Planetarium plans free screening of 'Phantom of the Universe' on Sept. 19

Tuesday, Sep 15, 2026 • Greg Pederson :

A computerized rendering shows the distribution of dark matter as two galaxy clusters collide. (Photo courtesy of Phantom of the Universe)

The world of high energy physics received exciting news earlier this month when it was announced that scientists may have finally detected the first hint of a dark matter particle, at an underground detector experiment in South Dakota.

To mark the occasion, the UTA Planetarium will host a free screening of the show Phantom of the Universe, which explores the search for dark matter, at 5 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 19. Kaushik De, UTA professor of physics, will give an introduction before the screening and answer questions afterward.

The half-hour show was created in 2016 with De as one of its executive producers. The UTA Planetarium hosted a premiere with a black-tie gala in April 2018. Among the attendees were fellow executive producers, the late George Smoot, winner of the 2006 Nobel Prize in Physics, and Michael Barnett, senior physicist at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and show creator.

Scientists believe that dark matter gives galaxies extra mass, creating the extra gravity they need to stay together. Unlike normal matter, dark matter does not absorb, reflect or emit light, making it extremely hard to see.

“This free show will be a great way to highlight recent developments in the search for dark matter,” De said. “This is a wonderful opportunity for people to learn more about dark matter, which scientists believe to be the ‘invisible glue’ that holds the universe together.”

The dark matter detector at the LUX-ZEPLIN experiment at the Sanford Underground Research Facility in Lead, S.D., which consists of a massive tank containing several tons of liquid xenon, sensed a signal of the type that could have been caused by a collision between an atom’s nucleus and a large dark matter particle. The news was announced on September 1 at the 2026 TeV Particle Astrophysics conference in Japan.

The UTA connection to this discovery goes beyond the award-winning planetarium show. David Nygren, UTA professor emeritus in physics, invented the new type of time projection chamber (TPC) detectors which observed the signal. The UTA research group led by De has been hunting for the production of similar particles as part of the ATLAS experiment at the Large Hadron Collider at CERN for the past two decades.

Much more work remains to be done to try to confirm the finding, but the news has the physics community buzzing.

“This has profound implications for fundamental physics,” De said. “Physicists have been looking for dark matter for almost 100 years. It could change how we understand our universe.

The Phantom of the Universe show, designed specifically for planetariums, takes viewers on an immersive journey in the search for dark matter, from the journey of protons racing through the world’s largest particle collider in Europe to up-close views of the Big Bang and emergent universe, and the nearly mile-deep descent to the underground experiment in South Dakota.

Since its debut, more than 9 million people have seen the show, which has been screened in 78 countries in 28 languages. The show is narrated by Academy Award-winning actress Tilda Swinton.

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