions of nearly 2 billion stars in the Milky Way, according to Jackie Faherty, curator of the show. "Gaia dropped a map that all humans should be proud of," said Faherty at a media preview event on Tuesday. "We mapped the cosmos in a way, and the Milky Way really is the star of it, in a way we had never been able to do before," she added. The vast amount of detailed star movement data provides an unparalleled visual experience, including some brand-new experiences, such as the first visualization of the dramatic and ongoing merger of the Milky Way with smaller satellite galaxies. The production team spent approximately one and a half years creating this 25-minute show. Six months were primarily spent searching for data sets, developing outlines and methods, recruiting staff, and developing technical processes, followed by a year or more of production, according to Vivian Trakinski, producer of the show and the director of science visualization of the museum. "This show has more simulation data than our past shows. We have a new sound system in the dome, which is composed of 34 speakers, which was a great opportunity to specialize the motion that we present in the show. So in that way, it's much richer and more sophisticated. So it's definitely a continuation of our tradition, but there are things that make it unique," Trakinski told Xinhua. The program is expected to be screened at the museum for about three years. Faherty expressed the hope that the space show as an introduction to the globe and the map of the cosmos would lead people to explore the data available to everybody, make discoveries and walk away wanting to be scientists. To date, the museum's space shows have been seen by more than 15 million visitors and have been distributed to 160 institutions across 40 countries worldwide, according to a release by the American Museum of Natural History, which is one of the world's most distinguished scientific and cultural institutions, with a history of more than 120 years.
Time Out
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- Time Out
First look: The new Pedro Pascal-narrated space show in NYC
Let internet boyfriend Pedro Pascal be your guide on a tour of the universe. The famous actor is the narrator for a new space show at the American Museum of Natural History 's Hayden Planetarium titled Encounters in the Milky Way. The show debuts on Monday, June 9, but we got a sneak peek today. Encounters in the Milky Way takes a 20-minute voyage through outer space with stunning visualizations of dazzling stars, constellations and planets. Stirring music complements Pascal's narration, and you'll even feel your seats move as if you could blast off to space yourself. "On a clear night," Pascal says in opening the show, "a band of light stretches across the sky. The combined glow of billions of stars, partially obscured by great clouds of gas and dust: the majestic Milky Way. From Earth, it looks like we are at the center, and all these stars were all around us, but as astronomers learn to decipher celestial movement, we found our place in the cosmos." From there, Encounters in the Milky Way continues to explore movement: How Earth spins on its axis, giving us day and night; how seasons change; how constellations move over time; how even the Sun is part of this galactic migration. Encounters in the Milky Way, the Hayden Planetarium's seventh space show, is the first to focus on the story of this cosmic motion and how it impacts our solar system. While the show is a visual treat, it is based on firm scientific research, such as the European Space Agency's Gaia mission, which mapped nearly 2 billion stars in the Milky Way, and NASA's James Webb Space Telescope, which offers stunning views of galaxies millions of lightyears away. Astronomers, educators, science visualization experts, and artists worked together to create the show. For the first time in the history of the Hayden Planetarium Space Shows, a discovery was made during the production process. While fine-tuning a simulation of the Oort cloud, a vast expanse of icy material left over from the birth of our Sun, the Encounters in the Milky Way production team noticed a clear shape: a structure made of billions of comets that looked like a spiral-armed galaxy. This simulation revealed a cosmic structure that was previously unknown, and details about the finding were recently published in The Astrophysical Journal. As Jackie Faherty, senior research scientist in the museum's Astrophysics Department, explains it, researches theorized what Oort clouds look like, explored models and examined data. Then all of a sudden, they discovered a never-before-seen spiral shape. "Pop goes the orc cloud," she said during a preview event for the show. "There's so much to discover there." Perhaps viewers of Encounters in the Milky Way will someday make their own scientific discoveries. To Carter Emmart, the museum's director of astrovisualization, the immersive nature of the show helps fire up kids' imaginations. Wonder is a gateway to inspiration, and inspiration is a gateway to motivation. "If this museum is a testament to anything, it's a testament to wonder," Emmart said at the show's preview. "I think wonder is a gateway to inspiration, and inspiration is a gateway to motivation."
New York Post
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- New York Post
Accidental discovery at a planetarium leads to mind-blowing revelation about one of the solar system's greatest mysteries.
Scientists have unlocked one of the solar system's many secrets from an unexpected source: a planetarium show opening to the public on Monday. At the American Museum of Natural History last fall, experts were hard at work preparing 'Encounters in the Milky Way,' a deep dive into our home galaxy shaped by the movements of stars and other celestial objects. They were fine-tuning a scene featuring what's known as the Oort Cloud, a region far beyond Pluto filled with icy relics from the solar system's formation. Comets can hurtle toward Earth from the cloud, but scientists have never glimpsed their true shape. Advertisement 3 This image from the American Museum of Natural History shows a new planetarium show, showing a backwards S-shaped spiral in what's known as the Oort Cloud far beyond Pluto. AP One evening while watching the Oort Cloud scene, scientists noticed something strange projected onto the planetarium's dome. 'Why is there a spiral there?' said Jackie Faherty, an astrophysicist who leads the museum's educational programs and helped put together the planetarium show. Advertisement The inner section of the Oort Cloud, made of billions of comets, resembled a bar with two waving arms, similar to the shape of our Milky Way galaxy. Scientists had long thought the Oort Cloud was shaped like a sphere or flattened shell, warped by the push and pull of other planets and the Milky Way itself. The planetarium show hinted that a more complex shape could lie inside. 3 Scientists had long thought the Oort Cloud was shaped like a sphere or flattened shell, warped by the push and pull of other planets and the Milky Way itself. shooarts – The museum contacted the researcher who provided the Oort Cloud data for the show, who was also surprised to see the spiral. Advertisement 'It's kind of a freak accident that it actually happened,' said David Nesvorny with the Southwest Research Institute. Realizing they'd stumbled on something new, the researchers published their findings earlier this year in The Astrophysical Journal. The spiral is 'a striking shift in our understanding of the outer solar system,' planetary scientist Andre Izidoro with Rice University, who was not involved with the study, said in an email. Advertisement The discovery, relying on data on how celestial objects move and using simulations, will be difficult to confirm with observations. But knowing more about the orbits of distant comets could give scientists some clues, Izidoro said. 3 Large sphere model of the solar system in the American Museum of Natural History's Hayden Planetarium. Denis Finnin/American Museum Of Natural History While putting together the planetarium show, the museum's experts weren't expecting a window into the universe's inner workings. The show, narrated by actor Pedro Pascal, features many vivid scenes that may capture audiences more than the Oort Cloud, said the museum's Jon Parker — including an ongoing merge of the Sagittarius mini galaxy with the Milky Way. No matter how striking and beautiful the visuals of the show, the museum was committed to making it scientifically accurate. That's what created the perfect conditions to stumble upon something new, said the museum's Carter Emmart. 'You just never know what you're going to find,' Emmart said.
