Latest news with #planetarium
CTV News
14 hours ago
- General
- CTV News
How a new planetarium show helped scientists unlock a cosmic secret
A new planetarium show reveals a backwards S-shaped spiral in what's known as the Oort Cloud far beyond Pluto. (American Museum of Natural History via AP) NEW YORK — 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 the museum's Jackie Faherty. 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. ___ Adithi Ramakrishnan, The Associated Press The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute's Science and Educational Media Group and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content.
Washington Post
16 hours ago
- General
- Washington Post
How a new planetarium show helped scientists unlock a cosmic secret
NEW YORK — 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.
BBC News
21-05-2025
- Science
- BBC News
Lake District's first observatory and planetarium opens to public
A new planetarium and observatory has opened in a national park to offer people the chance to explore the Observatory is the first planetarium to open in the Lake District National Park and has been built in the hope of making Cumbria a destination for follows on the success of similar observatories in Kielder in Northumberland, the Yorkshire Dales and the North Yorkshire Gary Fildes has worked in astronomy outreach centres for years and said it was exciting to be involved in opening the Lake District's first observatory. "I was a founder of Kielder Observatory and worked there for many years, and the Grassholme Observatory in Teesdale," he said."It is really exciting to be opening this beautiful venture here in Grizedale in the heart of the Lake District."Mr Fildes said the observatory's equipment was powerful enough to take a picture of the Andromeda galaxy, which is our closest neighbouring galaxy. The facility has been opened in partnership with Forestry England and its planetarium can cater for up to 20 people at a wishing to stargaze at the site are able to use its fleet of 8in (20cm) Dobsonian telescopes and its two 16in (40cm) large aperture also has a fully robotic telescope housed in a custom-built dome. The larger telescope is connected to TV screens which can be used to display the images. Grizedale Observatory's Ben Marshall said the facility also contained an indoor education site, which includes its meteorite room."We've spent a bit of money and collected a load of meteorites that have fallen to Earth," he said. One of the collection's prize pieces is its lunar meteorite - which is an actual piece of the was created when something hit the moon hard enough to eject part of it, said Mr Marshall."It's then flown across space, got into our gravity and landed on Earth." Follow BBC Cumbria on X, Facebook, Nextdoor and Instagram.
