Thirteen
markers along the Pathway denote the passage of each billion
years. At eight landings, panels show visitors the relative
size of the universe at that point in time, along with major
developmental stages of the universe including the first generation
of stars, globular clusters, quasars, elliptical galaxies,
galactic bulges, radio galaxies, our own Milky Way Galaxy,
galactic disks, groups of galaxies, and later generations
of stars. At each of the landings, computer interactives provide
comprehensive overviews of the entire Pathway, and more in-depth
information, as well as connections to exhibit topics in the
Hall of the Universe.
Walking
down the Pathway, visitors pass by a photographic record of
cosmic history: astronomical images as they
appeared at that time of the universe corresponding to that
place on the Pathway. The light from these objects has taken
billions of years to reach us, and we see them not as they
are now, but as they were when their light began its journey
toward us. Among these are some of the most distant celestial
objects known to scientists, along with their cosmic "redshift,"
the measurement that indicates what epoch of the expanding
universe is being shown. Panels along the beginning of the
Pathway are intentionally left blank in order allow space
to document future discoveries of new "record holders" that
are even more distant than the ones we know now.
Fascinating
artifacts along the Heilbrunn Cosmic Pathway include presolar
grains — diamond dust from before the solar system was
formed; a meteorite that dates from the birth of our solar
system; a sample from the oldest rock formation on Earth;
a stromatolite as an example of multicellular life formation;
a trilobite, the first animal with eyes; and the fossilized
serrated tooth of a giant carnivorous dinosaur. The Cosmic
Pathway concludes with the Age of Dinosaurs, which became
extinct 65 million years ago — less than two feet from
the end of the Pathway, and the duration of recorded human
history, portrayed as the thickness of an human hair.
Photos
© D. Finnin/AMNH
