London Planetarium

The London Planetarium stands on Marylebone Road in the City of Westminster, next to Madame Tussauds. It occupies the site of a cinema destroyed in the Second World War. The building once seated about 330 people beneath a horizontal dome roughly 18 metres wide. In 1958 Prince Philip opened the planetarium, and public shows began the following day. For fifty years a Zeiss projector provided night-sky views from Earth. Between 1977 and 1990 evening laser performances called Laserium were held. The planetarium evolved with new technology. In 1995 a £4.5 million redevelopment installed Digistar II, adding monochromatic 3D journeys through space. University College London’s astronomy students used the facility to learn about the Astronomical Coordinate System. By 2004 a full-colour Digistar III system allowed immersive, real-time dome shows. In 2006 the space was renamed The Auditorium and switched to entertainment shows. Today the building houses a Marvel Super Heroes 4D attraction. Visitors find a former planetarium turned cinema-sized theatre, now filled with Marvel characters and effects. The dome remains, though shows focus on superheroes rather than stars. The space still carries echoes of its scientific past.