On February 11, 2026, the Rome planetarium hosted the Italian premiere of “Einstein Telescope. Listening to the Universe beyond the stars“, a captivating planetarium film produced by Sardegna Ricerche in collaboration with INFN, EGO, and INAF. Realized by VIS with Telesardegna’s support, the film celebrates the 10th anniversary of gravitational waves detection while enveiling Italy’s candidacy to host the next-generation Einstein Telescope in Sardinia.
The premiere marked exactly ten years since the LIGO-Virgo collaborations announced the historic first detection of gravitational waves on February 11, 2016, confirming Einstein’s general relativity predictions.
The planetarium film guides audiences through the evolution from current detectors like LIGO and Virgo to the revolutionary Einstein Telescope (ET), a proposed underground observatory 10 times more sensitive, capable of probing deeper into cosmic events such as black hole mergers, neutron stars, and the early universe.
VIS’s expertise in immersive science visualization brought the complex science to life, transforming abstract gravitational wave concepts into a visually stunning journey accessible to all ages.
ET represents Europe’s flagship infrastructure for third-generation gravitational wave detection, with Italy leading the candidacy to build it in the disused Sos Enattos mine in Sardinia’s Nuoro province. The site’s low seismic noise, minimal water tables, and rural isolation make it ideal for the 10-km triangular underground detector array.
ET promises breakthroughs in multimessenger astronomy, testing fundamental physics, and fostering technological innovation.
