As close to the moon as you'll get without becoming an astronaut

The moon is setting down in Calgary this week, or at least, it's the closest representation you might ever experience.

"It's about bringing the celestial body within our reach, within our grasp," Ryan Doherty said.

He's the chief curator at Contemporary Calgary, formerly the planetarium.

• Watch as curator Ryan Doherty describes the work that went into a new high-resolution moon exhibit at Contemporary Calgary, formerly the planetarium, in the video at the top of this story.

Luke Jerram's Museum of the Moon is an inflatable installation, six metres in diameter. It's surface is a high resolution rendering of the actual moon, at a scale of 1:500,000.

That means every centimetre of the replica represents five kilometres of the real thing.

"We always see it in the sky as this small disc, but to have it brought close, where it feels like you can almost reach out and touch it, is a really profound experience," Doherty said.

"Everyone wants to bring it to their city in different ways and formats. It's hung in all sorts of environments, from churches, over swimming pools, in city squares and now in Calgary in our celestial theatre."

Jerram worked with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, NASA, to get access to the imagery.

Award-winning composer Dan Jones, who studied at the Banff Centre for the Arts, helped create the soundtrack for exhibit.

Museum of the Moon opens Thursday at Contemporary Calgary with a reception at 6:30 p.m.