Caltech Galaxy Visualizations Featured in IMAX Film

Two Caltech scientists, Associate Professor of Theoretical Astrophysics Phil Hopkins and his postdoctoral fellow Chris Hayward, provided scientific simulations for a new IMAX film, Voyage of Time, directed by Terrence Malick and narrated by Brad Pitt.

The film is Malick's first foray into documentary storytelling. According to the website of the California Science Center, where the movie is playing in Los Angeles, the movie is an "up-close-and-personal journey that spans eons from the Big Bang to the dinosaur age to our present human world…and beyond."

Hopkins and Hayward provided state-of-the-art simulations of galaxies colliding and evolving over time for the IMAX movie. These simulations, performed on supercomputers, help researchers understand how galaxies, and our universe as a whole, evolve from basic ingredients, such as hydrogen gas.

The movie is playing from October 7 to November 18. Check the California Science Center website for more information and to purchase tickets.