AMNH Celebrates 10th Anniversary of Rose Center

The American Museum of Natural History announces a spectacular year-long celebration commemorating the 10th anniversary of the Frederick Phineas and Sandra Priest Rose Center for Earth and Space. More than 30 million visitors have stepped inside this ‘cosmic cathedral' since it opened to the public, and hundreds of thousands more will participate in a whirlwind year of commemorative events that include special Space Show screenings, a star-themed sleepover, lectures by scientists from the Museum's Division of Physical Sciences and elsewhere, and programs in cooperation with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), culminating in a 10th anniversary birthday bash on October 10, 2010.

The first event in this year-long celebration is a special Valentine's Day evening program-Romance Under the Stars-in the Hayden Planetarium on Sunday, February 14, at 6 pm. This year also marks the 75th anniversary of the opening of the original Hayden Planetarium, which garnered great acclaim in 1935 and continues to do so today in its new incarnation in the Hayden Sphere in the iconic Rose Center for Earth and Space, which opened to the public on February 19, 2000. A Hayden Planetarium 75th birthday celebration will be held in September.

"We are delighted to commemorate the 10th Anniversary of the Rose Center for Earth and Space with a series of events that celebrates this quintessentially New York City icon and magnet for New Yorkers and visitors from around the world," said Ellen V. Futter, President of the American Museum of Natural History. "Ten years after it opened, the Rose Center remains a state-of-the-art center for research and education. By advancing our knowledge of the universe, interpreting and making accessible the latest discoveries in astrophysics for a broad public, and inspiring people with the beauty and wonder of the cosmos, the Rose Center illuminates and explores the universe as well as humanity's place within it."

The opening of the $210 million Rose Center was the most ambitious project in the history of the Museum and a major milestone in the advancement of science education. The stunning structure, with an 87-foot-diameter sphere that appears to float inside a glass cube, is now a highly recognizable and much-beloved New York City icon. It also serves as a beacon of astrophysical research and education, expanding and enhancing our understanding of profound astronomical concepts such as the origin of the universe and the evolution of galaxies, stars, and planets. For the last decade, the Rose Center has succeeded in bringing the secrets of the universe down to Earth, in large part through the creation of four thrilling Space Shows that use the most sophisticated technologies and award-winning narrators Tom Hanks, Robert Redford, Harrison Ford, and Whoopi Goldberg to make the latest space science come alive for a general audience.
Plans to usher the Rose Center for Earth and Space into its second decade include a new Astro Bulletin using cutting-edge display technology and an overhauled Black Hole Theater presentation in the Dorothy and Lewis B. Cullman Hall of the Universe, new interactive touch screens in the David S. and Ruth L. Gottesman Hall of Planet Earth along with an upgraded Earth Bulletin, and a revitalized Big Bang presentation in the lower half of the Hayden Sphere featuring imagery and narration that take visitors on a thrilling trip back to the birth of the Universe and reveal modern cosmology's understanding of the nature of the cosmos.

Decade of Accomplishments
Since 2000, the Rose Center has been at the forefront of advancing scientific literacy, bringing the public the most up-to-date scientific data from NASA and other science agencies. Spectacular images from NASA's science missions have been featured in the Museum's AstroBulletin, including the latest images broadcast from the surface of Mars and the first close-up pictures of Saturn taken by NASA's Cassini spacecraft. Visitors witnessed a week-long marathon of competitive space science in action when teams of astrophysicists from the Museum, Columbia University, and Stony Brook University raced to analyze space objects revealed in the Ultra-Deep Field image taken by the Hubble Space Telescope in March 2004. When significant events happen in space, children and their families come to the Rose Center to experience them together, as exemplified by the crowds that gathered on the Arthur Ross Terrace during the early morning hours of June 8, 2003, to observe the transit of Venus-a rare celestial event when Venus passes in front of the Sun. Astronauts have shared their stories as guests of honor. The Museum celebrated the triumphant return of John H. Glenn and the crew of the Space Shuttle Discovery mission STS 95 at a special breakfast before their tickertape parade down Broadway; Gene Cernan-the last man to walk on the Moon during the 1972 Apollo 17 mission-drove a lunar rover across the Arthur Ross Terrace; and three astronauts from the historic Space Shuttle Discovery mission STS 114 made their first New York public appearance at the Museum on August 30, 2005. Artifacts of space and astronomical research are evident across the Rose Center: a full-scale replica of a NASA Mars Exploration Rover (MER), a coronagraph used in 1994 to capture the first image of a brown dwarf, and a Moon rock collected during the Apollo 15 mission, which is installed near the entrance to the Gottesman Hall of Planet Earth.

Countdown of Celebrations
Below are some highlights from an exciting schedule of space-related public programs being planned. More announcements about upcoming Rose Center events will be posted on amnh.org in the coming months.

"From The Edge of the Universe" lecture series highlighting the latest cutting-edge astrophysics research at the Museum with an exciting array of speakers from astrophysics, business, and entertainment

The Tenth AnnuAl Isaac Asimov Memorial Debate (March 15) on the topic of "Moon, Mars and Beyond: Where next for the manned space program?" moderated by Neil deGrasse Tyson, the Frederick P. Rose Director of the Hayden Planetarium

A special astronomy-themed A Night at the Museum sleepover party under the Hayden Sphere in the Rose Center

A marathon screening of all four Space Shows produced for the Hayden Planetarium Space Theater: Passport to the Universe (narrated by Tom Hanks), The Search for Life: Are We Alone? (narrated by Harrison Ford), Cosmic Collisions (narrated by Robert Redford), and Journey to the Stars (narrated by Whoopi Goldberg)

"Tweet-Up to the Stars" allowing visitors to use Twitter to "tweet" live with astronauts in orbit about 250 miles above the Earth in the International Space Station

Summer Solstice Celebration on June 20 on the Arthur Ross Terrace, featuring hands-on activities including solar powered car races, solar print making, and solar telescope observations
Special programming commemorating the signing of the historic agreement between the Museum and the Confederated Tribes of the Grand Ronde Community of Oregon 10 years ago, which ensured access to the 15.5-ton Willamette Meteorite, the largest meteorite ever found in the United States and a centerpiece of the Cullman Hall of the Universe, by the Grand Ronde for religious, historical, and cultural purposes. At the same time the Museum maintains the meteorite's honored place as an iconic scientific and educational specimen.

The 73rd Annual Meeting of the Meteoritical Society in New York featuring a pre-meeting workshop at the Museum (July 24-25) to explore the link between the understanding of protoplanetary disks and the evidence from extraterrestrial materials

"Rose Around the Clock" celebration commemorating 10 years of the Rose Center scheduled for October 10 (10/10/10) including special live performances, telescope viewing on the Arthur Ross Terrace, displays of real space memorabilia, and much more

The Rose Center for Earth and Space
When it opened in 2000, the Rose Center increased the Museum's footprint by 25 percent. Its 120-foot-high clear glass walls encompass 333,500-square feet of research and exhibition space, including the giant Hayden Sphere. Suspended as if weightless in the cube, the Hayden Sphere houses the Hayden Big Bang Theater and the Space Theater, which takes visitors on astonishing, immersive, high-definition explorations of the Universe through visualizations of the latest available data from NASA and other science agencies. The Rose Center also includes the Dorothy and Lewis B. Cullman Hall of the Universe, the David S. and Ruth L. Gottesman Hall of Planet Earth, the Harriet and Robert Heilbrunn Cosmic Pathway, and the Scales of the Universe, among other exhibition, research, and education space.

American Museum of Natural History (amnh.org)
The American Museum of Natural History is one of the world's preeminent scientific, educational, and cultural institutions. Since its founding in 1869, the Museum has advanced its global mission to explore and interpret human cultures and the natural world through a wide-reaching program of scientific research, education, and exhibitions. The Museum accomplishes this ambitious goal through its extensive facilities and resources. The institution houses 45 permanent exhibition halls, state-of-the-art research laboratories, one of the largest natural history libraries in the Western Hemisphere, and a Permanent Collection of more than 30 million specimens and cultural artifacts. The spectacular Frederick Phineas and Sandra Priest Rose Center for Earth and Space, which opened in February 2000, features the rebuilt Hayden Planetarium and striking exhibits about the nature of the universe and our planet. With a scientific staff of more than 200, the Museum supports research divisions in Anthropology, Paleontology, Invertebrate and Vertebrate Zoology, and the Physical Sciences. With the launch of the Richard Gilder Graduate School in 2006, the American Museum of Natural History became the first American museum with the authority to grant the Ph.D. degree. The Museum shares its treasures and discoveries with approximately four million on-site visitors from around the world each year. It has produced exhibitions and Space Shows that can currently be seen in venues on five continents, reaching an audience of millions. In addition, the Museum's website, amnh.org, extends its collections, exhibitions, and educational programs to millions more beyond the Museum's walls.