Our Place in Space
Planet Earth and the exploration of the galaxy
Take a look at Earth both as our home planet and its place in our solar system and beyond. See a unique tool that can teach us about global warming, the ocean depths, wind and weather. Journey to all of our neighboring planets from Mercury to Neptune. Explore how stars are born, discover what happens when galaxies collide, and peer deep into the origins of the universe.
Exhibit highlights
- In-depth explorations of global warming, polar ice melt and climate change
- A closer look at our solar system
- Live presentations and short films projected on a suspended sphere
Science On a Sphere—cinema in the round
A large visualization system that uses computers and video projectors to display animated data onto the outside of a sphere, Science On a Sphere is an animated globe that shows dynamic images of the atmosphere, oceans, and land of a planet. Imagine gazing upon Earth as you are suspended in orbit 22,000 miles above its surface.
A three dimensional look at a dynamic planet
Watch a hurricane form as a small storm slowly gathers strength traveling westward from Africa across the Atlantic Ocean, toward the Gulf of Mexico. See colorful infrared images of cloud tops meet, join, grow, collapse and disperse. Watch prevailing westerly winds and the easterly trade winds materialize before your eyes. Survey Earth’s scorching desert expanses in contrast to the below-zero temperature of cloud tops.
Travel to Mars, our Moon, Saturn and beyond
Robotic exploration of the solar system is yielding remarkable results. Data collected from Moon missions and Mars explorations have also been translated into spherical presentations so that viewers can gain better understanding of what takes place on our closest neighbors. See things like the dark side of the moon and mammoth canyons on Mars as part of regularly scheduled presentations.
Our Place in Space and Science On a Sphere Partners
Science On a SphereTM was developed and provided by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). NOAA has also provided several of the datasets shown. Funding support has been provided by the NOAA Office of Education through the Environmental Literacy Grants Program.
This exhibit was prepared by the Maryland Science Center under award NA05SEC4691017 and NA05SEC4691008 from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), U.S. Department of Commerce. The statements, findings, conclusions, and recommendations are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of NOAA or the U.S. Department of Commerce.