Planetarium offers virtual journey to faraway galaxy
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.