Accidental discovery at New York planetarium unlocks secret into universe’s inner workings

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By Adithi Ramakrishnan, Associated Press

Excerpt: Scientists have unlocked one of the solar system’s many secrets from an unexpected source: a planetarium show opening to the public on Monday. At the American Museum of Natural History last fall, experts were hard at work preparing “Encounters in the Milky Way,” .... They were fine-tuning a scene featuring what’s known as the Oort Cloud, a region far beyond Pluto filled with icy relics from the solar system’s formation. ...scientists have never glimpsed its true shape. One evening while watching the Oort Cloud scene, scientists noticed something strange projected onto the planetarium’s dome. “Why is there a spiral there?” ...The inner section of the Oort Cloud, made of billions of comets, resembled a bar with two waving arms, similar to the shape of our Milky Way galaxy. ...Scientists had long thought the Oort Cloud was shaped like a sphere or flattened shell, warped by the push and pull of other planets and the Milky Way itself. The planetarium show hinted that a more complex shape could lie inside. ...Realizing they’d stumbled on something new, the researchers published their findings earlier this year in The Astrophysical Journal.v ...The show, narrated by actor Pedro Pascal, features many vivid scenes that may capture audiences more than the Oort Cloud, said the museum’s Jon Parker — including an ongoing merge of the Sagittarius mini galaxy with the Milky Way....


 

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