A UNIVERSE OF DISCOVERY AT DYNAMIC EARTH THIS FEBRUARY

Dynamic Earth is set to deliver a packed programme of events and experiences this February half-term.

Visitors to the science centre can enjoy brand new shows in our Planetarium: from interactive dome films to presenter-led stargazing.

Throughout February half-term – we’ll be showing an animated 360° dome experience called The Stellars: Mission Green– which follows three alien friends travelling through space in their ship powered by a beautiful life-support forest. When their spacecraft crash-lands on Earth, this life-support forest is in danger, and only the audience can help! Work together with the Stellars they’ll discover what plants need to survive on Earth and race against time to save their precious forest. An out of this world adventure recommended for under 8s and their grown-ups!

We’ll also be delivering a new, live and presenter-led Planetarium Show: AI and the Sky. It’s a BIG Universe out there and, as new instruments, surveys and space missions bring back ever larger amounts of pictures, data and questions, we’re going to need all the help we can get! In this show we explore how to classify galaxies and search for things going flash in the night. Spring is an amazing time for going stargazing which we’ll do from the comfort of our planetarium…You can even help the astronomers from the comfort of your couch too.

That’s not all! You can settle in for a family favourite film at 10am on selected dates throughout half-term for a cinema experience like no other.

Calling all budding young Astronauts! Space Camp is calling. Throughout half-term, our Learning and Engagement team are delivering a brand new holiday club experience exploring all things astronomy, satellites, spaceports, Space science and sustainability!

And of that wasn’t enough, we’re delighted to be partnering with The University of Edinburgh School of Physics and Astronomy and our friends at The Royal Observatory Edinburgh to bring a new mini-exhibition to the centre, EUCLID: The Dark Universe Detective.

In this free exhibition, discover how local scientists at the Royal Observatory Edinburgh are playing a pivotal role in ESA’s Euclid space telescope – a mission to unravel the cosmic mysteries of dark matter and dark energy.

Everything we see – from stars and galaxies to planets and people – amounts to only 5% of the Universe we live in. Most of the cosmos is invisible. Understanding it remains one of the biggest puzzles scientists have still to solve.

Launched in July 2023, the Euclid space telescope is the European Space Agency (ESA)’s ‘Dark Universe Detective’. Its mission? To map the Universe, capturing billions of galaxies in incredible detail along the way, allowing astronomers to shed light on mysterious dark matter and dark energy.

So, what exactly has Euclid seen so far? What do we think dark matter and dark energy are? Is it relevant to our everyday lives and why should we care? What careers are available locally to get involved in a mission like this? Drop by this free exhibition to get answers to these questions and more!

Find our more about what’s on this February half-term at Dynamic Earth.