September 2020 Journal of the International Planetarium Society - Virtual Conferencing Makes it Work - Vol. 49, No. 3
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Online PDF: ISSN 233333-9063
Vol. 49, No. 3 September 2020
Journal of the International Planetarium Society
Virtual Conferencing Makes it Work
rivet
seam
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the world’s most prestigious planetariums choose Spitz domes. We’re constantly
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World’s Leading Domes
Executive Editor
Sharon Shanks
484 Canterbury Ln
Boardman, Ohio 44512 USA
+1 330-783-9341
sharon.shanks@gmail.com
Webmaster
Alan Gould
Lawrence Hall of Science Planetarium
University of California
Berkeley CA 94720-5200 USA
adgould@comcast.net
Advertising Coordinator
Dale Smith
(See Publications Committee on page 3)
Membership
Individual: $65 one year; $100 two years
Institutional: $250 first year; $125 annual renewal
Library Subscriptions: $50 one year; $90 two years
All amounts in US currency
Direct membership requests and changes of
September 2020
address to the Treasurer/Membership Chairman
Vol 49 No 3
Printed Back Issues of Planetarian
IPS Back Publications Repository
maintained by the Treasurer/Membership Chair
(See contact information on next page)
Articles
Final Deadlines
March: January 21 12 Guest Editorial: A passion for public engagement
June: April 21
September: July 21 Glen Moore
December: October 21
14 Has Vision2020 succeeded? Jon Elvert
Associate Editors 16 Recognizing the achievements of outstanding
Book Reviews April S. Whitt IPS members Manos Kitsonas
Calendar Loris Ramponi
Cartoons Alexandre Cherman 20 Why should we look at the sky? Alina Sabyr
Classroom Education Mark Percy and the 26 Gandhiji’s keys to the universe Nandivada Rathnasree
Classdome Cadre
Data to Dome Mark SubbaRao 30 A science center in a new dimension Kenan Bromann,
Education Committee Shannon Schmoll Johan Gysenbergs
Humor April S. Whitt
Ron Walker 32 Software enables fulldome in your home(dome)
Immersive Media Carolyn Collins Petersen Ruth Coalson
International News Lars Petersen
Live Interactive Programs Karrie Berglund
Mobile News Susan Reynolds Button
Planetarium Design/Operations Tim Barry
Sound Advice Jeff Bowen contents continue on next page
Southern Hemisphere Haritina Mogoșanu
History/Years ago Tom Callen
Ron Walker
On the Cover
Faces from around the world: IPS
members met virtually instead of in Index of Advertisers
person at the 2020 IPS Virtual conference American Museum of Natural History.......53
on August 3, 5, and 7. More than 40 live Ash Enterprises................................................ 52
paper and panel sessions were presented. Audio Visual Imagineering........................... 65
For more, go to www.ips-planetarium. Bays Mountain Productions.......................... 51
org/page/ips2020. Screenshot montage BIG & Digital..................................................... 15
created by Mike Murray, IPS Membership California Academy of Sciences................. 13
Committee chair. Clark Planetarium............................................. 41
Digitalis Education Solutions........................ 11
Endurescreens.................................................. 49
International Planetarium Society home page: Evans & Sutherland............... 19, 33, 36-37, 71
www.ips-planetarium.org festoon.............................................................. 69
GOTO Inc.............................................................7
Planetarian home page: Metaspace....................................................9, 35
www.ips-planetarium.org/page/plntrn
Ohira Tech....................... Outside back cover
RSACosmos..........................Inside back cover
Spitz, Inc...............................Inside front cover
Spitz Creative Media.................................5, 43
You Can Do Astronomy................................ 55
www.facebook.com/InternationalPlanetariumSociety ZEISS................................................................... 29
twitter.com/IPS_Planetarium
Vol 49 No 3 September 2020 Planetarian 1
Off icers
September 2020 President Executive Secretary
Vol 49 No 3
Mark SubbaRao Patty Seaton
Adler Planetarium Howard B. Owens Science Center
1300 South Lake Shore Drive 9601 Greenbelt Road
Chicago, Illinois 60605 USA Lanham, Maryland 20706 USA
+1 312-294-0348 +1 301-906-5990
president@ips-planetarium.org secretary@ips-planetarium.org
Columns Past President Treasurer
Shawn Laatsch Ann Bragg
6 In Front of the Console: Getting ready to go Emera Astronomy Center Anderson Hancock Planetarium
167 Rangeley Road Marietta College
supernova Orono, Maine 04469 USA 215 Fifth Street
Sharon Shanks past-president@ips-planetarium. Marietta, Ohio 45750 USA
org +1 740-376-4589
8 President’s Message: #IPSvCon2020 treasurer@ips-planetarium.org
President Elect
Mark SubbaRao
Kaoru Kimura Director of
10 PARTYcles Alex Cherman Japan Science Foundation/Science Operations
Museum Jeannie Benjamins
38 IMERSA Matters: Pandemic pondering on 2-1 Kitanomaru-koen Managing Matters
what’s happening with immersive venues Chiyoda-ku 411 Richmond Street East, Suite 200
Tokyo, Japan 102-0091 Toronto, Ontario Canada M5A3S5
Carolyn Collins Petersen +81 3-3212-8506 operations@ips-planetarium.org
40 Seeking What Works: The bigger picture: Fax: +81 3 3212 8443
president-elect@
Gender and learning Shannon Schmoll ips-planetarium.org
44 From the Classdome: Welcome to the
ClassDome back-to-school edition—maybe Board
Mark Percy
46 International News Lars Petersen Africa Björn Voss
Susan Murabana Owen LWL-Museum für Naturkunde
54 Tales from Dome Under: A defining moment The Travelling Telescope’s Nairobi Westphalian State Museum
comes full circle Tom Callen Planetarium of Natural History
105 Riverside Lane off Riverside Sentruper Str. 285
56 Sound Advice: LED video displays: How, Drive 48161 Münster Germany
Nairobi, Kenya +49-251-591-6026
what, when, where, why Jeff Bowen +49-251-591-6098 fax
+254 722 218 267
58 41 South: Navigating using a sky smurabana@travellingtelescope. bjoern.voss@lwl.org
co.uk www.gdp-planetarium.org
full of creatures Haritina Mogoșanu
60 LIP Service: e-LIPS: Success! Karrie Berglund Asia Latin America
Sumito Hirota Alex Cherman
62 Mobile News: Reassessment and redesign Kawasaki Science Museum Rio de Janeiro City Hall
Rua Bento Lisboa, 106 BL1 AP1005
Susan Reynolds Button 7-1-2 Masugata, Tama-ku
Kawasaki, Kanagawa Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil 22221-011
64 A Different Point of View: On censorship 214-0032 Japan +55 21 993557100
hirota@e23.jp alexandre.cherman@
and killing viruses with invisible rays planetariodorio.com.br
planetarium.jp
Ron Walker
Jin Zhu North America
66 Book Reviews April Whitt Honorary Director Dayna Thompson
Cosmos: Possible Worlds Beijing Planetarium Charles W. Brown Planetarium
138 Xiwaidajie Street Ball State University
Galaxies: Inside the Universe’s Star Cities Xicheng District Muncie, Indiana 47306 USA
Beijing 100044 China +1 765-285-8963
Venus III: The View after Venus Express dlthompson3@bsu.edu
+86-10-51583002
68 How we do it: Easy piggyback mount for +86-13-601369613
+86-10-51583312 fax Michele Wistisen
astrophotography Adam Thanz Casper Planetarium
jinzhu@bjp.org.cn
72 Last Light: Rated P for pandemic-penned 904 North Poplar Street
Oceania Casper, Wyoming
planetarians April Whitt Martin George 82601 USA
Launceston Planetarium +1 307-577-0310
Queen Victoria Museum mwistisen@gmail.com
2 Invermay Road
Launceston Tasmania 7250 Australia
+61 3 6323 3777
+61 437 688824 (cell)
Martin.George@qvmag.tas.gov.au
Europe
Jiri Dusek
Hvězdárna a Planetárium Brno
Kraví hora 2, 616 00 Brno, Czechia
+420 541 321 287
+420 775 35 45 55 (mobile)
dusek@hvezdarna.cz
2 Planetarian Vol 49 No 3 September 2020
Advisory Council
APA ABP PLANed APLF AMPAC ASP APS BAP CASC CPS EMPA GLPA GPPA PlanIt
JPA MAPS NPA PPA RMPA RPA GDP SEPA SWAP
African Planetarium Association Australasian Planetarium Society Italian Association of Planetaria Russian Planetariums Association
APA APS IAP RPA
Susan Murabana Owen Amanda Kruger Loris Ramponi Yaroslav Gubchenko
The Travelling Telescope’s Nairobi Science Space–University of Wollongong National Archive of Planetaria Fulldome Film Society
Planetarium UOW Innovation Campus c/o Centro Studi e Ricerche PO Box 103
105 Riverside Lane off Riverside Drive 60 Squires Way Serafino Zani 60310 Nizhny Novgorod, Russia
Nairobi, Kenya North Wollongong, NSW 2500 Australia via Bosca 24, C.P. 104 gubchenko@fulldomefilm.org
+254 722 218 267 +61 (2) 42865000 I 25066 Lumezzane (Brescia) Italy www.apr.planetariums.ru
smurabana@travellingtelescope.co.uk amandak@uow.edu.au +39 30 872 164
www.aps-planetarium.org +39 30 872 545 fax Society of the German-Speaking
Association of Brazilian Planetariums megrez58@gmail.com Planetariums
ABP British Association of Planetaria osservatorio@serafinozani.it GDP
Alexandre Cherman BAP www.planetari.org Björn Voss
Rua Bento Lisboa, 106 BL1 AP1005 Nina Cameron LWL-Museum für Naturkunde
Rio de Janeiro, RJ Glasgow Science Centre Japan Planetarium Association Westphalian State Museum
22221-010 Brazil 50 Pacific Quay JPA of Natural History
alexandre.cherman@ Glasgow, Scotland G51 1EA Sumito Hirota Sentruper Str. 285
planetariodorio.com.br +44 (0) 141 420 5010 Kawasaki Science Museum 48161 Münster Germany
www.planetarios.org.br nina.cameron@glasgowsciencecentre.org 7-1-2 Masugata, Tama-ku +49-251-591-6026
www.planetariodorio.com.br www.planetaria.org.uk Kawasaki, Kanagawa +49-251-591-6098 fax
214-0032 Japan bjoern.voss@lwl.org
Association of Dutch-Speaking Canadian Association of Science Centres hirota@e23.jp www.gdp-planetarium.org
Planetariums CASC planetarium.jp
PLANed Frank Florian Southeastern Planetarium Association
Marlies van de Weijgaert TELUS World of Science Middle Atlantic Planetarium Society SEPA
Kapteyn Astronomical Institute 11211 142 Street NW MAPS John Hare
University of Groningen Edmonton, Alberta T5M 4A1 Canada April Whitt Ash Enterprises
P.O. Box 800 fflorian@twose.ca Jim Cherry Memorial Planetarium 29 Riverside Drive, Apt 402
9700 AV Groningen www.canadiansciencecentres.ca Fernbank Science Center Cocoa, Florida 32922 USA
The Netherlands Atlanta, Georgia 30307 USA +1 941 730 3434
+31 50 363 7027 Chinese Planetarium Society april.whitt@dekalbschoolsga.org johnhare@earthlink.net
m.weijgaert@astro.rug.nl CPS www.mapsplanetarium.org www.sepadomes.org
www.astronomie.nl Professor Xiaofeng Wang
Director, Beijing Planetarium Nordic Planetarium Association Southwestern Association of
Association of French-Speaking 138 Xiwaidajie Street NPA Planetariums
Planetariums Xicheng District Kai Santavuori SWAP
APLF Beijing 100044 China Sweco Structures LTD Sarah Twidel
Milene Wèndling +86-18-911028682 Viitankruununtie 34 B 11 Noble Planetarium
Université de Strasbourg wang_xf@mail.tsinghua.edu.cn 00970 Helsinki Fort Worth Museum of Science and History
Jardin des Sciences Finland 1600 Gendy Street
12 rue de l’Université European/ Mediterranean Planetarium +358 44 9867 630 Fort Worth, Texas 76107 USA
Strasbourg F-67000 France Association KaiSantavuori@gmail.com (817) 255 - 9409
+33 (0)3 68 85 05 32 EMP stwidal@fwmsh.org
+33 (0)3 68 85 04 88 fax Manos Kitsonas Pacific Planetarium Association www.swapskies.org
milene.wendling@unistra.fr Eugenides Planetarium PPA
www.aplf-planetariums.org 387 Syngrou Avenue Benjamin Mendelsohn
17564 P. Faliro West Valley Community College
Association of Mexican Planetariums Athens, Greece 14000 Fruitvale Avenue
AMPAC +30 210 946 9633 Saratoga, California
Ignacio Castro Pinal +30 210 941 7372 fax 95070-5698 USA
Ave. San Bernabé, 723, Casa 7 mak@eef.edu.gr +1 408-741-4018
San Jerónimo Lídice, C.P. 10200 +1 408-741-4072 fax
México City, D.F. México Great Lakes Planetarium Association Benjamin.Mendelsohn@wvm.edu
+52 (55) 5500 0562 GLPA sites.csn.edu/planetarium/PPA
+52 (55) 5500 0583 fax Mike Smail
icastrop@hotmail.com Adler Planetarium Rocky Mountain Planetarium Association
1300 S Lake Shore Drive RMPA
Association of Spanish Planetariums Chicago, Illinois 60612 USA Michele Wistisen
ASP +1 312-294-0365 Casper Planetarium
Javier Armentia msmail@adlerplanetarium.org 904 North Poplar Street
Planetario de Pamplona www.glpa.org Casper, Wyoming
Sancho Ramirez, 2 82601 USA
E-31008 Pamplona Navarra Spain Great Plains Planetarium Association +1 307-577-0310
+34 948 260 004 GPPA mwistisen@gmail.com
+34 948 260 056 Jack L. Northrup
+34 948 261 919 fax Sci-Tech Instructional Facilitator
javarm@pamplonetario.org Omaha, Nebraska USA
www.planetarios.org jlnorthrup@fbx.com
Vol 49 No 3 September 2020 Planetarian 3
Standing Committees
Awards
Manos Kitsonas, Chair
Elections
Martin George, Chair
Finance
Current Officers
IPS Permanent Mailing Address
Eugenides Planetarium Launceston Planetarium
387 Syngrou Avenue Queen Victoria Museum Membership International Planetarium Society
17564 P. Faliro Wellington Street Mike Murray, Chair c/o Ann Bragg, Treasurer
Athens, Greece Launceston Tasmania 7250 Delta College Planetarium Marietta College
+30 210 946 9633 Australia Bay City, Michigan 48708 USA 215 Fifth Street
+30 210 941 7372 fax +61 3 6323 3777 +1 989-667-2270 Marietta, Ohio 45750 USA
mak@eef.edu.gr +61 3 6323 3776 fax mikemurray@delta.edu
Martin.George@qvmag.tas.gov.au IPS Web Site:
Conference Publications www.ips-planetarium.org
Current Officers Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Dale W. Smith, Chair
Upcoming conference host, past Danielle Khoury LeBlanc, Co-chair BGSU Planetarium Please notify the Editor and Secretary of any changes
conference host, any IPS member Charles Hayden Planetarium Physics &Astronomy Department on these two pages.
appointed by the president Museum of Science Bowling Green State University
Boston, Massachusetts 02114 USA Bowling Green, Ohio 43403 USA Contact the Treasurer/Membership Chair for
dleblanc@mos.org +1 419-372-8666 individual member address changes and general
Dayna Thompson, Co-chair +1 419-372-9938 fax circulation and billing questions. Addresses
Director, Brown Planetarium dwsmith@bgsu.edu also may be changed online on the IPS Web Site.
Ball State University
Muncie, Indiana, 47306 USA
dlthompson3@bsu.edu
edi@ips-planetarium.org Professional Partners
Ad Hoc Committees/Task Forces/Working Groups
Armand Spitz Indigeneous Astronomy Working Planetarium Centennial Task Force
Planetarium Education Fund Group Björn Voss, Chair
Finance Committee Annette Lee, Co-Chair LWL-Museum für Naturkunde
St. Cloud State University Westphalian State Museum Of Natural
COVID-19 Task Force St. Cloud, Minnesota 56301-4498 USA History
Thomas Kraupe and Mark Subbarao, aslee@stcloudstate.edu 48161 Munster, Germany
Co-Chairs Ka’iu Kimura, Co-Chair +49-251-591-6026
We are gathered together from all
‘Imiloa Astronomy Center +49-251-591-6098 fax corners of this globe, inspired by the
Education Hilo, Hawaii 96720 USA bjoern.voss@lwl.org
Shannon Schmoll, Chair lesliek@hawaii.edu world and the universe we inhabit.
Abrams Planetarium Milagros Vasquez, Co-Chair Planetarium Design and Operations Our society draws its strength from
Michigan State University Cha’an Ka’an Planetario de Cozumel Ian McLennan, Chair
East Lansing, Michigan 48824 USA Cozumel, Quintana Roo Mexico Vancouver, British Columbia our predecessors and from the
1-517-355-0039 milagrosvarguez@gmail.com V6E 1G1 Canada
schmolls@msu.edu +1 604-681-4790 phone + fax
wide diversity of our present
Immersive Audio ian@ianmclennan.com membership. Building on our past
Emerging Communities Charles Morrow, Chair ian.mclennan@gmail.com
Dave Weinrich, Chair 1961 Roaring Brook Road www.ianmclennan.com
heritage, we are inspired to dream
S250 State Road 35 S Barton, Vermont 05822 USA of future accomplishments, working
Nelson, Wisconsin 54756 USA Phone: +1-212-989-2400 Portable Planetariums
dave.l.weinrich@gmail.com cm@cmorrow.com Susan Reynolds Button, Chair together as a worldwide society.
Quarks to Clusters
History International Relations 8793 Horseshoe Lane
John Hare, IPS Historian Martin George, Chair Chittenango, New York 13037
IPS President Dave Weinrich
Ash Enterprises Launceston Planetarium +1 315-687-5371 Welcome to the 2012
29 Riverside Drive, Apt 402 Queen Victoria Museum sbuttonq2c@twcny.rr.com IPS Conference
Cocoa, Florida 32922 USA Wellington Street sbuttonq2c@gmail.com Baton Rouge, Louisiana
+1 941 730 3434 Launceston, Tasmania 7250
johnhare@earthlink.net Australia Science & Data
+61 3 6323 3777 Visualization Task Force
History of the Planetarium Working +61 3 6323 3776 fax Mark SubbaRao, Chair
Group Martin.George@qvmag.tas.gov.au Adler Planetarium
Pedro Raposo, Chair Chicago, Illinois 60605 USA Planetarian (ISSN 0090-3213) is published quarterly by
Adler Planetarium +1 312-294-0348 the International Planetarium Society. ©2020 Interna-
Chicago, Illinois 60605 USA msubbarao@adlerplanetarium.org tional Planetarium Society, Inc., all rights reserved.
praposo@adlerplanetarium.org
Vision 2020 Initiative Also known as The Planetarian from Vol. 1 No. 1
Jon Elvert, Chair through Vol. 6 No. 4. Titled Planetarian starting with
jelvert1@gmail.com Vol. 7 No. 1 forward.
Opinions expressed by authors are personal opinions
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4 Planetarian Vol 49 No 3 September 2020
NARRATED BY BENEDICT CUMBERBATCH
Honorable Mention Best Movie Award Honorable Mention
Espinho, Portugal Brno, Czech Republic Jena, Germany
Immersive Film Festival IPS Fulldome Festival Jena Fulldome Festival
2015 2016 2016
FULLDOME www.spitzinc.com/fulldome_shows
Vol 49 No 3 September 2020 Planetarian SHOW DISTRIBUTION
5
Contact: Mike Bruno mbruno@spitzinc.com T: 610.459.5200
In Front of the Console
Sharon Shanks
484 Canterbury Lane
Boardman, Ohio 44512 USA
+1 330-783-9341
sharon.shanks@gmail.com
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Sharon Shanks has been Planetarian editor since Vol. 35 No. 3 (Septem- Tony Aveni, one of my favorite people since I first met him more
edu/news/stories/alina-sabyr-19-receives-watson-fellowship)
Sharon
ber 2006).Shanks Shehas been in
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lecturer) fromit. around the globe, and I found I it
after a pleasantly passionate career sharing the stars.
fitting that he was still doing it, whether he knows it or not. I
6
6 Planetarian
Planetarian Vol 49 No 3 September 2020
Vol 49 No 3 September 2020 Planetarian 7
President’s Message Mark SubbaRao
Adler Planetarium
1300 South Lake Shore Drive
Chicago, Illinois 60605 USA
+1 312-294-0348
msubbarao@adlerplanetarium.org
#IPSvCon2020
I write this column at the conclusion of the IPS’s first virtual confer- Varguez from the Cozumel Planetarium spoke about their productions
ence. My body is tired, but my heart is full. The year 2020 has been featuring Mayan Astronomy, and Duane Hamacher from the Universi-
incredibly difficult. So much has been taken away from us, including ty of Melbourne described an array of planetarium programs in Austra-
the gathering in Edmonton that so many of us had planned for and lia featuring Aboriginal astronomy.
looked forward to.
During the virtual conference in early August,
however, the members of our society came together to
take back some of what has been lost.
There was an incredible sense of community. At
the start of each session as people came online sharing
greetings appropriate to their local time and in their
local languages. It was a reminder that while we are
all struggling to face the challenges brought about by
the global pandemic, we have a strong global planetar-
ium community to support each other and lift each
other up. The fact that so many were willing to stay
up throughout their local night to attend shows how
special our professional community is.
When faced with the prospect of cancelling the
in-person conference, we didn’t want to also lose all
the intellectual effort that went into assembling the
session proposals. Many thanks to the program orga- Daniel Chu Owen and Susan Murabana describing the construction of a bamboo
nizer Mirabelle Prémont-Schwarz from TELUS World dome for the Nairobi Planetarium. Screen capture by author.
of Science Edmonton and all the members of the
program committee who stayed on to help plan the
vCon as well. The quality of sessions was uniform-
ly excellent. The switch to the online format required us to shorten Jarita Holbrook from UCLA discussed her work on Indigenous
presentation times and the result was tightly-focused presentations. African Astronomy, and Ka’iu Kimura from the ‘Imiloa Astronomy
In a normal IPS conference you are forced to choose between several Center described the A Hue He Inoa project, which is giving Hawaiian
parallel sessions; in the vCon you could attend everything. names to significant astronomical discoveries made at the Hawaiian
observatories. Te Kahuratai Painting from the University of Auck-
Highlighting two sessions land spoke of the connection between the sky, land, and sea in Maori
Two sessions I would like to highlight are those led by the IPS’s astronomy. In their presentation they demonstrated the richness of
newest working groups. The Indigenous Astronomy Working Group indigeneous astronomy as well as the importance of presenting it in
and the History of Astronomy Working Group were both founded last our planetariums. In addition they provided a set of clear guidelines on
year. This meeting served as the public introduction of both groups to how to do so properly. This is important new guidance that all plane-
the IPS community. tarians should follow.
For the Indigenous Astronomy Working Group’s session, Annette The History of the Planetarium Working Group is another newly-
Lee, from St. Cloud State University, assembled a fantastic lineup of 10(!) created body that introduced itself to the IPS community with a session
speakers for that session. Nancy C. Maryboy and David Begay from the during the vCon. This working group is chaired by Pedro Raposo of the
Indigenous Education Institute told us about Dine’ (Navajo) astrono- Adler Planetarium. The goal of this working group is to bring togeth-
my. Ininew (Cree) elder Wilfred Buck, who was scheduled to have been er historians of science who are working on planetariums, and connect
a keynote speaker in the in-person conference, showed off a fulldome them to the broader planetarium community.
clip of some of his work with the TELUS World of Science Edmonton. Pedro and Katie Boyce-Jacino from Arizona State University gave
Yasmin Catricheo from Associated Universities Incorporated excellent presentations that served as a powerful demonstration of the
described the cosmovision of the Mapuche people in Chile. Milagros value of this connection. Because their presentation time was short,
they were in the process of planning a stand-alone webinar to more
deeply address these topics, “History of Planetaria-What to Preserve,
IPS President Mark SubbaRao, among his many associations, also is the and How” on September 3.
director of the Space Visualization Laboratory at the Adler Planetarium. The IPS’s newest regional affiliate, the African Planetarium Associa-
(Continues on page 10)
8 Planetarian Vol 49 No 3 September 2020Vol 49 No 3 September 2020 Planetarian 9
(President’s Message, continued from page 8) The video recordings and their associated papers are all currently available
tion, presented an inspiring session on Planetaria in Africa. The ingenu- on the IPS website: www.ips-planetarium.org/page/2020vconproceedings.
ity shown in the low-cost construction techniques of the Sutherland
Planetarium in Sutherland, South Africa, which was built around a A virtual visit to Edmonton
balloon frame, and the Nairobi Planetarium in Kenya, whose geode- We closed the conference by virtually heading to Edmonton and
sic dome is being constructed from bamboo harvested on site, serves as getting a tour of the newly-restored Queen Elizabeth II Planetarium,
models for new planetariums in the developing world. after which TELUS World of Science Edmonton’s CEO Alan Nursall
The conference featured presenters and posters from twelve differ- interviewed Ian McClennen, the QEII Planetarium’s first director.
ent African planetarians. This is significantly more participation than Renowned Canadian astrophotographer Alan Dyer showed off his
any previous IPS conference, and a testament to the success for the amazing photographs featuring Comet Neowise and the beautiful
African Planetarium Association. Alberta scenery. That imagery made all of us regret not being able to
visit Edmonton in person.
An engaging anti-racism panel Finally, the Edmonton team gathered in their dome and ceremoni-
Another important session was the anti-racism panel organized ally passed the reins of the conference to the team at Planetarium 1 in
by IPS Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Committee Co-chairs Dayna St. Petersburg, adding a small model of an Inukshuk (a figure made of
Thompson and Dani LeBlanc. Expertly moderated by Derrick Pitts, piled stones or boulders constructed to communicate throughout the
director of the Fels Planetarium at The Franklin Institute in Philadel- Arctic) to the mementos that are traditionally passed from IPS host to
phia, this panel featured honest reflections from planetarians James IPS host.
Albury, president of SEPA and director of the Kika Silva Pla Planetar-
ium at Santa Fe College; Daryl Davis from the Museum of Science in Notes from the general assembly
Boston; and Susan Murabana, president of the African Planetarium During the virtual conference we held an online version of the
Association and co-founder of the Nairobi Planetarium. general assembly that is normally held during the IPS conference.
The engagement with this discussion was so strong that we kept Some of the usual assembly activity, such as the closing of nomina-
the discussion going straight through the break that had been tions of candidates for elections and presentations by 2024 conference
planned afterward. The IPS EDI Committee has assembled a set of anti- bidders, could not occur since both have been postponed to Septem-
racism resources on our website at www.ips-planetarium.org/page/ ber due to COVID-19.
racialjustice. We have now officially transitioned our governance structure from
As an organization, IPS will build upon the ideas outlined in this a council with representatives from each of the affiliates, to a board
discussion with the goal of making sure that our planetariums are structure with representatives from continental zones. To maintain
welcoming to everyone, and that the next generation of planetarians communication with the regional affiliates with this new structure,
will be more diverse than the current one. the IPS has created the IPS Advisory Council, which will initially be
There were light moments as well. An excellent set of video presen- the same as the previous IPS Council. In some cases your board repre-
tations on aesthetics called “How to Approach Beauty” from Jacek sentative and your advisory council member may be the same person.
Mikulski, Mateusz Wyszynski, and Tomek Drela from the Warsaw The IPS has been doing its best to assist planetarians during the
Planetarium, was rich with personality and humor. Tomek’s video pandemic. Marking the virtual conference was part of that, as were the
introduction of “welcome to my crib” was repeated by several present- covid-19 mini-grants that were awarded in May.
ers later in the conference, and Mateusz’s presentation on aesthetics in During the general assembly we reported on another of those initia-
laser shows concluded with “see you laser.” tives, a partnership with Slooh, a company that operates a network of
All told we had over 50 sessions (with multiple presenters each) remote telescopes for online observations. This arrangement provides
spread over 24 hours, with another 25 poster submissions. Approxi- IPS members an additional audience engagement opportunity and
mately 500 people registered for the Zoom sessions and others watched income stream.
the livestream on Facebook. All of this came off very smoothly, in large Details of the agreement can be found at www.ips-planetarium.
part due to Michael McConville from Spitz, who masterfully operated org/news/508195/Slooh-and-the-International-Planetarium-Society-
the video streams over all three days of the conference. Partner-to-Offer-Online-Space-Exploration.htm. I
PARTYcles #043 - Sept. '20 Alex
AlexCherman
Cherman
HELLO. I AM THE And what
CORONAVIRUS. should we do?
How so?
RESISTANCE
IS FUTILE. Social
distance!
Mr. Proton, what We're several
should we do? orders of
magnitude
Shhhh... smaller than it! We should be
good, then...
Keep calm, Mr. Electron. An atom is mostly
The virus can't see us! empty space...
10 Planetarian Vol 49 No 3 September 2020Vol 49 No 3 September 2020 Planetarian 11
Guest Editorial
More than just a life in planetariums:
A passion for public engagement
Glen Moore
Keiraville, New South Wales
Australia
domestarman@gmail.com
Who am I? However, what profoundly impressed me, was the potential of
I have been involved in science communication for more than 40 astronomy to engage people and grab the attention of the media.
years with my focus being on astronomy and planetariums.1 Having This was a turning point in my career. Shortly afterwards, I developed
retired from Science Space at the University of Wollongong, Australia a liberal arts astronomy stream at the university, generated a public
(formerly The Science Centre and Planetarium), I have more recently astronomy education course and chaired a Lord Mayoral committee
been sharing my experience and providing advice for startup proj- with a mission to build a major planetarium. This project grew rapidly
ects in developing countries. I am a member of the IPS Committee for with plans for Australia’s largest planetarium and gained the attention
Emerging Communities and a Fellow of IPS. I was a founding member of local, state and federal governments.
of the Australasian Planetarium Society and a former president.
The Illawarra planetarium project
On becoming a planetarian By 1982 the project appeared certain to proceed with broad govern-
My first awareness of the power of public engagement in astrono- ment support and I attended IPS1982 in Vancouver as part of a univer-
my came in 1976 when I helped organise a site for viewing a total solar sity sabbatical with my family. What an experience! We made lifelong
friends, some who also attended IPS2020. Not being an experi-
enced planetarian, I came to IPS82 to learn and to find resourc-
es to develop the project. What I found was an incredibly
sharing, generous community. I came away with an agree-
ment with a planetarium consultant and I was convinced of a
career redirection.
Immediately following the conference, we visited the
Pacific Science Centre (and planetarium) with our 3-year-
old. This was another fantastic experience, this time with
hands-on activities. After a full tiring day of keeping up with
an excited child, we asked him “what would you like to do
tomorrow?” His answer: “come back.” This was the moment
that led me to broaden my interest towards a planetarium and
a Science Centre.
In 1986, with the project ready to proceed with promised
government funding, an economic recession was chang-
ing priorities in Australia and the project started to encoun-
ter difficulties. Once again an astronomical event came to the
Aerial view of Science Space. Image provided by author.
rescue—Halley’s Comet presented a unique opportunity and
we organised Australia’s most publicised and attended public
eclipse near the Australian rural town of Bombala. Astronomers from Halley event. A petition in favour of the planetarium development was
across the world, both amateur and professional, gathered at the site signed at the event by over 30,000, and political support was renewed.
and the action was covered by an editor from Sky & Telescope maga- Shortly afterwards I took a university sabbatical to work at Lunar
zine.2 There were far reaching consequences, with the event discussed and Planetary Laboratory in Tucson, Arizona and the University of
in the national parliament. An equipment import delay involved a Colorado and at the same time attended IPS1986 in Tucson.
positive interaction with the head of the Australian trade union move- At that time I was a founding member of a new government organi-
ment. He was later to become the Australian prime minister at a criti- sation created to increase public appreciation of astronomy and space
cal time for our planetarium project. My student assistant went on to science research. As chairman, I organised a travelling exhibition called
become the executive director of the International Centre for Radio “Awesome Universe,” which created a record Australian art gallery
Astronomy Research. attendance.
Then, in 1987, politics intervened (the relevant government depart-
1 Planetarian Vol. 43, No. 2, June 2014 p32-33. ment was Sport, Recreation and Tourism) and the project lost out to a
2 Sky & Telescope, Vol. 53, No. 1, January 1977, p4-11.
football stadium.
12 Planetarian Vol 49 No 3 September 2020The planetarium and science centre re-visioned ful.” This may work for art galleries because they are widely accepted as
Not to give up, interactives and displays were acquired from the a cultural necessity, but for planetariums, unfortunately, less so.
National Science and Technology Centre in Canberra and World Science and science communication, however, are internationally
Expo88, with help from planetarian Ian McLennan and our political recognised as necessary and valuable, particularly in the age of science,
supporters. A small hands-on science centre was created at the Univer- technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM). Coupling a plane-
sity of Wollongong and a used ZKP1 projector was acquired from Zeiss tarium with a science centre can be a winning strategy. Every major
Jena, with funding from the Illawarra Planetarium Society. planetarium in Australia, apart from the Sir Thomas Brisbane Planetar-
After 10 years of operation the centre was destroyed in a flood. ium, is associated with a science centre.
Support came from many planetariums world wide and there were Stand alone planetariums, however, can also promote their role as
outpourings of concern from the public. As a result, major government STEM providers to gain more support.
funding was provided for a new facility at the University of Wollon- (Continues on page 18)
gong, which has grown to become Australia’s leading regional science
centre and planetarium.
Ironically, it was built on the site of the
abandoned football stadium that it lost out to
in 1988!
A new fulldome experience from
Some ideas on the challenges in
establishing a planetarium the california academy of sciences
Before a facility is funded, consultancy
reports and feasibility studies are required.
During this process it is absolutely vital to
have expert planetarium as well as local
advice since planetariums are unique places
with special needs and visitor patterns. For
example, the particular policies of the region-
al education system will have a significant
influence on school visitation.
My observation of feasibility studies is
that they often predict an over optimis-
tic outcome. While this may help the case
for establishment funding, failing to meet
projected income or attendance targets can
have disastrous consequences, particularly
Available for licensing
with sponsor support .
There is a greater culture of philanthropy in
the USA than in many countries. In Australia
for example, major cultural developments are
almost always government funded.
Astronomy is always exciting for the public.
However it can be difficult to convince poli-
ticians to commit funding in the absence of
significant public agitation or unless they
are driven by the need to justify government
expenditure on major astronomical research
facilities.
The Apollo program satisfied both of these
requirements in USA. In Wollongong we
managed to take advantage of major astro-
nomical events to create support.
Planetariums in some countries, such as
Australia, are uncommon—there are only four
with a dome of 10m or more and they are
separated on average by 1000km. There is no
major planetarium in Australia’s largest city
(Sydney) or the national capital (Canberra).
Political opposition as a result of competing
priorities can easily sabotage a project. Unfor-
tunately, sport will always gain a higher share For more information visit
of media coverage. www.calacademy.org/licensing.
I remember the renowned astronomer Bart
Bok once justifying astronomy with the state-
ment “astronomy is useful because it is beauti-
Vol 49 No 3 September 2020 Planetarian 13As 2020 is drawing to a close, the question must be asked:
Has Vision2020 succeeded?
Jon W. Elvert
Chair, Vision2020 Initiative
jelvert1@gmail.com
The Vision2020 Initiative was launched at the 2014 IPS Conference membership?
in Beijing. Its primary directive was to boldly go where IPS had never •• How can IPS support its members?
gone before—envisioning a future that would fundamentally change •• Online communications e.g., Planetarian Net and IPS Communi-
how IPS operates, alter the business as usual attitude, be more nimble cator
to change, and design a big picture vision of how IPS could become a •• Training webinars
modern, new IPS. •• IPS partnerships
It is now year 2020. Has V2020 succeeded? •• Professional development
Since Beijing, V2020’s accomplishments have set IPS on a new Loose Ends:
course, but in the post-V2020 world, how will the society continue to •• IPS is not as nimble as we hoped it would be by the time V2020 is
remain relevant, recognize opportunities, implement change, serve, phased out
and support its members moving forward, and where will IPS be in •• There is a lack of decision/clarity about working groups that are
2030? taking on V2020 goals
•• Continued skepticism from some to fully embrace the vision put
In the beginning forth by V2020
Six team goals were generated from a comprehensive IPS member/
vendor survey that were to provide membership opportunities in: Legacy
•• Professional development Vision2020 set out to expand the horizons of IPS, to provide guid-
•• Engage in professional science community ance on what it could become; how fundamental, systemic change can
•• Expand international collaboration alter not just the governance structure and how day to day operations
•• Achieve greater recognition for research in education get done, but also to fundamentally change how IPS does business on
•• Leadership in next generation planetaria a global basis, create opportunities for an increasing diverse member-
•• Involve younger members in the future of IPS ship, and how we network and communicate with each other.
Evaluation of V2020: The IPS has already made systemic and structural changes, but a
•• Major structural/governance achievements “new” IPS will likely be determined by how current and future working
•• White papers: making the case for V2020 groups continue to push boundaries, evolve, inspire, and pursue the
•• Mission-Vision-Values statements goals envisioned by the Vision2020 Initiative.
•• Strategic Plan This past June, during the virtual council/board meeting, a motion
•• New membership categories was made to transfer Vision2020 goals into action items for comple-
•• Officer term limits tion by IPS working task forces. The new IPS Board is being charged
•• Implementation of electronic voting with capturing the essence of these goals and then implementing
•• New IPS governance structure model and member representation the transition. The motion to continue the work of Vision2020 was
•• Redesign of website seconded and unanimously approved by the Board.
•• MOUs with relevant organizations I have been active on Council since 1995 and have seen the Society
What still needs to be achieved: slowly accept systemic change, grudgingly surrender old habits, and
•• Transition of team goals to existing committees/task forces gradually morph into a more worldwide and inclusive organization.
•• A process to ensure change continues to be made post-V2020 IPS has evolved and is becoming the organization envisioned by
•• How to anticipate future changes in the field V2020.
The adopted Strategic Plan was V2020’s most significant contri- Again, I wish to thank the V2020 team—Karrie Berglund, Ruth
bution. Based upon the initiative’s six goals, this plan is intended to Coalson, Anna Green, Levent Gurdemir, Tom Kwasnitschka, and Jaap
provide a road map, a guide for what the Society’s goals and priorities Vreeling—for their contributions to this initiative. I also credit past
should be, and the strategies on how best to achieve them. It is hoped IPS president Joanne Young and her unrelenting support for helping
that IPS will refer to this plan when needed. V2020 succeed. And to all current and previous council affiliates and
Unresolved Issues: officers who have given input and encouragement: thank you! I
•• How will the goals of V2020 remain relevant beyond V2020?
•• How will IPS meet the challenges of sustaining or increasing
14 Planetarian Vol 49 No 3 September 2020IPS has adopted a new logo and brand, introduced to membership during the IPS2020 Virtual Conference in July. The brand guidelines document and downloadable logo assets are to be made available for use by affiliates and other authorized groups on the IPS website. The url for download was not available by press time for this issue of Planetarian. Vol 49 No 3 September 2020 Planetarian 15
Donna J. Cox Robin Sip
University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign Mirage 3D
USA The Hague, The Netherlands
Recognizing the achievements of outstanding IPS members
Manos Kitsonas, Chair Chair1 at the university. tion for the IMAX film Cosmic Voyage. In
IPS Awards Committee She is theme lead for Culture & Society for 2017, the Immersive Media Entertainment
the Emerging Digital Research and Education Research in Science and Art (IMERSA) organi-
mak@eef.edu.gr
in Arts Media (eDream) and chief scholar at the zation awarded Cox with a lifetime achieve-
The International Planetarium Society National Center for Supercomputing Appli- ment award for lasting contributions to the
recognizes the outstanding work of its members cations. She is an internationally-acclaimed big screen community. In March 2018, she
through the presentation of several awards, ground breaker in the art of scientific visual- received the Illinois Innovation Transfer
normally given in person during the awards ization and her work has been transformative Award in recognition of work with significant
banquet during its biennial conferences. in the planetarium field. societal impact.
Although the awards could not be handed She’s best known for defining renaissance The ACM’s SIGGRAPH awarded Cox with
to their recipients and their achievements teams, “where specialists provide a broad spec- the distinguished lifetime achievement
shared to public applause this year during trum of skills in the quest for discovery” and award in digital art and inducted her into the
the virtual conference in August, the Awards for her use of supercomputers for visualiza- ACM SIGGRAPH Academy in 2019. She is the
Committee is pleased to be about to announce tion. This model serves as an ideal for modern lead co-editor and contributor to New Media
the names of this year’s award winners fulldome production teams. Futures: The Rise of Women in the Digital Arts,
through the pages of Planetarian. She and her collaborators have thrilled published in 2018 by the University of Illinois
millions around the world with stunning Press.
Technology and Innovation Award cinematic presentations of science for giant-
The IPS Technology and Innovation Award screen productions, fulldome, IMAX, and Robin Sip
for 2020 has been awarded to Donna Cox and HD/4K broadcast and streaming documenta- Robin is the founder and CEO of Mirage3D
Robin Sip. ries. in The Netherlands and director of produc-
The award “shall be bestowed, from time The visualizations created by the AVL tion at Evans & Sutherland.
to time, by the Society upon an individu- combine Hollywood quality cinematogra- Robin Sip has always been at the forefront
al whose technology and/or innovations in phy and art design with stringent scientific of innovation in the digital planetarium field
the planetarium field have been, through the accuracy. These visualizations have appeared from its beginning in the late 1980’s.
years, utilized or replicated by other members in numerous fulldome films, including: Pass- Robin would wow and inspire other Digi-
and/or other planetariums.” port to the Universe, Black Holes: The Other Side star users at the annual Digistar Users Group
For this Award the nominees must have a of Infinity, IBEX: The Search for the Edge of the meetings with his detailed wireframe models
broad, deep and concrete effect in the profes- Solar System, The Search for Life: Are We Alone, that were broken into individual parts that
sion and its development. The Searcher, Solar Superstorms, Dynamic moved to animate them. A wireframe model
Earth, Imagine the Moon, The Birth of Planet for Robin was not something that was just
Donna J. Cox Earth, and many others. a static image to only be rotated or moved
Professor Donna J. Cox, MFA, PhD, is a Twice she’s walked the Academy Awards’ along a path. For him, the model had to be
professor in the School of Art and Design and red carpet: first with former students and more intricate. In doing so, he taught and
director of the Advanced Visualization Lab again as art director of scientific visualiza- inspired other users to make more realistic
at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Cham- wireframe models, resulting in the spread of
1 The endowed chairmanship is named in honor of
paign. She was named the first Michael Aiken the university’s former Chancellor Michael Aiken. his techniques and ideas to Digistar planetar-
16 Planetarian Vol 49 No 3 September 2020You can also read
