Despite studying - and working in, for a brief time - astronomy and astrophysics, at age 31 I had STILL never been to a planetarium, so I was happy to have the chance while visiting Copenhagen in May 2015. Tycho Brahe is one of the world's best-known astronomers, so I was expecting great things from a planetarium named after him. However, I found the experience somewhat underwhelming. I think this was the first place I went in Denmark that wasn't perfectly organised and easy to navigate, so I'm wondering if I might have visited in the middle of refurbishments.
The entrance itself was difficult to find - it seemed to have been moved recently - and it took a few minutes to find my way inside. Once in, I paid the (high) entrance fee, and started making my way through the exhibits. Heading left from the entrance, the first thing you come to is a bunch of computers with quizzes and other activities for kids. Despite being a fully-grown woman, I spent about 45 minutes watching videos, taking quizzes, building a (virtual) rocket and planning missions to various planets. This area was quite excellent, and I think kids of all ages will enjoy the activities available. All activities in this area were available in both Danish and English.
Following the circular passage around to the led, the next thing I came to was a set of boxes that show how you look in UV light, infrared and X-Ray. I love the idea of this, but it wasn't executed brilliantly - one of the side bulbs on the UV box was broken, making it difficult to see anything, and the X-Ray box responded very sluggishly. I was quite impressed with my heat signature in infrared, though, even on a wet and chilly day.
Continuing around, I watched an adorable video about satellites, got lost and ended up in maintenance rooms a couple times, and attempted to read several more exhibits, with limited success. About half of the exhibits had text in both Danish and English, and the other half only in Danish, which I found a little odd. I'm not arrogant enough to expect English in every country I go to, but there was something strange about being able to view half of the information - it seems to me that it would be better to adopt a more uniform policy, and either translate everything, or don't translate it at all.
Overall, the Tycho Brahe Planetarium gave off a sense of disarray and disorganisation, something that I fully expect in England, but was surprised to see in practical Denmark. That said, I did enjoy the interactive sections, and would probably come back with kids. On this visit I was unable to take in a star show, so I'll try to do that if I return.
Entrance fee is normally 144 DKK (adults) / 94 DKK (kids), so it's not a cheap day out. The girl at the front let me in for 90 DKK as I told her I didn't have time to stay and watch a movie, which was nice of her. Still, it's expensive, even for Denmark. read more