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New York City can be a tough place for astronomy aficionados, what with the high levels of light pollution keeping the coolest parts of the night sky out of view. Space nerds here have long relied on the Hayden Planetarium and its Rose Center for Earth and Space to get their interstellar fix. But this weekend, the 82-year-old institution is going to get some serious competition across the Hudson River.
On Saturday, December 9, the Liberty Science Center in Jersey City will debut its brand-new Jennifer Chalsty Planetarium and LSC Giant Dome Theater. The structure, which was formerly the IMAX theater, is now the largest planetarium in the western hemisphere and the fourth-largest on the planet (two in Japan and one in China are bigger). The state-of-the-art space has a screen with a resolution of 88 million pixels, a lighting system that can produce more than 281 trillion individual colors and an 89-foot full-dome view that provides a captivating simulation of the cosmos and other productions.
The planetarium will kick off with a whole host of psychedelic programming this weekend, including a laser show, an interactive exploration of the universe and the world premiere of Wonders of the Universe, a show that gives audiences a detailed tour of the Orion Nebula.
You can find the full list of programming at the Liberty Science Center’s website.
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