The foundation stone of this beautiful building of Saturn shape was laid on 28th Feb 1988 by the chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh Hon. Late Veer Bahadur Singh. Indira Gandhi Planetarium was inaugurated on 8th May 2003 by the Hon. Chief Minister of UP Ms. Mayawati. From 9th May 2003 Planetarium has been opened for public.
Structure: -
Indira Gandhi Planetarium building is in unique Saturn shape with its five rings. The 21 meters diameter spherical building of the planetarium rest on platform, which is especially designed to give an idea of crater formation on celestial bodies. The platform is surrounded by water-pool with fountains. The ground floor of the planetarium building has a space gallery with some models and charts of Indian satellites. Main auditorium of 15 meters diameter is on the first floor.
The Capacity: - 168 seats
Objectives: -
The Government of Uttar Pradesh has established a Planetarium at Lucknow with following objective:
Planetarium Equipment :-
Model G - 1518 with thirteen panorama scenes projectors and many special effect projectors from GOTO OPTICAL LTD, JAPAN. Two video CRT projectors from Barco Pvt Ltd, Belgium integrated with the projecting system.
Project Cost: - Rs. 23 crores.
Shows: -
First Show "Our World and Beyond" was run from 8th May, 2003.
Second Show "Vision Beyond Light Years" was run from 11th Dec 2003.
Third Show "The Living Planet: Our Earth" is being running since 22 April 2004.
The present show title is “The Comet: The bird of Passage” is running from 4th November 2004.
Note: Show changes in every six to eight months.
Show Duration: - 34 to 40 Min.
Timing of Shows :-
Regular show timings of planetarium are as follows:
1:00, 2:00, 3:00, 4:00 and 5:00 PM
(Extra show at 6:00 PM in summer)
Morning time from 9:30 am to 1:00 pm.
9:30 am to 12:00 pm noon
Extra shows for a group of 100 or more students against advance booking.
First show is in English and remaining are in Hindi.
PLANETARIUM REMAINS CLOSED ON MONDAY.
Ticket Rate: -
Unique Features: -
UPCOMING NEW FEATURES / ACTIVITIES: -
Number of Visitors: -
In the financial year of 2003-2004 general public visited the Planetarium are 76030 and no. of students are 16220.
In the financial year of 2004-2005 general public visited the Planetarium are 42253 and no. of students are 16077.
In the current financial year i.e. April 2005 to August 2005 general public visited the Planetarium are 11357 and no. of students are 6345.