A friend of mine from England informed me that the London Planetarium is to close, to be replaced by an enlarged Madam Tussauds (which is presently located next door)!

Is this true? I could not find any news about this on the Web.

http://www.london-planetarium.co.uk/

Is the whole world undergoing a lobotomy?

I wanted to go to the Planetarium a few months ago - really really wanted to go - but there's a problem.

You can't just go to the Planetarium. You HAVE to pay to go to Madame Tussauds as well. I dont want to look at room after room of wax people, I just want to go to the Planetarium, but you can't do that - and given the frankly shocking price of entry to M.T's ( £22.99 at the moment , £50 for just Helen and I - Mum, dad, plus two kids - £70 ) - I'm not going to pay that much JUST for the Planetarium - it's the way MT's have run it. The only way in to the Planetarium is out the end of MT's. And you've had 4 hrs of looking at wax people - how thrilled are you going to be about a 40 minute show about stars ( speaking generally ) - so many people probably just ignore it and leave.

I wouldnt be suprised if the planetarium gets taken down - it should be run seperately to MT's anyway - talk about opposite ends of the spectrum. Wax models of 'celebs', vs the awesome sight of space. The two shouldnt be run in the same 'ticket.

I've not heard that it's coming down - but if it is, then I'll be paying that stupid price and going, as I want to see another show there ( i saw one as a child) before it goes.

Doug

http://news.independent.co.uk/world/scienc...ticle342107.ece

Stargazing at the London Planetarium is about to undergo a profound transformation.

Madame Tussauds will stop showing the traditional exploration of the solar system at the distinctive green-domed building in Baker Street. Instead visitors will be invited to embark on a voyage "around the worlds of fame and celebrity" at the renamed Auditorium.

An utter disgrace. How idiotic. Of COURSE only 30% of the people who visit MT's go on to the Planetarium.

How many readers of OK magazine also read Sky & Telescope?

If they were to offer an entry to the Planetarium alone, at something less than the £23 they charge for the MT's entry, then they would see an increase in visitors.

I am appauled.

I've emailed the Tussauds Group, the Sky at Night (longest running television series in the world I believe) , and I'm hoping the Planetary Society can look into it as well.

Doug

Glad to see that Sir Patrick Moore is on the situation, but what I read made my blood boil, and I have never even been to the London Planetarium! Obviously the wax museum set it up so that the planetarium would fail so they could take over the whole complex with their tripe.

From the article:

The announcement provoked outrage among Britain's astronomers and prompted concerns that generations of future scientists could be lost to the subject. Sir Patrick Moore, who has presented the BBC programme The Sky at Night since 1957, said: "It is the most extraordinary thing. I am completely appalled."

The Dubai-owned entertainment giant said it would make the change in the summer because of a dwindling interest in space and the rocketing interest in celebrity culture.

A spokeswoman for Tussauds, said that even though entry to the Planetarium was included "free" with the price of admission to the next-door waxworks museum, only 30 per cent of the two million visitors each year bothered to take advantage of it.

She said: "We have done research to find out why people come to Madame Tussauds and the reason was to get up close and personal to famous people."

Ah, they conducted "research".

I just have ultimate rage on this issue - I want to go and slap some people.

Doug

From my inquiries on the Internet:

>From: Éric Aubourg <eric@AUBOURG.NET>
>Reply-To: History of Astronomy Discussion Group <HASTRO-L@LISTSERV.WVU.EDU>
>To: HASTRO-L@LISTSERV.WVU.EDU
>Subject: Re: [HASTRO-L] London Planetarium to close?
>Date: Tue, 31 Jan 2006 23:32:54 -0500
>
>In fact, the London Planetarium belongs to the Tussauds group...
>They call it now the "Showdome", and they rent it for events. It
>can still operate as a planetarium though, but this feature seems
>to have become quite anecdotic according to the web site.
>
>http://www.mtparty.com/showdome.htm mentions that the Showdome has
>"the UK’s first ‘Digistar 3’ full dome projector". It is "ideal for
>product launches, and networking / cocktail parties. For the
>ultimate event, Madame Tussauds can be combined with the Showdome
>through the connecting areas."
>
>Eric
>

WHAT???????? (sorry for shouting but this requires a bit of a SHOUT!)

I am disgusted!

I visited when you could buy a separate ticket (1988) - didn't want to go worship at the shrine of the Celebrity.
It was an excellent show, not only a journey through the cosmos but a cool laser show.
They can't possibly be planning on removing the projector can they?


Patrick Moore: "It is the most extraordinary thing. I am completely appalled."

Can't put it better myself.

Nick

Do you think it's worth setting up www.savelondonplanetarium.com or something? - Get a little sign-the-guestbook thing going, a little one-section-forum and a bit of background info on it?


Doug

YES - Do It.

Not sure what help I can offer but it's there if you need something done.

I'll contact my old Uni (U-o-Sussex) see if they know about it yet.

Nick

London Planetarium to Close

By Edwin L. Aguirre

February 22, 2006 | The stars at one of central London's well-known tourist attractions will go dark for good this July. Madame Tussauds waxworks, the owner of the London Planetarium, has decided to close the facility as the company shifts its focus from science education to entertainment. The planetarium (renamed the Auditorium) will soon replace its shows with programs about celebrities.

Built in the 1950s, the London Planetarium seats around 330 under its green 18-meter (60-foot) dome. Although Madame Tussauds had cut the screenings of its shows to just one 10-minute program called "Journey to Infinity," the planetarium has remained very popular with local schoolchildren and their teachers.

"The London Planetarium has inspired generations of schoolchildren," notes Robin Scagell, vice president of Britain's Society for Popular Astronomy. "Many parents can still remember their first visit to it when they were young. To lose the planetarium now would be a tragedy."

The Royal Observatory's new, state-of-the-art 120-seat planetarium in Greenwich Park, about 30 minutes from downtown London by boat or rail, is currently under construction and won't be completed until early 2007. "The only other planetarium of any size within striking distance of London," says Scagell, "is the South Downs Planetarium near Chichester on the South Coast, about 60 miles from the capital, which is certainly not readily accessible unless you happen to be in the area."

"I don't think the Madame Tussauds management wants to sell or lease out the London Planetarium," he adds. "It's a valuable bit of real estate in a very expensive part of the world, and I'm sure they want to hang on to it. The dome itself is not a listed building, that is, not protected as being of historic or architectural value, but I doubt that they would want to pull it down just yet."

http://skyandtelescope.com/news/article_1682_1.asp

http://www.brianmay.com/brian/brianssb/brianssbjan06.html