Chinese boy who went viral for correcting planetarium’s mistakes now teaching astronomy to classmates

September 14, 2022

A 9-year-old boy in China who previously went viral for pointing out inaccuracies in a video shown at a planetarium is now teaching astronomy to his classmates.

The boy, Yan Hongsen, went viral in July after a video showed him pointing out several inaccuracies in an educational film about the Long March rockets that was shown at a planetarium.

While visiting the planetarium in Lhasa, Tibet, with his father, Yan realized that the film misidentified a Long March 3 rocket as a Long March 5 rocket. After the planetarium took notice of the boy’s feedback, they immediately revised the mistake and thanked Yan for his corrections.

As a new school year began, Yan’s school held an opening ceremony and invited the 9-year-old to give his classmates a lesson on astronomy and space science.

Yan’s teacher stated that following the boy’s lecture, his classmates were inspired to become more open about their own hobbies and interests.

“It’s their peers who can most influence children … whenever they have a question, they go to Hongsen,” the teacher told CCTV per South China Morning Post.

As a passionate astronomy enthusiast, Yan hopes to continue giving his classmates astronomy lectures throughout the school year.

“In the new school year I want to teach more astronomy classes to my classmates and I also want to learn something new myself,” Yan said.

According to his father, Yan has been a space enthusiast since he was 4 years old after watching a clip of “the launch of the Venezuelan Remote Sensing Satellite-2 at the Jiuquan satellite launch center.”

To support his passion, Yan’s parents have turned their living room into an observatory, bought him books and have taken him to museums. Yan has reportedly been to 22 planetariums and science museums across China.

Featured Image via Weibo

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