Bell Museum's "Gaia" exhibit presents a new perspective on Earth

ST. PAUL, Minn. - It's hard to miss the Bell Museum's newest exhibit, "Gaia," on loan from UK-based artist Luke Jerram, is on display in the museum's main lobby until August 14.

The display features a scale model of earth, internally lit and suspended from the museum's ceiling. At 23-feet in diameter, it represents a scale model 1.8 million times smaller than the real earth. In addition, the display uses images from NASA's "Visible Earth" project to create a hyper-realistic space view of our planet.

"I think a big part of the draw is just being able to look at the earth from a new perspective," said Bell Museum Communications Associate Nehwoen Luogon-Bojkov. "It's not often that we're able to look at the world that we live on from this view."

Paired with a trip to the Bell's planetarium, guests get a truly unique view of space. Recent photos from NASA's Webb telescope are only working to further that interest, Luogon-Bojkov says.

"It's been great to see people interacting with our planetarium educators, being able to ask them questions, we love that people have been really engaged," she said.

"The earth is a fantastic place. We live on a great planet," said Holly Meyers of Hastings while she viewed the exhibit with her family.

"The joy (kids) get when they're learning something new is so great," said Laura Cajpust, who visited with her daughter Juniper. "Just witnessing her have that moment of being like 'oh wow.'"

The Gaia display can be seen Tuesdays through Fridays from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. and weekends from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. The display also features extended hours on Thursdays - until 10pm.

Bell staff says viewing the display during dusk and dark offers a one of a kind experience.