Stunning Space Film Premieres June 9 at Natural History’s Planetarium

By Scott Etkin

For the first time in five years, a new film designed for the Hayden Planetarium Space Theater  – the globe-shaped, laser-projection screen in the American Museum of Natural History – is debuting to the public June 9th (and to AMNH members starting June 6th). 

“Encounters in the Milky Way” uses artistic renderings of real scientific data to describe how stars and space phenomena move and interact throughout our galaxy. 

Due to light pollution, an Upper West Sider looking up at the night sky is lucky to see one or two stars. But there are billions of stars in the Milky Way, the galaxy where Earth is located. And while the stars appear to be locked in place, they’re actually moving. Just as Earth orbits the Sun, for example, the Sun orbits the Milky Way – one round trip takes 230 million years.

The inspiration for the film and its emphasis on motion comes from the European Space Agency’s Gaia mission, which ended earlier this year. The Gaia telescope enabled astronomers to locate and track the movement of billions of previously unmapped stars.

The significance of this information for our understanding of the cosmos is huge. Jackie Faherty, senior research scientist and education manager at the museum, pinpointed a flood of new information from Gaia on April 25th, 2018, calling it the day “it all changes.” 

With the creation of this “3D atlas” of space came new discoveries, many of which are detailed in the film. The Rag will refrain from publishing spoilers about those discoveries, but overall, the zooming camera choreography makes this 20-minute film brisk and entertaining. A goal is to spark interest in learning more about the data gathered from the Gaia mission, by providing an “Introduction to the map of your cosmos,” said Faherty. 

Like an eclipse or sighting of a comet, the release of a new film for the planetarium happens only every few years. This is the seventh space show since the Rose Center, which houses the Hayden Planetarium, opened in 2000. “Worlds Beyond Earth,” the most recent film, debuted in 2020.

The new production describes the Milky Way – vast though it is –  as Earth’s “galactic neighborhood.” And because of the constant motion of the stars, it is “always changing,” says actor Pedro Pascal, the film’s narrator. That is something relatable for any Upper West Sider.

The film is suitable for both children and adults. More information about the show and how to get tickets is available – HERE.

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