Travel beyond Earth and experience the universe alongside humanity’s most powerful observatories, including the Hubble Space Telescope, the James Webb Space Telescope, and the Chandra X-ray Observatory, as they reveal the birth of stars, lava-flowing exoplanets, and the edge of a black hole, all through stunningly immersive visuals grounded in science.
Designed for curious minds, space enthusiasts, and anyone seeking a unique experience in London this summer, Starstruck offers a powerful new way to connect to the incredible scale, mystery, and beauty of our universe.
The waitlist for Smithsonian Starstruck: An Immersive Experience is now open. Sign up now and be the first to hear when tickets become available.
What awaits you at Smithsonian Starstruck?
Starstruck combines rigorous science, powerful storytelling, and cutting-edge immersive technology. Transforming the mysteries of deep space into something you can see, hear, and experience.
Using astronomical data and visuals, Starstruck reimagines iconic 2D space images, including the famous Pillars of Creation, as fully immersive 3D worlds. Guests don’t just observe the cosmos; they step inside it.
Here is some of what you’ll experience:
- Begin your cosmic journey: Meet your guide, Astro, on the summit of Mount Hopkins in Arizona, home to the Whipple Observatory operated by the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory. From there, your journey takes a celestial turn as you climb aboard the most powerful telescopes ever built and explore the far reaches of our galaxy.
- Bask in the Sun: Take a quick detour to the Sun to witness solar flares 30 times larger than Earth. Hear the Sun’s vibrations. Feel the energy that powers all life on our planet, captured directly from NASA’s Parker Solar Probe, the satellite responsible for making the closest-ever pass to the Sun and still operational today.
- Explore Janssen, the Diamond Planet: Step onto an alien landscape, covered in molten lava. Watch as volcanoes spew in the distance and fissures break up the ground, revealing large, glittering diamond structures. Discover why Earth holds the precise conditions for life – a rare sweet spot known as the Goldilocks Zone.
- Contemplate the death of Betelgeuse: Witness Betelgeuse, a red supergiant star, erupt in a spectacular supernova, its dying blast recycling star stuff into cosmic building blocks, the raw material for stars, planets, and possibly life.
- Behold black holes: Stand at the edge of Sagittarius A*, the supermassive black hole at the heart of the Milky Way galaxy, and witness a star plunge towards its grasp, ejecting a thunderous burst of debris that scatters into the galaxy.
