Jawaharlal Nehru Planetarium, Bengaluru (Kannada)

"Dawn of the Space Age” - Kannada Slot: 11:30 AM The quest to explore outer space was a much-cherished dream of mankind. The idea emerged out of fiction in to reality on October 4, 1957 when the erstwhile Soviet Union launched Sputnik, the first ever artificial satellite of the earth. Yuri Gagarin became the first man in space. The first space walk by Alexey Leonov was another major achievement. The success of the Soviet Union’s launch in to space triggered the United States to initiate its space programs. The race between the two nations led to the Apollo and Luna missions. The program Dawn of the Space Age narrates the passion, enthusiasm and perseverance of the pioneers with the scientific details of the challenges they had to face. Ups and downs in the space programs were inevitable in the totally new environment and unforeseen challenges. The safe return of Yuri Gagarin to earth, and the reentry of Alexey Leonov in to the module after the space walk are some examples. Docking, which is very commonly used today was first attempted by Neil Armstrong only to be abandoned. The historical step of Neil Armstrong and the subsequent trips to the moon provided opportunities to carry out scientific experiments like running a vehicle on the moon and the famous “feather and hammer” demonstration to verify Galileo’s principle of equivalence. It boosted the confidence of the two nations and venture unmanned space trips to Mars and Venus later. What began as a rivalry between superpowers resulted in mutual appreciation and finally co-operation. The initial efforts and experience of the Soviets on Mir Space station gave valuable input to the International Space Station which is serving the man kind with its special laboratory facilities. The programme “Dawn of the Space Age” is a Mirrordome+ show with special visual effects providing the immersive experience of space travel. Produced by Mirage IIID, it has recreated visuals which are scientifically accurate. JNP has provided additional subtitles, music and editing apart from production of the Kannada version to suit the local needs. Our Sun and its Family - Kannada at 2:30pm The sky theatre shows “Our Sun and its Family” highlights the important features of the eight planets of our solar system and extends to a brief mention of asteroids, Kuiper Belt Objects and ‘Oort cloud’ of comets through enthralling visualisation supported by inspiring animations. Breath taking visuals of Barren landscape of Mercury, cloud covered surface of Venus, life sustaining Earth which is our home, our only natural satellite Moon, the ever exciting planet Mars, the mighty Jupiter, the magnificent Saturn with its system of rings, distant Uranus and Neptune makes us aware of the variety in our solar system. This 42-minute sky theatre show will be an exciting experience that takes you on a rewarding journey around the solar system and visually enlightens you on the wonders of its members which are endowed with immense beauty and enormous extent. CELESTIAL FIREWORKS The earth and the sky appear to be quite unchanging. The programme reveals that the quiet, however, is a wonderful mask that covers a wide range of violent activities that the universe harbours Meteors burning up and meteorites creating craters on the earth, howsoever infrequent, often go unnoticed but with a curiosity to learn more about them. This programme deals with a variety of astronomical explosions and implosions that punctuate the quiet existence! Different final stages in the life cycle of stars that are dictated by stars as well as core mass such as white dwarf stage, formation of Supernovae, Neutron stars, pulsars and ultimately Black Holes are discussed in detail with very high resolution digital images and videos. Gravitational waves that were directly detected in 2016 for which the Indian scientific community has contributed significantly, is highlighted in the programme. Of course, the ultimate celestial firework that launched the cosmos, namely, the Big Bang is also presented in the programme. The programme spans about 40 minutes and the shows will be open to the public in English at 4.30 pm and 5:30 pm and Kannada at 3.30pm from April 4, 2026. The surround sound adds to the overall impact of the visuals by way of soothing symphony that runs all-through the program. The experience at a planetarium stands redefined.