ASP Annual Report 2021

When the ASP was established in 1889, it was conceived as an organization that would bring together and support astronomers in the western states. I doubt that the founders could have imagined the international reach that the ASP has today. Truth is, the ASP has been reaching and inspiring global audiences in the awe and wonder of the cosmos for many years, including providing support to astronomy enthusiasts and educators in the developing world. While the COVID-19 pandemic presented enormous challenges in the last few years, we rapidly pivoted and transitioned all of our renowned face-to-face programs to virtual offerings, thereby making it possible to include people in our work who never could have participated before.

This annual report describes some of the many ways the ASP has expanded our global reach and celebrates the innovative and creative spirit of ASP staff who made these new virtual programs successful.

Acknowledgements

A community dedicated to helping people everywhere explore the wonders of the universe

Board of Directors - Board Officers

* served in 2021, + serves in 2022, *+ served in 2021 and serves in 2022

President
Sunil Nagaraj*+

Vice President & Treasurer
Derrick Pitts*+

Past President
Kelsey Johnson*+

Secretary
Edna DeVore*+

Board Members
Gibor Basri*
Jeffrey Bennett*+
Katy Caouette*+
Christine M. Darden*
Abdul Dremali*+
Steven Dupree*
John Keller*+
David Krasny*+
Chris Lewicki*+
Amy Mainzer*
James Negus*+
Renee Rashid*+
M. Katy Rodriguez Wimberly*+

Advisory Council in 2021

Michael Bennett
Served through September 2021
Astronomical Society of the Pacific

Bruce Carney
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Edna DeVore
SETI Institute (retired)

Lynn D. Dierking
Oregon State University and Institute for Learning Innovation

Timothy Ferris
University of California, Berkeley

Richard Fienberg
American Astronomical Society

Alex Filippenko
University of California, Berkeley

Christopher Ford
Prezi Inc.

Andrew Fraknoi
Foothill College (retired)

Catharine D. Garmany
National Optical Astronomy Observatory (retired)

Marc Gineris
Incyte Capital Holdings, Dallas, Texas

Russ Harding
Educator (retired)

Mary Kay Hemenway
University of Texas at Austin (retired)

Jim Hesser
Dominion Astrophysical Observatory and Strategic Advisor, Herzberg Astronomy and
Astrophysics Programs, National Research Council of Canada

Catherine Langridge
Recology

Gordon Myers
IBM (retired)

Schyleen Qualls
Arkeon Entertainment & Arkeon Education

Ron Rosano
Astronomy Educator, Virgin Galactic Spaceflight Participant

Jeffrey D. Rosendhal
NASA (retired) Osher Lifelong Learning Institute (OLLI) at George Mason University

Wayne Rosing
Las Cumbres Observatory

Dennis Schatz
Pacific Science Center

Constance Walker
National Optical-Infrared Astronomy Research Laboratory

Al Whaley
Internet Travel Network (retired)

 Our Partners

MEET THE TEAM
ASP San Francisco Office

Like so many, ASP staff continued to work from home throughout most of the year.
This image captures just one of our many online meetings.

Row 1 (top): Linda Shore, Chief Executive Officer; Joycelin Craig, Director of Membership and Communications; Brian Kruse, Director of the Teacher Learning Center and Formal Education Programs; and Jay Yanos, Finance Manager. Row 2: Pablo Nelson, Office Administrator and Membership/Development Coordinator; Greg Schultz, Senior Scientist and Educator; Dave Prosper, Program Manager for Amateur Astronomy Outreach; and Noel Encarnacion, Customer Service and Operations Manager. Row 3: Theresa Summer, Astronomy Educator; Liz Kruesi, Editor, Mercury Magazine and Mercury Online; Anna Hurst, Director of Museum, Parks, and Library Programs; and Vivian White, Director of Free Choice Learning.  Row 4: Eva Furmanska, Program Coordinator; Ricardo Cruz, Marketing Coordinator; and Grace Lee, Accounting Manager. 

ASP Conference Series Office
Utah Valley University, Orem, Utah
Joseph Jensen, Managing Editor
Jonathan Barnes, Associate Editor
Beth Wardell, Publication Manager
Pepita Ridgeway, Editorial Consultant
Anh Phan, e-Book Specialist

Publications of the ASP
Jeff Mangum, Editor (National Radio Astronomy Observatory)
Daniel G. Fabricant, Associate Editor (Harvard–Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics)

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Chief Executive Officer
Linda Shore 

Project Manager
Joycelin Craig 

Editor
Joycelin Craig
Pablo Nelson

Designer
Mando Daniel 

Image Credits (top to bottom)

WELCOME: Atlantic Ocean from ISS. NASA/ISS

A NOTE FROM CEO, LINDA SHORE: Summer Triangle - May 5, 2022, 12:01 am - Potsdam, NY. Courtesy of Dave Prosper

FINANCES: The space station orbits into a sunrise 257 miles above the Pacific Ocean. NASA

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS: The Full Quarter Moon is pictured from the International Space Station above the Gulf of Mexico. NASA

VIRTUAL CONFERENCES: Mars Erosion. NASA/JPL

BIG ASTRONOMY: Antennas under the Milky Way. Courtesy of Sergio Otarola

Big Astronomy Video Trailer Credit: Big Astronomy: People Places, Discoveries

INTERNATIONAL PARTNERS: Tarantula Nebula NASA/JPL-Caltech

Monk wearing safe solar lenses in 2016. Courtesy of Linda Shore

Janchub Choeling nunnery during their science exposition: Courtesy of Nuns of Janchub Choeling in Mungod, India

PUBLICATIONS: Frost Caps on Mars. NASA

Mercury magazine; Autumn 2021, Vol. 50 No. 4 - Some 40 light years away lies the extrasolar planet system TRAPPIST-1. Scientists have found the red, cool, dwarf star hosts seven rocky Earth-size exoplanets. This illustration imagines what these worlds look like. [NASA/JPL-Caltech]

PASP Credit: Ivan Bojic̆ić, Quentin Parker, and David Frew, Laboratory for Space Research, HKU.Original images: ESA/Hubble & NASA. From “Planetary Nebulae: Sources of Enlightenment” by Karen Kwitter and Richard Henry, PASP, 134, 022001. © 2021 The Astronomical Society of the Pacific;

ASP Conference Series Volume #331© 2021 The Astronomical Society of the Pacific

2021 ASP AWARDS: Sunrise Over Earth, Public Domain

IN MEMORIAM: Crescent Jupiter from Juno February 22, 2022 Credit:  Image data: NASA/JPL-Caltech/SwRI/MSSSImage processing by Kevin M. Gill © CC BY

OUR DONORS: Total Lunar Eclipse May 26, 2021. Courtesy of Brian Kruse

Virtual Conferences

Together with our international partners, the ASP is dedicated to increasing science literacy through the awe and wonder of astronomy

ASP2021 Summer Symposium: Addressing Climate Change from an Astronomical Perspective was a daylong interactive symposium to explore the astronomical perspective as we fight to protect our planet. Through a series of talks, panels, and workshops, participants engaged with the global communities of the ASP and A4E to learn about causes, consequences, and solutions related to the climate crisis.

ASP2021: A Virtual Conference - Sharing Best Practices in Astronomy Teaching and Public Engagement followed a year when the ASP pivoted from in-person annual conferences, to our now ongoing virtual symposiums and conferences.  Offering our anticipated annual events online in 2021 allowed the ASP to reach beyond our borders and welcome participants from almost every continent, in multiple time zones, and reduce our carbon footprint.

“Although nothing replaces a face-to-face event, the ASP 2021 virtual conference brought people from all over the world to participate in sharing best practices in astronomy education. I have been a big fan of ASP's work for many years and I look forward to future virtual programs for educators around the world who will benefit from a wealth of great people and great work.”

—Rosa Doran
Interactive Center for Astronomy and Innovation in Education (NUCLIO)
Global Hands-On Universe (GHOU) Association

Big Astronomy

When most planetariums shut down during the pandemic, the Big Astronomy planetarium show, featuring collaborations between scientists in the Northern and Southern Hemispheres and produced in both English and Spanish, offered a way to connect virtually and even outdoors

The Big Astronomy: People, Places, Discoveries program is part of an NSF grant using community science to expand public exposure to science concepts and increase science literacy. This program delivers a unique learning experience for planetarium visitors around the world by integrating virtual interactions with those living and working at Chilean observatories via curricular resources and a planetarium show. Informal Science activities were created by the ASP to accompany the multilingual Big Astronomy: People, Places, Discoveries planetarium show that debuted in 2020 and ran through 2021. The show’s text has been translated into German, French, and Brazilian Portuguese with audio recordings in German and French.

International Partnerships

ASP has expanded our global reach through our innovative and creative spirit

Engaging Monks and Nuns in Astronomy

“Launched in response to the Dalai Lama's directive to bring Western scientists and Buddhist monastics together, the ASP has brought the awe of astronomy to Himalayan spiritual leaders in Nepal, Bhutan, and India. ASP educators have shown Tibetan Buddhist nuns and monks how to engage their communities in the wonders of the night sky and make connections between astronomy and their spiritual learning - thereby strengthening centuries old traditions.”

—Bryce Johnson
President, Board of Directors, Science for Monks and Nuns

The ASP continues to support emerging science leaders in five Buddhists nunneries to share the lunar eclipse in May 2021, envision themselves as scientists, and support their broad astronomy understanding. The Moon plays an important role in their lives, and learning the science of astronomy increases the richness of their understanding and identity.

Supporting work in the Cameroon

“Our future depends on our collective ability to become effective stewards of the global commons - the climate, ice, land, ocean, fresh water, forests, soils and rich diversity of life, we all have a role to play and for me, your encouragement keeps me going forward!”

—Mbonteh Roland Ndunge
Astronomy Club of Cameroon

The Astronomy Club of Cameroon is bridging cultures and conflicts, offering astronomy inspiration for all students in a country enmeshed in a civil war. The ASP supports the work of Mbonteh Roland Ndunge, who is offering bilingual astronomy instruction for some of the country's most eager students. 

Collaborating to celebrate the annual Observe the Moon Night

On October 9, 2021, NASA Night Sky Network, the International Observe the Moon Night team, and the Explore Alliance kicked off a celebration of lunar observing and the wonders of our Moon with the Global Moon Party! Vivian White, Director of Free Choice Learning here at the ASP, hosted this event filled with collaborators from around the world.  

Share in the celebration of our closest neighbor with enthusiasts worldwide and view this YouTube streaming recording of the Global Moon Party.

Publications

The ASP reaches out with a wide variety of publications for amateur and professional astronomers alike

Mercury Magazine – Celebrating 50 Volumes

The 2021 publication year was Volume 50 of Mercury. To celebrate, each of 2021’s four issues included multiple features covering some exciting area of astronomy/space exploration that had changed dramatically in these five decades since. These topics included human space exploration (an article that won the author a local journalism award), the discovery of extrasolar planets, the discovery of dark matter and dark energy, and understanding the ocean worlds of the Solar System. Many of the four issues’ columns also looked back at the past five decades of astronomical science and amazing discoveries. All content associated with celebrating the “50th Volume” included a logo designed by Mercury’s Art Director, Leslie Proudfit. In addition, Mercury editor Liz Kruesi conducted a large online survey of current ASP members regarding the types of content they’d most like in the magazine’s virtual pages, and even began investigating ways to bring the publication and its wonderful content to a larger audience.

Publications of the ASP (PASP) and the Global Research Community

PASP—the technical journal of the ASP—publishes refereed manuscripts on astronomical research by scientists worldwide, this year serving authors in 28 countries. 

2021 marked the year PASP, the technical journal of the ASP, went completely digital offering only electronic publications. Our publisher, the Institute of Physics Publishing, continued to make global research institutes and their work more available through open-access. As a result, these papers can be immediately read online and used by researchers all over the world. As open-publishing models become increasingly popular, PASP, is excited about the prospect of making the research it publishes available to a wider audience.

ASP Conference Series for Professional Astronomers and Space Scientists

The Astronomical Society of the Pacific serves the professional astronomical community by publishing the latest advances in astronomy and astrophysics as they are presented in conferences and workshops around the world. Since 1988, over 530 volumes of international astronomy conferences have been published.

The continuing global pandemic in 2021 limited the number of volumes published, but the ASP Conference Series staff continues to find new opportunities to serve the professional astronomical community, including by publishing the ASP’s own efforts to promote education and public outreach through their popular virtual conferences.

2021 ASP Awards

ASP Recognized 2021 Award Recipients for Astronomy Research and Education

Through our prestigious annual awards, the ASP recognizes significant achievements in astronomy research, education, and public outreach. Recipients of our awards have included luminaries such as Edwin Hubble, Vera Rubin, Isaac Asimov, and Katherine Johnson. The ASP held its first Virtual Awards Gala on November 19, 2021, after taking a pause in 2020 due to the COVID pandemic. It was a special evening with each Awardee present to accept their award in front of a Virtual audience.

The Catherine Wolfe Bruce Gold Medal, our most prestigious, was established by Catherine Wolfe Bruce, an American philanthropist and patroness of astronomy and awarded annually through the ASP since 1898 to a professional astronomer in recognition of a lifetime of outstanding achievement and contributions to astrophysics research.

The Robert J. Trumpler Award is given each year to a recent recipient of the PhD degree in North America whose research is considered unusually important to astronomy.

The Thomas J. Brennan Award is given for demonstrating excellence in the teaching of astronomy at the high school level in North America.

The Klumpke-Roberts Award is given for outstanding contributions to the public understanding and appreciation of astronomy.

In Memoriam

ASP Honors Former ASP Executive Director

Michael Bennett
1944 - 2021

Our Donors

Our sincere thanks to the following individuals and organizations for their generosity during the 2021 calendar year

Thank You for Believing in the ASP
Funds raised support our ongoing mission to foster curiosity, advance scientific literacy, share the joy of exploration and discovery, and encourage the development of tomorrow’s science, technology, and academic leaders.