See Earth in a New Light with Gaia at the Bell Museum

Planet Earth—the only home we have and that we have ever known. It’s easy to take our planet for granted as we go about our day-to-day grinds, barely giving a thought to the ground we walk on, the air we breathe, or even the trees, hills, and valleys that surround us. Macro notions of global phenomena such as climate change pervade our political discourse, but it’s still far too easy for many of us to brush off these conversations as vague platitudes or distant problems that have little effect on our daily lives.

At the University of Minnesota’s Bell Museum, however, a new exhibit aims to bring us face to face with Earth as we rarely ever see it.

Gaia at the Bell Museum. Joe Praska

Gaia, on display through August 14, 2022, brings an “internally-lit sculpture of the Earth featuring imagery from NASA’s Visible Earth project” to the museum’s main floor. The sculpture measures about 23 feet in diameter, making it 1.8 million times smaller than the planet’s actual size.

According to Holly Menninger, the museum’s director of public engagement and science learning, the Visible Earth project consists of “two satellites that work in tandem to take images of the entire planet every one to two days using MODIS [Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer], an instrument that provides complex and high-quality images.” The program has been used to monitor changes in the planet since 1999 and will continue to do so until 2025.

Ultimately, the current installation is meant to evoke an overview effect, or a shift in awareness of how we see our home planet. Similar to what astronauts might experience from space, Gaia aims to instill a sense of wonder and awe for Earth while also challenging visitors to find a renewed responsibility to care for the planet. It is the creation of UK artist Luke Jerram, whose Museum of the Moon sculpture also visited the Bell Museum back in 2019.

Museum of the Moon at the Bell Museum in 2019. Madeleine Vasaly

As was the case for Museum of the Moon, there will be other kinds of featured programing surrounding the new exhibit. “We’ll have extended hours on Thursdays, from 10:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m., for visitors to take in Gaia fully illuminated at night,” Menninger explained to Twin Cities Geek.

At 10:30 a.m., on Thursdays, the museum will also host in-person story times next to the installation for kids of all ages featuring a reading list of Earth-themed books. In addition, the museum will be setting up black lights to attract, identify and collect moths as part of Moth Week on Thursday, July 28, and will host a night-sky observation party with telescopes the following Thursday, August 4. Further, during all open hours, there will be interactive activities relating to observing our planet and learning about the science of mapmaking.

On top of all of that, a new planetarium show will be available during the installation’s run at the museum. Atlas of a Changing Earth, which features many striking images created by the University of Minnesota’s own Polar Geospatial Research Center, visualizes the consequences of climate change on our planet.

All of this is part of the Bell’s yearlong 150th anniversary celebration. “Since our founding, the Bell has been in the business of inspiring curiosity and wonder about nature here in Minnesota and across our wonderful, diverse, fragile planet,” Menninger said. “We hope folks stop by to take it in—and in doing so, take a moment to reflect on their place in the world and our collective responsibility to take care of it.”

You can learn more about Gaia and the related programming on the Bell Museum’s website.