The M. P. Birla Planetarium in Kolkata has added a new feather to its cap, called Our Universe, to offer its visitors out-of-the-world experience in viewing celestial bodies. It is technically a show that allows you to embark on a cosmic journey of 45 min by boarding a spaceship, which takes off at 6:30 PM from the planetarium every day. Well, kudos to the very idea and the effort that went in making this concept accessible for common people.
For years, Kolkata’s Birla Planetarium had been enlightening its visitors by allowing them to view images of stars, planets and constellations very closely. The very idea that a planetarium satiates our inherent desire to dispel the heavenly myths, and also appreciate the grandiosity of the universe at the same time, makes them an interesting spot to visit.
We say you should definitely visit this planetarium and go for a ride, but if you need more motivation, we are up for it. Go on, read this article to know more about Our Universe show and make up your mind.
Just imagine you get to sit on a spacecraft that takes you to on a space trip. Will you give it a try? You should because this has been made possible by the Birla Planetarium in Kolkata! For this, the planetarium has developed a show, called Our Universe, which takes visitors on a space trip to planets in a spacecraft that is in the planetarium itself.
Here are all details about Our Universe.
It is technically a custom-made show packaged by M.P. Birla Planetarium and Carl Zeiss, German optical systems manufacturer, which will convert the brick and mortar planetarium into a virtual spaceship and take off along with the audience in the virtual space.
Once the countdown starts, the audience will experience the entire planetarium being lifted off, and Kolkata being left behind. The city will gradually fade away from their vision, creating an illusion that the spaceship is entering space to watch other planets closely.
The audience will get to experience things like getting to watch lava spewing from the volcanoes in Mars, and also sense travelling through Saturn’s rings. After these, the audience will be taken beyond the stars and solar system to slowly exit the galaxy.
The images and information referring to each of the planet, as the imaginary spacecraft hovers past them, will be up to date and in sync with the latest observations of the largest telescopes observing the solar system at present.
The spaceship will then start its return journey by deploying a parachute, and as it approaches the Earth, it glides down softly to the planetarium site.
As of now, there is only one show happening daily in English. However, there are plans that shows dubbed in Hindi and Bengali will be added soon.
Clearly, such an informative show depicting the solar system and the stellar worlds beyond the Milky Way, should not be missed and should be experienced at least once.
All about the Birla Planetarium, Kolkata
It is the oldest and largest planetarium in Asia, and its design has been inspired by the architecture of Sanchi’s Great Stupa. This is more than one reason to visit it. Birla Planetarium boasts of high-end gadgets, such as Carl Zeiss Universal Planetarium projector, solar filters, Celestron C-14, and a wide variety of projectors to ensure that you enjoy uninterrupted views of astronomical objects. Don’t miss the solar filter that will let you get a clear vision of the space. The Birla Planetarium has more than 100 projects to unveil various facts of astrophysics and astronomy.