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The London Planetarium building is located on Marylebone Road, London. It is adjacent to and owned by Madame Tussauds. It previously housed a planetarium, offering shows related to space and astronomy. In 2006, it was closed as a separate attraction and became part of Madame Tussauds. Since 2010, the building that previously housed the London Planetarium had a Marvel Super Heroes 4D attraction.
The London Planetarium was opened by Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh [1] on 19 March 1958, [2] with public presentations commencing on 20 March. [3] It occupied the site of a cinema destroyed in the Second World War, [4] and seated an audience of around 330 people beneath a horizontal dome approximately 18.29 m (160 ft) in diameter. For its first five decades of operation an optomechanical star projector, a Zeiss projector Mark IV, [5] offered the audience a show based on a view of the night sky seen from Earth. Between 1977 and 1990, evening laser performances called 'Laserium' were held.
In 1995, Digistar II was installed as part of a £4.5 million redevelopment, adding monochromatic 3D journeys through virtual outer space and others. The Planetarium was used to teach students from University College London's astronomy department the complexity of the Astronomical coordinate system.
In 2004, the planetarium was upgraded to a full-colour Digistar III system that allowed for both pre-rendered and real-time shows to transport the audience in an immersive full-dome video environment to outer space.
In January 2006, the London Evening Standard reported that the London Planetarium was being renamed "The Auditorium" and would replace astronomical presentations with entertainment shows. Madame Tussauds subsequently announced that in July 2006, the Auditorium would open with a show by Aardman Animations about celebrities.
Dr. Henry C. King served as Scientific Director before opening and managing the McLaughlin Planetarium in Toronto, Canada. [6] John Ebdon, author, broadcaster, and Grecophile, was director of the London Planetarium . [7]
A planetarium is a theatre built primarily for presenting educational and entertaining shows about astronomy and the night sky, or for training in celestial navigation.
The Roger B. Chaffee Planetarium, named for astronaut Roger B. Chaffee, was constructed in the early 1960s as part of the Public Museum of Grand Rapids. The facility initially featured a 30-foot (9.1 m) plaster dome and a Goto Optics mechanical star projector. Among the planetarium's first shows was "Star of Wonder", an astronomical attempt at an explanation of the Star of Bethlehem. The show received positive reviews in the Grand Rapids area and remained in the Chaffee's catalogue for several years.
The Clark Planetarium is a planetarium and science museum situated within The Gateway at the intersection of 400 West and 100 South in downtown Salt Lake City, Utah, United States. The Clark Planetarium opened in April 2003, replacing the historic Hansen Planetarium under a grant from the Clark Foundation in cooperation with Salt Lake County.
The Fleet Science Center is a science museum and planetarium in Balboa Park in San Diego, California. Established in 1973, it was the first science museum to combine interactive science exhibits with a planetarium and an IMAX Dome (OMNIMAX) theater, setting the standard that most major science museums follow today. It is located at the east end of the El Prado Drive walkway, next to the Bea Evenson Fountain and plaza in central Balboa Park.
UNA Observatory is an astronomical observatory owned and operated by the University of North Alabama. It is located in Florence, Alabama (USA). It has 2 telescopes, a Celestron 0.35 m Schmidt–Cassegrain telescope. The UNA Planetarium is a 65-seat planetarium with a Spitz A3P projector and East Cost Control Systems controller.
Armagh Planetarium is a planetarium in Armagh, Northern Ireland. It is located close to the city centre and neighbouring Armagh Observatory in approximately fourteen acres of landscaped grounds known as the Armagh Astropark.
The McLaughlin Planetarium is a former working planetarium whose building occupies a space immediately to the south of the Royal Ontario Museum in Toronto, at 100 Queen's Park. Founded by a grant from philanthropist Colonel R. Samuel McLaughlin, the facility was opened to the public on October 26, 1968. It had, for its time, a state-of-the-art electro-mechanical Zeiss planetarium projector that was used to project regular themed shows about the stars, planets, and cosmology for visitors. By the 1980s the planetarium's sound-system and domed ceiling were used to display dazzling music-themed laser-light shows. The lower levels of the planetarium contained a gallery called the "Astrocentre" that featured space-related exhibits, related artifacts on the history of astronomy and was also home of the world's first commercial Stellarium
A planetarium projector, also known as a star projector, is a device used to project images of celestial objects onto the dome in a planetarium.
Kyiv Planetarium in Kyiv, Ukraine is one of the largest planetaria in former Soviet states. Opened on January 1, 1952, by the initiative of the scientist-astronomer Serhiy Vsekhsviatskiy (1905–1984), the planetarium has a dome of 23.5 meters in diameter, and seats 320 people.
Digistar is the first computer graphics-based planetarium projection and content system. It was designed by Evans & Sutherland and released in 1983. The technology originally focused on accurate and high quality display of stars, including for the first time showing stars from points of view other than Earth's surface, travelling through the stars, and accurately showing celestial bodies from different times in the past and future. Beginning with the Digistar 3 the system now projects full-dome video.
Chabot Space and Science Center, located in Oakland, California, is a center for learning in Earth and space science, which features interactive exhibits, planetariums, a large screen theater, hands-on activities, and three powerful telescopes.
The Rose Center for Earth and Space is a part of the American Museum of Natural History in New York City. The Center's complete name is The Frederick Phineas and Sandra Priest Rose Center for Earth and Space. The main entrance is located on the northern side of the museum on 81st Street near Central Park West in Manhattan's Upper West Side. Completed in 2000, it includes the new Hayden Planetarium, the original of which was opened in 1935 and closed in 1997. Neil deGrasse Tyson is its first and, to date, only director.
Armand Neustadter Spitz was an American planetarium designer.
The Planetarium Science Centre (PSC) is a department in the Bibliotheca Alexandrina located in Alexandria, Egypt. It promotes science centers as an educational tool.
The Nantes Planetarium is a public planetarium that opened on 18 June 1981. It operates as an auditorium that presents astronomy shows for all audiences.
The Herrett Center for Arts and Science, located on the main campus of the College of Southern Idaho in Twin Falls, Idaho, United States, is a museum of anthropology, natural history, astronomy, and art. The museum's collections primarily comprise anthropological artifacts and natural history specimens from the Americas, as well as works of local artists. The Center also houses the Faulkner Planetarium, the Centennial Observatory, a museum store, and a 2900 square foot multi-purpose event space.
The South Downs Planetarium and Science Centre is an educational facility in Chichester, West Sussex, run by a team of volunteers and astronomy enthusiasts and inaugurated in 2002. A registered educational charity, the Planetarium operates throughout the year, is available for private bookings, and can arrange special shows for schools, private groups, clubs and societies in the day, evening or at weekends.
Abrams Planetarium is the planetarium on the campus of Michigan State University, Michigan, United States.
The John C. Wells Planetarium is located on the campus of James Madison University in Harrisonburg, Virginia. The planetarium first opened at JMU in 1956 under the direction of Dr. John C. Wells, head of the Physics Department. The facility was then moved to Miller Hall and renovated in 1975, later named in honor of Wells on the occasion of his retirement in 1980.
The University of Washington Planetarium is an active planetarium located in the Physics/Astronomy Auditorium on the University of Washington campus in Seattle, WA. The dome is 30 feet in diameter and utilizes six digital projectors to create an interactive display using the Worldwide Telescope planetarium software.
