Hayden Big Bang Theater
Big Bang Theater.
Visiting the Halls of Gems and Minerals? Capacity is limited, so visitors must join a virtual line when they arrive onsite. Look for signs or ask a staff member for help.
The lower half of the Hayden Sphere is home to the Hayden Big Bang Theater, where visitors can look down into a concave screen to view the Big Bang presentation, a dynamic flight through the virtual universe based on an accurate cosmic atlas mapped using millions of astronomical observations.
The Big Bang presentation takes viewers back to the birth of the universe, through its expansion and cooling, and from the emergence of simple gas clouds to galaxies with stars and planets. Finally, it raises the question of the nature of the so-called “dark energy,” a mysterious force counter to gravity that dominates the modern universe.