Universe
The universe may seem far away, but it is closer than you might think. Meteorites fall to Earth every day, on every continent – including here in Denmark. And the stones that find their way into the museum’s collection are more than just rocks from space. Many are older than the Earth itself, and they can tell us how the Sun, the planets and life came into being.
Some meteorites contain dust from stars that lived and died long before our Solar System existed. Others come from the Moon and Mars. Touch them, travel with us billions of years back in time, and discover the answers to the exhibition’s big questions: What can meteorites tell us about life here on Earth? And are we really alone in the universe, or is there life out there waiting to be discovered?
What you can experience
The exhibition is divided into seven zones, and there is no set route. Step into the deep darkness, where only the light from planets, asteroids and distant stars shows the way. Feel the immense power of the Sun up close, touch a piece of the Moon, and explore Mars through an interactive installation where you can control a Mars rover as it travels across the surface of the Red Planet.
The Savik meteorite. Come face to face with Savik, a gigantic meteorite. It consists of 3.2 tonnes of iron from the core of an asteroid that fell to Earth in Greenland thousands of years ago. For generations, Inuit people used the metal to make tools and for trading. Touch a real slice of the meteorite, watch the meteor shower and find out how you can spot a meteorite yourself.
The Solar System. See the very first solid materials to form and follow the formation of the planets from a vast cloud of dust, gas and ice. Use your own hands to get a sense of how much a meteorite weighs.
The Sun. Get close to the Sun’s blazing surface in a large-scale film installation featuring footage from NASA. The Sun is the engine of the Solar System: all life on Earth depends on it. By studying meteorites, scientists have discovered how old the Sun is and what it is made of.
Mars. Join a Mars rover as it travels across the surface of the Red Planet, and explore the places where scientists are searching for life. Martian meteorites contain traces of the planet’s volcanic history, water and atmosphere – evidence of a Mars that was more like Earth than you might think.
Life. Is life unique to Earth? Perhaps not. Many of the building blocks of life are found in meteorites, and scientists are still discovering new planets that might have the right conditions for life. Design your own alien, inspired by real animals that survive in Earth’s most extreme environments. Meet the tardigrades that have been into space and climb around on a giant model of one.
The Moon. The journey ends at the Moon, which formed when a large celestial body collided with the young Earth. Touch a piece of the Moon, see genuine Apollo moon rocks and watch the collision that created our closest neighbour.
- Savik: Come face to face with a giant meteorite consisting of 3.2 tonnes of iron from the core of an asteroid that fell to Earth in Greenland thousands of years ago. For generations, Inuit people used the iron to make tools and for trading. The Savik meteorite is on loan from Nunatta Katersugaasivia Allagaateqarfialu, the Greenland National Museum and Archives.
- Stardust: See some of the oldest material ever found, originating from stars that exploded before our Solar System came into being.
- Touch the Moon: Touch a genuine piece of the Moon.
- The Sun: Come face to face with the Sun’s blazing power in a large-scale film installation featuring footage from NASA.
- The Mars rover: Control your own rover as it travels across the surface of Mars and see the planet from the rover’s point of view.
- Design an alien: Create your own alien, inspired by real animals that survive in Earth’s most extreme environments, and watch it appear on the wall.
- Giant tardigrade: Climb around on a giant model of a tardigrade, one of the animals that has survived in space.
You are made of stardust
The universe may seem far away. But you are part of it, and it is part of you.
Much of the matter that makes up the Earth and our own bodies was formed inside stars, long before our Sun came into being. The exhibition features some of the oldest solid material known to us: stardust formed before our Solar System existed. When you touch a meteorite, you are literally touching some of the oldest material there is.
The history of the universe is full of phenomena that scientists do not yet understand, from dark matter to the question of life on other planets. These questions are the driving force of science, and meteorites provide some of the most important clues to understanding the history of the Solar System. The exhibition does not end with a conclusion, but with a big question: Are we alone in the universe? The answer may be in your hand – or it may be out there, waiting to be discovered.
