Planetarium Negara
Encyclopedia
The National Planetarium is the national planetarium
Planetarium
A planetarium is a theatre built primarily for presenting educational and entertaining shows about astronomy and the night sky, or for training in celestial navigation...

 of Malaysia. It is a blue-domed structure that is situated on top of a hill in the Lake Gardens at Jalan Perdana, Kuala Lumpur
Kuala Lumpur
Kuala Lumpur is the capital and the second largest city in Malaysia by population. The city proper, making up an area of , has a population of 1.4 million as of 2010. Greater Kuala Lumpur, also known as the Klang Valley, is an urban agglomeration of 7.2 million...

. It is about 120000 square feet (11,148.4 m²) in area.

History

The National Planetarium started as the Planetarium Division in the Prime Minister's Department in 1989. The construction of the National Planetarium complex began in 1990 and was completed in 1993. A soft launch to the public began in May 1993 and it was officially opened by the former Prime Minister of Malaysia
Prime Minister of Malaysia
The Prime Minister of Malaysia is the indirectly elected head of government of Malaysia. He is officially appointed by the Yang di-Pertuan Agong, the head of state, who in HM's judgment is likely to command the confidence of the majority of the members of that House of Representatives , the...

, Mahathir bin Mohamad
Mahathir bin Mohamad
Tun Dr. Mahathir bin Mohamad . is a Malaysian politician who was the fourth Prime Minister of Malaysia. He held the post for 22 years from 1981 to 2003, making him Malaysia's longest serving Prime Minister. His political career spanned almost 40 years.Born and raised in Alor Setar, Kedah, Mahathir...

, on February 7, 1994. In July 1995, the Division was transferred to the Ministry of Science, Technology and the Environment, which is also the owner of this planetarium.

Exhibits and attractions

One of the major attractions of this planetarium includes a space theatre which screens space shows and large format film.

In the main hall are permanent exhibits related to space science. Among them is Arianne IV space engine, which is also one of the engines used to launch MEASAT 1, Malaysia's first satellite into space. A 14 inches (355.6 mm) telescope is located in the observatory.

The National Planetarium extends to a space theme park where replicas of ancient observatories are sited. It is connected by an overhead pedestrian bridge to the National Museum of Malaysia.

Operating hours

The planetarium is opened daily from 9.30 am to 4.30 pm (except on Monday, Hari Raya Puasa and Hari Raya Haji). The planetarium shows take place at two-hour intervals from the opening hour to the closing hour. The films take place at 11am and 3pm. Entrance to the planetarium costs RM
Malaysian ringgit
The Malaysian ringgit is the currency of Malaysia. It is divided into 100 sen...

1 for adults, and free for children, while a RM6 fee for adults and RM4 fee for children is required in order to watch the film.

Images

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