We all love to gaze at the stars and the moon and find out what secrets the sky holds. However, in today's era, we simply lack the beautiful skyline in the cities anymore, where the stars were visible with our naked eyes.
Helping us with the same is a planetarium which is a theatre built primarily for presenting educational and entertaining shows about astronomy and the night sky, or for training in celestial navigation.
There is now a piece of Good news for all the people staying or visiting the 'City of Destiny'- Vizag. The city will have a brand new planetarium-cum-astrophysics science centre along with a natural history park and it will be one of its kind in the country.
What is a Planetarium?
A dominant feature of most planetariums is the large dome-shaped projection screen onto which scenes of stars, planets, and other celestial objects can be made to appear and move realistically to simulate the complex motions of the heavens. The celestial scenes can be created using a wide variety of technologies.
What will the experience entail?
The project, which is envisaged on the black hole concept, will have a museum with exhibits on astrophysics. There will be an 18 m nano seam dome with hybrid projection and a 3D digital projector. The planetarium will have a seating capacity of 200. Visitors can enjoy the virtual experience in a spaceship model with zero gravity and they can feel like astronauts.
What is the approximate project location, cost and completion date?
Location: The planetarium is located atop Kailasagiri on seven acres.
Cost: Rs. 90 crores approx.
Completion: By 2023
As per reports, It took almost one-and-a-half years to bring the planetarium project proposal into shape. The project design was prepared by an expert committee after collating project reports of several planetariums across the world. The design was further vetted by IIT Bombay, which finalised the project design.
The other VMRDA project is the natural history park, museum and research institute.
What is the approximate project location, cost and completion date?
Location: 15 acres at Kapuluppada.
Cost: Rs. 90 crores is approximated for the project of which the Centre’s share is Rs 38 crores and the VMRDA will bear the remaining cost.
Completion: By 2022-2023
What will the experience entail?
A biodiversity park where exotic plants from six continents will be on display. Bio domes will be set up for creating different ecosystems. There will also be a fossil park with fossils of dinosaurs procured from various parts of the globe. Galleries explaining the evolution of humankind, geology of earth, its resources such as rocks, minerals, gems, diamonds can also be experienced.
A walk-through aquarium where visitors can walk through this and enjoy ocean life forms is also planned.
The Government is hopeful that the twin projects will help boost scientific temperament among students.
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