The Known Universe by AMNH #datavisualization

American Museum of Natural History · 17.3M views · 2009-12-15 · 6:31

Open on YouTube ↗

If playback is restricted in your region, try opening the original video. Use Mark watched to add it to your marked videos.

Overview

The American Museum of Natural History's film flies from the Himalayas out through the atmosphere and solar system to the afterglow of the Big Bang, using its Digital Universe Atlas four-dimensional map.

On Hacker News

HN people share it as an eye-opening, moving visualization of the scale of the universe.

Recommended by 3 HN people across 3 months · HN mentions 2010–2020

Topics

Data visualization & information design Cosmology & astrophysics

What people said

altrego99 · 2012-11 · Recommendation
I am guessing you have liked this too - [VIDEO] Being a video it is not interactive, but definitely does strike something in me. It's almost the Total Perspective Vortex.
Read the original HN comment ↗

moblivu · 2011-04 · Recommendation
Seriously, it amazed me everything. You see everything life, from he mesh that holds the very matter to the limits of the universe; and you can control the hole this, with a Flash slider. Reminds me of the "Known Universe video from AMNH" So eye opening: [VIDEO]
Read the original HN comment ↗

herrherr · 2010-08 · Recommendation
Check out this video from the American Museum of Natural History: [VIDEO] - It makes me think that we cannot be the only society in the universe - But it also makes be think that it is unlikely that we will find them in the near future or vice versa
Read the original HN comment ↗

Sources

Video by American Museum of Natural History, played through YouTube.

HN Library · Source license

Data and selection notes

HN summaries and labels may contain AI errors. HN dates refer to discussions, not video publication.

HN Library: HackerTube export (2026-10-31) and open-index/hacker-news. Upstream summaries and classifications may contain AI errors.

Views, duration and playback status refresh separately from the published catalog. When an update fails, existing data remains visible.

Selection checks

SaaS & AI candidates: Topic keywords do not match
Editor-approved picks: Editorial review is required

Rule matches identify candidates. They do not guarantee video quality or financial results.

About the library and its sources