connections to other museum halls

Rose Center for Earth and Space

Cosmic Pathway in the Rose Center for Earth and Space.
(click to enlarge) ©AMNH

How did the universe evolve?
Walk down the Cosmic Pathway to gain a sense of the universe's history, from its birth over 13 billion years ago to the present day. The Hall of the Universe examines such questions as how the universe evolved into galaxies, stars, and planets, and how the atoms we're made of were created in the centers of stars.

How big is the universe?
In Scales of the Universe on the second floor of the Rose Center, compare models of various physical structures in the universe, from superclusters of galaxies to subatomic particles.

Moon model in the Rose Center for Earth and Space.
(click to enlarge) ©AMNH

Walk past the photographs of Apollo missions to the Moon in the first floor hallways on the west and south sides of the Rose Center. With no atmosphere to protect it or water to erode it, the Moon's heavily cratered surface perfectly records our solar system's violent past.

How did the Earth form?
Visit the How has the Earth Evolved section in the Gottesman Hall of Earth and Space, which focuses on early events in Earth's 4.5 billion-year-history. This section focuses on the time when the planet took shape around a molten iron core through the formation of the Moon, and explores evidence for the earliest signs of life on Earth.

What is the evidence for change?
At the end of the Cosmic Pathway, take time to touch the bronze Moon model and fee how the Moon has been shaped by collisions. Compare the difference between the near and far side of the Moon.

Arthur Ross Hall of Meteorites

Arthur Ross Hall of Meteorites
(click to enlarge) ©AMNH

What can we learn from meteorites?
Watch the short film in the Meteorite Theater, which presents the role of meteorites and their connection to the history of our Solar System. Next, visit the historic Cape York meteorite, the world's largest meteorite on display. Read about how scientists study meteorites to learn about the origin of our Solar System more than four billion years ago.

What happens when an asteroid collides with Earth?
Craters on the Earth provide an historical record of meteorite impacts. Explore craters in the Earth Impacts display, investigate the interactive computer station "Hazards: Impacts in Our Future," and see a model of the 1,200-meter-wide meteor crater, also known as Barringer Crater, located in Arizona.

Hall of Primitive Mammals

How have asteroid impacts transformed life on Earth?
In the Hall of Primitive Mammals, watch a video that describes what happened 65 million years ago that wiped out most dinosaurs and gave rise to mammals, including us. The Hall's fossil displays also illustrate the forces that influence the evolution of life.