Viewing Mars at BITM. A Telegraph picture

Footfall: 200 on an average daily, going up to 500.

Profile: Families with tots, teenagers, tourists and all.

City multiplexes may be drawing in crowds for a look at the stars on the silver screen, but science museums offering a closer view of a different set of stars ? the ones in the sky ? aren?t faring badly either.

?We are having at least 200 visitors every evening and the number shot past 500 during the Mars opposition,? said Jayanta Sthanapati, director of Birla Industrial & Technological Museum (BITM).

The Gurusaday Road museum is conducting a Mars-viewing session to highlight the high-end 10-inch Cassegrain telescope it has just procured.

The spectator surge is forcing the authorities to extend the 6 pm-to-9 pm session, since ?people are coming in even a few minutes before the scheduled closing time?.

The scene at MP Birla Planetarium is no different. ?During the Mars opposition, we had crowds of 250-plus people,? said Debiprosad Duari, director, research & academics.

Mars opposition ? the biennial phenomenon of the Red Planet drawing nearer to Earth ? is the top draw, but with the approach of winter and the evening sky clearing up, there will be more to watch in the coming months.

And it?s not just science students or astronomy aficionados who are queuing up for a look. ?Mostly families with kids are coming in, some from as far as Kalyani. Besides, groups of schoolchildren and youngsters are visiting, too,? said Sthanapati.

The increase in general awareness observed among visitors is something remarkable as well. ?They are really interested in learning the details. During opposition, we got lots of queries on the distance between Mars and Earth, and why Mars is drawing nearer,? said Duari.

BITM?s viewing programme is scheduled to end on November 13, but the museum is planning to make it a round-the-year affair. ?We are also organising a special viewing session for underprivileged children on Children?s Day.?