Meet and greet the wonders

(A web review of new planetarium show: CELESTIAL WONDERS)

Celestial wonders are now going to be projected as understandable to even younger minds. Calicut planetarium brings a new planetarium show titled “The Celestial Wonders” for its citizens of Malabar. In this show the scientific explanations of few awesome phenomenons were put forth with some simple but startling visual aids.

From antiquity, the natural phenomenon like eclipses, transits etc were looked upon as wonders by the humanity and perceived with superstitions. With time, the human mind discovered the scientific basis behind most of them. We now know the answers of “how” for many of these phenomenons but the “why” haunts our mind.

Visualizing the total solar eclipse observed on 24^th October 1995 the show takes us through these types of phenomenon and also other universal aspects which are invisible from earth.

Viewers can learn considerably about the types, steps and reason behind these eclipses. Further, the phenomenon of transit is dealt with adequate details. Also, it brings a beautiful view of Venus transit as observed on 8^th June 2004. Discussions on apparent motion of celestial bodies along with earth’s rotation, it trance dents the viewers to certain universalisations.

Giving the space view of our solar system, it depicts earth as viewed from space. Along with this it quickly glances through the planets of our solar system like Mars, Jupiter and so on.

The concept of constellations are compared and contrasted with respect to the views of our ancestors and those of modern times as defined by International Astronomical Union. The Orion constellation is showed explicitly. Thereafter we are taken a voyage through the virtual land scape as understood through the observations from the eyes of the Hubble Space Telescope. It is one of the unforgettable experiences for the visitors. Subsequently it has been shown to us that, we all, every thing, the living and the non living, what there was, the present and what comes with times, the congregation of matter are nothing but “Star stuff”.

This show strengthens the belief regarding the existence of exoplanets, that is, planets orbiting other stars. An exotic view of a galactic collision and the magnanimous energy output from a quasar is just breath taking.

Lastly it upholds the significance of gravity in the whole universe. As a bonus, the visitors enjoy a ride through a worm hole which provides short cuts across the universe created by a neighboring black hole.

The search for celestial wonders ends by depicting the significance of our planet Earth as the sole known sustainer of most mysterious – LIFE.