Significance of Science Centres and Planetarium in Learning and Development

This section of the post was written in 2010:
On a public holiday, I decided to visit the Planetarium in Bangalore, but unfortunately found it closed as it was too observing the public holiday. While walking back home, I wondered how many planetariums are there in India and what is its significance in today's world of Malls, Fast Food Corners and Amusement Parks? Does it still help an average Indian, especially the learners, both in the urban and rural area admire the natural wonders and phenomena or we have begun to take nature and universe for granted? This prompted me to ask this question to members of social media site: LinkedIn and following are the responses:

• Shumit Das, Aerospace Engineer, France: Planetariums... or Planetaria should in my view be a launching pad for outreach projects that enlighten children and adults alike to the benefits of space technology and aerospace research into peoples' lives. It should have the usual night sky and educational films, but it should also host knowledge days run by volunteers from aero societies and university degrees (maybe with sponsorship from engineering companies like TATA and Infosys) where people get to do hands-on practical tasks such as building and launching water filled rockets and learning about basic astro physics and maths using games and practical displays. This could also be the hub for lectures or space nights (e.g. In Toulouse France, they have a yearly night of the stars where astronomers gather in the Cité de Éspàce (space city) which is a big space centric theme park, and have lectures, free entry for all, and also themed displays and events purely to encourage people to learn and appreciate space and the world around them). Free interesting events will encourage the future generations of children to want to go to work in aerospace and push forward the nation's technology when the time comes in 15 years or so. Investing in their future now will result in massive return at the right moment in 10-15 years or so and may put India at the top of the space race.
• Mark Strauss, President/CEO at TOGO Media, LLC, U.S.A.:As, in the United States, the majority of facilities (such as planetaria and museums) receive little if any federal funding, I would suggest there may not be any need to wait for formal sponsorship. While federal sponsorship generally entails a long campaign of lobbying and communication, I believe you will find that commercial sponsorship often spontaneously follows institution programming and news. If necessary, facilities can charge a nominal "suggested" fee to help offset expenses while not turning away all who may be interested. As the Indian culture, if you will allow me, places an important focus on education, I believe you will have success in attracting visitors. In addition to "in-house" programs, I would immediately form a series outreach programs that may be taken to local schools, etc. I believe these efforts will then put you in a significantly better position to attract further commercial sponsorship and support.
• Krishna Barad, Manager-EXIM at Essar Steel Limited, India: Definitely such institutions should have all information including the latest happening. The information should be made available as per NASA, ISRO who are the key organizations on such matters. Should take up the matter with concerned ministry or minister who is the administrative in-charge.
• Luan Vu, Software Developer at MyVuStyle (Sole Proprietorship), U.S.A.: In the united states, the place we go to for information about current astronomical events are callled "Observatories", located at most universities and free to the public. As active research groups, they tend to operate at night when it's best suited for using of telescopes. We could ask anything and they would not only give the answer, but they would also allow us to look through their research telescope on the very topic being discussed. Planetarium are like libraries, mostly as reference resources on astronomy "as a topic", not as a news and timely advice site. Observatories tours are free, but you would have to dress warmly for the night time variation in weather and temperature since it's always "open air" in the observatory labs where the telescopes are used ( e.g. the roof are mobile and opens up into the night sky .) Take your children to the observatory, since they'll be more excited than going to a boring planetarium where the same show is presented day-after-day for years on end.
• John Pout, Head of Public Sector at Arval - BNP Paribas Group , UK: think they have lost the sense of wonder about the universe and the creative and mathematical genius behind it - and the sense that we are a part - a fantastic and amazing part of life, nature and creation. Maybe if we had more respect for it we might look after it better.

Planetarium

	Website & Address	Working hours (Coloured entries indicate facilities unique to the Planetarium)	Activities & Services (Coloured entries indicate facilities unique to the Planetarium)	Mgmt.	Publications	Facilities (Coloured entries indicate facilities unique to the Planetarium)
JN Planetarium, Mumbai	http://www.nehru-centre.org/planetarium.html Dr. Annie Besant Road, Worli, Mumbai - 400018 India Tel : 91 22 2496 4676 - 80 Fax : 91 22 2497 3827	11 AM to 5 PM Not open on public holidays	Science quiz contests, Astro-painting, Science elocution, Astro-poetry and Astro-quiz competitions. Special arrangements are made to watch, study and photograph Solar & Lunar eclipses, and many such other events. Telescopes are installed outside the Planetarium to enable eager visitors to watch these phenomena."Hide & Seek in the Sky " Regular Shows 12:00 noon - Hindi 01:30 p.m. - Marathi 03:00 p.m. - English 04:30 p.m. - Hindi Booking Hours 11:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.		Online News letter, Discovery of India, Indian Astronomy a source-book, Impact of the West and Exploring the Universe: the Planetarium Way, and colourful catalogue on Indian Master painters and sculptors. Videocassettes on Discovery of India, periodically published reports on seminars and symposia, Newsletter, which highlights the programmes for that month.	Culture Wing, Art Gallery, Exhibition hall, Auditorium Mobile Exhibition   Library	No Evening Shows and shows on public holidays. No observatory facilities
Birla Planetarium, Chennai	Tamilnadu Science & Technology Centre Gandhi Mandapam Road (Behind CLRI) Chennai- 600 025 Phone: 91-44 - 24410025 / 24416751 / 24915250	10 AM to 5:45PM Not open on public holidays	from 10 a.m. to 5.45 p.m. Timings for cosmic shows in the planetarium (English) are 10.45 a.m., 1.15 p.m. and 3.45 p.m. In Tamil, the show timings are 12 noon and 2.30 p.m. Solar and planetary and other heavenly phenomena, system, nature, ecology , meteorology			Science park, ecological park, Mobile Science Exhibition, Traffic park	No Evening Shows and shows on public holidays. No observatory facilities No Eclipse calendar with timings
JN Planetarium, Bangalore	http://www.taralaya.org/planetarium.htm Sri. T. Chowdaiah Road, High Grounds,  Bangalore-560001, Karnataka, India. 91 -080- 22203234/ 2226 6084/ 22379725	10 AM to 5:30 PM Not open on public holidays	Solar System:                    11:30am and 2:00pm Kannada . 12:45pm and 3:45pm English. Wonder World of Stars 2:45 pm Kannada. 4:30 pm English."Mirror dome+ shows. Acharya Jagdish Chandra Bose  on request 10:30am school booking Spl. Film shows. No shows on Tuesdays and Wednesdays Activity Calendar for 2010 yet to be published	Initially Bangalore Municipal Corpn. Now autonomous body: BASE: Bangalore Assn. For Science Edu. Invite Corporate, individual and group sponsors.	Illustrated booklet on Eclipses (Rs.25.00) in Kannada DVD “Eye on the Sky” with kannada sub-titles.	Exhibition halls, Science Park, ABAA (Assn. Of Bangalore Amateur Astronomers), REAP (Research Education & Advancement Programme), Bio-REAP	No Evening shows and shows on public holidays. No observatory facility No Eclipse calendar with timings
JN Planetarium, Delhi	http://www.nehruplanetarium.org/ Teen Murti House, New Delhi - 110011, India Telephone - 91-011-23014504,                     91-011-23012994. Fax - 91-011- 23016936 email - nehruplanetarium@gmail.com	10 am to 5:30 pm	The regular programmes of the Planetarium include public shows at 11:30 AM (English), 1:30 PM (Hindi), 3:00 PM (English) and 4:00 PM (Hindi) Special School Shows	Nehru Memorial Museum & Library		Auditorium, Exhibition halls Wiki Farm AAAD(Association of Amateur Astrologers) YAHOO Group	Annual Activity Calendar to be updated for 2010.  No Evening shows and shows on public holidays. No observatory facility
BM Birla Planetarium, Hyderabad	http://www.birlasciencecentre.org/planetarium/planetaruim.html phone: 91-040-23235081/232441067 FAX: 91-040-23237266	11:30am to 7:30pm and spl. Show at 8:15pm on holidays	Cosmic presentations highlighting various mysteries of the universe viz. Halley’s comet, Black Hole, etc. Spl. Interactive sessions for students. Popular courses on Astronomy and Astrophysics	Regd. Society of "Birla Institute of Scientific Research		Part of Science Centre: Museum, archaeology, dinosaurium, art gallery, Exhibition gallery, IIAMIS (International Instt. For Applicable Maths and Information Sc.) Live Remote Show from Birla Science Centre	No Monthly night sky chart or info on activities like eclipses, etc.
Birla Planetarium, Jaipur	http://www.bisr.res.in/bisr_home.php The Head, B M Birla Planetarium, Birla Insitute of Scientific Research Statue Circle, Jaipur-302001 Rajasthan, INDIA PHONE +91-141-2385367, 2385094, 5108162 FAX +91-141-2385121 EMAIL planet@bisr.res.in	The planetarium remains closed on last Wednesday of every month and visiting hours are 12.00 pm to 7.00 pm on all other days.	sky-shows to dispel the heavenly myths, propagate the basic concepts of astronomy and also train the amateurs to appreciate the grandeur of the night sky. The topics include evolution of earth, mysteries of cosmos, exploration of Mars and other planets. Interactive sessions are held following the sky-shows. A special live session has been designed and being regularly presented to higher classes to supplement their science syllabi.	Regd. Society of "Birla Institute of Scientific Research		Coordinates the activities of Amateur Astronomers Association which include telescope fabrication, astro-photography and organising evening sky-watch sessions.  Research, Auditorium, Bio-Informatics Centre, Museum	No Monthly night sky chart or info on activities like eclipses, etc.
Birla Planetarium, Kolkata India’s first and Asia’s largest planetarium	Situated at the junction of Shakespeare Sarani and Cathedral Road,	Visiting hours of the Planetarium: 1230hrs - 1830hrs   -  Preferred Timings: It is best to visit the museum in the evening; between 1500hrs - 1700hrs	Sundays & holidays - Two additional shows at 10.30 a.m. (Hindi) and 11.30 a.m. (Bengali). shows on Zodiac signs and stars, Journey to Antarctic, and New View of the Solar System Attend free discourses on astronomy M.P. Birla Planetarium conducts a 3-semester M. Phil course in Astronomy and Planetarium Sciences. In addition, it holds free evening course in Astronomy for sky gazers and enthusiasts.	Regd. Society of "Birla Institute of Fundamental Research".	Publish yearly astronomical pocket-calendars and picture post-cards etc have also been taken up. "Bust Stories" and "A Brief Introduction of Astronomy" are some of the astronomical publications lately by the Birla planetarium. 'Journal of the MP Birla Planetarium'.	an astronomical observatory that is furnished with a Celestron C-14 Telescope, accessorized with ST6 CCD Camera, Solar Filter and so on. There is also an Electronics Laboratory for designing and production of scientific equipments. For producing special effects during a show the planetarium has come up with an automatic system for better visual and other special effects.	Open on Sundays and public holidays No Evening shows. Does not have a website.
Indira Gandhi Planetarium, Patna	Website: http://patna.bih.nic.in/html/planetarium.htm Site 2: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patna_Planetarium Email:  Phone: 235264 http://patna.bih.nic.in/html/planetarium.htm		regular film shows on subjects related to astronomy. It also holds exhibitions, which attracts lots of visitors.[	Bihar Council on Science & Technology			Does not have a website with necessary details
Allahabad Planetarium, Allahabad	Phone no. is +91-532-2467093. Located by the side of the Anand Bhawan	Note that children below 5 years are not allowed. It is closed on Mondays and central government holidays	here are five shows on any day. Each show is a celestial journey. Each show features interesting and intriguing aspects related to space and astronomy. There is a moon model on display. Visitors can find their weights on Moon and Jupiter, too. The planetarium is also called Jawaharlal Planetarium.				Does not have a website with necessary details
Pathani Samanta  Planetarium, Bhubaneswar	JL Nehru Marg, city centre Phone: 2581613	The Planetarium offers regular shows about outer space on all days except Mondays from 2 00pm to 5 00 pm.	night sky watch, audio visual programs, poster shows and display of astronomical instruments. offers them financial help and also provides them with a bigger platform where they get the opportunity to interact in the conferences of international repute.			Auditorium, exhibition halls and library	Does not have a website with necessary details
Lucknow Planetarium				Council of Science and Research, UP			No information available
Calicut Planetarium	www.rscpcalicut.8m.com	10:30am to 6:30pm. Center remains closed on every Mondays and on the occasion of Onam and Diwali.					No website and access to detailed information on the
Priyadarshini Planetarium, Trivandrum	www.kstmuseum.com www.stedk.org	10:30am, 12:00pm, 3:00pm, 5:00pm	MAN AND THE UNIVERSE" "MYRIAD SUNS" School or any organization to pay Rs.1000.00 for Centre’s mobile display service.			Conference hall, Workshops, Sound - studio etc Exhibition Galleries, Children's science park, Mobile Science Exhibition.	Website inaccessible. Not much information available
Sardar V. Patel Plaentatium, Surat	http://www.suratmunicipal.gov.in/content/planetarium/main.shtml		The Planetarium runs a show on the universe, in Gujarati, from 11:15am -1:45pm, Wednesday-Saturday and from 2:45pm-5:45pm, Sunday and Tuesday. It is closed on Monday.	Surat Municipal Corpn.	Zodiac, Constellations, Planets, Monthly maps of Akash Darshan		Does not operate on public holidays
State	Total	Rural (R)	Urban (U)	City	% R population	%U population	States providing preliminary mobile exhibitions to Rural Areas
Maharashtra	96,752,247	55,732,513	41,019,734	Mumbai	57.60	42.40	Yes
Delhi	13,782,976	963,215	12,819,761	Delhi	06.99	93.01	Yes
West Bengal	80,221,171	57,734,690	22,486,481	Kolkata	71.97	28.03	No
Tamil Nadu	62,110,839	34,869,286	27,241,553	Chennai	56.14	43.86	Yes
Andhra Pradesh	75,727,541	55,223,944	20,503,597	Hyderabad	72.92	27.08	No
Bihar	82,878,796	74,199,596	8,679,200	Patna	89.53	10.47	No
UP	166,052,859	131,540,230	34,512,629	Allahabad	79.22	20.78	No
Rajasthan	56,473,122	43,267,678	13,205,444	Jaipur	76.62	23.38	No
Karnataka	52,733,958	34,814,100	17,919,858	Bangalore	61.02	33.98	No
Orissa	36,706,920	31,210,602	5,496,318	Bhubaneswar	85.03	14.97	No
Gujarat	50,596,992	31,697,615	18,899,377	Surat	62.64	59.52	No
Kerala	31,838,619	23,571,484	8,267,135	Trivandrum	74.03	25.96	Yes

Following are some suggestions based on the facts and statistics provided in the post: Planetarium and its Significance:

1. Use of the Social media Like LinkedIn, Twitter, etc. to form discussion groups to generate awareness of and disseminate the Planetarium's and Science Centre programmes and other activities. The platform can also be used by the other members of social media to share their ideas and support the activities too.
2. Support of ISRO for some interactive programmes with the students, where the scientists can have live interaction and discussions with the students of schools and colleges of urban areas to begin with. This can then be extended to rural areas with the Mobile Services of the Planetariums or through satellite facility it can also be extended to rural areas by ISRO with the support of Government of India’s infrastructure.
3. Formation of functional network of all Planetariums and Science Centres in India with the support of the Government of India through its telecommunication network support along with the technical support of ISRO and other Institutions that can help in disseminate the recent scientific achievements along with the scientific concepts mostly in the semi-urban and rural India too; who will benefit from the knowledge. We may be able develop many future scientists from these areas through your motivational activities!
4. Provide the planetary activities time table viz. the date and timings of solar and lunar eclipse on your website with broad messages to break the myths that are prevalent in not only the illiterate but also the educated Indians.
5. Through the science Centre, request you to enlighten the young minds on wise use of the environmental resources such as air, water, sunlight, flora and fauna. This should not only be for the students but also for their parents. This service will benefit the rural India more than the Urban India.
6.  We had been to Bangalore Planetarium on January 26, 2010, only to find it closed on the occasion of Republic Day holiday, it was rather unfortunate for many of us, who only can make it to the planetarium on public holidays or on Sundays. So, request you to solve our problem too. Science Centre and Planetariums will draw more interested people to benefit from their services on Public holidays.
7.  How about reaching out to localities through municipal corporations for local sponsorship for the corporation schools to spend a day at the planetarium to learn the use of telescope and how to make it. Then they can follow the sky map you publish in your website to then to effectively use the telescope with your constant guidance.

 As on February 9, 2017:

 Following are the Website URLs of the Science Centers and Planetarium across India:

1. Regional Science Cent and Planetarium, Calicut: http://rscpcalicut.org/home.html

2. Raman Science Centre, Nagpur: http://www.rscnagpur.gov.in/

3. Puducherry Science Centre, Puducherry: http://dste.puducherry.gov.in/PSCP/about_pscp.htm

4. B.M. Birla Science Centre, Hyderabad: http://www.birlasciencecentre.org/

5. Goa Science Centre, Goa: http://goasciencecentre.org.in/

6. Anna Science Centre, Tiruchirapalli: http://www.ascplanetarium.in/

7. Nehru Science Centre, Mumbai: http://www.nehrusciencecentre.gov.in/

8. Jorhat Science Centre and Planetarium, Assam: website not available (http://jorhat.nic.in/jorhat-planetarium-in-jorhat.html)

9. Regional Science Centre, Dehra Dun: http://www.ucost.in/blog/rsc/

10. Science Centre, Surat: https://www.suratmunicipal.gov.in/Services/ScienceCentreHome

11. Tamil Nadu Science and Technology Centre + B.M. Birla Planetarium, Chennai: http://www.tnstc.gov.in/

12.  National Council of Science Museums, Calcutta: http://ncsm.gov.in/

13. District Science Centre, Tirunelvelli: http://www.dsctirunelveli.org.in/

With unprecedented advancement in science and technology, especially education technology, all the science centers and planetarium across India can be interlinked and subsequently connected to all the neighbouring educational institutions.  The students (formal learners) can learn more effectively through applied learning; viz. when they have to learn about the solar system, they can visit the science centre and learn about the solar system, instead of attending a classroom session on the subject. Then, through collaborative learning and projects can reinforce the learning. Learning and both formative and summative assessment can be an integral part of such a learning method.

You may question how can the students in the government schools and in the rural areas  have easy access to the science centres and such infrastructure or facilities? This is possible through Private Public Partnership (PPP) to provide the infrastructure support at district level. The students can use it for environmental studies and their application in their everyday life. Mobile Science Laboratories and Science Centre can travel to remote village schools to support various educational programme.

The network of the regional science centres can publish bulletins and newsletters that can help their neighbouring educational institutions to plan their educational activities and schedules according to the programme of the science centre. 

The science centre can organise various science exhibition and Olympiad at regional and national level. This can be an effective form of collaborative form of applied learning.

Please share your comments and suggestions on this post.