Planetarium offers virtual journey to faraway galaxy
By Boy de Waart
JAKARTA (JP): Still wondering where to take your kids to fill in an afternoon during the long school holidays? What about on a trip to a faraway galaxy -- to the planetarium at Taman Ismail Marzuki in Central Jakarta.
There your kids and you can enjoy pictures of celestial bodies, astronauts' voyages to the moon and replicas of their vehicles.
Planetarium Jakarta, and a similar facility in Bandung, manages to combine education and entertainment.
A Universarium Projector M VIII made by Carl Zeiss was installed when the planetarium was renovated between 1996 and 1997 to replace the old projector by the same manufacturer.
Postrenovation, the theater now has a maximum capacity of 400 people. The projector is able to show celestial bodies like the Sun, the Moon, other planets, stars, nebulae and galaxies on a domed screen 22 meters in diameter.
Beside the projector mentioned above, there are several special effects projectors that show, among other, the orbital motion of planets around the Sun, solar and Moon eclipses, meteor showers, lightning and a rotating Earth. This, according to one star-struck visitor, enables one to experience "flying out to space" and to behold "the fascinating architecture of the universe".
Different programs and shows are held every week. The planetarium is open Tuesday through Sunday, with different viewing times for school and other groups and individuals.
Being an active supporter of education, Planetarium Jakarta provides specific programs for collective students. Among the other resources that can be used for this purpose are a library, an observatory and an exhibition room.
The library houses books, magazines and astronomical and other related scientific literature.
The observatory has four small telescopes and a heliostat, each perched on a small, domed, roof. They include a 160mm- diameter, 2250mm-focal length Coude telescope, also made by Carl Zeiss. Photographic and visual observation of the Sun through this telescope are part of the scientific activities carried out at the planetarium. Public viewing of the Moon and other planets is through a 160mm-diameter, 1000mm-focal length Newtonian telescope.
A heliostat with 200mm primary mirror projects the image of the Sun on a screen in the observatory. The image is also displayed on a television for public viewing.
The largest telescope owned by Planetarium Jakarta is a Cassegrainian telescope with a 310mm diameter primary mirror. It is also used for scientific observation.
The exhibition room contains pictures and miniature models of celestial bodies and of space crafts, all of which are designed to popularize astronomy and space science.
"I didn't know what to expect, but I thought that it was pretty good," said Howard Silverfarb. He was visiting the planetarium with his grandson and wanted to see what the planetarium and the shows were all about.