POL: Heavens of Copernicus

Wybrzeze Kosciuszkowskie 20, Warsaw, Poland
Hours vary throughout the year
(http://www.niebokopernika.pl/en/visit-us/opening-hours/)

Heavens of Copernicus is a planetarium managed by Copernicus Science Centre that's situated on the bank of Vistula River in the capital city of Poland. Opened to the public on 19 June 2011, it houses not only a projection room for paid shows, but also a permanent exhibition that's free of charge.

From Centrum Nauki Kopernik metro station, my BFF and I passed through Discoverers Park to reach the planetarium.

Metallic candy canes?

Care for a ride?

The building, which is said to resemble an enormous boulder, has got a rooftop garden that's opened from May to October every year.

The rooftop garden is accessible by wheelchair.

Somehow, just somehow, looking at those made me want to eat pineapples.

A nice view of Vistula River from up there!

Let's go inside the building.

You can get tickets for the paid shows either from the front desk or online.

There's a cafeteria serving snacks and beverages.

The free exhibition is on the second and third floor of the building.

Anyone interested to travel to outer space?

The Cupola is an observatory module of the International Space Station launched on 8 February 2010.

There are a few interactive touch monitors for you to play with.

Observing the corona of the sun~

Setting the satellite speed at 99,999 m/s will surely cause the object to break free from the orbit.

Subsequently, we proceeded to the third floor via the rainbow staircase.

As of August 2017, there were over 4,500 satellites orbiting the Earth, but only 37.5% were active.

The radius of the dome is 16 m.

I waited for some enthusiastic children to allow me to capture the following photos.

Asteroid showers across the globe!

Last but not least, we saw some authentic meteorites.

Imagine getting hit on the head by that...

Perhaps it's just me, but there's something sinister about that particular piece.

For a change, we went for a laser show titled 'The Dark Side of the Moon', a tribute to Pink Floyd. For the uninitiated, it's an English rock band formed in 1965 that was acclaimed for their progressive and psychedelic music. The ticket for the 50-minute show, which was awarded the first prize by the International Laser Display Association in 2014, costs 30.00 zł (~S$11.15).

For those interested to visit the science centre, the standard entrance fee is 31.00 zł (~S$11.50) on weekdays or 33.00 zł (~S$12.25) on weekends. Children, college students, seniors and disabled individuals are entitled to cheaper tickets.

Aquaporins are membrane proteins that facilitate the transport of water between cells.

Copernicus Science Centre is the largest institution of its type in the country. It's also one of the most advanced in Europe.