The University of Mysore is set to have a planetarium of its own on its campus, according to G.Hemantha Kumar, Vice-Chancellor. At a function held to sign an MoU with Indian Institute of Astrophysics here on Friday, he said it will come up on the new campus named after Sri Jayachamaraja Wadiyar C. at the Chamundi foothills. ‘
The Vice-Chancellor said the IIA will set up the planetarium which will be state-of-the-art and though there are about 40 planetariums in the country, this is set to be the first to be attached to a university.
The cost of construction will be met entirely with funding by the Centre.
The MoU also stipulates conducting outreach programmes and holding periodic lectures. The IIA will also conduct programmes for school children so as to infuse interest in astronomy among them besides being of assistance to budding astronomers and researchers in the field.
The timeline for construction of the planetarium is not defined though Prof. Hemantha Kumar said that he expects the works to commence in due course.
Earlier, Annapurni Subramaniam, Director, IIA, Bengaluru, delivered a special lecture on ‘’Astronomy and Astrophysics: Physics, Chemistry, Biology and Mathematics of the Universe’’. The event also marked the inauguration of the outreach activities which will be held from Vignana Bhavan on the Manasagangotri campus for now.
