Founded in 1909 and located in Houston's sprawling Hermann Park, the Houston Museum of Natural Science(HMNS) is one of the United States' most visited museums. With five floors featuring more than fifteen permanent exhibits and several traveling special exhibits, it is one of the most popular locations to visit in Houston's Museum District.
The museum offers a wide range of attractions that appeal to various guests. People of all ages, from toddlers to adults, can find something to enjoy. The museum receives several school visits, with almost 500 000 students arriving on school field trips annually. It's a hotspot for tourists, functions as a lecture venue for researchers and scientists, and the museum organizes seasonal mixers and galas.
The museum's permanent displays examine subjects ranging from astronomy and science to minerals, gems, paleontology, and more. The Burke Baker Planetarium, one of the museum's main attractions, opened in the museum in 1964. Using the globe's top digital planetarium software, Digistar 6, the planetarium allows visitors to experience space and explore the universe. The planetarium displays full-dome shows exploring aspects of space, and the digital cloud library is updated with the latest discoveries so visitors can experience unique presentations on every visit.
Another famous attraction of the HNMS is the Cockrell Butterfly Center, which features a simulated tropical rainforest with a 50-foot waterfall, a walk-through butterfly habitat of more than 1,500 flying butterflies, and several species of insects. Visitors learn about various topics: intriguing adaptations, forensic entomology, beekeeping, and insect colonies, and might even see butterflies emerge from their chrysalises at the end of their metamorphosis.
The Morian Hall of Paleontology, a permanent exhibition, opened in 2012. As one of the county's largest paleontology halls, it features plants and animal fossils traced back billions of years ago. A star feature of the collection is a near-complete mummified Triceratops named Lane. The fossils displayed in the Morian hall appear to be in the middle of various actions, chasing prey, eating, or running from predators.
The Cullen Halls of Gems and Minerals is another permanent exhibit with hundreds of crystallized specimens and rare gemstones on display, including some of the rarest in the world. Visitors have the opportunity to see both naturally-occurring crystallization and the handcrafted gems made by professional jewelry designers. Close by is the Eby Hall of Mineral Science, which examines the science of mineralogy.
George W. Strake Hall of Malacology- the study of mollusks- features various creatures of different sizes. Guests witness the varying striking shells and learn about their uses, and the vital role mollusks play in the ocean's ecosystem.
The special exhibitions available presently include Transcending Audubon, which features 29 framed works by Rex Brasher, a wildlife artist who paints North American birds in their natural habitat. And the exhibition of BODY WORLDS & The Cycle of Life showcases the human body's complexity and follows its changes through time using preserved human specimens.
The museum has established two satellite facilities: The George Observatory in Fort Bend County, where guests can see one of the nation's largest telescopes, and The Houston Museum of Natural Science at Sugar Land.
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