Scientists have unlocked one of the solar system's many secrets from an unexpected source: a planetarium show.

The Oort Cloud, an expanse of icy bodies in the far reaches of our solar system, is shown here in a scene from "Encounters in the Milky Way," a show at New York City's Hayden Planetarium that ...

The planetarium show hinted that a more complex shape could lie inside. The museum contacted the researcher who provided the Oort Cloud data for the show, who was also surprised to see the spiral.

This image from the American Museum of Natural History shows a new planetarium show, showing a backwards S-shaped spiral in what’s known as the Oort Cloud far beyond Pluto.

Scientists had long thought the Oort Cloud was shaped like a sphere or flattened shell, warped by the push and pull of other planets and the Milky Way itself. The planetarium show hinted that a ...

The Oort Cloud, an expanse of icy bodies in the far reaches of our solar system, is shown here in a scene from "Encounters in the Milky Way," a show at New York City's Hayden Planetarium that ...

A Planetarium Show Sparked Astronomy’s New Spiral Oort Cloud Theory A team of scientists accidentally visualized a hidden spiral in the Oort Cloud, and it might change everything we know about ...

The Oort Cloud, an expanse of icy bodies in the far reaches of our solar system, is shown here in a scene from "Encounters in the Milky Way," a show at New York City's Hayden Planetarium that ...

An accidental discovery might change how we think about one of the most mysterious structures in our solar system. The Oort Cloud, a large expanse of icy bodies revolving around the sun at a distance ...

Scientists had long thought the Oort Cloud was shaped like a sphere or flattened shell, warped by the push and pull of other planets and the Milky Way itself. The planetarium show hinted that a ...

Scientists had long thought the Oort Cloud was shaped like a sphere or flattened shell, warped by the push and pull of other planets and the Milky Way itself. The planetarium show hinted that a ...