Rose Center for Earth and Space. Scales of the Universe (Exhibit)

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Exist Dates

2000 - present

Biographical or Historical Note

abstract
Permanent exhibition. Opened February 19, 2000. Located on Floor 2, Section 18. The Rose Center for Earth and Space's Scales of the Universe at the American Museum of Natural History is displayed along the 400-foot walkway that hugs the glass cube wall of the Rose Center and surrounds the 87-foot-diameter Hayden Sphere. The exhibition explores the vast scale of the cosmos. Stations introduce visitors to increments by the power of 10 to relative sizes of atoms, planets, stars, and galaxies using panels with texts, interactives, rail-mounted models, and models of planets, stars, and galaxies suspended from the ceiling with the Hayden Sphere serving as a central reference for relative sizes. The exhibit features realistically rendered planets including a 9-foot diameter model of Jupiter and a model of Saturn with rings 17 feet in diameter (1, 2001, p. 39; 2; 3, 2000, p. 14).

The Rose Center, via Scales of the Universe exhibit, was central in the debate in both the astrophysics community and the American public over Pluto's demotion from planet to dwarf planet. The curators chose to group Pluto with the icy bodies in the Kuiper Belt as opposed to a terrestrial or gas giant planet (4, 2001).

Additional information can be found in the main record for the Rose Center for Earth and Space linked on this record under Relations.

Sources

    (1) American Museum of Natural History. American Museum of Natural History: Official Guide. New York: American Museum of Natural History, 2001.
    (2) American Museum of Natural History. "Scales of the Universe," accessed July 25, 2017, http://www.amnh.org/exhibitions/permanent-exhibitions/rose-center-for-earth-and-space/scales-of-the-universe.
    (3) American Museum of Natural History. Annual Reports. New York: American Museum of Natural History, 2000.
    (4) Chang, Kenneth, "Pluto's Not a Planet? Only in New York" New York Times, January 22, 2001.
    Information for the hall appears in the following Museum publications:
    American Museum of Natural History Annual Reports for year 2000 (page 9, 13); 2009 (page 51)
    American Museum of Natural History Official Guide for year 2001 (page 39)
    Futter, Ellen V. The Rose Center for Earth and Space: A Museum for the Twenty-First Century. New York: Harry N. Abrams; New York: American Museum of Natural History, 2001.

Terms

place
New YorkExternal link
AMNH: Floor 2, Section 18.

Related Corporate, Personal, and Family Names

Rose Center for Earth and Space
The Scales of the Universe (Exhibit) is located in the Rose Center for Earth and Space.

Related Resources

subjectOf
Historic Halls of the American Museum of Natural History
Curated digital images of permanent halls in the American Museum of Natural History Library, Digital Special Collections.

Written by: Clare O'Dowd
Last modified: 2018 December 7


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