I was surprised to learn that there was a Planetarium not far from our Airbnb. I can’t remember the last time I’ve been to a planetarium, I’m not even sure I’ve ever been to a planetarium. Actually, I am not even sure what a planetarium is. I later looked it up and learned that a planetarium is like a movie theater where the movie is projected onto a dome ceiling to give viewers that sensation they are looking up at the sky.
The company is called “The Traveling Telescope” so I imagined we would be looking through a telescope at the night sky, but this I learned could be done at an “observatory” and not at a “planetarium”. My ignorance in astronomy did nothing to dent my curiosity, so I made a reservation through Whatsapp for the 7 pm show and talk.
It was raining that evening so we put on our raincoats and after a 15-minute walk from our Airbnb, we arrived at the Traveling Telescope. It was pitch dark so RY took out his headlamp to light the way. We entered a tent of some sort and were amazed at what we saw inside. It was a yurt, similar to the ones we saw in Inner Mongolia last year, with a domed roof under which reclined couches and beanbags were arranged for visitors to get comfy.
The show was an immersive experience and began with beautiful images of the cosmos paired with trance music. Following this introduction, we watched a fascinating film, “Unveiling the Invisible Universe”, that explored the history and progress of man’s understanding of the universe. It described each of the planets, including Earth, in turn, and the ever-changing “violent” universe that underscored the tiny part that we humans play in the overall scheme of things.
Still, the best part was yet to come. My favorite part of the program was listening to the presentation by Ronald, the host of the evening. He introduced himself, and gave a riveting talk starting with the basics of astronomy, delving into facts about individual stars, the constellations, the ecliptic line and touching on the life and death of stars. I don’t think I have ever met an astronomer or astrophysicist before and I am just tickled that the first astronomer and astrophysicist that I have ever met, I met in Nairobi.
After Ronald’s talk, he played a strange but fascinating music video of a song called “Monsters of the Cosmos”, referring to black holes.
“There are monsters out in the cosmos
That can swallow entire stars
Inside these equations, there’s a monster
Anything that strays too close will be pulled in
Gravity is infinite at the center of black hole
Time stops – space makes no sense “
You can view the full video of “Monsters of the Cosmos” by Symphony of Science, the same one we saw at the Nairobi Planetarium, on YouTube here.
After the unforgettable evening with Ronald at the Traveler’s Telescope ended, we exited the planetarium. The rain had stopped and we walked home, each of us silently reflecting on what we had just experienced.
