Patna: Have you ever wondered how does the Earth look like in space?

A luminous globe about 1.8m in diameter suspended from the ceiling, the surface of which would allow projected moving images to wrap around it, would provide space enthusiasts in Patna a celestial view.

Courtesy: The Science on a Sphere (SOS), a digital simulation facility at Shrikrishna Science Centre, which would be inaugurated by the end of this month.

According to Shrikrishna Science Centre officials, this would be the first such facility in Bihar and Jharkhand.

"Developed by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) in US, the Science on a Sphere is a large visualisation system that uses computers and video projectors to display animated data on the outside of a sphere. Around 1.8m in diameter, the globe shows dynamic, animated images of the atmosphere, oceans, and land of the planets," said a senior official with the Shrikrishna Science Centre, adding that the Centre had imported the hardware from Germany at a cost of Rs 2 crore, while the software came from NOAA.

Through special software and projectors, the sphere provides dramatic, full-motion views of the Earth, Sun, Moons and other planets in space using more than 500 real-time data sets.

"Using the sphere one can see how the cloud cover over the city and the rest of India is changing over a given period of time. Around 70 people can enjoy the SOS show in a climate-controlled hall by the end of this month," added the official.

One can also see how the night sky looks from the space or how the Earth looks like at night when viewed from the space. "Other interesting images include movement of aircraft all over the world, vegetation across different geographies and how the Earth would look like if the water from all the oceans is removed. Data and images on cyclones, hurricanes and storms can also be seen," he said.

The SOS facility is available at few centres in the country and that too which are running under the National Council of Science Museums, said the official. "The SOS facility is available in Delhi, Calcutta, Mumbai and Bangalore centres," said the Shrikrishna Science Centre official.

"Making people understand the complex environmental processes through animated images is what the new facility is aimed at," the official added.