Ravi Rajesh
Bhubaneswar, March 22: The famous Pathani Samanta Planetarium, which was established on January 8, 1990, in the city to create awareness about astronomy, astrophysics and space science among the people, is now planning to set up two new halls within its premises to accommodate more viewers, who often throng the institution to get a glimpse of, among other things, the audio visual shows on diverse topics.
The planetarium often carries out interesting activities like night sky viewing, audiovisual programs and poster shows. It, from time to time, displays various astronomical devices. The planetarium encourages people, who do research in the field of astronomical science and also provide them financial help for carrying out their researches. The planetarium has a well stocked library containing books on science and technology.
The audio visual shows here are, at present, based on eight themes including, mystery of night sky, secrets of sun, 2 pieces of glass (telescope), wonders of universe etc. The shows are held in three different languages. There are four shows per day, and each show is of 30 minutes duration.
Deputy director of the planetarium Subendhu Patnaik, said “The planetarium is coming up with two more auditorium halls, named Info Centre and Utility Centre within the premises. Inside the halls we will make a classroom for 100 students; there we will conduct regular workshops, based on concept in astronomy and astrophysics. The planetarium completed its silver jubilee, in the running year and the digitalisation of the planetarium was made on May 29, 2012. After the digitalisation was completed, the inflow of tourists surged. Now, nearly 1.5 lakh tourists visit every year and people are enjoying the themes.”
The planetarium every year organises talent search contest, christened “Young Astronomer Talent Search”, in the state. The top 20 talented youngsters are awarded by eminent personalities on the birth anniversary of the noted astronomer Samanta Chandra Sekhar Mahapatra, every year on December 13. The planetarium also sponsors the talented students of various educational institutions to visit the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) for field study.
Ankita Anindita, a BSc Maths student, Government Autonomous College, Phulbani, who was visiting the planetarium Saturday, said “This is my second visit to the planetarium and I noticed new themes are introduced and the clarity is much better now than it used to be four years ago when I last visited the place. However, we are in the era of technology, so, if the authorities take some necessary steps to give 3D effect to its shows, then it would add some more colours to the shows”.