Jawaharlal Nehru Planetarium, Bengaluru (English)

The Jawaharlal Nehru Planetarium (JNP) is administered by Bangalore Association for Science Education (BASE). The BASE is devoted to science popularisation and non formal science education.

Started in 1989, the JNP has emerged as a premier institution devoted to science popularization and non formal science education in India. It attracts over four lakh visitors annually, majority of whom are students. It is equipped with a large 15 M dome and a state of the art hybrid projection system installed and commissioned in 2017. The JNP organizes several interesting programmes aimed at school students and general public. These are: monthly star gazing, science club activities, science movies, Sky-theatre shows every day, viewing of astronomical events etc.

Our science education activities include: Science Education in Early Development(SEED) for Primary school students, Science Over Week-ends (SOW) - Interactive Week-end Sessions for high school children, three year long week-end programme Research Education Advancement Programme (REAP) for undergraduate students, Summer Programmes, Science Exhibitions and Workshops. These programmes attract thousands of students every year. Over 135 students from BASE have got admission to Ph.D. courses in premier research institutes in India and abroad. Several of these REAP students have subsequently taken up post doctoral and regular research and teaching positions in prestigious centres. These include: Raman Research Institute, Indian Institute of Science, Indian Institute of Astrophysics, Jawharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research, TIFR, NCBS, ICTS, Wild Life Research Institute, Oxford University, Michigan State University, Delft Institute, State University New York, Buffalo, University of Florida, Cornell University.

The BASE has established a Science Centre in the Planetarium which has become a nucleus for non-formal science education at all levels. A Science Park with over 50 exhibits has been developed and set up in the campus. Lakhs of visitors are using these models to learn science in a joyful manner.

The activities of the Science Centre and the Planetarium have made the BASE a unique institution for dissemination of science.

VOYAGER: THE NEVER-ENDING JOURNEY

Synopsis for Brochure:

The new sky show “Voyager: the Never-Ending Journey”, together with a short preamble sky show (made by JNP) delightfully narrates the story of two Voyager robotic spacecraft launched by NASA in 1977. In the subsequent 12 years, Voyager-1 and 2 together explored the giant planets of the outer solar system - Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune - as well as their satellites. The Voyager-1 and 2 are now at distances which are unimaginable. This Sky Show thrillingly depicts the exciting story of Voyager Spacecraft through their long exploratory journey to the fascinating worlds. The story also tells us about goodwill messages carried by Voyager Spacecraft in many languages including Kannada to the possible intelligent life forms beyond our solar system. The breathtaking animations on the flight of Voyager Spacecraft over the satellites of the outer solar system is extremely exciting indeed. 

CELESTIAL FIREWORKS

The earth and the sky appear to be quite unchanging.   The programme reveals that the quiet, however, is a wonderful mask that covers a wide range of violent activities that the universe harbours Meteors burning up and meteorites creating craters on the earth, howsoever infrequent, often go unnoticed but with a curiosity to learn more about them. This programme deals with a variety of astronomical explosions and implosions that punctuate the quiet existence!  Different final stages in the life cycle of stars that are dictated by stars as well as core mass such as white dwarf stage, formation of Supernovae, Neutron stars, pulsars and ultimately Black Holes are discussed in detail with very high resolution digital images and videos.   Gravitational waves that were directly detected in 2016 for which the Indian scientific community has contributed significantly, is highlighted in the programme. Of course, the ultimate celestial firework that launched the cosmos, namely, the Big Bang is also presented in the programme.  

The programme spans about 40 minutes.

The surround sound adds to the overall impact of the visuals by way of soothing symphony that runs all-through the program. The experience at a planetarium stands redefined.

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