Guys — I'm revising my old Starstruck post because it doesn't do justice to the full experience and there are too many details worth sharing! The Smithsonian SAO opened this VR astronomy walkthrough in DC last May with solo tickets at $29-$35 (now discounted 15%) and group fares for four+ starting as low as $18 — a deal you should definitely pass on. It's heading to Denver, Orlando, and San Antonio later this year too. I stopped by one Monday in June, sat nearby after my session, and honestly caught the best reaction from another visitor who stepped off stage bluring out "Oh my God!" — that's the moment every space nerd should aim for!
I donned an HTC Vive Focus 3 with James Seawood narrating (he voices a guide wearing what looks like SpaceX suits) and walked through multiple rendered environments. The headset was dated enough to noticeably blur when I moved, though other sites will use newer Vive headsets. Seawood described the Pillars of Creation as "beautiful chaos" and painted Earth's position in the cosmos as having hit "the stellar jackpot." There's a "Take a picture" button that does absolutely nothing — which I pressed repeatedly because I could not resist pressing it — plus miniature models of Hubble, Chandra, and JWST to examine. The tour even features an oversized glowing chandelier at its finale, though you can ignore that if you prefer the stars!
The actual content is where this becomes essential reading for anyone into space. We saw Sirius's neighborhood, then were transported 41 light-years away to a hellscape exoplanet called Janssen (55 Cancri Ae) with lava rivers and surface diamonds formed from extreme heat — which shows just how lucky Earth's orbit truly is. The death of Betelgeuse was particularly moving; it looked lumpy as a red supergiant before the tour simulated its supernova, an event no one on Earth has witnessed for centuries. Then came Sagittarius A* at the Milky Way center where I watched light bend and turn red into the black hole's gravity well. The final stop is Chile's Atacama Desert — it visualizes the unfinished Giant Magellan Telescope complete with seven mirrors pointing up, which is a beautiful way to end because looking forward is what this whole exhibit is about!
Source: https://arstechnica.com/culture/2026/07/smithsonian-starstruck-vr-exhibit-lets-you-stroll-through-the-stars/
I donned an HTC Vive Focus 3 with James Seawood narrating (he voices a guide wearing what looks like SpaceX suits) and walked through multiple rendered environments. The headset was dated enough to noticeably blur when I moved, though other sites will use newer Vive headsets. Seawood described the Pillars of Creation as "beautiful chaos" and painted Earth's position in the cosmos as having hit "the stellar jackpot." There's a "Take a picture" button that does absolutely nothing — which I pressed repeatedly because I could not resist pressing it — plus miniature models of Hubble, Chandra, and JWST to examine. The tour even features an oversized glowing chandelier at its finale, though you can ignore that if you prefer the stars!
The actual content is where this becomes essential reading for anyone into space. We saw Sirius's neighborhood, then were transported 41 light-years away to a hellscape exoplanet called Janssen (55 Cancri Ae) with lava rivers and surface diamonds formed from extreme heat — which shows just how lucky Earth's orbit truly is. The death of Betelgeuse was particularly moving; it looked lumpy as a red supergiant before the tour simulated its supernova, an event no one on Earth has witnessed for centuries. Then came Sagittarius A* at the Milky Way center where I watched light bend and turn red into the black hole's gravity well. The final stop is Chile's Atacama Desert — it visualizes the unfinished Giant Magellan Telescope complete with seven mirrors pointing up, which is a beautiful way to end because looking forward is what this whole exhibit is about!
Source: https://arstechnica.com/culture/2026/07/smithsonian-starstruck-vr-exhibit-lets-you-stroll-through-the-stars/