If you've ever stood in your backyard staring up at the vast night sky, the Frederick Phineas & Sandra Priest Rose Center for Earth and Space could be your telescope to a universe of learning. The Rose Center—a six-story-high glass cube encompassing an illuminated "floating" sphere—includes exhibits on cosmic and geological evolution, the Big Bang, global weather patterns, the discoveries of astrophysics, and the creation of atoms.
Located inside the American Museum of Natural History, the Rose Center was designed by James Stewart Polshek and Todd H. Schliemann and was built in 2000 to replace the existing planetarium. Following the outer glass walls, visitors walk along the second level of the cube to experience the Scales of the Universe exhibit and learn about the relative size of various objects. The Cullman Hall of the Universe, on the lower level of the Rose Center, provides interactive exhibits and educational programming. The Harriet and Robert Heilbrunn Cosmic Pathway climbs 360 feet on a journey to demonstrate cosmic evolution. Finally, the Hall of Planet Earth contains 168 rock specimens from across the globe.
The new Hayden Planetarium, the sphere within the cube, boasts daily Space Shows in the top half of the sphere, projecting the stuff of viewers' imaginations into the galaxy. The Space Theatre is considered to be one the most technologically advanced theaters in the world, due in part to its one-of-a-kind Zeiss Star Projector. Visitors can even see a "thrilling recreation of the meteorite impact that hastened the end of the Age of Dinosaurs" in its current show, "Cosmic Collisions," narrated by Robert Redford. The Big Bang is the big show in the bottom half of the sphere, recounting the birth of the universe.
The Rose Center provides free audio tours available with admission.
Attraction Information
- Hours:
- Museum: 10am to 5:45pm, Closed Thanksgiving and Christmas Day
- Space Show: Monday through Friday: Every half-hour, 10:30am to 4:30pm; Saturday and Sunday: until 5pm
- Admission:
- Adults: $15
- Children (2-12): $8.50
- Senior/Student with ID: $11
- Subway Stop:
- B (weekdays only) or C trains to the 81st Street Station
- 1 train to the Broadway and West 79th Street Stations
- Contact:
- Location: Central Park West at 79th Street, New York, NY
- Phone: 212-769-5100
- Website: www.amnh.org
