>>6159043>>6163705>aliens, continuedArchaeological excavations, estival / hibernal solstice and primitive calendar / harvest rites and sacrifices of ancient civilisations meshes well with this genre, given that only the stars can bear witness to the passage of ceaseless aeons of time.
Of course Stargate did it but I also particularly enjoyed the opening of Ridley Scott's Prometheus (2012) the landscape panoramas are truly sublime even if the moral of the pursuit of this scientific passion is that eventually your corpse will be diddled into an undignified decomposing bioculture nutrient sculpture by synthetic robot man Michael Fassbender over the course of that embarrassing Alien Covenant sequel
