A visit to the Planetarium
The sun descended bright and shiny last Saturday and what a glorious day it was indeed, especially coming after a 6 week long spell of cloudy and rainy, cold and wet weather. We decided to make the most of this glorious sunshine by making a trip to Greenwich or Grenich as it is locally called. The visit involves a tube ride to Embankment (we lived in Bayswater at that time) and then a boat ride across the Thames to Greenwich Pier. The boat takes in many sights of London's skyline - the London Eye, The Royal Festival Hall, London bridge, St. Paul's Cathedral, Tower Bridge, O2 center and other buildings. If you are lucky, you get to see the Tower Bridge open up and lift its two forks to let a tall ship pass.
Greenwich is famous for the 0 degree longitude. In addition, it is home to London's only Planetarium- the Peter Harrison Planetarium as it is called. I was as excited as my young son and really looked forward to seeing the planets, stars etc. I told him stories of giant telescopes and how we could try identifying the planets - Jupiter being the biggest, Saturn with its rings , Mars the red planet etc. I have never been to one so far except a visit to the Smithsonian in Washington D.C. in early 2001, with Sekar and Meena - where I remember seeing a stone sample from Moon, space ships and an IMAX movie. I can't remember what exactly the movie was about except the special glasses we wore, and the theater was dome shaped, but it was all quite amazing, indeed.
So off we went to Royal Observatory, Greenwich and found a stone like thing - this is the oldest object one would every see. It was part of a meteor and was billions of years old. It turned out to be quite different from the stories I told my little one, since there were a lot of pictures but we did not see planets directly (he was a bit disappointed and so was I). And the highlight turned out to be the space movie shows and we booked in for a couple of them:
1. Across the Universe: a movie about Voyager probes across Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune and Pluto. The probes were launched in 1977 on a special day that will occur only once in 176 years. The probes were designed to use the gravity of the planet they were closest to, as a launch pad to go further. The design of the probes and the pictures it has sent- the whole thing is a remarkable feat of human engineering and technology - a showcase of the finest and the best!
2. The second show called Night Sky - discussed/explained the constellations,stars and planets that were visible on the sky that day- how to identify Orion, the Pole Star etc. Venus, Jupiter, Mars and Saturn were visible as well albeit as small dots.
When we got back home, I chanced upon an article that the normally shy and reticent Neil Armstrong had addressed the CPA society of Australia by giving an hour long talk.He spoke of how Kennedy's dream of sending man to moon had galvanized an entire team of scientists and engineers to do the impossible and the Apollo mission to the moon had resulted. http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2012/may/23/neil-armstrong-accountancy-website-moon-exclusive
It amazes me this wonderful human trait - of doing the impossible, finding solutions, doing the unbelievable, breaking barriers, teamwork and what the best brains can do together especially within a deadline, what passion, patriotism and competition can achieve! And leaves me wondering why we are unable to find solutions to today's problems - plastics, pollution, wars etc.
As I am writing this from a bench in the Broadwalk Cafe in Kensington Garden Park, my husband hands me an Orange juice. I just gaze at the Plastic Container and suddenly the lettering on the cup catches my eye- it says 100% compostable, Bio-degradable and made from Plants. Wow, I think, there is hope!
Greenwich is famous for the 0 degree longitude. In addition, it is home to London's only Planetarium- the Peter Harrison Planetarium as it is called. I was as excited as my young son and really looked forward to seeing the planets, stars etc. I told him stories of giant telescopes and how we could try identifying the planets - Jupiter being the biggest, Saturn with its rings , Mars the red planet etc. I have never been to one so far except a visit to the Smithsonian in Washington D.C. in early 2001, with Sekar and Meena - where I remember seeing a stone sample from Moon, space ships and an IMAX movie. I can't remember what exactly the movie was about except the special glasses we wore, and the theater was dome shaped, but it was all quite amazing, indeed.
So off we went to Royal Observatory, Greenwich and found a stone like thing - this is the oldest object one would every see. It was part of a meteor and was billions of years old. It turned out to be quite different from the stories I told my little one, since there were a lot of pictures but we did not see planets directly (he was a bit disappointed and so was I). And the highlight turned out to be the space movie shows and we booked in for a couple of them:
1. Across the Universe: a movie about Voyager probes across Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune and Pluto. The probes were launched in 1977 on a special day that will occur only once in 176 years. The probes were designed to use the gravity of the planet they were closest to, as a launch pad to go further. The design of the probes and the pictures it has sent- the whole thing is a remarkable feat of human engineering and technology - a showcase of the finest and the best!
2. The second show called Night Sky - discussed/explained the constellations,stars and planets that were visible on the sky that day- how to identify Orion, the Pole Star etc. Venus, Jupiter, Mars and Saturn were visible as well albeit as small dots.
When we got back home, I chanced upon an article that the normally shy and reticent Neil Armstrong had addressed the CPA society of Australia by giving an hour long talk.He spoke of how Kennedy's dream of sending man to moon had galvanized an entire team of scientists and engineers to do the impossible and the Apollo mission to the moon had resulted. http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2012/may/23/neil-armstrong-accountancy-website-moon-exclusive
It amazes me this wonderful human trait - of doing the impossible, finding solutions, doing the unbelievable, breaking barriers, teamwork and what the best brains can do together especially within a deadline, what passion, patriotism and competition can achieve! And leaves me wondering why we are unable to find solutions to today's problems - plastics, pollution, wars etc.
As I am writing this from a bench in the Broadwalk Cafe in Kensington Garden Park, my husband hands me an Orange juice. I just gaze at the Plastic Container and suddenly the lettering on the cup catches my eye- it says 100% compostable, Bio-degradable and made from Plants. Wow, I think, there is hope!