National Planetarium : Eye-Opener

One fine day, in December 2011, I made a visit to the National Planetarium. I have no idea how to get there by public transportation, and so I drove. It was a quick drive because I went in the afternoon and there was no traffic! Yay to that! Everyone must be taking quick naps. From the parking lot, I walked a long stretch of stairs to the entrance. 

At the entrance of the National Planetarium, there were some shows being scheduled. I decided to try one of them. All tickets cost RM3 each. I would have loved to try all the shows but I did not have sufficient time. There is no fee to enter inside the National Planetarium. It would definitely be a shame if you did not purchase at least one of the shows!

Inside the National Planetarium, there were just lessons on the galaxy, its planets and the constellations.

This is the theater where I am going to watch my show. I bought ticket to watch "Passport to the Universe". There were no cameras allowed. It was so beautiful watching the show. I felt like I was in the galaxy itself. The narrator sounded like Tom Hanks. The screen was large, and the chair can be tilted back to see the top. We were actually inside a dome-like theater. It was about a 30 minute show. 

This actually reminded me of the series - Friends, where Rachel and Ross had their first date, I think. They watched the galaxy moving around them.

Finished with the show, I continued with my tour around the National Planetarium. There was a room called the 'Anti Gravity Room'. Intrigued, I saw that it was a small tunnel for people to slide through. Can you see in the below photo, the entrance is on the left, and the exit is on the right? Of course, I tried it.

Screens that display the various constellations that looked like the zodiacs. See, I took a photo of my zodiac - Libra. The constellation looks pretty simple. I thought the best belongs to Sagittarius.

In the below photo is actually the table we learnt in Chemistry! They displayed the items that are made of the minerals.

Then, I played a game where it was shown was minerals are contained in in each item. See, egg yolk has sulfur - this, I do not know. Milk has calcium - we all know that.

There are 2 floors in the National Planetarium.

And of course, the National Planetarium also displayed on our famous astronaut, and his journey to the Moon. Including the food he ate, and how the interior of the spacecraft looks like.

Outside the National Planetarium, I saw there was a huge tower, which I decided to go and see what was it. There was a lift that brought me up to the observation deck. There were telescopes to see the view of Kuala Lumpur. Totally reminded me of the time I went to KL Tower. 

Then, it was a walk to the park next to the National Planetarium 

This is a Sun Clock - direct translation from Jam Matahari as displayed. Just like its name, the time is read by looking at the shadows cast by the sun. There are many kinds of sun clock, and the one here is most suitable for Malaysia because it is a semi-circle equatorial sun clock and also because Malaysia is on the Equator - I understand the Equator part but not the semi-circle equatorial thing. 

This is a sculpture that symbolises space and time. I know - so abstract.

Next up - to see some observatory. 

This is an observatory in China. This observatory was a source of calendrical and astronomical information that helped order Chinese life. Is Calendrical even a word?

The famous stonehenge in England.

The Jai Singh Observatory in New Delhi, India.

And that marks the end of my personal tour around the National Planetarium. Definitely worth going for.

Look, their architecture is pretty - I know, my description is lame.